Tour De France 2011

 Yea, I'm enjoying it, apart from Wiggo going out.

 Who do you think will win? Has Conti got the 'goods' to overhaul his defict?

 Or will Andy Shlek get the better of him this year?

 Maybe someone else? Like Evens?

Gutted for Wiggins he was a real threat, stronger than Evans and the Schlecks.(Thats Inside the peloton knowledge.)

It's a Funny tour this year and i would say the strongest rider will probably not win it this year.

As for Contador the fact is on his day no rider, yes no rider can ride with him, trouble is, his team are shit and he has done the Giro! (Giro makes the Tour look like a teddy bears picknic.)

Another trouble with Contadope? is is he a cheat?????????????????

Its OK Andy Schleck gobbing off, i would like to see him complete Giro then go straight into a Tour.   Because had he rode The Giro he would have been totally destroyed and finished behind even Nibali.

Big Thor Hushovd is the man of the Tour, unbelievable that he is still in Yellow, an incredible effort.

Personnally i would have like'd to have seen Joaquim Rodriguez in this years Tour he would have been the man on the climbs, but Katusha have brought an all Russia squad to the tour which is F**kin stupid!

 As there are so many 'seemingly hills' this year, it could be one of the climbers who manage to get a big enough advantage to make it to Paris in the lead.

 IIRC, most of the stages once out of the mountians, are ones the sprinters would likely win and if can keep up with main peloton, may keep enough time gap to win!

 Not sure about Cadel, don't know how good a climber he is and has 'bonked' in the past when in a good position.

 I'll hedge my opinion on Cadel for a while, to see how he copes.

It's a strange TDF this year with many of the favourites (Contador, Evans, Schleck) all playing their cards close to their chests. Sad to see top names out /losing lots of time due to the crashes.

Gilbert as well as Hushovd putting in big efforts in the calm before the storm in the mountains.

Think this year is wide open and great to see Cavendish in top form.

I'd go for 1 Evans, 2 Contador 3 Schleck 4 Van den Broeck 5 Vinokourov

Mmmmmmm............. Maybe it's been "planned" by organisers to make things more interesting. Seem to be a lot of crashes for no real reason, apart from 'taking out' some of the contenders for the yellow jersey!!

 Maybe I'm just a cynic? But wouldn't be surprised if their are more crashes next week, even as they are heading to HC climbs.

Just got an offer to go see it in Paris with the Social club at work.

huskyman wrote (see)

Mmmmmmm............. Maybe it's been "planned" by organisers to make things more interesting. Seem to be a lot of crashes for no real reason, apart from 'taking out' some of the contenders for the yellow jersey!!

 Maybe I'm just a cynic? But wouldn't be surprised if their are more crashes next week, even as they are heading to HC climbs.

It's the Tour of course there are going to be crashes 200 riders on a road 5m wide, it only takes one to jink and 30 riders are on the floor.

Someone said that the surface was very variable yesterday, alternating wet and greasy, and dry, a horrible mix with a close bunch when you can't see ahead to read the road.

The one with the media car was outrageous though.

Steve D

What a carnage yesterday !

On a positive note - yesterdays route passed through some awesome countryside with some spectacular hills - the central massif, a region for future trips !

> if that happened on the road, the driver would've been arrested i would think.

You might think wrong, sadly...

Well, had the event been captured by other film crews, maybe the police would have done something...

Seemed to me to be an unnecessary manouevre, possibly because driver hadn't been looking ahead, and suddenly looked forward, saw tree, and swerved thinking he was closer than he actually was.