Tour de France - 2012

[DaddyTorgo]

Race preview show on tonight, so figured we'd get the thread going.

Happy that the Criterion and the Tour de Suisse were shown this year...nice warmups.

I like the mountain stages and am less a fan of the time trials, so I'm not necessarily looking forward to the change in the race profile this year to be honest.

Disappointing about A. Schleck having to withdraw.

Given the race profile I think it sets up a lot better for Wiggins then for Evans to defend, but if either of those guys falters in their weaker aspects or gets caught out it could be quite wide-open.

Will be interesting to see if Sky can multitask and work for both Cav and Wiggins, or if one of the other sprinters starts to put an end to Cav's dominance.

[DaddyTorgo]

Well...prologue down, here we go.

Unfortunate that Sagan was over-aggressive and blew his chance early. Really sad that Tony Martin had mechanical problems so early in his ride...given that he pulled almost all that time back by the end it would have been great to see what his time would have been without...would have been a great finish against Cancella...he absolutely destroyed everyone else. Ridiculously. I think he was pissed about losing the first stage of the Tour de Suisse to Sagan and wanted to lay it down and prove he still had it.

No surprises from Wiggins/Evans.

On the "non-favorites" side...Teejay Van Garderen had a phenomenal ride. Blew me away.

[Desnudo]

[DaddyTorgo]

Holy shit. Carnage on the roads today (even moreso than the rest of the days this week). Feels like moreso then in past years.

Another nice win for Sagan.

The GC contenders who got caught out are in serious trouble - F. Schleck lost some serious time and is pretty much done IMO, and Hejedal and Gesink are done at this point due to the time they lost.

I didn't see or hear, but I think Nibali is still okay...so it's really getting whittled down early before the mountains (assuming nothing radically turns it upside down for the GC contenders up there).

Also - Tejay Van Garderen should be a bit safer in the white jersey now, since EBH (who was just 1 second off) lost a bunch of time. Not sure about Taamare (who I think was 3rd?), think he finished in the peleton.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Also - Tejay Van Garderen should be a bit safer in the white jersey now, since EBH (who was just 1 second off) lost a bunch of time. Not sure about Taamare (who I think was 3rd?), think he finished in the peleton.

The main contenders for the white jersey were Poels, Taaramäe and Kruijswijk, with Van Garderen being 4th or 5th (behind Pinot?) in line based on that he's riding in a supporting role. Tejay's problem is that he's going to work for Evans, but that could also be a blessing, given that he won't be carrying the load of the team and take a profit like Rolland did last year. Unlike Taaramäe and Pinot, whom are their team's GC hopes. Poels left the race yesterday, Kruijswijk lost 4 minutes. Taaramäe finished behind the peloton, but apparently had a last 3km issue, losing no time for the GC.

I don't believe in Boasson Hagen and Peter Sagan for the white jersey. They're outstanding riders, nearly complete in their skills, but I just don't see either of them finish top10-15ish in the GC. Tony Gallopin has been working hard for Cancellara already and has 4 better GC riders to work for. Rafael Valls could challenge in the mountains, but he's nearly 4 minutes down already.

[whomario]

that´s how it looks when an arm meets a flying chain ring ...

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

The main contenders for the white jersey were Poels, Taaramäe and Kruijswijk, with Van Garderen being 4th or 5th (behind Pinot?) in line based on that he's riding in a supporting role. Tejay's problem is that he's going to work for Evans, but that could also be a blessing, given that he won't be carrying the load of the team and take a profit like Rolland did last year. Unlike Taaramäe and Pinot, whom are their team's GC hopes. Poels left the race yesterday, Kruijswijk lost 4 minutes. Taaramäe finished behind the peloton, but apparently had a last 3km issue, losing no time for the GC.

I don't believe in Boasson Hagen and Peter Sagan for the white jersey. They're outstanding riders, nearly complete in their skills, but I just don't see either of them finish top10-15ish in the GC. Tony Gallopin has been working hard for Cancellara already and has 4 better GC riders to work for. Rafael Valls could challenge in the mountains, but he's nearly 4 minutes down already.

I think Van Garderen still has a very good shot at it though - he's held it through the flats, as you mention, Poels and Kruijswijk are out of it at this point, Tejay is stronger in the mountains than on the flats, and as long as BMC continue to ride near the front the better his odds of holding onto it, whether he's working for Cadel or not. BMC has other big guys to do a lot of the work too, at some point maybe they look at him and try to give him a tiny bit less of the work in order to enable him to hold onto it. He's still got Pinot and Taamarae to deal with yes, but his odds are a hell of a lot better now. I might go so far as to say he's favorite, or at worst co-favorite.

[bhlloy]

That was a hell of a stage. Great to see a guy like Froome win a stage. Impressed that Evans managed to hang in there 3 vs 1 at the end and actually could have taken some time back from Wiggins if he'd pushed a little harder.

Also NBC really needs to learn that the Swiss and Danish flags are not the same thing

[Alf]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Also NBC really needs to learn that the Swiss and Danish flags are not the same thing

Bah, it's all "Europe" for Americans

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I've actually DVR'd and watched every stage thus far. Pretty entertaining stuff if you actually watch all the stages and get a feel for who's riding well.

Crazy crash this stage. Looked like a bomb had gone off in the back half of the peleton. Seeing those riders limp home at the end was pretty rough.

[DaddyTorgo]

WOW.

How did Froome destroy everyone except Wiggins? Not just beat, but destroy. Wow. frigging impressive ride by Froome. I would expect Wiggins to beat everyone, but I didn't see Froome at THAT pace.

Hell of a ride by Tejay Van Garderen too. Big stones on that kid...he's going to be one to watch in the future for the Yellow jersey. Looked to me like he eased up in the last 1km and didn't take some of those corners as tight as others did (probably smart on his part TBH).

Cadel barely squeaks out holding onto 2nd place with a decent ride (good ride, but there were some hella impressive rides throughout the day).

Wiggins is a nasty machine. Wow.

Should be a fun fight in the mountains between Sky, Radioshack-Nissan, and BMC. Tons of firepower on Radioshack and BMC to hammer away at Sky.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

[MIJB#19]

I'm going to take that stuff on Van Garderen back for Le Maillot Blanc. I'm not yet convinced he'll be around Taaramae during the Mountain stages, but I'm convinced he can win some time back in the final ITT. Pinot is so young, but was impressive Sunday. I'm also wondering what Tony Gallopin can do, but right now I can see Van Garderen bring it in.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

I'm going to take that stuff on Van Garderen back for Le Maillot Blanc. I'm not yet convinced he'll be around Taaramae during the Mountain stages, but I'm convinced he can win some time back in the final ITT. Pinot is so young, but was impressive Sunday. I'm also wondering what Tony Gallopin can do, but right now I can see Van Garderen bring it in.

Tejay should be fine in the mountains. Not sure how Taaramae is, but BMC did bring Tejay onto the team specificailly so that they'd have someone who could ride with Cadel in the mountains...it's not a weakness of his or anything - in fact it's supposedly his strength.

Looking forward to some mountain stages!

[DaddyTorgo]

Class day today. Nice to see the team directors neutralize things after the tacks were thrown at the top of the climb. That's fucking ridiculous. Good thing this wasn't one of the NBC-NBC days.

Also nice to see LL Sanchez get a win for poor Rabobank.

[DaddyTorgo]

Little dissapointing that nobody was able to really crack Sky's control of the peleton and really attack Wiggins once he got into yellow. It almost seems at times that nobody even wanted to really TRY though, which is where it got boring to me as a viewer (although I'm sure there were reasons and all.

Made the overall leader competition kind of boring in that regard this year IMO.

Voeckler had a couple great days in the Pyrennes and totally is a gutsy rider and fun to watch, and I'm glad to see him get the King of the Mountains.

Sagan we all know was ridiculous (although I would argue that I think it seems clear that in a year where Cav had a team that was more devoted to him rather than to the overall that he would still have had the Green jersey as he's obviously faster). Dissapointing that Goss had that one finish where he came off his line and was relegated back - that really killed the green jersey competition (along with Greipel not sprinting for the midstage points).

Nice to see Teejay get the White jersey - and such a high overall finish! Well deserved -- maybe next year based on those two things he'll get a team built around him as a GC contender and we will see what he can do. I wish that Cadel had realized earlier that he didn't have it and had set BMC free to work for Teejay - we might have even seen him on the podium in that case.

Cav is ridiculous. That leadout train today though was eipc. Maybe even as good as his old HTC ones...once Wiggo and EBH cranked the pace up the actual finish was a foregone conclusion...didn't even look like he really even had to fire off to take it (although credit to Goss for actually getting up there to him). Still - he proved with his stage wins that he's still the fastest, and I hope to see him next year with a team that's properly devoted to delivering him to the line everytime.

[MIJB#19]

It was a somewhat boring Tour if you ask me. Wiggins and Sky dominated like Armstrong and Discovery Channel did (half) a decade, except that Armstrong tried harder to drop his opponents and win stages. Van Garderen was without a doubt the breakthrough rider. He showed his one-week potential already, but for the first time he showed his three-week potential as a GC contender. To me it showed he's more than just a TT rider that hangs on for a while, he hung around enought to finish in an impressive 5th place.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

It was a somewhat boring Tour if you ask me. Wiggins and Sky dominated like Armstrong and Discovery Channel did (half) a decade, except that Armstrong tried harder to drop his opponents and win stages. Van Garderen was without a doubt the breakthrough rider. He showed his one-week potential already, but for the first time he showed his three-week potential as a GC contender. To me it showed he's more than just a TT rider that hangs on for a while, he hung around enought to finish in an impressive 5th place.

So you agree with everything in my nice long post that basically boiled down to that then?

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

It was a somewhat boring Tour if you ask me. Wiggins and Sky dominated like Armstrong and Discovery Channel did (half) a decade, except that Armstrong tried harder to drop his opponents and win stages. Van Garderen was without a doubt the breakthrough rider. He showed his one-week potential already, but for the first time he showed his three-week potential as a GC contender. To me it showed he's more than just a TT rider that hangs on for a while, he hung around enought to finish in an impressive 5th place.

You never give Van Garderen credit for being good in the mountains - I'm telling you...the stated reason BMC brought him onboard was to ride with Cadel in the mountains, specifically because he can climb better than anybody else they had on the team. To me, his TT performance was more of a pleasant surprise than his climbing.

[MIJB#19]

Seriously, DT, Van Garderen's results have mainly been in the TT so far. To me the mountains stuff was the 'pleasent surprise'.

[MIJB#19]

Btw, that isn't any disrespect, I knew Van Garderen since he rode for Team HTC. His first big results were in the ITT's of the 2010 Criterium du Dauphiné, although in the 2010 Vuelta España he showed his climbing potential as well, being a crucial part to Peter Velits' 3rd place finish.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Cav is ridiculous. That leadout train today though was eipc. Maybe even as good as his old HTC ones...once Wiggo and EBH cranked the pace up the actual finish was a foregone conclusion...didn't even look like he really even had to fire off to take it (although credit to Goss for actually getting up there to him). Still - he proved with his stage wins that he's still the fastest, and I hope to see him next year with a team that's properly devoted to delivering him to the line everytime.

Looks like Sky won't stand in his way if he wants to leave.

BBC Sport - Mark Cavendish can leave Sky, says boss Dave Brailsford

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Btw, that isn't any disrespect, I knew Van Garderen since he rode for Team HTC. His first big results were in the ITT's of the 2010 Criterium du Dauphiné, although in the 2010 Vuelta España he showed his climbing potential as well, being a crucial part to Peter Velits' 3rd place finish.

Fair enough - you're probably also more in-tune with reality than me, actually being in Europe and all . I ought to cut you some slack, it's just that everything I read beforehand was that they brought him to BMC to ride with Cadel in the mountains.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

Looks like Sky won't stand in his way if he wants to leave.

BBC Sport - Mark Cavendish can leave Sky, says boss Dave Brailsford

Good to see.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Fair enough - you're probably also more in-tune with reality than me, actually being in Europe and all . I ought to cut you some slack, it's just that everything I read beforehand was that they brought him to BMC to ride with Cadel in the mountains.

Nah, nothing to do with being in Europe, I think. It does help to have access to Belgian tv, especially Flemish, they really love cycling and broadcasting it.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Nah, nothing to do with being in Europe, I think. It does help to have access to Belgian tv, especially Flemish, they really love cycling and broadcasting it.

Which is a lot easier being in Europe than from being in the US

Although we're actually getting more cycling broadcast this year - we got the Tour de Suisse, the Criterium, and I gather we're getting the other 2 GT's as well (think I've seen ads for the Vuelta) on the new NBC Sports channel.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Although we're actually getting more cycling broadcast this year - we got the Tour de Suisse, the Criterium, and I gather we're getting the other 2 GT's as well (think I've seen ads for the Vuelta) on the new NBC Sports channel.

I think it's Universal Sports that's showing the Vuelta, not NBC Sports. NBC Sports has the USA Pro Cycling Challenge round about the same time.

Which sucks really since I have Fios and Fios dropped Universal Sports.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Critch

I think it's Universal Sports that's showing the Vuelta, not NBC Sports. NBC Sports has the USA Pro Cycling Challenge round about the same time.

Which sucks really since I have Fios and Fios dropped Universal Sports.

ORLY?

Fuck me. I have FIOS too. I thought I saw Vuelta ads during the TdF...maybe I'm wrong though.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

ORLY?

Fuck me. I have FIOS too. I thought I saw Vuelta ads during the TdF...maybe I'm wrong though.

Yeah they were advertizing it, Universal Sports is part of the NBC "family". We will be getting Paris-Tours on NBCSports in October though. Only a one day race though.