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Tour de France 2012: Pre-Race thread
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| carmelobymelo |
Posted on 02-06-2012 21:05
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It's Wiggins vs. Evans at the Tour, unless Andy attaks on every stage like last year on galibier.
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| fickman |
Posted on 02-06-2012 22:50
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Bosskardo wrote:
fickman wrote:
devilswim818 wrote:
Valverde will ride the Tour i think its not a good idea to underestimate him because the route is almost perfect for him.
And I am happy that he is back in cycling so i hope that he win the tour and i hope that the arrogant schlecks not win the tour
Are u kidding me??? Have u heard about the 100 km TT´s??? Since when is Valverde a TT specialist??? I think u drunk to much.
On the other hand, there's not many hard mountain stages. Maybe thats what he ment. 
The only thing he does is to sprint in the last 200 mts and I dont see him winning back in those 200 mts the 3 -4 Minutes he is going to lose in the 100 kms TT. |
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| ruben |
Posted on 03-06-2012 00:08
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I really hope this year at least 80% of the top 15 pre-race favorites survive the first week.
Last year was a disaster when about 70% of them crashed out or where at least injured/shaken before the mountains even begun. Which led to the catastrophy that is Evans, Schlecks vs some guys that were maybe considered for top 20 but definately not top 10. Not exactly the greatest Tour in terms of width of field....
So I really hope that Menchov, Sanchez, Vandenbroeck, Evans, Wiggins, Gesink, the Schlecks, Cobo, Froome, Nibali and others stay on their bike and don't get ill or injured this time. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 26-11-2024 10:10
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| fcancellara |
Posted on 03-06-2012 00:12
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I agree with you ruben, let's hope the favourites don't get injured at all, even those that I dislike.
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 03-06-2012 09:00
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Yeah, it's got to be a fair battle. And in cycling, I never want anyone to fall, not even riders I dislike. The worst I hope for is a flat tire, once in a while |
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| Teddy The Creator |
Posted on 03-06-2012 09:02
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I hope Nibbles is in good form. If anyone could win other than Cadel I'd want it to be Nibbles.
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| Tilion |
Posted on 03-06-2012 09:15
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Well next year tour will be won by Evans for sure;p, he can win 3 years by row, nex year probably BMC will sign Szmyd so big boost in moutains for Cadel! |
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| Teddy The Creator |
Posted on 03-06-2012 09:20
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Tilion wrote:
Well next year tour will be won by Evans for sure;p, he can win 3 years by row, nex year probably BMC will sign Szmyd so big boost in moutains for Cadel!
Don't be too sure. He'll be 36 by then, and they may even have Nibali. I'd worry about this year before we start talking three in a row. 
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 03-06-2012 09:26
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Teddy The Creator wrote:
Tilion wrote:
Well next year tour will be won by Evans for sure;p, he can win 3 years by row, nex year probably BMC will sign Szmyd so big boost in moutains for Cadel!
Don't be too sure. He'll be 36 by then, and they may even have Nibali. I'd worry about this year before we start talking three in a row.
Indeed. And next year Contador's back, and he's be wanting revenge |
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| baggieboys32 |
Posted on 04-06-2012 00:30
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Is it just me, or are we in for a pretty weak startlist this year... All the favourites are either too old or too young, or can't TT... Unless we see some explosive mountain stages, unlikely considering how the season has been so far, this could be a really bad TdF :/
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 04-06-2012 01:19
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And to the TheManxMissile, Cav is very likely to pull out of Tour midway to prepare for Olympics Wink
alak, he'll see it through to the end i have no doubts
on the excitement issue, its the f'ing Tour, it will be exciting as its the one every rider wants to win. And if not itll be fun to watch Brunyeel try to run over the Schlecks when they dont attack
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 04-06-2012 02:55
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Okay here is my take;
GC - Should come down to a battle between Wiggens and Evans, filling out the rest of the top 5 could also be interesting...Gesink, Menchov, Nibali, Sanchez, Schlecks, someone from Garmin? How much does the injury affect Sanchez?
So here is my guess - Evans, Wiggens, Sanchez, Gesink, Menchov.
-Yep I'm not putting the Schlecks in the top 5, just too much TT, and a very balanced field that will have too many riders in contention willing to bring them back on attacks.
Points - Cavendish.
-Okay just for fun I'll through some thoughts out there, will Gilbert be able to get enough points on the hills and intermediate sprints to take this category? Finally we will get the chance to see how Peter Sagan does against the elite, he has dominated the lesser competition. Which Farrar will show up? The one that will challenge Cav for fastest man in the world or the one still broken from the loss of WW?
KoM - Easily the hardest category to try and guess at, could take Andy here as he will probably be very aggressive, but I'm going to go with Arnold Jeannesson of FDJ. I don't think FDJ really has a whole lot to ride for other than stage hunting, and I think he will be their top man. Still young enough to likely be given some room to run by the peloton I think he will become the hope for FDJ like Voeckler was for Europcar.
Young Rider- After my mistake here I'm going to correct this...I think the question may be which team is willing to go after the white jersey? Several young riders that could contend like Van Garderen and Kruijswijk will have to work for their team leaders and may not be able to fight for the honors. The other option is a team with a young rider as their leader, Taaramae or Poels. I think Rein takes this category, but it will be perhaps the most contested of all the jerseys.
Team - Another hard one to guess RSNT will be tough to beat here because of the depth of their talent, but BMC will also come loaded. To round out the "US" teams Garmin also has several good, but not great, riders that could look for top 15 finishes. The other major contender for the GC comes from Sky and I expect they come ready to win this as well, but will they have too much on their plate? Can they go for the GC, Points, Team and still have the Olympics in the back of their mind? I wouldn't be surprised to see continental team Europcar up fairly high in this either. But I will take BMC to finished with top Honors here.
So in Summary
GC: Evans, Wiggens, Gesink
Points: Cavendish, Gilbert, Sagan
Mountain: Jeannesson, Rolland, A. Schleck
Young Rider: Taaramae, Kruijswijk, Poels
Team: BMC, RSNT, Sky
EDIT: Fixed Young rider classification, (had it in my mind the cut off was '86...my brain is still not on 2012...)
EDIT: Fixed Sanchez due to crash in Crit. du Dauphine.
Edited by Kentaurus on 04-06-2012 14:48
AZTECA - NBCSN  |
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| Aquarius |
Posted on 04-06-2012 06:24
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baggieboys32 wrote:
Is it just me, or are we in for a pretty weak startlist this year... All the favourites are either too old or too young, or can't TT... Unless we see some explosive mountain stages, unlikely considering how the season has been so far, this could be a really bad TdF :/
A good TDF with a strong startlist is when one guys is the strongest both in ITT and mountains (also when he has the strongest team). Expect a sprinter with another strong team to be quite above the other sprinters and you'll get a very huge excitement in front of your telly. Say you'll wonder for about 5 seconds who's going to win the general classification and who's the likely winner of every single flat stage.
That's just great. |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 04-06-2012 08:27
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Kentaurus wrote:
Young Rider- Obviously I have Gesink in my top 5 in the GC so I think he takes this category, but I'm not sure it will be that easy. Several others could take a shot at it. I think Rolland, Taaramae, Coppel will all take shots at this from their continental teams. I think Van Garderen would love a shot at this also, but he's going to have to spend too much time working for Evans. If Gesink somehow isn't the top guy for Rabobank, Bauke Mollema or Steven Kruijswijk could also take a shot at this. I think only one of those two will go to the Tour, not sure which.
Young Rider: Gesink, Coppel, Van Garderen
He's too old.
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| Teddy The Creator |
Posted on 04-06-2012 09:04
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Pellizotti2 wrote:
Kentaurus wrote:
Young Rider- Obviously I have Gesink in my top 5 in the GC so I think he takes this category, but I'm not sure it will be that easy. Several others could take a shot at it. I think Rolland, Taaramae, Coppel will all take shots at this from their continental teams. I think Van Garderen would love a shot at this also, but he's going to have to spend too much time working for Evans. If Gesink somehow isn't the top guy for Rabobank, Bauke Mollema or Steven Kruijswijk could also take a shot at this. I think only one of those two will go to the Tour, not sure which.
Young Rider: Gesink, Coppel, Van Garderen
He's too old.
So is Coppel I think.
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 04-06-2012 09:17
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Teddy The Creator wrote:
Pellizotti2 wrote:
Kentaurus wrote:
Young Rider- Obviously I have Gesink in my top 5 in the GC so I think he takes this category, but I'm not sure it will be that easy. Several others could take a shot at it. I think Rolland, Taaramae, Coppel will all take shots at this from their continental teams. I think Van Garderen would love a shot at this also, but he's going to have to spend too much time working for Evans. If Gesink somehow isn't the top guy for Rabobank, Bauke Mollema or Steven Kruijswijk could also take a shot at this. I think only one of those two will go to the Tour, not sure which.
Young Rider: Gesink, Coppel, Van Garderen
He's too old.
So is Coppel I think.
Yeah, he actually is. 
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| arthon |
Posted on 04-06-2012 09:20
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Teddy The Creator wrote:
Pellizotti2 wrote:
Kentaurus wrote:
Young Rider- Obviously I have Gesink in my top 5 in the GC so I think he takes this category, but I'm not sure it will be that easy. Several others could take a shot at it. I think Rolland, Taaramae, Coppel will all take shots at this from their continental teams. I think Van Garderen would love a shot at this also, but he's going to have to spend too much time working for Evans. If Gesink somehow isn't the top guy for Rabobank, Bauke Mollema or Steven Kruijswijk could also take a shot at this. I think only one of those two will go to the Tour, not sure which.
Young Rider: Gesink, Coppel, Van Garderen
He's too old.
So is Coppel I think.
Gesink already is 26 and Coppel is turning 26 in November.
For the first time in ages, I have no idea who's gonna be competing for the white jersey.  |
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| Teddy The Creator |
Posted on 04-06-2012 09:23
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arthon wrote:
Teddy The Creator wrote:
Pellizotti2 wrote:
Kentaurus wrote:
Young Rider- Obviously I have Gesink in my top 5 in the GC so I think he takes this category, but I'm not sure it will be that easy. Several others could take a shot at it. I think Rolland, Taaramae, Coppel will all take shots at this from their continental teams. I think Van Garderen would love a shot at this also, but he's going to have to spend too much time working for Evans. If Gesink somehow isn't the top guy for Rabobank, Bauke Mollema or Steven Kruijswijk could also take a shot at this. I think only one of those two will go to the Tour, not sure which.
Young Rider: Gesink, Coppel, Van Garderen
He's too old.
So is Coppel I think.
Gesink already is 26 and Coppel is turning 26 in November.
For the first time in ages, I have no idea who's gonna be competing for the white jersey.
If Rolland is the leader for Europcar, I vote for him. Or Tejay maybe..
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 04-06-2012 09:33
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Kruijswijk is still eligible for the white jersey
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 04-06-2012 09:49
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Teddy The Creator wrote:
arthon wrote:
Teddy The Creator wrote:
Pellizotti2 wrote:
Kentaurus wrote:
Young Rider- Obviously I have Gesink in my top 5 in the GC so I think he takes this category, but I'm not sure it will be that easy. Several others could take a shot at it. I think Rolland, Taaramae, Coppel will all take shots at this from their continental teams. I think Van Garderen would love a shot at this also, but he's going to have to spend too much time working for Evans. If Gesink somehow isn't the top guy for Rabobank, Bauke Mollema or Steven Kruijswijk could also take a shot at this. I think only one of those two will go to the Tour, not sure which.
Young Rider: Gesink, Coppel, Van Garderen
He's too old.
So is Coppel I think.
Gesink already is 26 and Coppel is turning 26 in November.
For the first time in ages, I have no idea who's gonna be competing for the white jersey.
If Rolland is the leader for Europcar, I vote for him. Or Tejay maybe..
Rolland will be 26 in october, so not him.
Edited by Pellizotti2 on 04-06-2012 09:50
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