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Tour de France '07 - History as it should've been
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| RHW |
Posted on 27-06-2012 14:49
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I'll go for AC, but it'll be close! |
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| JuanMotr |
Posted on 01-07-2012 12:31
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come on sqiure we want to know how it should have been  |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 01-07-2012 13:54
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We want to see Vino take it home  |
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| Squire |
Posted on 06-07-2012 07:15
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I'm being very busy at the moment, but the story should continue at the weekend now 
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 06-07-2012 09:41
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Ah, good thing this hasn't stopped |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 06-07-2012 12:45
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Squire wrote:
I'm being very busy at the moment, but the story should continue at the weekend now
Really hope so
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| JuanMotr |
Posted on 20-07-2012 23:03
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will this continue?  |
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| Squire |
Posted on 20-07-2012 23:09
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It will, it will, don't worry!
It's just that I have a very hard time squeezing the (pretty time-consuming) reporting into my currently very busy schedule.
I know I promised a new report last weekend or so, and it didn't happen, but this time I promise to keep the promise.
New report(s) during the weekend!
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 20-07-2012 23:48
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Promising Promises
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| Welwyn |
Posted on 22-07-2012 00:05
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Wow, just seen this and instead of getting some much needed sleep spent the last hour reading it.
Shame we didn't get anything even approaching my favourite moment of the 2007 tour, the famous Wiggins long, lone breakaway on stage 6, the 40th anniversary of Tom Simpson's death.
Can't wait for the end of this now.
Edited by Welwyn on 22-07-2012 00:05 |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-05-2013 08:13
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| Squire |
Posted on 22-07-2012 23:06
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2nd rest day 
Pau
Tuesday 24 July
Two weeks of racing are behind us as the race stops in Pau for a day so that the riders can catch some breath. The two Pyrenean stages tackled so far have been punishing. What's the status of the race as it rests up before the assault on the intimidating Col d'Aubisque?
Alexandre Vinokourov
During the second week, Astana have stamped  their authority on the race. The pre-race favourite, Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov, took hold of the yellow jersey due to his storming performance in the stage 13 time trial.
In the last two stages, his team has been put under pressure, but we haven't seen the daring attacks that are needed to crack the race leader. Most likely, he can't be cracked anyway. The hard man from Kazakhstan looks set to take the yellow jersey to Paris for the first time in his carreer, and bring glory to the new Astana team.
Positives
Crédit Agricole
Where Tom Boonen's Quickstep - Innergetic squad has  been a bit hit and miss, the green train of Crédit Agricole has been steaming across Southern France lately. Thor Hushovd's boys helped him take over the green jersey from Boonen, and a strong lead-out from Sébastian Hinault and Julian Dean saw the big Norwegian win stage 11.
The breakaways
With the favourites too scared to attack each other on the Alpine stage to Briancon, it was the escapees' turn to shine. Predictor - Lotto's Dario Cioni took advantage of the situation, and destroyed breakaway companion Cyril Dessel (Ag2r) on the uphill finish in the historic city to grab a great stage win. On stage 10, the attackers were at it again. This time it was Stefan Schumacher's turn to steal some glory for himself and the Gerolsteiner team. Frenchman Jérôme Pineau (Bouygues Télécom) also deserves a special mention, as he has figured in lots of breakaways over the last few days.
Juan Mauricio Soler
The young Colombian can't ride a time trial to save his life, we learned in Albi on stage 13. But over the last couple of days, we've come to learn his strengths. Soler can climb mountains. The new man on the block from Colombia broke away over the Port de Pailhères on stage 14, and stayed with the biggest names on the last climb to Plateau de Beille to finish 6th. Yesterday, he was strong once again. The 24-year-old is definitely a man for the future.
Disappointments
Iban Mayo
The man heading up our "Positives" list on the first rest day, now finds himself on top of the less flattering list. Iban Mayo hasn't followed up on the promise of his brilliant performances in the Alps. First, he rode the worst time trial of all the contenders in Albi, then he started losing chunks of time in the mountains too. As if that wasn't enough, he lost his polkadot jersey to Pineau yesterday, and doesn't look like retaking it.
The climbers
On stage 9, the climbers had two huge climbs on which to put the time trialers into difficulty, but were content to let the breakaway fight it out for the stage win. The likes of Rasmussen, Sastre and Mayo didn't turn a pedal in anger all day, and rolled in with a 80-man strong peloton. Yesterday was a bit of a let-down as well, because despite Contador and Rasmussen showing their cards on the last climb, all the preceeding climbs were neutralized by conservative riding.
The French
No stage wins over the last week is not good enough by the host-nation. One French team has won a stage, but Crédit Agricole had a Norwegian at the pointy end of their sprint train. The French public does of course have Chavanel's heroic stint in the yellow jersey during the first week to be happy about, but they would surely want their riders to step it up in the coming days.
Last chance
Judging by Vinokourov's stage 13 time trial, he is lightyears ahead of the other contenders in that discipline. Anybody who wants to win the 2007 Tour de France will have to put serious time between themselves and the race leader when the race goes up to the Col d'Aubisque tomorrow.
Cadel Evans rode himself out of contention for the win on the stage to Plateau de Beille, so unless the likes of Sastre or Valverde finds something absolutely special, there are only two challengers with a realistic hope of getting to the top step of the podium in Paris. It's up to Michael Rasmussen and Alberto Contador to prevent the first ever Kazakh Tour de France victory.
Now, let's get the Tour de France rolling again!
This is how things stand going into the third week:
General classification
| 1 | Alexandre Vinokourov  | Astana Team | 68h48'02 | | 2 | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank | + 45 | | 3 | Alberto Contador  | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | + 47 | | 4 | Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne | + 4'04 | | 5 | Cadel Evans | Predictor - Lotto | s.t. | | 6 | Carlos Sastre | Team CSC | + 4'05 | | 7 | Kim Kirchen | T-Mobile Team | + 5'53 | | 8 | Andreas Klöden | Astana Team | + 6'04 | | 9 | Christophe Moreau | AG2R Prévoyance | + 6'13 | | 10 | Haimar Zubeldia | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 7'18 |
Points classification
| 1 | Thor Hushovd  | Crédit Agricole | | 209 | | 2 | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic | | 206 | | 3 | Robert Hunter | Barloworld | | 185 | | 4 | Robbie McEwen | Predictor - Lotto | | 183 | | 5 | Erik Zabel | Team Milram | | 176 |
Mountain classification
| 1 | Jérôme Pineau  | Bouygues Télécom | | 145 | | 2 | Iban Mayo | Saunier Duval - Prodir | | 141 | | 3 | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | | 127 |
Young rider classification
| 1 | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | 68h48'49 | | 2 | Juan Mauricio Soler | Barloworld | + 9'19 | | 3 | Bernhard Kohl | Team Gerolsteiner | + 13'03 |
Team classification
| 1 | Astana Team | 206h41'09 | | 2 | Team CSC | + 11'13 | | 3 | Caisse d'Epargne | + 13'43 |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 22-07-2012 23:16
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Just seems to be between the top three at the moment
But a lot can happen in the final week
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| Squire |
Posted on 22-07-2012 23:18
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sutty68 wrote:
Just seems to be between the top three at the moment
But a lot can happen in the final week
Not that much
It's basically just the Aubisque and the final time trial.
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| lluuiiggii |
Posted on 23-07-2012 00:03
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Yay, story going again Good it had stopped on the rest day, this report served as a good recap of what had happened
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| Panda Claws |
Posted on 27-07-2012 12:23
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I hope this continues soon, it is a good read. |
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| Schleck96 |
Posted on 27-07-2012 13:20
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I want to see Rasmussen cracking the rest of the field.
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| tsj |
Posted on 08-08-2012 20:05
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Hi, don't what to bug you about the story but really looking forward to the last stages - cheering heavily for Vino here. Especially after the Olympics |
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| NicoPlayboy95 |
Posted on 19-08-2012 16:35
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Go Alberto! |
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 10-01-2013 08:52
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Just wondering if this story will ever finish? It was one of the first I was following and remembered it was still undecided.
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Lierse - Pizza Ullo - The Ultimate Café Pedro Cycling League |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 10-01-2013 09:43
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Doubt that it will finish now, he hasn't posted anything since last July
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