The 100th Edition Of The Tour de France: Chirps, Opinions, News, Updates.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

On a side note it's a bit of a curtain raiser for the sprint teams over at Ster ZLM Toer.

 

OPQS v Lotto v Argos for some momentum and bragging rights in the lead up the tour.

 

Count so far this season:

- Cav:12 wins

- Greipel: 10

- Kittel: 10

 

Battle of the trains.

 

Yeah, seems so. Dont you long back to those days of the "Silver Train" of Fassa Bortolo with Ale Jet.? I think they were incredible, a joy to watch. Once they got a head of steam up no one would stop them, racing has changed a bit now I guess, but they were to me anyway, the epitome of "lead out Excellence."

[Cippo]

I see Cancellara has pulled out of TdF to concentrate on World Champs( or is that old news). I think the Shacks team TT is going to suffer because of it. No one is rooting really for Andy. Takes alot of pressure off him, hopefully he can get a stage win.

[Wez-O]

I see Cancellara has pulled out of TdF to concentrate on World Champs( or is that old news). I think the Shacks team TT is going to suffer because of it. No one is rooting really for Andy. Takes alot of pressure off him, hopefully he can get a stage win.

Yeah I heard this mentioned a while back, it's a real shame and compounded by the fact that Boonen has decided to do the same. Perhaps the fact that the race doesn't start with a prologue this year and thus no chance of winning the yellow for the first week was one of the reasons Spartacus decided to give it a miss?

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I see Cancellara has pulled out of TdF to concentrate on World Champs( or is that old news). I think the Shacks team TT is going to suffer because of it. No one is rooting really for Andy. Takes alot of pressure off him, hopefully he can get a stage win.

 

Hmm, Yeah, not much been said about Andy but I think "The Shack" is in a serious state of disarray at the moment, its actually quite startling how they have almost "collapsed" in a very short space of time, certainly the news out of their camp has been overwhelmingly negative so maybe its not surprising morale is at an all time low.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Yeah I heard this mentioned a while back, it's a real shame and compounded by the fact that Boonen has decided to do the same. Perhaps the fact that the race doesn't start with a prologue this year and thus no chance of winning the yellow for the first week was one of the reasons Spartacus decided to give it a miss?

 

Good point, could well be.

[jcza]

I see David Veilleux made the squad for Europcar. (that is if they race of course)

 

Battle of the sprinters, I can't see anyone catching Cavendish.

[Cippo]

I see David Veilleux made the squad for Europcar. (that is if they race of course)

 

Battle of the sprinters, I can't see anyone catching Cavendish.

 

Bouhani and Viviani have been kocking on the door. Definitely the more challenging sprints would be going to Sagan as Cavndish is more suited to the really flat finishes.

[jcza]

Bouhani and Viviani have been kocking on the door. Definitely the more challenging sprints would be going to Sagan as Cavndish is more suited to the really flat finishes.

 

Agreed

[Wez-O]

Definitely the more challenging sprints would be going to Sagan as Cavndish is more suited to the really flat finishes.

Agreed

Agreed +1

Edited June 13, 2013 by Wez-O

['Dale]

“I’ve been doing some light training work. I’ve been recovering. Between now and the Tour, I’ll put in a few rides to put the cherry on top... All the work is done.”

 

Andrew Talansky, Garmin Sharp

['Dale]

http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2013/06/11/2/tdf13_670.jpg

['Dale]

“We have two very strong leaders, who can do well, so I will be behind them and trying to support them the best I can,” he says. “If the opportunity presents its self, getting into a breakaway would be nice, but I’m not thinking about this now.”

 

 

Europcar's Veilleux after just earning a spot in the TdF team

[T-Bob]

Yeah, seems so. Dont you long back to those days of the "Silver Train" of Fassa Bortolo with Ale Jet.? I think they were incredible, a joy to watch. Once they got a head of steam up no one would stop them, racing has changed a bit now I guess, but they were to me anyway, the epitome of "lead out Excellence."

 

They were awesome, such a bench mark and killer kit as well.

[Cippo]

If only we didnt have topay 45% import duties.

http://boutique.letour.fr/stores/letour/default.aspx

[jcza]

OP-QS for Tour de France (confirmed): Cavendish, Chavanel, Kwiatkowski, Martin, Pineau, Steegmans, Terpstra, Trentin, P. Velits.

['Dale]

 

Movistar could well be the Tour’s dark horse, with three riders capable of going on the attack in the mountains. The opening days in particular favor Movistar’s frenetic racing style. Hilly, classics-style courses on Corsica and the stage-4 team time trial back on the French mainland, in Nice, could well see a Movistar rider in the yellow jersey.

 

Both Costa and Quintana say they are dedicated to helping Valverde, but each will bring strong personal ambitions that could prove complicated to control for pre-race favorites Team Sky.

 

Movistar has improved dramatically in team time trials, proven by their win to open last year’s Vuelta a España and its second place in the Giro’s TTT in May, just nine seconds behind favored Sky.

 

From velonews