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24-11-2024 05:58
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Tour de France 2008 - unveiled
zutcorp
issoisso wrote:
Dankan wrote:
It suits Conta well. Smile


yup. but then again, if there's no tailwind on the 29km TT, the results should be the same as this year's final TT (in which there was a tailwind so the differences were far smaller). so it balances out.

I'm thinking Contador, Evans and Rasmussen, and I'm waiting to see how Valverde bounces back.


except there will be a cold day en hell before Rasmussen rides in le tour again!
Manager of Protour champions 2008, Carlsberg Cycling!! (wow is it that long ago I was in the management game?)
 
issoisso
zutcorp wrote:
except there will be a cold day en hell before Rasmussen rides in le tour again!


unfortunately there's still a chance Rasmussen will ride. if they can't pin anything on him, he can appeal to the courts, who can force ASO to let him.

hey, if it was up to me deciding who was in, it would be wide open next year. unfortunately, I don't get to decide Smile
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"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
 
jolly_antunes
I think the route is pretty interesting. Not a "wow" but a "we will see"Smile
 
Balaverde
As many have mentioned, the Spanish riders are really offered a nice shot in this route.

Because of the lack of TT kilometers, but because of the (very?) short stages, as well.
There's one very long mountain stage (read: THE stage of the tour) but two very short ones, too.

I think it suits Contador perfectly well (if he rides) and Rasmussen too (if he rides)...

And issoisso was spot on to say that the route planners would favourise the defending champion Grin
 
mdd31
Balaverde wrote:
I think it suits Contador perfectly well (if he rides) and Rasmussen too (if he rides)...


Not only will Contador ride but he will win and Team Discovery, I mean Astana will continue the Johan Bruyneel dynasty! Hopefully we have a lot of Contador fans on this website because I don't see him losing the TDF in the near future. I am not sure he can make a run like Armstrong but multiple titles is almost going to be automatic for him especially if he keeps riding for Bruyneel. The greatness of Bruyneel as a Team Manager does not get enough press. I know he had Armstrong who is the greatest rider of all time but he still had to put together a plan to win plus he proved he could do it without Armstrong so his legend only grows.

Hopefully Rasmussen will never ride again because he is a doper and a piece of garbage. Of course if he does ride then everyone will be watching him so he might not be able to use as many drugs as in the past and I will enjoy watching him crack on the mountain stages and abandon the tour!
 
issoisso
mdd31 wrote:
Balaverde wrote:
I think it suits Contador perfectly well (if he rides) and Rasmussen too (if he rides)...


Not only will Contador ride but he will win and Team Discovery, I mean Astana will continue the Johan Bruyneel dynasty! Hopefully we have a lot of Contador fans on this website because I don't see him losing the TDF in the near future. I am not sure he can make a run like Armstrong but multiple titles is almost going to be automatic for him especially if he keeps riding for Bruyneel. The greatness of Bruyneel as a Team Manager does not get enough press. I know he had Armstrong who is the greatest rider of all time but he still had to put together a plan to win plus he proved he could do it without Armstrong so his legend only grows.

Hopefully Rasmussen will never ride again because he is a doper and a piece of garbage. Of course if he does ride then everyone will be watching him so he might not be able to use as many drugs as in the past and I will enjoy watching him crack on the mountain stages and abandon the tour!


aah the supreme irony of this post Wink



anyway, for those interested in the stage profiles, cyclingnews has them:

https://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/...?id=stages

just click on the stage's number to see it's profile
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jolly_antunes
i can't see themFrown
 
issoisso
jolly_antunes wrote:
i can't see themFrown


only the profiles for the mountain stages are there for now
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"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
 
SportingNonsense
The stages to Hautacam, Jauziers and Alpe D'Huez should be the decisive ones.
farm8.staticflickr.com/7458/9357923136_f1e68270f3_n.jpg
 
issoisso
I have a feeling this will be the second tour in a row where something as small as the direction of the wind in a TT will decide the overall.

also, there are no time bonuses this year. food for thought: if that had been the case this year, Evans would've won the overall
Edited by issoisso on 25-10-2007 19:36
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"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
 
SportingNonsense
Will there still be time bonuses at the intermediate sprints? If not then the early stages will be interesting, whoever wins gets the Yellow jersey Pfft
farm8.staticflickr.com/7458/9357923136_f1e68270f3_n.jpg
 
issoisso
that's the whole point Grin


also, just thought of something: most climbs are steady-incline, no big variations or breaks in rhythm. that's good for the power climbers and bad for Contador, etc.
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"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
 
aavf
Without considering wind in TTs (like isso said could decide) Clearly it favors climbers that are not bad at all in TTs. For me Contador, Valverde, why not a little surprise with Zubeldia or Kirchen, for surprise, or not i bet in Dekker (if Menchov fails again) with a good team support and a peak of form, think he can do it. Of course Evans and Leipheimer should be in top also.
 
CrueTrue
Forget about Valverde. If he's without dope next year too he won't stand a chance.
 
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issoisso
Valverde is young. he's only likely to improve. maybe not to win in 2008, but later.

also, I don't think he stopped taking juice this year. quite simply he had never gone so far in the Tour before and the prolonged effort took it's toll.
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified

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"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
 
stuartmcstuart
I expect the TT to really favour Cadel here. I'm not sure if removing time bonuses will be altogether a good move, as it kept plenty of riders in the mix early on in the tour. I'm kinda glad the prologues gone though.
 
ABridgeTooFar
Uh, the wind direction decided the Tour?!? I think there were some other stages than that particular TT. Evans lost the tour when he did not go with the one attack in the Alps. Sorry I don't remember the stage. He even admitted it himself when he was interviewed after the tour. He stated that he had a lot of energy left at the end of the stage but he missed the one break that had Rasmussen, Levi and Contador and a few others.
 
CrueTrue
issoisso wrote:
Valverde is young. he's only likely to improve. maybe not to win in 2008, but later.

also, I don't think he stopped taking juice this year. quite simply he had never gone so far in the Tour before and the prolonged effort took it's toll.


His other results weren't any good compared to 2006. And with Fuentes gone I think it's likely that that's the reason for his bad season Wink
 
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Balaverde
That's not entirely true, I think. I think he planned the season really bad. In fantastic shape in early February / March - won Valenciana and Murcia - even won the Murcia TT.

He DID finish runner-up in L-B-L AND Fléche, not up to speed in Amstel, but still 7th...

But to me, he should kill that March warm-up (after all, not win those races) and then be all in for April. In perfect shape he should earn more than 5th (as he did this season).

And about the tour. There are simply too many kilometers for a Vuelta-only rider. Rasmussen was killed by those 20-50+ kilometers in his first two TdF's as well. Valverde won at Courchevelle in 2004 (?) but we never saw him ride on. He looked very well-prepared at the start of this Tour - the only one to ride with Moreau when he attacked. But he is not yet a TdF 3 week rider, IMO.
 
CrueTrue
2nd in LBL and Fléche? My memory is .. gone.

I retract my words then.
 
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