TdF 2012

[farazs]

I must admit I wasn't a big fan of Cav back in the HTC-Highroad railroad days, but yesterday was really impressive. Cav said in the post-race interview that they were expecting head-winds. If you go back and see the finish again, Griepel's head is bobbing up and down, Goss sitting up slightly and swaying from side-to-side, while Cav is crouched really low(lower than usual I think) with no significant upper body movement. May be that little bit of aero-technique made the difference for Cav.

Speaking of aero, closed helmets seemed very common in yesterday's peloton. Wondering if we'll the usual vented helmets again when the race goes into the mountains.

[rpok]

Cav has lost 4kgs this month - so he's now 65kgs instead of his usual race weight of 69kgs. Expect him to be more lethal than ever before in TdF on flat sprint stages. He definitely wont go for green jersey because of Olympics and my guess is Peter Sagan or Goss will win the green jersey.

[krishnas]

Stage 3 today:
Orchies – Boulogne-sur-Mer 197 km (122 mi) Medium-mountain stage
from: http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2012/us/stage-3.html
"We are now in France and ready to start from Orchies, a familiar place for classics specialists. One could be forgiven for thinking we have come for the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix, but we are actually going to ride straight away from them towards the hills of the Boulonnais. Six big climbs in 100 kilometres, four of which in the last 16 kilometres. This could mark the opening of hostilities in the Tour. There is no way the sprinters will be there at the finish, which will be decided at the same place as the French Championships won by Chavanel. I think the bunch will be smashed to smithereens."

My pick for today: Philippe Gilbert or Peter Sagan!

[kk27]

I think today you can see the GC riders up at the Finish line before the rest.

[krishnas]

I think today you can see the GC riders up at the Finish line before the rest.

Doubt that KK! Too early for GC folks to start winning time. Also, the climbs are tiny.. 1Km/ 1.5Km @ 6-8%.
Not long enough to win major time and too much work. I think it will be a game for the Classics specialists today.

[vkalia]

Sagan again today?

Inner Ring was spot on yesterday - he predicted Cav would hide behind Kittel or Griepel and unleash his sprint at the end.

[sar.the.psyco]

Sylvain Chavanel could go on the attack at the last climb or there abouts! He tried it in the 1st day but was shut down by peleton.

[krishnas]

Sagan again today?

Inner Ring was spot on yesterday - he predicted Cav would hide behind Kittel or Griepel and unleash his sprint at the end.

Oh yeah.. very good analysis/ previews of the stage by Inner Ring.

So now, the sprint trains will also need a distraction 'behind' their ace sprinter to not allow Cav to take advantage of their trains? As in, a bogeyman sitting just behind Griepel in the sprint who will 'slow' down / fade away, the moment Griepel goes for his sprint, to cut off free-loaders

[sumitpal]

An attack from Gilbert too I think, uphill finish and all.

[vkalia]

Gilbert is now the Old Guard and still seems to be basking in the glow of last year. I don't see him beating Sagan. Valverde might have a go today, and so would Ballan and Rodrigues, as well as some random, uni-browed Kazakh from Astana. . Short, fast uphill suits them and I think their experience may give them the edge over Sagan.

[Grimpeur]

Polka Dot Morkov punctures in Neutral zone.

Lucky Charm?

[krishnas]

Stage 4: Abbeville to Rouen
214 KM
* Km 38.0 – Côte du Mont Huon2.1 kilometre-long climb at 4.1% – category 4
* Km 69.0 – Côte de Dieppe1.8 kilometre-long climb at 3.9% – category 4
* Km 74.0 – Côte de Pourville-sur-Mer1.9 kilometre-long climb at 4.4% – category 4
* Km 143.0 – Côte de Toussaint1.9 kilometre-long climb at 4.5% – category 4

from Inner Ring (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/inrng/in ... 2Dgb7pYAM/):
The profile above suggests a sterile stage with a flat route and a sprint finish. But today’s stage hugs the exposed coastline for a long time and there’s an uncategorised climb before the finish to derail the sprint trains.
...
This looks like a classic sprint stage and we should see Orica-Greenedge and Lotto-Belisol go ahead to head whilst Mark Cavendish rides like a pinball to position himself. We also have Mark Renshaw, Tyler Farrar, Kenny Van Hummel, Alessandro Petacchi, Oscar Freire, J-J Haedo and Yauhueni Hutarovich. Peter Sagan will be there; he could win but he’ll want more points. Meanwhile Marcel Kittel is on the mend from an intestinal virus so his aim will be to finish the stage with his white shorts still intact so team mate Tom Veelers is the man for the sprints. If I had to bet, I’d pick André Greipel today.


My pick for the day: Matt Goss.

[vkalia]

Prediction for today - Cadel attacks in the last 500m and puts about 4-5 seconds into Wiggins. Not enough to take the yellow but enough to narrow the gap.

[sar.the.psyco]

Peter Sagans bell

Now wat was that thing about being a roadie and bells and rear view mirrors nd all???

[krishnas]

Prediction for today - Cadel attacks in the last 500m and puts about 4-5 seconds into Wiggins. Not enough to take the yellow but enough to narrow the gap.

Good prediction! He did attack.. though the wondrous thing was that Wiggins hung along all the way!
And Nibbles came out a winner too.. a serious contender for the podium now.. whatsay?
Frank Schleck-ed away his chances yet again!

[sar.the.psyco]

Radioshack are not looking at Frank as their main GC contender its Kloden and only bcoz as he is a better at TT. But things might change soon as Zubeldia and Monfort are pretty high in the GC

[deepakvrao]

Confused a bit. Wasn't Christopher Froome working at the front for Bradley Wiggins? If so, how come he had the strength to sprint at the finish?

[bikeyvenky]

Confused a bit. Wasn't Christopher Froome working at the front for Bradley Wiggins? If so, how come he had the strength to sprint at the finish?

That is what was amazing about that effort. He was doing the work for Wiggins. Then Evans attacked. This guy may be took a second to see if Wiggins reaction had any bite in it before he jumped up and sprinted like crazy. It was one hell of a steep climb too. One awesome effort.

[farazs]

If so, how come he had the strength to sprint at the finish?

Myeh, it's for us lay-fans to wonder, Doctors should know better
I'd love to see what happens if(/when), Wiggins blows and Froome is still going strong

[granacci]

wiggo might be brushed aside (i was one of them too) as most of his brit compatriots usually are because they are more gas then substance (english footy side etc) but he is holding up well. he and sky pro cycling seem to be super determined and seems to be super cool for every attack cadel launches.
but yeah still early days and the real alps, pyrenees and two long itts to come.

[sar.the.psyco]

the evans groupe had 4 radioshack riders as against 2 of sky and one of BMC! Radioshack team could be the team thats going to control the race in the high mountain stages.

[stalker]

and to think that Liquigas had 5 (maybe even 6), just 20km from the finish.

[Grimpeur]

Martin on his way to make it a sub 54.

Cancellara has shown a lotta strength throughout. Should take the podium.

Wiggins beats Evans?

[stalker]

Cancellara - 52' 21"
Van Garderen - +9"
F Schleck - +2' odd
Super strong at the finish, was Cancellara.

[Grimpeur]

Froome Fastest at First Check point. Wow!


This guy is a surprise package.