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Tour de France 2009 - Who wins?

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The drama unfolds today,
Will Contador assist LA to hold on to his podium spot?
Will the #2 and #6 Saxobank team be too much of a threat in the Ventoux mountain stage that Contador will fear for the TdF title and those 400-500 yard breakaway gaps must be answered.
 
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I am disappointed that so few people follow the tour more closely. I can't engage any of my friends in conversation about it because they only know what they see in the sport section.

They find bike races incredibly boring. But these same folks will watch golf or NASCAR. Bike racing is just like NASCAR - except you have to be athletic enough to push the car and when you crash you come flying out the window.
 
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Oh8ch;1504298; said:
I am disappointed that so few people follow the tour more closely. I can't engage any of my friends in conversation about it because they only know what they see in the sport section.

Sadly Versus network is hidden on many cable tiers.
With the success of Armstrong over the last 10 years, cycling ought be more heavily embraced by America.


They find bike races incredibly boring. But these same folks will watch golf or NASCAR. Bike racing is just like NASCAR - except you have to be athletic enough to push the car and when you crash you come flying out the window.
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Love your bike wreck analogy!
Seems like BB73 et al have explored the finer points of analyzing the strategies of cycling teams, course layout, podium finishes, etc. thus creating a level of interest on BP that is rare in general public.
 
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Oh8ch;1504298; said:
I am disappointed that so few people follow the tour more closely. I can't engage any of my friends in conversation about it because they only know what they see in the sport section.

They find bike races incredibly boring. But these same folks will watch golf or NASCAR. Bike racing is just like NASCAR - except you have to be athletic enough to push the car and when you crash you come flying out the window.
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They see the sports section, or the brief 'highlights' on ESPN. The folks on ESPN have hardly got a clue about what's happening during the race. But I believe they don't really want to promote it since that might send viewers over to Versus for 3 hours at a time.

As for NASCAR, Le Tour only compares to Sonoma and Watkins Glen, since the guys on the bikes turn right quote a bit. :wink2:

Some folks will watch golf partly because the courses are scenic. But they're looking at the same square mile for 4 hours. In Le Tour, they show castles, high mountains, Alpine lakes, vineyards, cathedrals, etc.

About 1 more hour of scenic riding before the carnage begins.
 
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The attacks have started.

Frank Schleck took off, and Armstrong followed him. Then Andy took off, and Contador followed him. Lance is closing the gap, in order to not get caught behind both Schlecks. Contador is doing the team thing so far, which he needs to do until the final K.

Kloden has fallen back, Wiggins is still hanging around.

Still 11.5 K to go.

Andy takes off again, and Contador follows. Frank tries to bridge the gap, and Lance is on his wheel.
 
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Nibali (7th place GC) has caught up to Andy S. and Contador. He needs to gain 1:50 to pass Armstrong, Wiggins, Kloden, and Frank S. and get on the podium.

Kloden recovered and is riding with Lance and Frank S.

About 7k left.

If Andy S. and Nibali put well over 1 minute bwtween themselves and Lance, Contador may need to drop back to help Armstrong over the last 2K in order to keep Lance ahead of Nibali. Contador can afford to lose 3 minutes to Andy S. without a worry.
 
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With about 4K left, Andy S. took off with Frank behind him. Contador followed, with Lance trailing him, to stave off the threat. That was good to see.

Pellizotti is trying to chase down 2 guys left over from the original breakaway to get the stage win.

Wiggins is cracking, Kloden has fallen back. Lance is in the same group as Nibali, so only Frank S. looks like a podium threat for Lance, and he needs to beat Lance by 39 seconds with only 3K left.
 
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There ended up being no changes in the GC top-4 spots today. Contador marked Andy S, and Lance marked Frank S.

Contador helped Lance out today, making sure that the Schlecks couldn't break away from Lance. He's taken a lot of criticism for making individual moves, but he was clearly the best man in the race.

Andy Schleck was the second strongest, and would have ended up on the podium no matter what Astana did. So Contador's late move on Wednesday didn't cost Kloden a podium spot. Ironically, if anything, if helped Armstrong get 3rd place over Kloden.

Tomorrow will be a ceremonial ride into Paris, and then the sprinters will go for the stage win on the Champs Elysees. The podium spots won't change, as virtually the entire field will get the same finishing time.

00:00 Contador
04:11 Andy Schleck
05:24 Lance
06:01 Wiggins
06:04 Frank Schleck
06:42 Kloden
07:35 Nibali
 
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There ended up being no changes in the GC top-4 spots today.
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I have to admit, that were this my first year watching the tour I would have found today's stage somewhat boring. Instead, I thought it was very exciting. None of the top 3 riders gave it everything they had - instead making tactical moves that were fascinating to watch.

IMO the ride of the day goes to Wiggins and it wasn't even for a podium position.

Also give credit to Lance for finishing 3rd without Levi. Were he still in the race Astana likely would have had 4 of the top 6 - even top 5 positions (I don't think they could have kept Schleck off the podium).


And as for fan interest.

I watched a mountain segment of the Coor's Challenge just outside Reno many years ago when Davis Phinney was still riding. I drove for about an hour to wait in the mountains for another hour to watch about 5 minutes of pedaling. I was pretty much in solitude.

The folks along Ventoux walked for miles uphill to wait for hours to watch for seconds. And roughly three quarters of a million did so.

Glad to see that the Tour has figured out you need to keep the suspense alive throughout the Tour if you are going to keep the US interested. But I am not sure Americans will ever adjust to the idea of riders stopping to wait on a leader who has crashed or stopped to pee, or a man who is three seconds behind riding casually through the streets of Paris.

Much of what goes on in the Tour is somewhat abstract. It is an acquired taste - but well worth the effort.
 
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Yeah Lance was pretty impressive today with some of those wicked accelerations to pull himself back. Now all you have to wonder is did he not have the stamina due to being away for so long or age. Either way next year is going to be interesting.
 
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dragurd;1504436; said:
Yeah Lance was pretty impressive today with some of those wicked accelerations to pull himself back. Now all you have to wonder is did he not have the stamina due to being away for so long or age. Either way next year is going to be interesting.
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Or the shoulder surgery that he had in March:

lance-armstrong-shoulder.jpg

Photo of Lance Armstrong?s shoulder after surgery
lance-armstrong-xray.jpg

X-ray of Lance Armstrong?s shoulder after surgery​
 
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