Tour De France 2011

Predictions.

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

Depends who's blood he's packing.

I've heard he's already emptied Indurain, and the reason Cancellara is looking so slim is because Contador has been sipping his blood every night in the guise of a bat.

In fairness - none of them are really gravelly voiced James Coburn types. No point in picking on Cadel when you hear Contador's awkward high pitched Spanish lisp or Cavendish's ear grating Manx whine.

Chris Horner's "did I finish? what happened? Did I finish?" was in the whistle register somewhere.

missed yesterday's stage. so will probably skip straight to highlights of today.

i'm backing cuddles ftw too. andy schleck gets on my tits.

the jersey snobbery in this thread is amusing me no end btw.

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.

Are you auditioning to be a copywriter for next years Boardman adverts or something?

Won't make a difference. Boardman is unable to emote so it will all sound like the Shipping Forecast read by a northerner.

I have to agree with some that I didn't think Andy's comments were that bad. The fact is, he lost time due to him not wanting to take a risk on the descent and this will be frustrating for him (anyone who's tried to chase the rear wheel of a more ballsy rider knows how frustrating it is that no matter how hard you smash the pedals, it's the reluctance to brake and the guts to take the corners harder that gets you down faster). His comments don't make him look great - especially in a tour where so many of the riders seem to have taken hardship on the chin like Hoogerland - but I can see why h's frustrated.

Also, losing a rider on your team is going to affect you a lot more than the other riders. Yes the loss was felt by professional cycling but if you're racing and spending all your time with your team, you are inevitably going to be a lot closer to the other riders.

tl;dr - Shleck was a bit lame, obviously frustrated but not without reason. Meh anyway, Cuddles FTW.

Does anyone know where I can get ITV4's TDF theme tune as a ringtone?

Also, who do people reckon is the best TTer who isn't a GC contender?

Really?

Cancellara obv

Also, who do people reckon is the best TTer who isn't a GC contender?

Cancellara - although he has been looking a bit off form this tour (apart from in the TTT where he did a massive stint on the front)

anyone got a link to the post race interview with Andy? Apparently he was a bit of a dick?

If Sparticus doesn't win the ITT I'll eat my hat

Really?

Cancellara obv

Canellara as standard but who else? Seems loads of people have been mentioned as current or previous national TT champions.

What about Thor vs Cancellara?

anyone got a link to the post race interview with Andy? Apparently he was a bit of a dick?

http://www.itv.com/tourdefrance/2011/news/andy-schleck-complains-about-descent-into-gap-on-stage-16/

"Is this really what people want to see?"

^thanks!

It's exactly what people want to see. Doesn't he realise that he, and the tour, is entertainment?

Canellara as standard but who else? Seems loads of people have been mentioned as current or previous national TT champions.

What about Thor vs Cancellara?

Hoping Niki Terpstra will do well, he's also a bit of a powerhouse

Too bad Lars Boom is out injured

He could have gone all the way and blamed the rain for his shite bike handling skills

2 non gc contenders that'll do well in the tt? Tony Martin and Andy Schleck.

Half of Garmin team are good TTers.

He could have gone all the way and blamed the rain for his shite bike handling skills

For the Schlecks

‪BLAME IT ON THE RAIN‬‏ - YouTube

Canellara as standard but who else? Seems loads of people have been mentioned as current or previous national TT champions.

What about Thor vs Cancellara?

EBH is the Norwegian national TT champ. I recken he'll do well this year too.

Choice quotes here about the end of today's stage: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/aso-denies-descents-in-tour-de-france-are-too-dangerous

"It looks like a bike path across a wood. I trained three times in the descent and I already felt it too risky". Dramatically, Schleck added the downhill is "mortally dangerous."

David Millar and Tony Martin to go close in the TT, but Cancellara to win.