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Tour de France '07 - History as it should've been
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| Squire |
Posted on 02-06-2012 15:18
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Welcome to the 2007 edition of the world's greatest bike race!
[IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/tourmap.png[/IMG-r]As ever, the Tour de France offers three-and-a-half thousand kilometers of pain, suffering and spectacular scenery spread over three weeks, finishing on the Champs Élysées in the French capital. For the first time ever though, the opening backdrop is being provided by the UK capital. London hosts the opening prologue time trial.
As opposed to last year's race, which was marred by doping scandals, all the current big names in cycling are present in London. The 2007 edition will be a fresh start for the Tour de France!
The contenders
Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) Odds: 2.87
[IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/vino2.jpg[/IMG-r]
The 9th largest country on earth has put their entire resources behind this new team, Astana, which has grown from the ruins of the old Liberty Seguros setup. They will already be contesting overall victory in this year's Tour. The reason? Alexandre Vinokourov. The Kazakh finally won a GT last year, and is the biggest favourite on the starting line in London.
"I've prepared pretty well. So it's this year or never. On paper I have all the skills to win" he said before the race.
Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) Odds: 5.00[IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/valverde2.jpg[/IMG-r]
The Spanish rider shone brightly but briefly on the 2005 Tour. He's the kind of rider who has it in him to dominate at high altitude, but there are some question marks. His time trialing for one, and then there's the fact that he's actually never finished the Tour de France.
Andreas Klöden (Astana) Odds: 5.00[IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/kloden2.jpg[/IMG-r]
Maybe Astana have the winner in their ranks, not Vinokourov, but Klöden. The German has a strong history in the race, is consistant in the mountains, and is likely to be the best against the clock too. Jan Ullrich's former lieutenant has been on the podium in Paris twice, and if Vinokourov should fail at some stage, Klöden is fully capable of assuming responsibility.
Cadel Evans (Predictor - Lotto) Odds: 13.00[IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/evans2.jpg[/IMG-r]
The Australian is always there or thereabouts, and rides a very respectable time trial as well. Last year he finished 5th, and he arrives in London on the back of a strong 2nd place in the preparation race Dauphiné Libéré, only beaten by Christophe Moreau.
Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) Odds: 13.00[IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/sastre3.jpg[/IMG-r]
Last year, the Spanish climbing specialist finished all three Grand Tours, bagging 4th places at both the Tour and the Vuelta. His time trialing capabilities leave a lot to be desired, but Sastre never has a bad day.
Stay tuned as it all kicks off in the very heart of London!
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 02-06-2012 15:23
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Looks nice. Good luck with this. |
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| Rory426 |
Posted on 02-06-2012 15:26
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Under 23
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This one looks interesting. I'll be following along here. |
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| fcancellara |
Posted on 02-06-2012 15:27
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Good luck with this, it looks very nice so far 
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 02-06-2012 15:31
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World Champion
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Great! And I have a feeling I know who you will be.... 
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| lluuiiggii |
Posted on 02-06-2012 15:31
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Grand Tour Champion
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 Yay
Good luck, will be you assuming a *cof* Caisse *cof* team, or just reporting the race?
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 02-06-2012 15:38
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This looks promising. I remember you would start a story with Barloworld, or gave a preview in the Discovery topic...  It's either them or Caisse. |
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| Squire |
Posted on 02-06-2012 15:45
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Oh, I love the enthusiasm!
About the team, you will see when I continue. But there is a correct suggestion from one of you. I'm writing the prologue report at the moment.
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| Zoom123 |
Posted on 02-06-2012 16:15
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Good Luck
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 02-06-2012 16:27
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Interesting idea for a story! |
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| baggieboys32 |
Posted on 02-06-2012 16:39
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Looks good, will follow, it should make for a good read
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 21:31
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 02-06-2012 16:49
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Your Discovery Channel story is one of the 5, maybe 3 best stories I've read on this forum and this beginning already looks very nice. I'm looking forward to more!
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 02-06-2012 16:54
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Good Luck, looks interesting to me so I will follow 
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| olabj |
Posted on 02-06-2012 17:24
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cunego59 wrote:
Your Discovery Channel story is one of the 5, maybe 3 best stories I've read on this forum and this beginning already looks very nice. I'm looking forward to more!
I'll say
Really looking forward to this.. btw, is you DC story completely dead or is there any chance for revival? I remeber reading it back on the Norwegian FM forum
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| Geezar10 |
Posted on 02-06-2012 17:36
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Domestique
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Looks like it could be very interesting I'll definitely follow this. Good luck with whoever you choose |
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| Squire |
Posted on 02-06-2012 17:56
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Prologue [IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/profil1.gif[/IMG-r]
London - London
7.9 km
Saturday 7 July
Today's prologue took place on a flat, fast course through the heart of London town. Going past all the main sights of the city, the time trial finished on the Mall in front of St. James Palace. Home favourite and Olympic pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins was tipped to be in hot contention for the first Maillot Jaune of the 2007 Tour de France, along with countryman David Millar.
"The opportunity is there for me to take the yellow jersey, [IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/wiggins2.jpg[/IMG-r]and what better place to take it? I think David Millar's had the same objective from day one. We both realize the opportunity that's there for us." Wiggins said before the prologue.
It wasn't to be, though. One of the earliest starters, the French TT champion Beniot Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux), set a blistering time which proved hard to beat. Bradley Wiggins did a great ride, but clocked in one second behind Vaugrenard. Millar, who started just afterwards, was four seconds off the pace.
Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins flew through the London streets, but was unable to take the lead.
It wasn't until Andreas Klöden's ride that Vaugrenard's lead expired. The German, part of the formidable Astana team, tore into the prologue. As he hit the line on the Mall, he was 12 seconds faster than the French champion. Klöden's ride is certain to put some fear into Astana's rivals for the overall.
Andreas Klöden with a storming prologue.
The real favourite for the stage, amidst all the talk of the British riders, was World TT champion Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC). In contrast to the home favourites, the Swiss powerhouse lived up to the expectations. His switft ride took him through the course in 10 minutes 31 seconds, which was 11 seconds faster than Klöden.
The World champion applying the power!
Cancellara's amazing time stood throughout the day, although George Hincapie (Discovery) and pre-race favourite Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) came close.
This means that Cancellara dons the first yellow jersey of the[IMG-r]https://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac43/christian_gr/tour07/0-23.png[/IMG-r] 2007 Tour de France. But contenders, beware! The Kazakh horde of Astana looks threatening.
Stage results
| 1 | Fabian Cancellara   | Team CSC | 10'31 | | 2 | Andreas Klöden | Astana Team | + 11 | | 3 | George Hincapie | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | + 23 | | 4 | Alexandre Vinokourov | Astana Team | s.t. | | 5 | Benoît Vaugrenard  | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 6 | Sylvain Chavanel | Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone | + 24 | | 7 | Cadel Evans | Predictor - Lotto | s.t. | | 8 | Bradley Wiggins | Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone | s.t. | | 9 | Vladimir Gusev | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | + 26 | | 10 | David Zabriskie | Team CSC | + 27 | | 11 | Thomas Dekker | Rabobank | s.t. | | 12 | David Millar | Saunier Duval - Prodir | + 28 | | 13 | Vladimir Karpets | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 14 | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | + 29 | | 15 | Andrey Kashechkin | Astana Team | + 30 |
Spoiler | 16 | José Iván Gutiérrez | Caisse d'Epargne | + 31 | | 17 | Paolo Savoldelli | Astana Team | + 33 | | 18 | Manuel Quinziato | Liquigas | s.t. | | 19 | Andriy Grivko | Team Milram | s.t. | | 20 | Levi Leipheimer | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 21 | Linus Gerdemann | T-Mobile Team | + 35 | | 22 | Michael Rogers | T-Mobile Team | + 36 | | 23 | Mikel Astarloza | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 37 | | 24 | Óscar Pereiro | Caisse d'Epargne | + 38 | | 25 | Sébastien Rosseler | Quick Step - Innergetic | s.t. | | 26 | Rik Verbrugghe | Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone | + 39 | | 27 | William Bonnet | Crédit Agricole | s.t. | | 28 | Christophe Moreau | AG2R Prévoyance | s.t. | | 29 | Kim Kirchen | T-Mobile Team | + 40 | | 30 | Jens Voigt | Team CSC | + 41 | | 31 | Yaroslav Popovych | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | + 42 | | 32 | Filippo Pozzato | Liquigas | s.t. | | 33 | Markus Fothen | Team Gerolsteiner | s.t. | | 34 | Marzio Bruseghin | Lampre - Fondital | s.t. | | 35 | Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 36 | Geraint Thomas | Barloworld | + 43 | | 37 | Stefan Schumacher | Team Gerolsteiner | s.t. | | 38 | Denis Menchov | Rabobank | s.t. | | 39 | Juan Manuel Gárate | Quick Step - Innergetic | + 44 | | 40 | Christian Vande Velde | Team CSC | + 45 | | 41 | Laurent Lefèvre | Bouygues Télécom | + 46 | | 42 | Gert Steegmans | Quick Step - Innergetic | s.t. | | 43 | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic | s.t. | | 44 | Stef Clement | Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 45 | Antonio Colom | Astana Team | s.t. | | 46 | Tomas Vaitkus | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | + 47 | | 47 | Bert Grabsch | T-Mobile Team | s.t. | | 48 | Brett Lancaster | Team Milram | s.t. | | 49 | Daniele Bennati | Lampre - Fondital | s.t. | | 50 | Carlos Barredo | Quick Step - Innergetic | s.t. | | 51 | Sérgio Paulinho | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | + 48 | | 52 | Philippe Gilbert | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 53 | Bernhard Kohl | Team Gerolsteiner | s.t. | | 54 | Thomas Lövkvist | Française des Jeux | + 49 | | 55 | Haimar Zubeldia | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 56 | Chris Horner | Predictor - Lotto | s.t. | | 57 | Stéphane Goubert | AG2R Prévoyance | + 50 | | 58 | Robert Hunter | Barloworld | s.t. | | 59 | Óscar Freire | Rabobank | s.t. | | 60 | Egoi MartÃnez | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 61 | Christian Moreni | Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone | s.t. | | 62 | Alessandro Ballan | Lampre - Fondital | s.t. | | 63 | Thor Hushovd | Crédit Agricole | + 51 | | 64 | Martin Elmiger | AG2R Prévoyance | s.t. | | 65 | Leif Hoste | Predictor - Lotto | s.t. | | 66 | Dmitriy Fofonov | Crédit Agricole | s.t. | | 67 | Ronny Scholz | Team Gerolsteiner | + 52 | | 68 | Sandy Casar | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 69 | Patrik Sinkewitz | T-Mobile Team | + 53 | | 70 | Thomas Voeckler | Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 71 | Rubén Pérez | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 72 | Juan Antonio Flecha | Rabobank | + 54 | | 73 | Christian Knees | Team Milram | s.t. | | 74 | Juan José Cobo | Saunier Duval - Prodir | s.t. | | 75 | Mathieu Sprick | Bouygues Télécom | + 55 | | 76 | Matteo Tosatto | Quick Step - Innergetic | s.t. | | 77 | Maxim Iglinskiy | Astana Team | s.t. | | 78 | Carlos Sastre | Team CSC | s.t. | | 79 | Francisco Pérez | Caisse d'Epargne | + 56 | | 80 | Marcus Burghardt | T-Mobile Team | s.t. | | 81 | Manuel Beltrán | Liquigas | s.t. | | 82 | Nick Nuyens | Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone | + 57 | | 83 | Sven Krauss | Team Gerolsteiner | s.t. | | 84 | Gorka Verdugo | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 58 | | 85 | Fabian Wegmann | Team Gerolsteiner | s.t. | | 86 | Johan Vansummeren | Predictor - Lotto | s.t. | | 87 | Heinrich Haussler | Team Gerolsteiner | s.t. | | 88 | Xavier Florencio | Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 89 | Romain Feillu | Agritubel | s.t. | | 90 | Kurt Asle Arvesen | Team CSC | s.t. | | 91 | Michael Boogerd | Rabobank | s.t. | | 92 | Christophe Le Mével | Crédit Agricole | s.t. | | 93 | Tadej Valjavec | Lampre - Fondital | + 59 | | 94 | Fränk Schleck | Team CSC | s.t. | | 95 | Bram De Groot | Rabobank | s.t. | | 96 | David Arroyo | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 97 | Nicolas Vogondy | Agritubel | s.t. | | 98 | Iban Mayo | Saunier Duval - Prodir | + 1'00 | | 99 | Pierrick Fédrigo | Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 100 | Sergueï Ivanov | Astana Team | s.t. | | 101 | David Cañada | Saunier Duval - Prodir | s.t. | | 102 | Mark Cavendish | T-Mobile Team | s.t. | | 103 | Iker Camaño | Saunier Duval - Prodir | s.t. | | 104 | Nicolas Portal | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 105 | Axel Merckx | T-Mobile Team | s.t. | | 106 | Erik Zabel | Team Milram | s.t. | | 107 | Johann Tschopp | Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 108 | Kanstantsin Siutsou | Barloworld | + 1'01 | | 109 | Charlie Wegelius | Liquigas | s.t. | | 110 | Jérôme Pineau | Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 111 | Bram Tankink | Quick Step - Innergetic | s.t. | | 112 | Sylvain Calzati | AG2R Prévoyance | s.t. | | 113 | Igor Antón | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 114 | Moisés Dueñas | Agritubel | s.t. | | 115 | Cyril Dessel | AG2R Prévoyance | s.t. | | 116 | Patxi Vila | Lampre - Fondital | + 1'02 | | 117 | Matthieu Ladagnous | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 118 | Daniel Navarro | Astana Team | s.t. | | 119 | Patrice Halgand | Crédit Agricole | s.t. | | 120 | Michael Albasini | Liquigas | s.t. | | 121 | Marcel Sieberg | Team Milram | + 1'03 | | 122 | Juan Mauricio Soler | Barloworld | s.t. | | 123 | Iñigo Landaluze | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 1'04 | | 124 | BenjamÃn Noval | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 125 | Rémy Di Gregorio | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 126 | Iñigo Cuesta | Team CSC | s.t. | | 127 | Alexandre Botcharov | Crédit Agricole | s.t. | | 128 | Grégory Rast | Astana Team | + 1'05 | | 129 | Staf Scheirlinckx | Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone | s.t. | | 130 | Geoffroy Lequatre | Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone | s.t. | | 131 | Simon Gerrans | AG2R Prévoyance | s.t. | | 132 | Francisco José Ventoso | Saunier Duval - Prodir | + 1'06 | | 133 | Pieter Weening | Rabobank | s.t. | | 134 | Juan Miguel Mercado | Agritubel | s.t. | | 135 | Robbie McEwen | Predictor - Lotto | s.t. | | 136 | Stuart O'Grady | Team CSC | s.t. | | 137 | Anthony Charteau | Crédit Agricole | s.t. | | 138 | Steven De Jongh | Quick Step - Innergetic | s.t. | | 139 | Ralf Grabsch | Team Milram | s.t. | | 140 | José Vicente GarcÃa Acosta | Caisse d'Epargne | s.t. | | 141 | Murilo Fischer | Liquigas | s.t. | | 142 | Bernhard Eisel | T-Mobile Team | s.t. | | 143 | Cédric Vasseur | Quick Step - Innergetic | + 1'07 | | 144 | Grischa Niermann | Rabobank | s.t. | | 145 | John Gadret | AG2R Prévoyance | s.t. | | 146 | David De la Fuente | Saunier Duval - Prodir | s.t. | | 147 | Robert Förster | Team Gerolsteiner | s.t. | | 148 | Kjell Carlström | Liquigas | s.t. | | 149 | Dario Cioni | Predictor - Lotto | s.t. | | 150 | Alessandro Cortinovis | Team Milram | s.t. | | 151 | Ivan Parra | Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone | + 1'08 | | 152 | Sébastien Chavanel | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 153 | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank | s.t. | | 154 | Daniele Righi | Lampre - Fondital | + 1'09 | | 155 | Stéphane Augé | Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone | s.t. | | 156 | José Luis Arrieta | AG2R Prévoyance | s.t. | | 157 | Mario Aerts | Predictor - Lotto | s.t. | | 158 | Fred Rodriguez | Predictor - Lotto | s.t. | | 159 | Frederik Willems | Liquigas | + 1'10 | | 160 | Anthony Geslin | Bouygues Télécom | s.t. | | 161 | Paolo Bossoni | Lampre - Fondital | s.t. | | 162 | Xabier Zandio | Caisse d'Epargne | + 1'11 | | 163 | Amets Txurruka | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 164 | Alberto Ongarato | Team Milram | s.t. | | 165 | Lilian Jégou | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 166 | Claudio Corioni | Lampre - Fondital | s.t. | | 167 | Aleksandr Kuschynski | Liquigas | s.t. | | 168 | Jorge Azanza | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 169 | Christophe Rinero | Saunier Duval - Prodir | + 1'12 | | 170 | Alexander Efimkin | Barloworld | s.t. | | 171 | Eduardo Gonzalo | Agritubel | s.t. | | 172 | Mickaël Delage | Française des Jeux | s.t. | | 173 | Félix Cárdenas | Barloworld | s.t. | | 174 | Nicolas Jalabert | Agritubel | + 1'13 | | 175 | Ludovic Turpin | AG2R Prévoyance | + 1'14 | | 176 | Enrico Poitschke | Team Milram | s.t. | | 177 | Sébastien Hinault | Crédit Agricole | s.t. | | 178 | Julian Dean | Crédit Agricole | s.t. | | 179 | Paolo Longo Borghini | Barloworld | + 1'15 | | 180 | Giampaolo Cheula | Barloworld | s.t. | | 181 | Danilo Napolitano | Lampre - Fondital | + 1'16 | | 182 | Wim Vansevenant | Predictor - Lotto | + 1'17 | | 183 | Iñaki Isasi | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. | | 184 | Enrico Degano | Barloworld | + 1'18 | | 185 | Rubén Lobato | Saunier Duval - Prodir | + 1'19 | | 186 | Peter Wrolich | Team Gerolsteiner | s.t. | | 187 | Benoit Salmon | Agritubel | + 1'26 | | 188 | Freddy Bichot | Agritubel | + 1'32 | | 189 | Cédric Hervé | Agritubel | + 1'34 |
Photogallery
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| lluuiiggii |
Posted on 02-06-2012 18:10
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8542
Joined: 30-07-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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New reporting style (compared to DC story), interesting As long as the headline doesn't give the winner (hope it won't), it's good (I like the suspense while reading). And the photogallery is great too
Expected win for Cancellara, and some realistic results (podium riders and their gap ).
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| fcancellara |
Posted on 02-06-2012 18:26
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5194
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As lluuiiggii already said, very nice reporting style!
I will follow
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| JuanMotr |
Posted on 02-06-2012 19:50
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Domestique
Posts: 701
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Definitely great idea i will follow |
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| Squire |
Posted on 02-06-2012 20:18
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1404
Joined: 24-07-2009
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olabj wrote:
cunego59 wrote:
Your Discovery Channel story is one of the 5, maybe 3 best stories I've read on this forum and this beginning already looks very nice. I'm looking forward to more!
I'll say
Really looking forward to this.. btw, is you DC story completely dead or is there any chance for revival? I remeber reading it back on the Norwegian FM forum
Thanks, both cunego59 & olabj! (and others too)
I don't know about my Discovery story. It's not officially dead, who knows when I feel the urge to update it again?
lluuiiggii wrote:
Expected win for Cancellara, and some realistic results (podium riders and their gap ).
Yes, it seems like I really nailed the prologue stats
BTW, some credits: Stages are made by the PCMNorge crew, while DB & graphics (jerseys etc.) are mostly done by myself.
Hoping to have stage 1 up soon
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