Le Tour 06

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:03 pm

almost upon us for another year.

ivan basso for the win.

sbs showing all stages live. won't they let me sleep!?!

mecka · Post by **mecka** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:07 pm

le tour.... oh hang on, as in le tour de france?

already?

Post by **fooishbar** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:09 pm

mecka wrote:le tour.... oh hang on, as in le tour de france?

already?

yeah, I've had cameras following me around and shit, it's really intense.

leg two is known as the lynt stage.

witty_pseudonym · Post by **witty_pseudonym** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:10 pm

i will see le tour before i die. oh yes i will.

Post by **lynt** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:11 pm

fooishbar wrote:
mecka wrote:le tour.... oh hang on, as in le tour de france?

already?
yeah, I've had cameras following me around and shit, it's really intense.

leg two is known as the lynt stage.

what YOU SAY

Post by **fooishbar** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:14 pm

lynt wrote:
fooishbar wrote:
mecka wrote:le tour.... oh hang on, as in le tour de france?

already?
yeah, I've had cameras following me around and shit, it's really intense.

leg two is known as the lynt stage.

what YOU SAY

you have no chance to survive make your time

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:14 pm

we get signal.

Post by **fooishbar** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:14 pm

[cut heckling]

Post by **lucas** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:33 pm

Ullrich just won the Tour de Suisse 2 days ago. Basso of course killed it at the Giro d'Italia recently. It's really hard to pick between the two.

I'll go with Basso because Carlos Sastre is an absolute goat, and if you could pick anyone to pace you up a mountain it'd be him. T-Mobile will have to work hard to limit Ullrich's losses in the Alps (he'll do OK in the Pyrenees).

I'm tipping Tom Boonen for the green jersey, and a few stage wins.

Aussies to watch out for:
Michael Rogers (GC contender)
Cadel Evans (Won Tour de Romandie this year - also GC contender)
And of course, sprinter Robbie McEwan (will take 1, maybe 2 stage wins).

Hoping to fly to France next year to see it for myself. Saving now.

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:42 pm

yeah, that would own. i was amazed at the surface of the champs elysées when i was there. it'd be crazy to see people riding on it at 50 km/h.

Post by **lucas** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:03 pm

valuetime wrote:yeah, that would own. i was amazed at the surface of the champs elysées when i was there. it'd be crazy to see people riding on it at 50 km/h.

The course of the alleycat race I went in on Sat night had a cobbled section. Slowed me to an absolute crawl. Those things are a biatch.

drew · Post by **drew** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:29 pm

valuetime wrote:
sbs showing all stages live. won't they let me sleep!?!

i know its harsh... world cup then straight on tour de france...

aspekt · Post by **aspekt** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:41 pm

fuck yeah!

Flash · Post by **Flash** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 6:07 pm

My money's on Alexander Vinokourov

That man is one of the most exciting riders out there..

Post by **lucas** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:12 pm

buuts wrote:That man is one of the most exciting riders out there..

Agreed, unfortunately there is some doubt as to wether his team will ride.

ASO (TDF organiser) is 'trying' to uninvite his team to the event because of a recent drug scandal. His team director was intercepted entering a drug lab with some $30k. :\

I have no doubt that Vino is clean. But it's the same team that Roberto Herras rode on last year, and he got done over for EPO at the Vuelta a Espana.

Post by **system** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:36 pm

Bring it on.

Post by **lucas** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:56 am

Team CSC pre-Tour press conference.

Big ups aussie Stuart O'Grady representing...

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:07 am

that's a crazy team right there: basso, julich, sastre, jens voigt, o'grady, lombardi, zabriskie, vande velde...

aspekt · Post by **aspekt** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:54 pm

the way i understand it is that they're all on drugs of some sort, they just happen to be legal at the moment or there's no way for them to test for it. as it becomes illegal they move on to the next drug.

Post by **lucas** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 12:00 pm

lucas wrote:
buuts wrote:That man is one of the most exciting riders out there..
Agreed, unfortunately there is some doubt as to wether his team will ride.

ASO (TDF organiser) is 'trying' to uninvite his team to the event because of a recent drug scandal. His team director was intercepted entering a drug lab with some $30k. :\

I have no doubt that Vino is clean. But it's the same team that Roberto Herras rode on last year, and he got done over for EPO at the Vuelta a Espana.

It's been confirmed. Astina (Formerly Liberty Seguros) has been formerly uninvited from the Tour.

No Vinokourov.

Flash · Post by **Flash** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:50 pm

g u t t e d

Post by **lucas** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:35 am

Vino's back, for now.

cyclingnews.com wrote:The Court of Arbitration for Sport has given the Astana-Wurth team the go-ahead to race in the Tour de France. "CAS has rejected the request of ASO to stop the team Astana-Würth from starting the Tour de France," read the CAS official statement.

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:50 pm

prologue is tomorrow night from 10pm on sbs. wicked.

also, they're going counterclockwise this year, so the pyrenees are in the second week, and the alpe d'huez stage is in the last week.

Polecat · Post by **Polecat** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:58 pm

lucas wrote:Hoping to fly to France next year to see it for myself. Saving now.

My friend James followed the tour for two days last year, near Montpellier. He's going back for more this year I believe, not sure which town though.

It's much easier to visit though when you're only coming from London :S

Post by **lucas** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 12:55 pm

Holy fuck.

As a result of the recent Spanish doping affair; with 12 hours before the start of the tour:

Jan Ullrich - suspended.
Ivan Basso - suspended.
Oscar Sevilla - suspended
Francisco Mancebo - suspended (& now retired).
Alexander Vinokourov - Not implicated, but entire team has left tour.

Sad day for cycling. We're back to the days of 1998.

Jinx · Post by **Jinx** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:03 pm

Ullrich out for doping holy fuck that is massive! Talk about controversy!!

Post by **lucas** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:13 pm

Yeah. Starting to re-think the trip to France next year. :\

Jinx · Post by **Jinx** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:54 pm

Looks like more names are going to be released...

"Hinault: 20 could be expelled

Tour organiser Bernard Hinault, a five-time race victor, said he thought that 15 to 20 people would be kicked out of the Tour de France after favourite Jan Ullrich was suspended by his team in the wake of an official report into doping charges in Spain."

http://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-d ... 7322.shtml

drew · Post by **drew** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:25 pm

lucas wrote:
Sad day for cycling. We're back to the days of 1998.

tru dat

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:14 pm

oh man. unbelievable.

drew · Post by **drew** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 3:03 pm

ausies got some good results in the time trial, 7th,8,th & 14th

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:28 am

hey lucas, who's your horse now?

i think hincapie could steal a minute on the final time trial, and he looked like he was stepping out of lance's shadow in the mountains last year. plus he's a nice guy to barrack for.

who else is there? valverde?

Post by **lucas** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:51 pm

valuetime wrote:hey lucas, who's your horse now?

i think hincapie could steal a minute on the final time trial, and he looked like he was stepping out of lance's shadow in the mountains last year. plus he's a nice guy to barrack for.

who else is there? valverde?

I haven't thought about it much to be honest. I'm actually really disappointed with the whole drug scandal thing. Basso and Ullrich were the last guys I expected to get caught up in that stuff. I've ditched my plans for France next year.

Anyway, I'm backing Cadel Evans now. He did well in last year's tour, plus he won Tour de Romandie this year. (Plus he's Australian) But you're right, I think the smart money is on Hincapie.

Leipheimer, Landis are the other big contenders.

Aussie Mick Rogers will do very well in the time-trials but may lose some time in the mountains. If T-Mobile can get their shit together after losing Jan and help Rogers up the mountains they may get him onto the podium in Paris.

Valverde will probably fare well, but he's under a cloud of suspicion at the moment:

cyclingnews.com wrote:El País today noted that the Guardia Civil has also identified existing ties between the doctor and a person referred to as "Piti", which date back to 2004. This codename is believed to refer to Alejandro Valverde, who was riding for Kelme at the time, whose team doctor was Fuentes. But the involvement of Valverde could not be verified by other means such as notes, training plans, films of the various observation cameras, phone calls, etc. "These are insufficient elements to include them in the official report," said a Guardia Civil source.

edit: typo

Post by **lucas** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:54 pm

Oh, and Carlos Sastre (CSC) will kill it in the mountains too. He's a pretty good chance for a podium place I reckon.

Post by **lucas** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:52 am

Go Robbie!

Post by **fooishbar** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:09 am

awesome!

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:43 am

great sprint, too. it would be sweet if o'grady could get up for a win, but i think he's pretty much outclassed by boonen, hushovd, mcewen et al these days.

drew · Post by **drew** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:12 am

what was the name of the guy who won the king of the montains last year.... he did that stage all by him self last year.... is he riding this year???

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:15 am

rasmussen won the king of the mountains last year.

drew · Post by **drew** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:17 am

valuetime wrote:rasmussen won the king of the mountains last year.

thats the guy.... is he racing this year?

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:23 am

yeah, he's riding this year.

drew · Post by **drew** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:29 am

valuetime wrote:yeah, he's riding this year.

aaaahh....kk...havnt heard him mentioned yet... guess we wont til the mountains....

still remember that win of his last year, all by himslef... amazing...

drew · Post by **drew** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:30 am

valuetime wrote:yeah, he's riding this year.

aaaahh....kk...havnt heard him mentioned yet... guess we wont til the mountains....

still remember that win of his last year, all by himslef... amazing...

Post by **lucas** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:51 am

Valverde out.

Collar bone?

Post by **lucas** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:28 am

Rogers 1 second from yellow. Mad.

mrj · Post by **mrj** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:04 am

lucas wrote:Valverde out.

Collar bone?

looked like it, took them away in ambulances

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:17 am

allez rogers!

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:10 am

mcewen won his second stage in three days, and is now up to 10 career tdf stage wins. he'll also be wearing the green jersey tonight.

michael rogers is still one second behind boonen in yellow.

also, if you can't get to the tv at 6pm, sbs have short highlights on their website.

http://www.sbs.com.au/tdf/

Post by **lucas** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:39 am

I fell asleep. Will have to check out the highlights at lunch time.

I'm really surprised at how uncompetitive Boonen has been. He was seriously owning it at the start of the season, and was well rested before the TDF.

Well done Robbie!

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:42 am

man... o'grady is a trooper; a fractured vertebra and still riding.

Melbourne Beats

Le Tour 06

Le Tour 06

Re: le tour 2006.