Tour de France 2007 thread (1 Viewer)

what think we of Wiggins then? Has to be the TdeF favourite at this stage. A long way out I know but hes definitely the dominant stage rider at the moment.

Still a sap though.

I think Evans is the best all rounder. And barring any mishaps (or dubious performances) I'd go for him. BMC haven't performed yet this season despite all the big riders they signed so they'll throw it all at Evans for the tour.

I dunno if having to maintain such a low body weight to compete in the hills suits Wiggins for a 3 week tour. His V02max and power numbers must be massive though. Brailsford always seemed confident that Britain could produce a Tour Winner within a few years of Sky being formed. He must have been referring to Wiggins all along. Or else just lowing hot air, which can't be discounted.
 
I think Evans is the best all rounder.

still early days I know but there just doesn't seem to be any sign of form there. Compare that to last year when he took several early season wins and was more than competitive pretty much all spring. He was sick a couple of weeks back (can't recall the race, possibly Trentino) so maybe that explains it. But the most worrying thing is how flat he looked in the TT in Romandie.

Not sure what his early summer race programme is - whether he'll do Switzerland or the Criterium du Dauphine, but if theres no sign of improvement there I'd be really worried for him.

The Schlecks are a pair of jokers. Its like Andy doesn't give a shite anymore cos he knows theres no way he can win it with all the TT miles to do. And Frank riding the Giro rules him our for anything other than a super-domestique role. Who else then? Valverde? Froome? Nibali? Gesink/Mollema/Kruiswick? Don't think so. Wiggins just seems a nose or more ahead of those for now. Evans has to get his shit together or Wiggins can justify those inflated expectations of his.
 
Is this race not over yet? It's been 5 years.

I think Wiggins will do it. the course is good for him, and Sky will be more confident asserting themselves in the peloton after the Vuelta and the WC. Agreed there doesn't look like much competition other than Evans. If wiggins can't do it this year then he'll never do it.
 
I think Wiggins will do it. the course is good for him, and Sky will be more confident asserting themselves in the peloton after the Vuelta and the WC. Agreed there doesn't look like much competition other than Evans. If wiggins can't do it this year then he'll never do it.

although with two individual TTs Tony Martin is probably worth £20 at 50/1
and he can climb a bit
 
although with two individual TTs Tony Martin is probably worth £20 at 50/1
and he can climb a bit

he can, but its about 2 weeks too long for him to sustain a proper GC challenge. He'll be targetting the TTs, will probably do some domestique work, but I can't see him bothering with GC. If he does it'll compromise his TT ambitions too.

Plus, hes only back on the bike this week having nearly been killed. Thats probably a little too much training miles missed for a serious Tour challenger.
 
now yer talkin!

won't be within an asses roar of the race but still has as much chance as nico of getting it!

damn injuries. 2 years ago, 9th beating cobo in the vuelta so he's obvious vuelta winning material if it wasn't for injuries similar to how kimmage placed higher a few years previous to riis winning the tour in the tour to bjarne riis.
hopefully deignan get put in a good tour of california.
 
damn injuries. 2 years ago, 9th beating cobo in the vuelta so he's obvious vuelta winning material if it wasn't for injuries similar to how kimmage placed higher a few years previous to riis winning the tour in the tour to bjarne riis.
hopefully deignan get put in a good tour of california.

Cobo seems to have got a new pharmacist since then though, and managed to turn himself from a non-specialist climber into someone who looks like hes on a motorbike going up the Angliru. I don't recall hearing of him doing any races this year so far actually, now that you mention it. I doubt they'd let Cobo in the tour - far too much scrutiny on riders. They might hold him over until the Vuelta where it seems anything goes in terms of drugs, etc.

I see Emanualle Sella is riding the Giro. If the Italians are ever wondering why this great race's star has fallen so far, right there is the reason.
 
Cobo seems to have got a new pharmacist since then though, and managed to turn himself from a non-specialist climber into someone who looks like hes on a motorbike going up the Angliru. I don't recall hearing of him doing any races this year so far actually, now that you mention it. I doubt they'd let Cobo in the tour - far too much scrutiny on riders. They might hold him over until the Vuelta where it seems anything goes in terms of drugs, etc.

yes, that's what i was hinting at with cobo. see his profile on cqranking.com - http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/rider.asp?riderid=1861 he could barely finish races in 2010 with movistar then he was outclimbing rodriquez, nibali et al in the vuelta in 2011 and now back with movistar, best so far was 60th in romandy
we've known cobo to be definitely dirty since he took the tour de france stage win in 2008 after his team mate Piepoli and pRicco tested positive.

there is this analysis of piepoli and froome's power outputs on climbs on another forum i'm on he power output was extremely high on those climbs in the vuelta for piepoli, froome.

the kimmage to riis and deignan to cobo comparison is a reference to a post from an old thread here when riis confessed

At least Riis finally did some forward, he was challenged by d'Honts book but he could have alternatively lawyered up like Landis and Armstrong. The funny thing is that Riis finished two places behind Kimmage in giro of 89 so Kimmage could have won the Tour if he hadnt been so honest, jaysus maybe he would have won it 5 times?!
http://thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?51170-Tour-De-France-winner-Riis
 
not much point in saying it at this stage, but i thought at the start Rodriguez would win the race as the others simply had nothing to compare with his 2012 results.
he lost over five minutes in the 2011 Vuelta's lone TT. he was otherwise dominated the race. that was by the worst TT i've seen by a grand tour contender (apart from Rasmussen !) Rodriguez actually finished out side the top 100 on the day. this is as good a chance as he'll get with so little testing.
i was looking at the European weather forecast on RTE tonight and the Dolomites/Alps seem to be due a lot of rain this week. i've been excited about the Stelvio stage for ages but anything could happen up there weather wise.....

on Cyclingnews this evening Vaughters is talking up Dan Martin's chances of winning Tour mountain stages and the mountains jersey. i can't see Dan as a GC rider alright and i agree mountain victories will be what define his grand tour career. Dan lost over 6 minutes in the vuelta TT last year which was by far the worst of the big players. i reckon that was the difference between his 13th place and about 7th.
 
not much point in saying it at this stage, but i thought at the start Rodriguez would win the race as the others simply had nothing to compare with his 2012 results.
he lost over five minutes in the 2011 Vuelta's lone TT. he was otherwise dominated the race. that was by the worst TT i've seen by a grand tour contender (apart from Rasmussen !) Rodriguez actually finished out side the top 100 on the day. this is as good a chance as he'll get with so little testing.

I remember that. It was pan-flat. Very Schleck-esque. His strength looks much improved this year from then though. Its a strange race. What the hell are Liquigas at with those tactics? Everyone sits in until Sylvester Szymth blow, then they attack. Everyday Basso is losing time to GC rivals, apart maybe from Scarponi who is probably at the same level as him at the moment. I was a little disappointed with Ryder a couple of days ago when he lost the pink jersey. I thought he'd have been able to limit his losses enough to retain it. What a win by Rabatini though.

i was looking at the European weather forecast on RTE tonight and the Dolomites/Alps seem to be due a lot of rain this week. i've been excited about the Stelvio stage for ages but anything could happen up there weather wise.....

yes, I think the whole race has panned out with these next couple of days foremost in riders minds. A lot of the GC stuff has been shadow-boxing til now. I think Pozzivo will come back into the reckoning, but a podium is best he can hope for.

on Cyclingnews this evening Vaughters is talking up Dan Martin's chances of winning Tour mountain stages and the mountains jersey. i can't see Dan as a GC rider alright and i agree mountain victories will be what define his grand tour career. Dan lost over 6 minutes in the vuelta TT last year which was by far the worst of the big players. i reckon that was the difference between his 13th place and about 7th.


I'd be worried that Dan himself will think hes GC contender material. Its good to hear Vaughters talking about him in terms of stages and mountains. The best think would be some calculated time loss in the first week to give himself the freedom to attack towards the end of mountain stages without being chased down (as he was almost every time in the Vuelta). If he were to take, say, 2 stages and the mountains jersey, that would be so much better than fiinishing between 5th and 12th on GC IMO.

Will be interesting to see what Nico's role will be. On his current form he deserves nothing more than super-domestique or barrodeur.
 

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