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Mellow Velo said:If only it really looked like this!
.............
It doesn't.Still, better than this year's bummer.
But it could look like this, couldn't it? I mean the details about the stages to Station Les Rousses and Mende aren't yet given.. I think (eerhh.. well HOPE) they could make it something like the charts you provided us with.
By the way, did you make those charts yourself? They look really cool, and I want to do that as well!!
3 guys this tour will suit perfectly: AC, AS and CS. Little time triailling, no ttt and lots of climb. This tour may be more boring than this years tour. Surely prufhomme can see the trend of when you have more tt km's you get more exciting tours.
My opinion (similar to the one I expressed on different forum).
New route looks much better than this year's. However, this year's route was the worst since early nineties and it was too hard to make a worse route. I think organizers did their best to make exciting racing:
*Firstly, it is possible to steal seconds on the cobbles of stage 2.
*Secondly, something could be stolen in Jura mountains. Last climb is located just 4km from the finish and is 14km long.
*Only after those exams come the Alps. Ramaz + Avoriaz looks much better than small Spanish col + Arcalis. It is good that ascent to Avoriaz starts immediately after the end of the decent from Ramaz. Ramaz is very though climb.
*The next stage to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne could be more selective than this year's stage to Bourg Saint Maurice. In both cases final climb is located 30km from finish. But Madeleine is much harder than Little Bernard. There is also a little uphill section shortly before finish. I think some of top10/top15 riders will be eliminated in this stage (it was impossible in this year's second and third Pyrenees stages).
*A stage to Mende in Massif Central might shake up GC (3,1km;10,1% Croix-Neuve climb is located 1,5km before the finish). My bet is that Contador will steal some 20 seconds from his rivals here.
Since there is so many potential GC stages until the Pyrenees I would disagree that the route is designed for the last week. Another thing I like is the absence of TTT (it will make the race more fair). As usual last Massif is the hardest one.
The only thing where this year's Alps can beat next year's Pyrenees is Grand Bornard stage (Aspet + Bales cannot beat three big climbs + chain of Romme and Colombiere). However, Bales should be able to make some time gaps. It could be possible to gain the time on decent, especially, when someone is isolated.
Ax-3 Domaines and Tourmalet stages looks harder than Verbier and Ventoux stages:
*Pailhères is one of the hardest Tour de France climbs and it is in different category in comparison to Mosses climb of Verbier stage (Ax-3 Domaines is a little bit harder than Verbier as well). Another advantage of this stage is the absence flat section after Pailhères.
*While uphill finish to Tourmalet could be a little bit easier than Ventoux (18.3km;7.7% vs 21km;7.6%) small hills (3rd and 4th cat.) of Ventoux stage cannot compete with Marie Blanque and Soulur. Well done!
New route looks much better than this year's. However, this year's route was the worst since early nineties and it was too hard to make a worse route. I think organizers did their best to make exciting racing:
*Firstly, it is possible to steal seconds on the cobbles of stage 2.
*Secondly, something could be stolen in Jura mountains. Last climb is located just 4km from the finish and is 14km long.
*Only after those exams come the Alps. Ramaz + Avoriaz looks much better than small Spanish col + Arcalis. It is good that ascent to Avoriaz starts immediately after the end of the decent from Ramaz. Ramaz is very though climb.
*The next stage to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne could be more selective than this year's stage to Bourg Saint Maurice. In both cases final climb is located 30km from finish. But Madeleine is much harder than Little Bernard. There is also a little uphill section shortly before finish. I think some of top10/top15 riders will be eliminated in this stage (it was impossible in this year's second and third Pyrenees stages).
*A stage to Mende in Massif Central might shake up GC (3,1km;10,1% Croix-Neuve climb is located 1,5km before the finish). My bet is that Contador will steal some 20 seconds from his rivals here.
Since there is so many potential GC stages until the Pyrenees I would disagree that the route is designed for the last week. Another thing I like is the absence of TTT (it will make the race more fair). As usual last Massif is the hardest one.
The only thing where this year's Alps can beat next year's Pyrenees is Grand Bornard stage (Aspet + Bales cannot beat three big climbs + chain of Romme and Colombiere). However, Bales should be able to make some time gaps. It could be possible to gain the time on decent, especially, when someone is isolated.
Ax-3 Domaines and Tourmalet stages looks harder than Verbier and Ventoux stages:
*Pailhères is one of the hardest Tour de France climbs and it is in different category in comparison to Mosses climb of Verbier stage (Ax-3 Domaines is a little bit harder than Verbier as well). Another advantage of this stage is the absence flat section after Pailhères.
*While uphill finish to Tourmalet could be a little bit easier than Ventoux (18.3km;7.7% vs 21km;7.6%) small hills (3rd and 4th cat.) of Ventoux stage cannot compete with Marie Blanque and Soulur. Well done!
LA: I can't believe I actually shook Prudhomme's hand; where is my dAmn TTT.Bala Verde said:People were having fun!
ANDY: I waited for Frank as long as possible to bring my suit and look where it gets me, I still finish up between these two mongrels. Deja vu?
AC: I hope they have better champagne on the last stage into Paris this year.
Mellow Velo said:If only it really looked like this!
It doesn't.
from the descriptions I read on the tour homepage, it will look like that.
Mende is 3,1km long climb with 10,1%. Finish is the same as in 2005. See the profile of the stage of 2005 here:MizunoMX20 said:
http://www.letour.fr/2005/TDF/LIVE/us/1800/dprofil.html
Charts can be found here:
http://www.letour.com/2010/TDF/COURSE/fr/les_sommets_du_tour.html
Together with Gap those 3 medium mountain stages rock I think.
Contador has already done some serious damage, (Paris-Nice) on the Mende climb. It's a real ramp and I like it!
auscyclefan94 said:Prudhomme hasn't given much at all for Menchov, Leipheimer or Evans. Real cop out. Annoyed Those guys should ride the giro instead now.
I actually hope those 3 ride the Giro AND the tour.
I actually think Evans is better off than Menchov and Leipheimer for this one. As we've discussed, he is losing his TT a little bit, and if he keeps up his agressive form wearing the rainbow jersey, we may see him attack on the medium mountain stages like stage 7 to shake things up.
With a different mindset from previous years (defend, defend wait for the final TT - which has netted him two 2nd places) I think he can definately podium again.
i.e. if Evans can gain a little in the cobbles, a little in stage 7 and stay with them in stage 8, he can follow the attacks for the rest of the tour (like he did at the vuelta) and then try and gain time back in the final long TT (which there is absolutely ZERO chance AC can win). Of course it would have been nice to include a second week 35km TT like in 2008, but as everyone agrees, Prudhomme is an idiot.
Prediction: Contador, Schleck, Evans,
4th to 10th: Armstrong, Menchov, Gesink, FSchleck, Nibali, Sastre, Kreuziger
I doubt Sastre can podium again, gaurantee he gets caught out on one of the descent finishes and loses a good 2 minutes to Evans in the final TT. Sastre can only ride MTFs and there's only 3.5 of those.
The moral - don't write off Evans to podium in his pretty Rainbow jersey (for everyone who hasn't realised yet, like auscyclefan, Cuddles is my favourite rider)
Mountain Goat said:
I'm no Cuddles fan (don't hate him either), but I don't see him have a real chance of hitting the podium next year--I still don't know what happened to him this past year between the Dauphine and the start of the Tour (whatever it is, he shouldn't repeat it).
Also, I wouldn't say AC has absolute zero chance to win the long TT (though I don't think it is likely). I'd have to see the profile of the course before I declared him completely out of the running. Also, he may have the freshest legs of all the riders (like in this year's final TT--though I think the first half of the route favored his skills). If it is even remotely hilly, I wouldn't count him out. Given the limited ITT km, it may be a course that offers something to everyone.
And yes, I'm a big AC fan.
***just put it into google maps. it looks pretty flat. he has little chance of winning it.***
I don't like the cobbles; it's like russian roulette for the riders, totally unfair to anyone who trained hard and then busted a kneecap on a rock. And will we see bike changes after the cobbles ?
Laszlo said:
I like the Giro's use of gravel in the place of cobbles. It has the retro look and feel but the chance of disaster for a GC contender is lower.
auscyclefan94 said:Prudhomme hasn't given much at all for Menchov, Leipheimer or Evans. Real cop out. Annoyed Those guys should ride the giro instead now.
auscyclefan94 said:
ehhh i disagree. more tt kms makes it less interesting. I personally always liked it when riders win GTs in the mountains and not the tt bike.
10' is a better course, and for evans too.
1) The mountains seem a little harder... which is forsure nedded after this years neutralized climbing :/
2) The overall time trialing is probably better for evans. The fact there is no TTT means riders in weaker teams wont suffer. And the last ITT is a little longer then this years. Ok the prolouge isn't the same as the monaco stage last year, but overall there is little difference in ITT kms to be raced, with the exception of a TTT.
The course will make for a closer race, not one that was practically decided after stage 4. So stop whinning, the course is the same for everyone, evans can win, but he is gonna have to climb like a beast... anyone who wants to win will have too.
On the point about the time trial km's, look at the tours in 03,06,07 and 08. They all had tt km's between 80 - 110. Those tours were all close. 04, 05 and 09 all had under 80km of tt and they were boring and mundane tours. I guess you would be happy about the route for gesink as it it will suit him and his rabobank team.Timmy-loves-Rabo said:
hey, any route could be better than this years route.
Laszlo said:
Then have a cup of cement and HTFU and ride Paris-Roubaix for training. If it was good enough for Hinualt (and he hated the race and everything to do with it) to win it, then it is for everybody else. Quick Step and Garmin are probably licking their lips at this and use the cobbles to try and isolate Cavendish and Columbia. They will regret losing Hincapie there.
Mountain Goat said:
i think a 30km time trial would of been nice to chuck in there. if he can get his time trial form back from 07 and have an agressive style carried from the worlds then he may have a chance. No matter what route, AC was always going to be the favourite. really his team ain't to shabby for the mountains. Van den Broeck, van Goolen, de Greef, Lloyd, Wegelius and gilbert and lang for the flats. Their team ain't bad and in 07 an 08, what stopped him from winning was the lack of support and being out numbered. Don't write off Cadel just yet but Conti would have to be the favourite.
So everybody is saying that next year's course is a lot more harder then the 2009 race. Either it is or they are just being diplomatic.
i got a question (it may be a dumm one), is the mountain top finish to Morzine -Avoiraz on top of the Joux Plane?
Also intersting to see that they are going up the Col de Soulor twice.
The stage to the arenberg forest is 270km. OUCH!!!!
Also intersting to see that they are going up the Col de Soulor twice.
The stage to the arenberg forest is 270km. OUCH!!!!
craig1985 said:
Hinault is a boar, I see no reason to give him any more due. The Tour will be a disaster if any of the contenders end their career on the first set of cobblestones (Shleck for one example). It is a bike race, not a demolition derby.
I just found out that apparently i'm not very attentive when i comes to watching professional cycling. From the front page of cyclingnews:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sergeant-no-team-time-trial-should-open-tour-field
What race was i watching this year? I thought he lost lots of time in the Team time trial? So apparently somehow he finished second in 08 but outside the top ten and was also runner up this year?
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sergeant-no-team-time-trial-should-open-tour-field
Link on front page of cyclingnews said:
What race was i watching this year? I thought he lost lots of time in the Team time trial?
So apparently somehow he finished second in 08 but outside the top ten and was also runner up this year?auscyclefan94 said:
I agree with everything here. As long as the Belgian climbers don't go looking for stage wins. S/L is looking like a good team for this parcours.
All he needs is one good climber to pace the pack when everyone looks at cadel and says 'you ride' (i.e. alpe d'huez 2008 - if he had one climber there to help, sastre wouldn't have gained that much - I should move on from that really, cant seem to let it go hahah)
in bold, there's no way I right Evans off yet. That's why I predict a podium. I think with his new aggressive and confident mindset from wearing rainbow, he can shake things up. This is a tour he can potentially win. He's more of a climber in these last two years, and I think he should definately be the 3rd favourite behind AC and AS. Damn I wish he didnt puncture at the Vuelta... that was a real GC chance too.. hopeful, the rianbow curse makes him ride better
Oh and btw, remember when I suggested Evans ride flanders, and everyone laughed at me?? well i think flanders for training would be looking pretty good right now? I reckon the "stronger" GC types - LA, Evans, Menchov, VDV - should be able to take some time out of AC, AS and CS on the cobbles.. I can see some real chaos in those cobble sections. That was a good inclusion Prudhomme
Mountain Goat said:
+1
I'll admit i even laughed at your evans and flanders comment at first.
LA even said he was considering riding flanders. i think we will see more gc riders riding events such as PR and RVV.
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