They look in panic after 2009 boring profile and race....and they should

How about a downhill time trial. Instead of a TT up Alp d'Huez, a TT down it.

Would be awesome, especially because Samu would win. Only problem is the time gaps would be tiny.

I watched a couple of DVDs from early 90's Indurain era some weeks ago and the TTs were huge! 80 kms TTT and Mountain TT with 2 big climbs. Now they're reducing the TTs too much, we need 60 km total flat TTs to perhaps have another winner that's not Contador (i know he's improving is TT but not in long flat ones).

Contador is next superstar for ASO..they aint after beating him. Long TT is boring..this one destroyes all pure climbers chanches..so far good..cant wait final profiles

That'd be really original but it would have to include cobbles all the way down and some rain-making machines if needed

and a hundred ambulances at the bottom.

I think that there might be a suprise winner for a downhill TT. Sanchez is probably the best descender of the GC riders but there might be a rider out there who has the skills to descend as fast if not faster than Samu, but is not the climbing type, therefore not showing off his skills riding in with the bus on the MT stages, if that makes sense.

Not that strange.

Hushovd, Cancellara and Samu will have chance to win it, samu has the best technique by a bit, but then other two are better machines.

i think, that if they accept that savoldelli will just come back to race them...

100 is too little, one for everyone.

On the new CQ ranking:
7. (7) [Ned] Netherlands Europe Riders 4971

Just shows you how much the whole world-selection thing is corrupt (norway is not in the top 10, neither is luxemburg or GB!)

Next year will be the Pyrenees Centenary in the TdF, so I guess that ASO will want to include in each of those stages at least one of the cols which first appeared in the 1910 edition (Col de Port, Col des Ares, Portet d'Aspet, Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet, Aubisque). It would be quite in order for the queen stage to feature a Peyresourde-Aspin-Tourmalet-Soulor/Aubisque enchâinement.

Now this makes me wonder: assuming that it will start in Pamiers, I do agree that the first Pyrenees stage should end in the Plateau de Beille, rather than in Luchon. At least, I don't see any sense in having one stage ending in Luchon and the next one right over there in Superbagnéres!
Besides, should the Plateau de Beille be approached by its west side (via Tarascon) rather than by its east side (via Ax-les-Thermes), that means the stage would have to go through the Col de Port.

This leaves the Col des Ares and the Portet d'Aspet. I can easily imagine a stage starting with the Col d'Agnes and the Port de la Core, then going through the Portet d'Aspet and the Col des Ares and finally arriving at Superbagnéres.
Perhaps the Superbagnéres is one climb too much, but after the fiasco with the last Tourmalet stage, I believe ASO will play safe with mountain stage finishes.


I just don't see how the Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin stage would fit in, as it has been years since there were four mountains stages in a row. Perhaps a little stroll around the Basque country?

From what i'm looking at GB are 10th

Ruben has turned sour and bitter "again!!!!"

Our state TTT is 100km

I don't know if you've seen this, probably have, but what the hell..
Here we go:



Impressive.

Well it's justified, as I predicted, on each ranking possible, the Netherlands is well inside the top 10 after the Vuelta.

Once again proving the UCI wrong of their 1 january to 15 august limit.

I understand how it's unfair, but don't you think that it'd be hard to only a week turn-around to alert the countries how many riders they will have? That could lead to some countries scrambling to find riders and other countries all of a sudden having to make a tougher selection.