Tour de France 2008: Pre-race Talk



" right now there is nobody left, who could have won the TdF 2 years ago. Bettini for instance has a "Turbo" which he can use ever so often but in order to win the Tour, it takes a good "Diesel", able to bring good power every day for almost a month"!

The is a quote from a professional cyclist.
 
Crankyfeet said:
Current best odds (June 16th - oddschecker.com) on the favourites are:

Evans 9/4
Valverde 9/2
Menchov 13/2
Cunego 11/1
Andy Schleck 12/1
Sastre 14/1
Gesink 14/1
Rogers 25/1
Anton 28/1
Soler 35/1
Franck Schleck 35/1
Sanchez 40/1
Devolder 40/1
Zubeldia 40/1
Dekker 45/1
Popovych 50/1
I didn't see Dauphine. However, if I were a betting man, I'd put money on Cunego and Popo. Popo is a steal at 50 to 1. The guy really has talent.
 
Malkmus said:
I didn't see Dauphine. However, if I were a betting man, I'd put money on Cunego and Popo. Popo is a steal at 50 to 1. The guy really has talent.
The only wat Popo can win is if Evans blows up and Popo gets the nod. the whole team except McEwen is there for Cadel.
 
i cant wait to see what euskatel - easkadi are going to throw into the tour this year, sanchez, zubeldia, and anton. anton and zubeldia both have great form, i just hope sanchez was holding back in the dauphine. its a great route for him. if he has good form he could win it. but im my pick is sastre, and for csc to isolate evans early in the race, as hell have to chase the frank and andy, and ive never seen popo do any thing but set a rhythm or armstrong/contador, could he close a full blown attack or will evans have to do that for himself?
 
Rogers is clearly coming into decent form - but he'd need to be at his absolute best to make a dent in this Tour. Still, he's raced at Catalunya, maybe one other race, and into the top dozen at the Dauphine. It's an impressive progression back from illness.

His biggest threat is his own teammate in Kirchen. Kirchen won't want to relinquish his assumed leadership, and he's riding fabulously well in Suisse.

If Kirchen rides in the top few, Rogers may well find himself in his usual role as super domestique. Poor bugger.
 
Okay...I'm not great at studying the stage profiles and working out who they suit... but I realise that there is about 30 km less TT'ing this year... so that favors the climbers relatively speaking. Normally Evans would be trying to make back time in the TT's... however there is no one in the field who put time on him in the mountains from last year, barring Soler. You'd expect Valverde and Menchov to perform better however. Cunego and Gesink perhaps could add some fresh pressure on the climbs.

Can anyone who has studied the route give a rundown perhaps on some of the key stages... and characteristics that might favour a particular rider?
 
Runitout said:
Rogers is clearly coming into decent form - but he'd need to be at his absolute best to make a dent in this Tour. Still, he's raced at Catalunya, maybe one other race, and into the top dozen at the Dauphine. It's an impressive progression back from illness.

His biggest threat is his own teammate in Kirchen. Kirchen won't want to relinquish his assumed leadership, and he's riding fabulously well in Suisse.

If Kirchen rides in the top few, Rogers may well find himself in his usual role as super domestique. Poor bugger.
I would still say Rogers is the leader.
 
Crankyfeet said:
Okay...I'm not great at studying the stage profiles and working out who they suit... but I realise that there is about 30 km less TT'ing this year... so that favors the climbers relatively speaking. Normally Evans would be trying to make back time in the TT's... however there is no one in the field who put time on him in the mountains from last year, barring Soler. You'd expect Valverde and Menchov to perform better however. Cunego and Gesink perhaps could add some fresh pressure on the climbs.

Can anyone who has studied the route give a rundown perhaps on some of the key stages... and characteristics that might favour a particular rider?
I think Evans team can limit the damages. It is pretty strong in the mtns.

Popo is the strongest helper, then there are Cioni (has a 5th GC in the Giro), Vansummeren, who will be like Hincapie.

Plus Aerts and Brandt. If they have to defend, they can finally.
 
Anyone know when the start list will be announced?
Also, what's the story of no prologue (first time since 1967 according to letour.fr)? Will it change the race at all, or just give a few sprinter some time in the sun before the ITT at stage 4?
 
peterlip said:
Anyone know when the start list will be announced?
Also, what's the story of no prologue (first time since 1967 according to letour.fr)? Will it change the race at all, or just give a few sprinter some time in the sun before the ITT at stage 4?
Shortlisted riders
http://startlist.cyclingfever.com/startlist.html?_p=startlijst&id=18888

no prologue as it's not a town but a region (Brittany) that is in charge of hosting the Grand Départ.

Stage one will be 170 kilometres long and it will take the riders to Plumelec and its famous uphill finish of Cadoudal, so perhaps not 'a few sprinters some time in the sun'
 
Apparantly Rogers isnt riding the tour. Something to do with him not having the form to be able to handle a three week race. Shame cause i was looking forward to seeing him ride it.
 
High Road's aim is to have Kirchen finish top 5. If he finishes top 5, he wins.

My main pick is Cunego and Kirchen to finish on the podium or win.
 
Since this seems the year for strange happenings and no real favorite, I kinda fancy Zubeldia. He seemed to have better form in the Dauphine then previous years, has always been a solid time trialist, routinely top 5-10 if i recall right, and has a good amount of support for the mountains. I think he can definately be TOp 3
 
Put some money on Menchov a while a go, even before Astana were thrown out. After his Giro and the fact this is his second GT of the season, I am pleased with my decision.


A. Schleck could do well but I think he'll be shackled by CSC to protect Frank and Carlos in the Pyrenees.

Evans is the solid bet and will likely win.

Valverde is unpredictable over 3 weeks as is Cunego.

Outside bets for top 5 or podium: S. Devolder, K. Kirchen or S. Sachez, and Zubeldia will always be there or there abouts.
 
beached whale said:
Apparantly Rogers isnt riding the tour. Something to do with him not having the form to be able to handle a three week race. Shame cause i was looking forward to seeing him ride it.


Anyway of confirming this?
 
beached whale said:
cyclingnews.com June 18 said:
Rogers out of Tour contention

Michael Rogers


Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

Australia's Michael Rogers will miss this year's Tour de France, as he slowly returns to racing after suffering from the Epstein Barr virus. Roger's Team High Road, which will ride the Tour as Team Columbia, will be missing two of its biggest stars. The revelation Rogers won't have recovered in time for the French race by team Sport Director Rolf Aldag follows the news that Linus Gerdemann's knee problems will also prevent him from riding.

Aldag said that the three-time World Time Trial Champion would not be in form for the Tour. "He can do well in one-day races now," Aldag told German magazine Radsport. "But we will have to wait for the difficult three-week tour."

Rogers recently finished 11th overall in the Dauphiné Libéré. Last year, Rogers was the virtual leader in the Tour when he had to drop out of the eighth stage following a crash.

Kim Kirchen, who finished seventh in last year's Tour, is expected to be Team Columbia's captain. Team manager Bob Stapleton indicated at the announcement of the team's new sponsor that sprinter Mark Cavendish is almost certain to be on the Tour team. The young Manxman recently won two stages of the Tour's Italian counterpart the Giro d'Italia.
...
 
Jan the man said:
A. Schleck could do well but I think he'll be shackled by CSC to protect Frank and Carlos in the Pyrenees.
Wonder how beat up Frank is after today's crash - man that was scary! And, perhaps he needs to improve his descending skills a bit if he ever wants to be a real Tour contender...
 
Crankyfeet said:
Its disappointing. I'd have put Rogers ahead of Evans to win this year if he had the same form as last year. I hope his team hasn't made a mistake (like the Germans did a few years ago when they left Evans out). Rogers is only 28 so he will hopefully have more opportunities.

I'm not sure Evans can survive the pressure of being marked closely as he seems to be the race favourite. I hope I am proven wrong.
 

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