Tour de France 2010

just going back to yesterday - would it make sense that Cancellara reigned the group together to allow the Schlecks to fully engage with the peloton, whilst "pretending" to be doing it for the good of the tour........?
(I didn't get to see much of it yesterday)

Probably but he shouldn't have had any right to have a say in what any of the other teams did up to the finish. Why they also anulled the points is also very pathetic and stupid (a bit like me).

Farrar has a hairline fracture of his wrist but will start today. (He's taken a hefty dose of HTFU). Christian Vande Velde has broken ribs and won't start so Garmin's priorities have changed again. They'll be about stage wins now I think.

I think Hushovd is a nailed on certainty for the green jersey this year.

I was torn yesterday about transferring Ryder Hesjedal - if Vande Velde came back, would they try to get him back into GC time? That'd mean Ryder would be doing fuck all and a waste of 12 precious fantasy points. If he was out, Ryder may be let loose to do his own thing.

I kept him, and now I'm glad. Come on Ryder!

**
ghincapie** Preparing for battle. Today you have to be an a-hole, to stay in front. So I will go ahead and apologize in advance.

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I imagine a lot of riders will change their bike before the cobbled sections start.

They're not allowed to do roadside changes, they have to get a bike from the team car which would make it a bit slow.

They don't want Cancellara picking up his 'special' bike and freewheeling to victory then stashing it in the bushes just before the end!

Probably but he shouldn't have had any right to have a say in what any of the other teams did up to the finish. Why they also anulled the points is also very pathetic and stupid (a bit like me).

Think this waiting thing is rather gentlemanly and admirable. Armstrong talked about 60 people crashing, so hardly just bad luck or bad riding. Saxo Bank sure benefited from waiting for everyone, but so did a lot of other teams as well

Pic of the cobbles from the 5 live cycling chap on twitter: http://tweetphoto.com/31116446
Nasty!

It is gentlemanly - just dont think the reason he did it was any other than to allow his teammates to get back into the GC

They're not actually doing the Arenberg though are they?

They're not allowed to do roadside changes, they have to get a bike from the team car which would make it a bit slow.

They don't want Cancellara picking up his 'special' bike and freewheeling to victory then stashing it in the bushes just before the end!

They are not allowed to do roadside changes during the cobbled sections only. Some teams have been complaining (how out of character!) this morning that they can't place support staff with spare wheels and bikes in the cobbled sections.

They're not actually doing the Arenberg though are they?

No. They finish at the entrance to the Arenberg, but the final cobbled section ends 7 kms from the stage finish.

Ryder is in the break away! As is Cummings.

Want. Live. Coverage!

can someone PM me a streaming link pls? :)

When is live coverage available? Anyway, whenever it is, can someone PM me please? Pweeze?

Euro sport kicks off at 1:00pm

Live coverage rarely starts before 2 pm local time, with the exception being the mountain stages. Cool your jets folks.

Probably but he shouldn't have had any right to have a say in what any of the other teams did up to the finish. Why they also anulled the points is also very pathetic and stupid (a bit like me).

He doesn't have a right to have a say, but like any other person he has the right to ask and frankly all of the teams could have just said no, we're still going to race. Nothing was laid down in law here. All of these teams complaining that there wasn't a race to the end are being ab it crap, afterall, they could have decided to contest it if they wanted to.

As for anulling the points, none of them deserved any because none of them raced for them at the end. As for Thor whinging about the lack of racing, it doesn't really affect him in the long term because no one else got any. The only exceptionis Chavanel, who is going to get overhauled pretty quickly anyway.

Hushovd also benefitted from the go slow, if the GC riders had raced up the Cote du Rosier he'd have almost definitely been dropped and would not have been in a position to contest the sprint at the end.

Chavanel will be hiding in the pack for the rest of the tour. No doubt about that.

I think Saxo are still going to be going for team points, so I would expect Cancellara to run out today. this is his kind of stage.

Brothers Schleck aren't going to be kicking on until the mountains anyway. That's where the GC gets sorted out.

Chavanel will be hiding in the pack for the rest of the tour. No doubt about that.

He's had a good Tour already, regardless of what he does now, and I'd fancy him to be in yellow until the weekend at least, but to suggest he's done and will hide in the pack is insulting to him. He'll be on the attack again in this race, of that there is no doubt, it's in his DNA.

Hah, just listening to the commentary of yesterdays stage. They think the commissars might have asked Chavanel to ease up a bit after the crash. Glad he went on and got yellow, he deserves it for all the attacks he does!

I am hoping Geraint Thomas can step up today - i reckon he has a real chance at a stage victory

Incidentally, If you install silverlight[urgh], the new Eurosport player has HD channel on it as well, which is good. almost looks good on the computer.

They still can't get the show times right though!

This stage looks amazing, torn between watching online and waiting to get home to watch the highlights with a beer. Problem is ignoring all media until I get home!

Chavanel will be hiding in the pack for the rest of the tour. No doubt about that.

Never.

Thats like giving the donkey a taste of the carrot, and thinking it wont chase it anymore. He'll be worse better than ever.