The Official Tour De France discussion thread.

Rudy

I just wanted to start a thread centralized here for everyone who follows the tour, to share their thoughts, comments about the race.

jstraw

First impressions:

Jan looks very fit. Lance is really ready, it's his to lose. If it hadn't started raining, Lance would have won the prologue, he really had to shave speed in the tighter turns. Hard to watch the prologue and not feel like Millar is a tragic figure. His absence today is warranted but sad and I say that as someone that's been sick of his mouthing off for a long time. What a waste of talent. I think this could be a *great* tour. I wanna see Mayo climb, Petacchi sprint, Hamilton stay healthy, Ullrich focus...whoever wins this year is going to have to have the heart of a lion.

Rudy

It is a good beginning for Lance...though he didn't win but all of his rivals must be thinking

jcjordan

Pity about Matt White, going down to a cable cover and missing out on the TDF again.

"always a bridesmaid never a bride"

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"Pain does not last, bones heal and chicks dig scars"

Rudy

Mayo and Heras are about 20 seconds or more behind Lance. I can't think of what will happen toward the end when they have a long time trial. The one after Alpe Dhuez (sp?). We all know Lance can climb.

Soooo... I can't see Heras and Mayo be a real big factor except to help others attack Lance in the mountain.

jstraw

Lance needs to put a lot of time into those climbers now, before the mountains. 20 seconds is *nothing*.

tinajoy

I can't wait for the Team Time Trials!

jstraw

I've had all I can take of The Cutters on Roadside Tour. One of them just explained how the Maillot Vert is awareded to the best sprinter each day.

Jon Packard

I'm glad I didn't imagine that....

Rudy

Has anyone noticed that Heras's new uniform is also blue and that he still looks as if he's on the USPS team?

jhuskey

The obvious:
Lance looks good early
Ullrich and Hamilton are staying close
Lance always makes up time in the mountains
Postal has the best time trial team (my opinion)

The unknown
Weather ,wrecks,illness. Too early to tell so much can go wrong.
If Heras can stay within 2- 3 minutes of the leader before the mountains he's got a shot.

All considered it looks like postal has the best rounded team but still way too early to tell.

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Whenever I can't get excited about riding I just fantasize about someone else's bike.

Rudy

But even Heras can stay within 2 or 3 minutes before the mountain, I don't see how he can make up in the long flat individiual TT which occurs a stage or 2 before Paris. He could lose as much as 5 min there.

davidbod

Well I have to say Lance is looking better than I even expected. I was surprised by how much time Ulrich, Mayo, Herras and even Hamilton lost in such a short distance. USPS put in a great showing overall to win the team classification which will come into play shortly during the TTT. It looks to me like the Spanish climbers are already out of the running. They may take 1-2 minutes overall (maybe) out of Lance in the mountains, but I wouldn't be surprised if they lost the max 2.5 minutes in the TTT and then another 3-5 minutes in the last ITT.

I think Ulrich is in the same position he has been in every year against Lance previously. He is going to be forced to make up time on Lance in the Mountains (won't happen). Hamilton may have the better shot if he can stay upright, but he may have to take time out of Lance in the mountains too.

From some interviews it looks like Lance is possibly going to make his move early in the Pyrenees. He will use the attacks of the Spanish riders to stick with them and put time on Ulrich, Hamilton and other contenders.

We'll see.

mmpc001

I'm glad someone mentioned it before me! Those idiots take OLN's otherwise excellent coverage and make the entire network look like a poor imitation of MTV. I guess they're supposed to be really funny, but all I keep thinking is "no wonder many Europeans think Americans are a bunch of loud, obnoxious fools."