2010 Tour de France

iainf72
iainf72 Posts: 15,784
edited September 2009 in Pro race
After this years stinker of a route, there are rumours there could be as many as 4 mountain top finishes in the Pyrenees.

Giro-tastic!
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.

Comments

  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    More from here

    http://www.steephill.tv/2010/tour-de-france/
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    1910 saw the Tour first use the high mountains when they tackled the Aubisque and Tourmalet. A 100 year commemoration of this must be on the cards.

    Octave Lapize crossed the summit of the Aubisque to shout “assassin”at race organiser Henri Desgranges. Indeed in recce for the 1910 route Alphonse Steinès, Desgranges’ sidekick went to check the Tourmalet. His car only made it halfway up and he became trapped in a snowstorm. Scared by the prospect of marauding bears, he tried to walk down but slipped on ice and fell into a stream. Eventually he was rescued by some shepherds and he was taken to the town of Barèges. Steinès fired off a telegraph to Paris: “Crossed Tourmalet. Road very good. Perfectly feasible".
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    Yes please!
    2009 has been the most forgetable GT year I can remember.
    Even worse than 2004.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    I'll believe it when I see it. Can anyone remember a Tour with four or more summit finishes? 2002 maybe? (La Mongie, Plateau de Beille, Ventoux, Les Deux Alpes and another?)
  • Yorkman
    Yorkman Posts: 290
    With the suggested dates, a week in the Alps precedes that as well.

    Blimey, would they have the balls to do it?
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    andyp wrote:
    I'll believe it when I see it. Can anyone remember a Tour with four or more summit finishes? 2002 maybe? (La Mongie, Plateau de Beille, Ventoux, Les Deux Alpes and another?)

    Ah Plateau de Beille isn't Pyrenean enough for my liking.


    Superbagneres! Absolute murder. Espeically if you romp up the Peyresourde and down into Luchon before hand.
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    iirc

    La Pierre St Martin is a bit of a long one
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    mididoctors wrote:
    iirc

    La Pierre St Martin is a bit of a long one

    Pretty tough.

    Did it this year. Suffered like a dog. If I recall it well.

    Either that or it was the one i bailed on 3/4s of the way up which i still regret.
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • sonny73
    sonny73 Posts: 2,203
    iainf72 wrote:
    After this years stinker of a route, there are rumours there could be as many as 4 mountain top finishes in the Pyrenees.

    That would be smashing, I know many people think the Vuelta can be a bit boring but the 3 mountain top finishes over the weekend just gone, didn't half make me realise how lacking this years Tour was in that department.
    Hit them hard and watch the cracks appear, excellent fun :D
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,821
    Blazing Saddles wrote:
    Yes please!
    2009 has been the most forgetable GT year I can remember.
    Even worse than 2004.

    Why what happened in 2004? ;)

    Very promising news, I'm looking forward to next year already, this year has been quite sparse really, even if it is the riders not the route
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    Sonny73 wrote:
    iainf72 wrote:
    After this years stinker of a route, there are rumours there could be as many as 4 mountain top finishes in the Pyrenees.

    That would be smashing, I know many people think the Vuelta can be a bit boring but the 3 mountain top finishes over the weekend just gone, didn't half make me realise how lacking this years Tour was in that department.
    Hit them hard and watch the cracks appear, excellent fun :D

    Yet of those three only Sundays stage produced anything exciting, the other two were dreadfully dull which goes to show to a certain extent the riders make the race. You can have as many mountain top finishes as you want but if the GC guys all ride in one big bunch telling jokes and discussing the birds to be had on holiday in Curacao then its not gonna get you out of your seat.
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !

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