Chavez Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 (edited) Favorites: Alexandre Vinokourov 2/1 Andreas Kloden 11/2 Alejandro Valverde 6/1 Carlos Sastre 14/1 Cadel Evans 16/1 No love for last year's #2 man Oscar Pereiro - he's caddying for Valverde this year. Team Discover is hitching themselves to Levi Leipheimer, but I don't see it - George Hincapie impresses me more. Edited July 2, 2007 by Chavez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheikYerbuti Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Favorites: Alexandre Vinokourov 2/1 Andreas Kloden 11/2 Alejandro Valverde 6/1 Carlos Sastre 14/1 Cadel Evans 16/1 No love for last year's #2 man Oscar Pereiro - he's caddying for Valverde this year. Team Discover is hitching themselves to Levi Leipheimer, but I don't see it - George Hincapie impresses me more. George seems too big to win the whole thing. . .he's more of a single stage kinda guy, IMO. It's tough to size up Vino since he didn't race last year. I like Valverde at 6/1, he's a natural talent for a multi stage race, and he's got all the tools. Great climber, good on the sprints. Only problem is he's VERY unlucky with crashes and injuries. Evans is a nice sleeper pick too. Everyone in Australia says he's got the ability to conquer the mountains, unlike countrymen Robbie McEwen and Stewie O'Grady. I think I'm boycotting the whole thing this year. . .I'm just so sick of the greatest sporting event in the world mired in all the filth it's been in for the last 2 years. OK, I'll watch the Tourmalet and L'Alp De Huez stages, but that's it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted July 2, 2007 Author Share Posted July 2, 2007 McEwen is the most fun to watch though - he's always up there with the leaders....well, until they hit a stage that isn't flat ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheikYerbuti Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 McEwen is the most fun to watch though - he's always up there with the leaders....well, until they hit a stage that isn't flat ground. He's a pompous, showboating hot dog. . .and I love it! Remember a few years ago when he crossed the finish line of a giant mountain stage while popping a wheelie?? Classic. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmanzzzz Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 im watching and doing the whole fantasy thing. i have just got to look past the doping scandals and re fall in love with one of my favorite sports. i friend of mine use to train with levi so i have someone legit to root for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Favorites: Alexandre Vinokourov 2/1 Andreas Kloden 11/2 Alejandro Valverde 6/1 Carlos Sastre 14/1 Cadel Evans 16/1 No love for last year's #2 man Oscar Pereiro - he's caddying for Valverde this year. Team Discover is hitching themselves to Levi Leipheimer, but I don't see it - George Hincapie impresses me more. i like valverde and cadel evans at those odds. vino....i dunno, just tough to see him as a yellow jersey kinda guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 I think I'm boycotting the whole thing this year. . .I'm just so sick of the greatest sporting event in the world mired in all the filth it's been in for the last 2 years. OK, I'll watch the Tourmalet and L'Alp De Huez stages, but that's it! i don't believe either of those climbs are on this year's route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 I think I'm boycotting the whole thing this year. . .I'm just so sick of the greatest sporting event in the world mired in all the filth it's been in for the last 2 years. OK, I'll watch the Tourmalet and L'Alp De Huez stages, but that's it! Honestly, it doesn't really bother me so much that I won't watch. It is an amazing event regardless. Honestly, if you boycotted everything in this world that was tainted, you'd have to go live in the woods and grow your own food. These guys may have doped, but I think that we get carried away with the degree to which it trivializes the feat. It's not like I could just wake up, hit the juice and then go ride 2000 miles over crazy mountains in 20 days. Certainly, guys have been pulling it off for years clean and I'd certainly prefer to see it that way, but it is still perhaps the single greatest physical test in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheikYerbuti Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 It's not like I could just wake up, hit the juice and then go ride 2000 miles over crazy mountains in 20 days. No, but if you were, say, the 10th best cyclist in the world it could help you shave 10 or 20 minutes off your total time for the course, which would win you the Tour via cheating, which is exactly what Floyd did last year. . . depending on whose side of the story you believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheikYerbuti Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 i don't believe either of those climbs are on this year's route. Really?? I'm too lazy to look up the course route. . .what are the HC climbs this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Really?? I'm too lazy to look up the course route. . .what are the HC climbs this year? i'm too lazy to look it up again. there were definitely some brutal looking stages, in both the alps and the pyrrennes, as you would expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 No, but if you were, say, the 10th best cyclist in the world it could help you shave 10 or 20 minutes off your total time for the course, which would win you the Tour via cheating, which is exactly what Floyd did last year. . . depending on whose side of the story you believe. Believe me, I'm not saying that these guys don't get anything from doping. Just simply saying that from a spectators standpoint, it is still incredible to watch. Also, when the usage is so wide spread, then you have a number of top riders all using so it's sort of even again. Would I prefer that the sport be clean? Certainly. Does it all of sudden become pro wrestling (as one sports writer lamely said in an OP ED I read in the paper last week) because there's been rampant drug use? Hardly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheikYerbuti Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 i'm too lazy to look it up again. there were definitely some brutal looking stages, in both the alps and the pyrrennes, as you would expect. OK, OK, you out-lazied me: Stage 7 - Col de la Columbiere Stage 8 - Cormet de Roselend Stage 9 - starts with Col de l'Iseran (HC), ends with Col du Telegraphe/Col du Galibier (both HC). . .BRUTAL Stage 14 - Port de Pailheres (HC) Stage 15 - Port de Bales, Col de Peyresourde (HC) Stage 16 - Port de Larrau (HC), Col de Marie-Blanque So, there are some monster hills in there. . .but still, a year with no Tourmalet or Alp d'Huez? weak. . . . Those are my all time favorite soul killers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted July 5, 2007 Author Share Posted July 5, 2007 OK, OK, you out-lazied me: I just read The Rider by Tim Krabbe, and he had the nugget that a true racer "licks his opponent's plate clean before his own." Apparently Az already has the TdF mentaility in full gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmanzzzz Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 kloden had a good prolog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted July 9, 2007 Author Share Posted July 9, 2007 kloden had a good prolog. Not as good as McEwen's stage 1 win - he shot past everyone like he was riding a motorcycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chargerz Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 Tour de what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmanzzzz Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 Not as good as McEwen's stage 1 win - he shot past everyone like he was riding a motorcycle. he must have been on drugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted July 9, 2007 Author Share Posted July 9, 2007 he must have been on drugs. Considering how he left everyone in the dust, apparently he's the ONLY person on them this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted July 10, 2007 Author Share Posted July 10, 2007 Huge wreck. Only about 20 of the 188 riders were there for the sprint at the finish. One of "my guys" - Frank Schleck from CSC - also went down, but I'm guessing that if he wasn't in the Peloton by the time of the crash, he caught up shortly after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted July 12, 2007 Author Share Posted July 12, 2007 (edited) Andreas Kloden 11/2 Kloden ractured his coccyx today, but they say he'll continue the race -Vinokourov hasn't been impressing either; Astana looks like it was a paper tiger. Edited July 12, 2007 by Chavez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted July 15, 2007 Author Share Posted July 15, 2007 Stage 6 wasn't much - but stage 7 - THE ALPS. Great drama, as always - the flat stages with the Peloton chasing down breakaways in the last 20 km tend to be pretty boring up until the sprints at the end. Stage 5 was complete mayhem, especially for Astana. Stage 7 in the mountains is what makes me love the sport - some kid just absolutely gutting it out and taking both the stage and the Maillot Jaune on the same day. Vinokourov (and Kloden) are impressing me as well - those two guys are pretty clearly hurtin' but haven't lost time to any real threats. Curious to see how it all plays out tomorrow - I don't expect Gerdeman to have much left after selling out to win today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 I don't expect Gerdeman to have much left after selling out to win today. "Gerdeman" is very very close to being a very cool last name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted July 15, 2007 Author Share Posted July 15, 2007 "Gerdeman" is very very close to being a very cool last name. Next year you should be able to go to the Tour in person and wave a Swiss flag in the rider's faces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheikYerbuti Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Next year you should be able to go to the Tour in person and wave a Swiss flag in the rider's faces. I want to go as the fat old guy in the devil suit with the pitchfork. He's there every year, and I love it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/guano/28355325/ http://www.iranian.com/PhotoDay/2002/July/Images/devil.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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