Tour De France 2011

is liggett going john motson on us?

good stuff til now each day. but cant wait til the race begins on thursday

Thomas signs new deal

Head of team sky's website after the the rumours he might leave a few days ago. Glad to see him staying - he was probably just stirring to to get a few more pennies. I hope EBH sticks around too, not that I know whether or not his contract it up.

Great stage, I didn't like Schleks ungracious moan at the end. I enjoyed this quote:

If not for time-trialing, descending and climbs where you need to change gears, he could probably win the Tour de France.

what's this, riding without a race number on his bike??
mais ce n'est pas possible monsieur, disqualification certainement!

^replacement bike. His main bike is yellow, so perfectly 'race legal'.

Thor is having a dream career. It's not often that sprinters are allowed off the front like that, and he goes and does it twice!.

The GC guys teams are watching each other too closely. The sprint teams are having a break, as Thor has too few points to threaten, and the stage win teams dont seem to be chasing him down*.

His greatest wepon on a stage like yesterday is his desending skills, and he did'nt even use them so much, as Ryder was leading him.

Same again today!

(*do stage break teams do much chasing down? Even with a man in the break, it seems logical to chase down a break containing a sprinter/classics rider, and try again)

^replacement bike. His main bike is yellow, so perfectly 'race legal'.

I was just jesting, could have imagined a non French rider getting reprimanded for it. but of course not Titi ;-)

Watching ITV, for a change, last night.
1) CADEL! BOOM! FUCK YOU ALBERT!

2) Er, Sami, downhill, yeah? You go fast? No?

3) EBH: got a bit bashed over at the end, but if he'd been a bit quicker to notice the looks being swapped near the end, then maybe?

4) Schleck: getting beaten up by Boardman for "not wanting to go downhill". I know they're supposed to be Pro Cycling Automatons who "don't feel sorrow and have no pity" BUT. Didn't Leopard Trek lose a rider in the Giro? Wouldn't that be in their minds on sketchy downhills? Or am I being a bit too guardianista?

Cadel Evans.

Climbs like a tenious warrior, desends like fearless warrior, ......talks like a 6 year old girl.

Cadel Evans.

Climbs like a tenious warrior, desends like fearless warrior, ......talks like a 6 year old girl.

repped

must spread rep etc

4) Schleck: getting beaten up by Boardman for "not wanting to go downhill". I know they're supposed to be Pro Cycling Automatons who "don't feel sorrow and have no pity" BUT. Didn't Leopard Trek lose a rider in the Giro? Wouldn't that be in their minds on sketchy downhills? Or am I being a bit too guardianista?

If so, it is time for them to retire.

In truth they didn't go downhill that badly, but Contador, Sanchez and Evans flew.

A question I've been pondering tonight - is Samuel Sanchez's fabled descending skill borne out by fact? I can only remember him winning one race that involved this, yet the way the experts on TV go on about it, you'd think he wins 10 races a year due to it.

This.
Lazily researched, oft repeated commentator notes

On Sanchez, both he and Contador put time into the group behind on the descent. He is clearly a very good descender, but there many in the pro peloton.

If Sanchez had as much to gain as Evans perhaps he would have taken some of the same risks yesterday.

I think its the fact that Andy whined like a little girl that irked Boardman and I have to agree. Schleck seemed to blame everything and everyone.. But not himself.

Leopared Trek lost a rider.. But so did the whole pro peleton..

Fair point.

Could be another great stage today. Can they can't repeat the formula off the last Cat 2 climb? After Gilbert's relative anonymity yesterday I expect him to show today.

Someone, anyone, needs to strap a pair on soon and just slaughter themselves. All this cat and mouse shit gets nowhere..

Rather die trying then not try at all.

Attack and don't look back.

Predictions.

How much time will Bertie gain in the TT over his GC rivals?

7 hours.

3 days

I'm guessing 1:15.

He'll need to smash it gain today.

Predictions.

How much time will Bertie gain in the TT over his GC rivals?

A couple minutes over the schlops. Next to nothing over Cadel, whos 1:57 ahead of him.

So Bertie to kick like fuck on thursday.

Fuck it. I want Cuddles to win.

Can he ride a grand tour without a bonk day though?

I'm guessing 1:15.

He'll need to smash it gain today.

I reckon more like 1:40. He only needs a few seconds today, and he can suck the schlecks wheels till paris (except he cant because of Cadel).

He wont get anything on Cadel today. He cant count on getting much on him in the TT. He needs to shake him in the Alps.

Cadel Evans.

Climbs like a tenious warrior, desends like fearless warrior, ......talks like a 6 year old girl.

The Joe Pasquale of the peloton.