Amgen Tour of California May 15-22 2011

[dlwssonic]

STAGE 1 - South Lake Tahoe to North Lake Tahoe-Northstar at Tahoe Resort, May 15
STAGE 2 - North Lake Tahoe - Squaw Valley USA to Sacramento, May 16
STAGE 3 - Auburn to Modesto, May 17
STAGE 4 - Livermore to San Jose, May 18STAGE 5 - Seaside to Paso Robles, May 19
STAGE 6 - Solvang, May 20
STAGE 7 - Claremont to Mt. Baldy, May 21
STAGE 8 - Santa Clarita to Thousand Oaks, May 22


Startlist

Notable starters
Levi Leipheimer, Chris Horner (radioshack)
Dave Zabriske,Tom Danielson,Thor Hushovd,Ryder Hesjedal,Johan van Summeren,Dan Martin,Christian Vandevelde(Garmin Cervelo)
TJV, Matt Goss(HTC-Highroad)
Ben Swift, Kurt Arle Arseven(Sky)
Taylor Phinney,George Hincapie,Steve Morabito(BMC)
Andy Schleck,Linus Gerdemann,Jens Voigt,Jakob Fuglsang(Leopard Trek)
Peter Sagan,Daniel Oss(Liquigas)
Gustav Eric Larsson,JJ Haedo,Nick Nuyens(SaxoBank)
Paul Martens,Lars Boomz,Laurens Ten Dam,Oscar Freire,Michael Matthews(RaboBank)

lets start the american over hype!

 

[auscyclefan94]

Waiting for the tour of california bashers to post in 5...4...3...2...

I think it will be a really good race this year. Last years final stage was really entetaining.

Leipheimer
Horner
Van garderen
Zabriske
Morabito

 

[dlwssonic]

Waiting for the tour of california bashers to post in 5...4...3...2...

I think it will be a really good race this year. Last years final stage was really entetaining.

Leipheimer
Horner
Van garderen
Zabriske
Morabito

arh lets start the morabito hype hehe and it sucks that this race is in the morning in my time so cant watch it at all

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Tommy D. anyone?

 

[dlwssonic]

Tommy D. anyone?

Its not the veulta yet. jk. I think he could do well, if im not wrong he did pretty well in the tour de romandie

 

[Publicus]

I think I might take the day off and check out Stage 4.

 

[greenedge]

Thank you for creating this thread.

Contenders
Leipheimer, Horner. Should have hermans in here too. Favourites
Everyone from Garmin can win a stage. Think Zabriskie has prepared well for the race.
TJVG, want him to win. Worried how there are no real climbers to help him other than P.V and D.P. Shall be close but attention/ teamwork will also be on goss.
Want to see Dowsett go well in an exciting one week race. Hayman and Swift can pick up wins too.
Morabito fo GC. I hope Hincapie is a good domestique and Phinney pips TJVG in ITT.
Shleck and Fuglsang for mountains make for strong double pronged attack. Shall want to honour WW.
Have got exciting team. Sagan for a tougher stage with 25 riders, Oss for a hard sprint though might finish behind goss.
Cooke and Nuyens should pick up a win. Should have roberts and noval in here. Haedo's can win too.
Matthews FTW pls. Partens, Freire, Ten Dam shold all go well. Want to see Boom win a shorter stage.

Pity no Rogers. Contenders form PC
Sutherland, Efimkin, Bodrogi, Forster, Tuft for ITT, Bell?, Routley, Maynes, Baldwin, Pipp, Vennel, Pipp, Zirbel, Freidman and Day. Sorry for long lists.

 

[Anonymous]

Notable starters
Ben Swift, Kurt Arle Arseven(Sky)

Notable Starters
Michael Rogers, Alex Dowsett (well known in the US), Ben Swift

Not sure Kurt would be classed as Notable. (No offence to KAA)

Im going to go for TGBS for the win

 

[craig1985]

I thought Rogers isn't going to California? The ATOC website is very good BTW.

 

[just some guy]

Notable Starters
Michael Rogers, Alex Dowsett (well known in the US), Ben Swift

Not sure Kurt would be classed as Notable. (No offence to KAA)

Im going to go for TGBS for the win

Rogers is not riding - http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rogers-wont-return-to-defend-california-crown

 

[El Pistolero]

Leipi will win.

 

[Astana1]

I would like to see Zabriskie finally take this.

 

[Anonymous]

Rogers is not riding - http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rogers-wont-return-to-defend-california-crown

He isnt, and I even remember swapping his name out and putting Hendersons name in its place. (hendo has been in the US for weeks)

Im losing it

 

[maltiv]

Notable Starters
Michael Rogers, Alex Dowsett (well known in the US), Ben Swift

Not sure Kurt would be classed as Notable. (No offence to KAA)

Im going to go for TGBS for the win

If Alex Dowsett is notable then surely KAA is, based on palmares at least.

 

[Kwibus]

I've never ever followed or watched the ToC. I must say I've enjoyed the controversy the ToC has on this board and it sounded justified to bash it really.

This year though it looks like a proper 1 week stage race with a nice diversity in stages and a good line up. I'm certainly looking forward to an overdose of cycling next week!

 

[Astana1]

I've never ever followed or watched the ToC. I must say I've enjoyed the controversy the ToC has on this board and it sounded justified to bash it really.

This year though it looks like a proper 1 week stage race with a nice diversity in stages and a good line up. I'm certainly looking forward to an overdose of cycling next week!

Haters gonna hate.

 

[theyoungest]

I've never ever followed or watched the ToC. I must say I've enjoyed the controversy the ToC has on this board and it sounded justified to bash it really.

This year though it looks like a proper 1 week stage race with a nice diversity in stages and a good line up. I'm certainly looking forward to an overdose of cycling next week!

It's a beautiful race in terms of surroundings and fan support, and it's reportedly a very hard race. Tjallingii said last year that he had done more altitude meters in the queen stage of California than in the queen stage of the Giro. The climbs are quite steep as well, but you barely notice because the roads are so wide. What this race didn't have, though, was an opportunity for the strongest guys to really make a difference. Now with a few uphill finishes I think that problem should be solved.

 

[Jamsque]

It seems like every year we say 'could this be the year the ToC is not decided by the ITT?', but every year it is decided by the ITT.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Its not the veulta yet. jk. I think he could do well, if im not wrong he did pretty well in the tour de romandie

LOL. Well, I think you are at least partly right, although it's a little hard for me to tell about his Romandie performance because I didn't watch any of that, and because he and the rest of the GC teammates were probably riding for Talansky who took 9th overall at 0:59, or Millar at 10th. Here's how those Garmin guys finished at Romandie:
9. Andrew Talansky, at 0:59
10. David Millar, at 1:00
20. Thomas Danielson, at 1:24
27. Peter Stetina, at 2:14
32. David Zabriskie, at 3:06

Levi maybe ftw again, but hes getting a little long in the tooth. But I'd like to see Tommy get a win here. That would be a nice shot in the arm for him.

 

[thrawn]

It seems like every year we say 'could this be the year the ToC is not decided by the ITT?', but every year it is decided by the ITT.

Stages 4 and 7 at least give it a damn good shot at not being decided by the ITT.

 

[roundabout]

Yes, I think the TT is shorter this year and finishes are tougher.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Ryo isn't going to like it.
Movistar's Columbian outfit have had to scratch from the race.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/movistar-team-not-racing-amgen-tour-of-california

Maybe Cali can actually help to lift a little of our collective gloom over the Giro's cloud.
Who knows? Stranger things have happened, although I can't raise much enthusiasm; even for the Strade Bianche.

 

[Astana1]

Tommy D is a nice guy, but pulling for him to win a stage race is a bit like pulling for Rutgers to win a national championship in football.

Plus, ... he is part Eskimo.

With climbs being harder, I think Horner will probably take this. Apparently he's been on Mt. Baldy doing recons this week.

 

[just some guy]

Tommy D is a nice guy, but pulling for him to win a stage race is a bit like pulling for Rutgers to win a national championship in football.

Plus, ... he is part Eskimo.

With climbs being harder, I think Horner will probably take this. Apparently he's been on Mt. Baldy doing recons this week.

Good call on Horner

 

[Cal_Joe]

Yes, I think the TT is shorter this year and finishes are tougher.

TT is 24 km this year, essentially the same as previous years. A few small changes in the course in Los Olivos, but some of these guys could ride it in their sleep by now.

Glad they are back here - that TT in Los Angeles was a farce.

Agree the tougher finishes for stages 4 and 7 will make it a different race this year, and the rerouted stage 5 has a bit more climbing than the original course along Highway 1.