brilliant start to the tour so far

northernneil

really really enjoyed this tour start, best for years in my opinion - exciting stages every single day so far

iain_j

Definitely. I usually can't wait til the first week's over, to get to the mountains when the action starts. This year has been ace

don key

Don Key has left the building and has been banned. [Admin]

claudb

northernneil wrote:

really really enjoyed this tour start, best for years in my opinion - exciting stages every single day so far

+1

singlespeedexplosif

Indeed. Great stuff. Just a shame that the TTT has made such a difference to the GC, hard to see anyone challenging Contador now unless he crashes or bonks spectacularly...

lloyd_bower

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

Indeed. Great stuff. Just a shame that the TTT has made such a difference to the GC, hard to see anyone challenging Contador now unless he crashes or bonks spectacularly...

Agree with comments regarding TTT it makes a massive difference to someone like Evans losing 2 mins, likewise the other contenders lost significant chunks of time.

ms_tree

claudb wrote:

northernneil wrote:

really really enjoyed this tour start, best for years in my opinion - exciting stages every single day so far

+1

+2!

iain_j

And +3 for today's stage !

tlw1

been great

rockmount

Bloody brilliant ...

RichN95.

I'd have liked to have seen more attacking today and I hate TTTs (because of the distortion to GC) but otherwise it's been good.

B+

Pokerface

While I do dearly love the Tour and watch every day - I find it somehow lacking this year a little.

Probably the TTT putting so many of the main contenders - well, out of contention.

Even the Contador-Armstrong battle seems likely to be a non-issue after Contador showed how easy it is for him to ride away from everyone if he so choses.

Only thing left to play for, IMO - is the Green jersey. Can Cav pull it off....?

Don't mean to be a downer - but I fins this one of the WORST Tours in years - because it's over before it's even started....

I hope I'm wrong, and it turns out to be a better contest in the days/weeks to come.

mididoctors

the astana soap opera is entertaining hocum... and the stages have been quite exciting at times for a first week

mgcycleguy

I'm loving it... simply watching Wiggins is worth the entry price alone...

RichN95.

mgcycleguy wrote:

I'm loving it... simply watching Wiggins is worth the entry price alone...

Three of the four Brits have been great value so far and given us lots to cheer for (we can't expect too much from Charly W, given his responsablities, but it would be great to see him in an Alpine break)

iain_j

mididoctors wrote:

the astana soap opera is entertaining hocum... and the stages have been quite exciting at times for a first week

I agree. Even if the battle for the GC is all within Astana it'll be a fight to the finish. But we've only had one day in the mountains yet - still time for spectacular failings and attacks yet, How much time did Sastre gain on Alpe d'Huez last year?

I can see clearly now though why the organisers had the limits on how much time teams could lose in the TTT. It's a great stage to watch but it spoils the GC.

Kléber

Pokerface wrote:

Don't mean to be a downer - but I fins this one of the WORST Tours in years - because it's over before it's even started....

Eh?

Even if Contador is living up to his status as the clear favourite, there is still so much more to play for. The race will be decided right up until the last stage, if Contador has been in form this week, will be the same in two week's time? Maybe he'll crack like in Paris-Nice? Even if he doesn't, who will challenge him? Will Andy Schleck have his day? Or Armstrong? What will Wiggo do?

And that's just the GC. The Tour is like a soap opera with many plots. Who's the Lanterne Rouge? Can Cav finish his first Tour? Will a breakaway succeed tomorrow? How long will Nocentini last? There's plenty more to come.

For me it's been amazing, 100 times the excitement of the Giro, each stage so far has been as dramatic as the Tour of Flanders. I'm actually tired from just watching 8)

RichN95.

Kléber wrote:

Pokerface wrote:

Don't mean to be a downer - but I fins this one of the WORST Tours in years - because it's over before it's even started....

Eh?

Even if Contador is living up to his status as the clear favourite, there is still so much more to play for. The race will be decided right up until the last stage, if Contador has been in form this week, will be the same in two week's time? Maybe he'll crack like in Paris-Nice? Even if he doesn't, who will challenge him? Will Andy Schleck have his day? Or Armstrong? What will Wiggo do?

And that's just the GC. The Tour is like a soap opera with many plots. Who's the Lanterne Rouge? Can Cav finish his first Tour? Will a breakaway succeed tomorrow? How long will Nocentini last? There's plenty more to come.

For me it's been amazing, 100 times the excitement of the Giro, each stage so far has been as dramatic as the Tour of Flanders. I'm actually tired from just watching 8)

I absolutely agree with you. There's more to the Tour than the Yellow Jersey and that's far from over. The Astana civil war is just brewing, with the trademark Bruyneel mountain train not working for LA. Plus there's the podium places (I think Bertie will win). Attacks from Cadel, Andy and Carlos yet to come.

As a big Cav fan, I'm totally engaged with his tussle with Thor (who I also really like) for Green.

The Polka dots hasn't really started yet. The white jersey? Tony Martin - big talent, but how big?

Emerging talents like Feillu (sp?) and heroic efforts of gutsy riders like Tommy V and Dave M.

And after today - how well will the "Eagle of Chorley" (c) fare.

And we've only had 7 days.

dougzz

I've enjoyed it so far. The TTT is a great spectacle but duff in the context of the GC. Didn't they do something a few years back where the gaps were maxed at 20 seconds? Crazy for the Astana riders to be able to take such big chunks out of the other GC contenders in that way.

knedlicky

Pokerface wrote:

Only thing left to play for, IMO - is the Green jersey. Can Cav pull it off....?

The battle for the polka dot jersey is far more interesting in that it’s changed hands several times already, with an ‘every dog has its day’ aspect to it. And don’t tell me slogging up mountains first is easier or less tactical than sprinting 200 metres.
Or do you only watch football when your team is playing?

markos1963

Its been a great race so far and a lot of credit must go to the organisers, putting the race in the south and into the Pyrenees so early has made it more exciting and then leaving Ventoux till the penultimate stage means the tension will last untill then. Big respect to Bradley for his ride today, hope he can keep it up until Annecy and who knows he might get a placing. He'll be wearing a bandana and climbing on the drops next

knedlicky

RichN95 wrote:

I'd have liked to have seen more attacking today

I agree with RichN95 - today disappointed me and made me fear the worse, with none of the main contenders having any answers to the Astana train, like in the past with US Postal and Discovery trains. I’m sure there’s a way to counter them but I also understand no one wants to try so early on, in case it all goes wrong.

I suppose as individual main contenders there are two ways to behave, each with psychological advantages - to show oneself (like Evans and Schleck briefly did, although unfortunately left late so only once and brief) or to hide and remain a mystery (like Sastre and Vandevelde). I think the former (but more often even if not serious) the right approach with a team dominated by Armstrong and Bruyneel's strategy, to give them a sense of unease, and the more times the better. So more attacking!

knedlicky

Kléber wrote:

Pokerface wrote:

Don't mean to be a downer - but I fins this one of the WORST Tours in years - because it's over before it's even started....

Eh?

Even if Contador is living up to his status as the clear favourite, there is still so much more to play for. The race will be decided right up until the last stage, if Contador has been in form this week, will be the same in two week's time? Maybe he'll crack like in Paris-Nice? Even if he doesn't, who will challenge him? Will Andy Schleck have his day? Or Armstrong? What will Wiggo do?

And that's just the GC. The Tour is like a soap opera with many plots. Who's the Lanterne Rouge? Can Cav finish his first Tour? Will a breakaway succeed tomorrow? How long will Nocentini last? There's plenty more to come.

For me it's been amazing, 100 times the excitement of the Giro, each stage so far has been as dramatic as the Tour of Flanders. I'm actually tired from just watching 8)

Overall, I agree - like you say it’s a soap opera with many plots. Thankfully each stage has its own other interest, even if involving ‘nobodies’. The tactics going on in a small leading group, as happened today and on the day when Vockler won, I find in many ways more interesting and exciting than just following the main contenders. Focussing only on the leaders and the eventual possible yellow jersey victor means you can miss a lot.

I think similar happens in the Giro too, but differently; the ‘bit’ players and the scenerios, and the tactics, are different, without it being inferior. One shouldn’t compare apples and oranges. So only your remark ‘100 times the excitement of the Giro’ do I disagree with.

RichN95.

knedlicky wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

I'd have liked to have seen more attacking today

I agree with RichN95 - today disappointed me and made me fear the worse, with none of the main contenders having any answers to the Astana train, like in the past with US Postal and Discovery trains. I’m sure there’s a way to counter them but I also understand no one wants to try so early on, in case it all goes wrong.

I suppose as individual main contenders there are two ways to behave, each with psychological advantages - to show oneself (like Evans and Schleck briefly did, although unfortunately left late so only once and brief) or to hide and remain a mystery (like Sastre and Vandevelde). I think the former (but more often even if not serious) the right approach with a team dominated by Armstrong and Bruyneel's strategy, to give them a sense of unease, and the more times the better. So more attacking!

The thing is, as I've posted on another thread, it wasn't the classic Armstrong train - that would have shred all of the bunch bar a couple of riders. But a bunch of nearly twenty came in - with Wiggins and Martin ! It wasn't for lack of good riders that the pace wasn't as fast (the climb wasn't too steep to be fair)

The classic US Postal train couldn't be attacked - this one could. Evans tried, but where werethe Schlecks and Sastre a little 'psyched out'. They need to repeatedly attack to wear Astana out (although probably not Contador)

Monty Dog

Apart from Cadel and Berties' attacks it was a return to the boring Tours I'd hoped we'd lost - give me the Giro any day. What worries me is that with only 2 more mountain finishes, we've got another 2 weeks of this - this isn't racing, this is a procession or negative, defensive riding.

top_bhoy

There have been interesting racing days every day so far, even when the main contenders haven't been at the forefront but as I concluded early last week...it was over after the TTT. Evans et al lost because of their teams performance on a 45 minute course and not on 3 weeks of their own individual efforts. ASO should look at removing the TTT from future tours and consign it to history.

If the Schleks, Evans et al go on the attack early on the next stage or two to try and nullify the Astana procession over the mountains and to regain some of their lost time, I'll be more than happy to admit I am wrong. I just think they all have too much to do even with ITT still to go.

Pokerface

knedlicky wrote:

Pokerface wrote:

Or do you only watch football when your team is playing?

Of course!

andyp

Top_Bhoy wrote:

There have been interesting racing days every day so far, even when the main contenders haven't been at the forefront but as I concluded early last week...it was over after the TTT. Evans et al lost because of their teams performance on a 45 minute course and not on 3 weeks of their own individual efforts. ASO should look at removing the TTT from future tours and consign it to history.

If the Schleks, Evans et al go on the attack early on the next stage or two to try and nullify the Astana procession over the mountains and to regain some of their lost time, I'll be more than happy to admit I am wrong. I just think they all have too much to do even with ITT still to go.

An alternative view would be to argue that Evans should move to a team that can support his ambition. Silence-Lotto have repeatedly failed him when it comes to providing him with the support he needs to win the Tour so why does he stay with them? I'm sure there are many teams who'd take him on and build a team around him. Being a Belgian team Silence-Lotto have to do well in the spring classics which means there are two parts of the team, neither of which seem to be quite up to it.

As for the TTT it is an important aspect of the Tour and has been for many, many years. Most of the main contenders recognise this and ensure they have a balanced team that can do well in this discipline and support them in the mountains. Silence-Lotto seem unable to do either (although both Wegelius and Van den Broeck were there for Evans on the last climb yesterday so that might be changing).

top_bhoy

andyp wrote:

Top_Bhoy wrote:

There have been interesting racing days every day so far, even when the main contenders haven't been at the forefront but as I concluded early last week...it was over after the TTT. Evans et al lost because of their teams performance on a 45 minute course and not on 3 weeks of their own individual efforts. ASO should look at removing the TTT from future tours and consign it to history.

If the Schleks, Evans et al go on the attack early on the next stage or two to try and nullify the Astana procession over the mountains and to regain some of their lost time, I'll be more than happy to admit I am wrong. I just think they all have too much to do even with ITT still to go.

An alternative view would be to argue that Evans should move to a team that can support his ambition. Silence-Lotto have repeatedly failed him when it comes to providing him with the support he needs to win the Tour so why does he stay with them? I'm sure there are many teams who'd take him on and build a team around him. Being a Belgian team Silence-Lotto have to do well in the spring classics which means there are two parts of the team, neither of which seem to be quite up to it.

As for the TTT it is an important aspect of the Tour and has been for many, many years. Most of the main contenders recognise this and ensure they have a balanced team that can do well in this discipline and support them in the mountains. Silence-Lotto seem unable to do either (although both Wegelius and Van den Broeck were there for Evans on the last climb yesterday so that might be changing).

I was using Evans only as an example but using him as the example again, supposing he moves to a bigger team...he would probably be behind the likes of Sastre, Contador, etc and wouldn't get the chance at all. Moving to a 'second tier' team gives him an opportunity but it is a half-chance. These lesser ranked teams just do not have the budget to support a strength in depth team to compete with the likes of Astana and many good riders are penalised because they lack the same support of a team if a TTT is included. Most of the field is effectively ruled out by what happens in a single team stage

mididoctors

dougzz wrote:

I've enjoyed it so far. The TTT is a great spectacle but duff in the context of the GC. Didn't they do something a few years back where the gaps were maxed at 20 seconds? Crazy for the Astana riders to be able to take such big chunks out of the other GC contenders in that way.

the gaps being dictated by position was rubbish.. what they should have done IMHO is......

the team time still counts for the team GC .

on individual GC divide all the gaps by 2... that way you don't get the ridiculous spectacle of some lesser teams not bothering to try as they can only lose "x" amount of time irrespective of effort

also because position dictated time there comes a point where the extra effort of reducing a gap is pointless.. if you just divided by 2 this anomaly is removed cadels nightmare TTT would still probably have lost him the tour but now he would be at around 2 mins

andy would have lost 20 secs in the TTT

brad + VDV 9secs

sastre woul be 2mins 20 down on contador

Anonymous

Hate to bring it up, so I won't.


Oh go on then!

Maybe this is the sign of a cleaner tour? I hope so. It's been brill so far, really enjoying it. All 4 jerseys are going to be keenly fought for. A good route and some stunning HD scenery.

One of my favourite ever tour days yesterday, Fabian's descent to catch up with the group was breathtaking, amazing to watch amidst that unbelievable backdrop. I'll never forget that. I got a real buzz from watching Wiggins too!