2011 Tour de France Stage 1: Passage du Gois - Mont des Alouettes 191.5 km

[jobiwan]

Is this a tad early? Maybe.
Am I ashamed? Not in the slightest.
---------------------------------
For only the 2nd time since 1967, the Tour de France will start with a mass-start stage instead of a prologue.
This year, the Tour de France grand start is back in France, with the first stages in the Vendee region.

With a ceremonial start (to the peloton's relief) on the Passage du Gois, this opening stage will be a rather flat run-in to the final finishing hill.

The Mont des Alouettes, 2.2 km @ 4.7%, will decide the first yellow jersey of the 2011 Tour de France.

Map:

Profile:

Mont des Alouettes:

The Maillot Jaune Awaits!!

 

[jobiwan]

More Preview! (With Photos)

We probably won't see carnage on the Passage du Gois again.

Will the favorite, Phillipe Gilbert, continue his dream season?

Or will a strongman sprinter, like Thor Hushovd...

or Matt Goss, spoil his party?

 

[ElChingon]

They should have the finishing sprint on the Passage

Too bad they won't re-live the 1999 stage, it was so decisive and such a spectacle

Will the riders protest even crossing it? I mean its not safe right

 

[Frosty]

Gilbert for me.

Bit of background info on the Passage du Gois below (yes i know its not being raced over)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T66LLvqgZS4

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Can't wait to get the TDF underway. Only stupid thing is no mountains until stage 12.

can it really hurt to do 1 serious mountain in the 1st week? Hills are nice but...now you get every contender peaking for the 3rd week. It would be funnier if they put 2 mt stages in week 1, 2 in week 2 and 2 in week 3...

 

[Sophistic]

Its gonna be interesting how certain teams approach this stage, with the TTT the day after and Gilbert the big fav..OPL chasing every breakaway would certainly hurt their TTT perf and VDBs gc chances. Then there are teams like HTC and Garmin who could win the TTT and take the yellow jersey the day after so they have an interest in chasing breaks but also cant invest too much....could lead to a surprise winner

 

[Thomsena]

Petacchi, Petacchi, Petacchi...

 

[AlejandroValverde]

For me also Gilbert. He is unbeatable on such routes and such finishes. Only a miracle can cause that any other rider will win. For me Gilbert's win there, is as certain as it was for me before Giro that AC will win it.

Than Hushovd, Rojas, Kolobnev, Evans, Voeckler, Gesink, Tejay, Hesjedal and the rest of the bunch.

According to Dekker_Tifosi post I really like these first stages of Tour, when everyone is calm, there are nice views and nothing happens and at the end of each stage sprinters have their moment of glory - it's also needed on TdF and also for this I love watching and following le Tour.

 

[Frosty]

Its gonna be interesting how certain teams approach this stage, with the TTT the day after and Gilbert the big fav..OPL chasing every breakaway would certainly hurt their TTT perf and VDBs gc chances. Then there are teams like HTC and Garmin who could win the TTT and take the yellow jersey the day after so they have an interest in chasing breaks but also cant invest too much....could lead to a surprise winner

Yeah its not the most straightforward situation. However, i think that OPL will not be too worried about the TTT, they will want to make sure they give Gilbert the best chance of winning the stage and getting yellow. They may lose an extra 20-30 seconds if working hard all the way through the stage but i think they would sacrifice that for the above. As for HTC, Garmin, Radioshack, Sky, they may have to work a bit but it may not cost them that much given its the first stage. Certainly the sort of situation that could cause a stand-off in the peloton but i think they will recognise their common goals and send a man to help bring back the break if need be. Lampre may be looking for Petacchi to get some decent points in the sprint to help his chances of green. Some teams may fancy the chances of someone taking a flyer late on, such as Voeckler, so will help. Not saying they'll succeed but the chance of yellow will cause many teams to put more effort in than for a normal stage.

 

[Ferminal]

Stage 1 2008:

1. [ESP] VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro GCE 4h36'07" 80
2. [BEL] GILBERT Philippe FDJ 01"
3. [FRA] PINEAU Jérôme BTL 01"
4. [LUX] KIRCHEN Kim THR 01"
5. [AUS] EVANS Cadel SIL 01"
6. [LUX] SCHLECK Fränk CSC 01"
7. [ITA] POZZATO Filippo LIQ 01"
8. [ESP] FREIRE GOMEZ Oscar RAB 01"
9. [ESP] PEREIRO SIO Oscar GCE 01"
10. [GBR] MILLAR David TSL 01"

*Ricco finished in between Kirchen and Evans

The bold will be returning for battle this year. Three years ago it was Schumacher attacking from around the flag, then Kirchen went, and finally it was Valverde who gave an impressive kick a couple of hundred metres from the line, whilst it was still a bit uphill. Gilbert was feeble, compared to what we now know him is. On this occasion he sat with the others and had the best reaction to Valverde, but it was well below what was necessary.

Back then, the finale started at 1700m remaining. A serious ramp slowed the pace right up and allowed the attacks to fly. Beyond that wall the climb did flatten out, and the last 1000m averaged 3.8%.

On Saturday the climbing begins at about 3900m remaining, but it is little more than false flat until around the 2000m mark. The final 1000m are at 5.0%.

 

[Moondance]

Alouette, gentille Alouette, Alouette, je te plumerai. Ooooh


Anyway... Obvious Gilbert victory is obvious.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

The race doesn't start until after the Passage du Gois. That section is neutral.

 

[Task_Force]

since Gilbert wins everything he enters.. he will probably take this one, but i kinda hope for a surprise winner (voeckler, boom, terpstra, txurruka)

 

[dabaideschbi]

i hope gilbert wins it!!!! he definitely deserves to wear the yellow jersey at least for one day!

 

[will10]

Romain Feillu

 

[Ferminal]

There will be time gaps heading into the TTT, but they will be small, maybe 5-10s here and there, between groups.

The top teams in the TTT should all have someone only a few seconds down on Gilbert, so that they can still take yellow the next day.

HTC: Velits
Leopard: Schleck(s)
Sky: EBH
Garmin: Hushovd maybe or one of those three American GC fellows.
Radioshack: Horner

 

[theyoungest]

Romain Feillu

Or Bozic. Would actually be really cool if Vacans managed to snatch yellow in front of the fated one clad in black, yellow, and red.

since Gilbert wins everything he enters.. he will probably take this one, but i kinda hope for a surprise winner (voeckler, boom, terpstra, txurruka)

When did Boom last win an uphill sprint? Or when did Txurruka win... anything?

 

[AlejandroValverde]

I's say TJVG rather for HTC than Velits. American shoul be stronger on 1st stage

 

[Ruudz0r]

Or Bozic. Would actually be really cool if Vacans managed to snatch yellow in front of the fated one clad in black, yellow, and red.


When did Boom last win an uphill sprint? Or when did Txurruka win... anything?

Marcato should be able to do well to on this finish.

 

[AlejandroValverde]

What about Poels? Had one or two nice results in T-A on such finishes. Should be high as he's quite fast on such hills.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Does anyone know the percentages in the final K? If it's not too steep, I see Hushovd hanging on. But I hope Gilbert.

 

[AlejandroValverde]

On the final kilometer it's 5% because they start at 178 and going on 228. It's 50 meters higher on 1 k. So not too steep for sprinters like Hushovd or Rojas

 

[nesocip]

Does anyone know the percentages in the final K? If it's not too steep, I see Hushovd hanging on. But I hope Gilbert.

http://www.climbbybike.com/profile.asp?Climbprofile=Mont-des-Alouettes&MountainID=11764

Someone feel free to insert this as an image, i give the **** up

Anyways, very hard to look past Gilbert here, especially since last 600 meters are in my opinion too steep even for the strongest sprinters (Thor, Goss etc.)

On-form Pozzatto or Ballan, or Sagan (Degenkolb?) might be better suited to this finish then Gilbert (especially considering the stage is very easy before it) but none of them are riding. I just dont that type of a rider in this TdF that is strong enough.

 

[Task_Force]

Or Bozic. Would actually be really cool if Vacans managed to snatch yellow in front of the fated one clad in black, yellow, and red.


When did Boom last win an uphill sprint? Or when did Txurruka win... anything?

lol i said i liked to see that.. didnt say it was plausible

 

[Parrulo]

http://www.climbbybike.com/profile.asp?Climbprofile=Mont-des-Alouettes&MountainID=11764

Someone feel free to insert this as an image, i give the **** up

Anyways, very hard to look past Gilbert here, especially since last 600 meters are in my opinion too steep even for the strongest sprinters (Thor, Goss etc.)

On-form Pozzatto or Ballan, or Sagan (Degenkolb?) might be better suited to this finish then Gilbert (especially considering the stage is very easy before it) but none of them are riding. I just dont that type of a rider in this TdF that is strong enough.

lol cammon it isn't that hard . . . .

just use

p.s. i see what the problem wasn't a jpg file. it was a popup window that also has publicity thats why the code wasn't working

looking at the profile i can't see past gilbert