Tour de France 2009

This is us lot riding along the stage to Saint-Girons..

really? as far as I can tell, all the major contenders are still there.

oh, you meant Cadel..

no, i meant schleck, schleck, sastre and cadel. none of them can win it because they're all pretty much the same distance behind contador as they were after the team TT. a couple of minutes is too much to make up - look how close the last 2 tours have been.

and don't try to wind me up, you idiot. i am capable of watching more than one rider.

the tour doesn't need lance, and is better off without him and his cronies, i can't blame the french for wanting shot of him. he is a self publicising egotistical prick who thinks he's bigger than cycling and bigger than the tour. he doped, that's beyond question imho (the research done by the australian scientist on numbered samples proves this but has been hushed up) i look forward to watching the tour without his stony face gormlessly plodding behind his team mates.

+1

^

Thanks for the pictures Hippy.... you lucky bastard.

It was a fucking great trip. I'm going to have to take a shitload of drugs now just to make work life bearable..

:d

Has the woman in the corner of this pic just caught a wiff of the bib you've been wearing all week?

Has the woman in the corner of this pic just caught a wiff of the bib you've been wearing all week?

I am more interested in the dude with the red cap that looks like he should be the head of an F1 team.

Last night I dreamt I came 3rd in yesterdays stage beating Wiggins and Armstrong on my 1977 Mercian. Best dream ever.

as an out of towner spending a few days in london this week, i need advise on where to catch the live coverage. we'll be living near kings cross and would like to know of a bar to pop in for the last kms of each stage.

Cav's written off the Green it seems now and had a bif of a dig at Thor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/8158113.stm

Dron, Offside on City Road. Very close to Kings X

Cos thor is a twat - coming out with crap like "Cav thurned right in front of me". Watch the overhead and he didint change his line - the barriers did come out. Cav was looking round loads but this was so he could do just enough to try to give Hincapie yellow rather than stomp all over everyone like he usually can. McEwen was interviewed and was mystified - said a change of position was an appropriate punishment if any. The commissaires dont know shit.

Agreed. Bradley Wiggins has already given us an insiders view of the commissaires so we know the truth! No chance for Cav to win it now, he just isnt good enough on the up.

He's only 18 points behind. It's not the end of the world. It's been won/lost on the Champs Elysees before.

would he ever try and get in a break away to pick up mid stae points and then pick them all up at the end? or is that an obvious no no for reasons i dont know

on a flat stage obviously!

would he ever try and get in a break away to pick up mid stae points and then pick them all up at the end? or is that an obvious no no for reasons i dont know

Not possible for the rest of this tour (only remaining flat is Paris) but maybe next year...
Problem is that he has to conserve energy for the sprint and if he is wasting energy charging along in a breakaway and the peloton reel them back in, then he is going to be fucked for the sprint.

Cav always spoke about going for stage wins, with the Green a 'bonus' although I think really he always wanted green. He dropped weight to climb better for shit like this. I still reckon if he can chill out and survive the climbs he could win it without intermediate sprints. Columbia (or other teams) could also send other riders up the road to grab the points before Thor can get them so intermediates are still a bit of a risk. Cav isn't a breakaway kinda guy.. he needs to bide his time a bit but keep an eye on the point differential so Thor doesn't build an unbeatable lead.

He's only 18 points behind. It's not the end of the world. It's been won/lost on the Champs Elysees before.

cav would need to come 1st and thor would need to come 10th on the champs elysees.
friday is the only day that could be a problem for sprint points but i think they'll be too many people wanting the polka-dot points so the climbing pace will be too high for either of them.

Dron, Offside on City Road. Very close to Kings X

cool thanks
maybe see you at drinks too

Cos thor is a twat - coming out with crap like "Cav thurned right in front of me". Watch the overhead and he didint change his line - the barriers did come out.

The "experts" I listened to on this still say it was a foul and very poor sportsmanship from Cav (although they also said the punishment was harsh - although there should have been some sort of punishment). He knew where Thor was, and knew how close he was to the barriers. He was squeezed out from taking part in the sprint. If Cav is the best sprinter in the world (which I'm sure he is) then there's no need for that kind of stuff. If he was blocking him out for Hincapie's sake then that's just as lame. Trying to take the extra points while claiming he was being altruistic.

On the other hand, Thor has been showing himself to be a much more rounded rider. Taking the Green Jersey while still loosing every sprint with Cav is impressive (of course, Cav's sprinting is also impressive). He's been able to compete for points that Cav hasn't been able to/unwilling to try for. And he's been doing it without Cav's team.

cav would need to come 1st and thor would need to come 10th on the champs elysees.
friday is the only day that could be a problem for sprint points but i think they'll be too many people wanting the polka-dot points so the climbing pace will be too high for either of them.

Like I said. It's not impossible.

i agree with horatio's points - well put.