TDF Presentation "Live"

[Mellow Velo]

Cycling.tv has the TDF presentation on this morning, live and free, if anyone is interested.
Should be 11-00CET/10-00GMT French schedule.
http://cycling.tv/

Scrap that. Also, live? on all Eurosports 12-00CET (75 minutes)

 

[Ferminal]

50 minutes time on cycling.tv then?

 

[RhodriM]

http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=52788&part=sports

 

[progressor]

On main website as well I believe

http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html

 

[issoisso]

As expected it's the 2009 route without the TTT and with the alps and pyrenees switched.

So while 2009 was all about the TTT + the third week, this one is ONLY about the third week. The first two weeks are going to be mind-bendingly boring

 

[The Sheep]

Are that cobbles?

 

[issoisso]

Prologue: Rotterdam
Stage 1 : Rotterdam - Bruxelles
Stage 2 : Bruxelles - Spa. A couple of LBL climbs. Nothing too hard.
Stage 3 : Wanze - Arenberg Porte du Hainaut. 4 easy pavé sections totalling 13.3kms. Past experience shows us this tends to cause crashes and kill the GC excitement because people lose time for no reason that later renders them completely out of the GC.
Stage 4 : Cambrai - Reims. Shortest stage other than the final one.
Stage 5 : Épernay - Montargis
Stage 6 : Montargis - Gueugnon
Stage 7 : Tournus - Station des Rousses. First climbs in the Jura.
Stage 8 : Station des Rousses - Morzine-Avoriaz. Mountain finish with 2 first category climbs: The Col la Ramaz just before the finish, the small third category Les Gets and and the finishing cat. 1climb.
Stage 9 : Morzine - Saint-Jean de Maurienne. Several hard climbs, the Colombiére, Aravis, Saisies, Madeleine but then the long descent to the finish. Contenders likely all together at the finish as usual when the Tour goes through here.
Stage 10 : Chambéry - Gap. Tricky stage. Not any hard climbs, but a likely place for screwy attacks and nervous and exciting tactics. As usual when the Tour goes through here.
Stage 11 : Sisteron - Bourg-lès-Valence
Stage 12 : Rattel - Mende. La Croix-neuf. Basically the typical troublesome massif central stage.
Stage 13 : Rodez - Revel
Stage 14 : Revel - Ax3 Domaines sky resort. Port de Pailhéres (probably the hardest climb of this Tour) + the finishing climb to AX3. Expect decent sized time gaps.
Stage 15 : Pamiers - Bagnéres de Luchon. Portet d'Aspet, Ares, Port de Balès and downhill to the finish. Only the Balès is a major climb.
Stage 16 : Bagnéres de Luchon - Pau. Tourmalet (La Mongie side), Aubisque, then 60kms to the finish. Don't expect time gaps.
Stage 17 : Pau - Tourmalet. Marie-Blanque, Soulor, finish on the Tourmalet. Queen stage.
Stage 18 : Salies de Bearin - Bordeaux
Stage 19 : Bordeaux - Paulliac ITT (51 kms)
Stage 20 : Longjumeau - Paris

 

[Race Radio]

arenberg forest, Morzine, TT in the first week? Third week will be epic

 

[scribe]

without TTT, Berto wins by 8+ minutes.

 

[Race Radio]

I saw that the Etape is Pau-Tourmalet, which day was it? I think the 18th

 

[Anonymous]

not seen it all yet, we are on sky+ delayed...

but on thing to say after four stages....

COBBLES

Love me cobbles me do...

 

[The Sheep]

Only 59 time trial KM.

 

[sadfitty]

Should be a good route for Andy S. Some big climbs, few km's of TTing and a strong team+capable DS to take him through the first week.

 

[Anonymous]

interesting route... will comment more when ive hard chance to look at it properly.. hard to keep track on the tv...

like the first four days a lot, should be some good action, parts of fleche, leige-b-liege, and paris roubaix... great few days.. and im loving the cobbles....
especially early, they are fair good sections, someones tour could be over before its finished... i like..

only one time trial..im surprised... im glad to see the ttt go, but not so sure about only 1 tt, it is nice to have a flat one and a mountain one.. will be interesting to see if it makes things better, ie. times closer so riders looking to break more, or worse, times closer, riders scared to do anything...

mountains look interesting, not as testing as they could have been but tougher than last year..

i can see a lot of people already planning tourmalet... two lots of racing to enjoy there...

and baby schleck really is a scruffy ****..

 

[Ferminal]

Should be right to tune in for Stage 14, I guess all the contenders will be <1minute at this stage, much like this year without the TTT.

 

[Anonymous]

59km of TT = dissappointing for me

Gonna be a frustrating first 2 weeks waiting for something to happen.

Definately a course suited to climbers with a weaker TT, so schleck, gesink, nibali should be up there. Obviously, AC can put another TDF to his name even if he is on a team with his spanish friends, and kazakh colleagues given there is no TTT.

For the other GC guys, I think Evans and Sastre will be happier without the TTT. Wiggins, VDV, LL prob prefer a few more TT kilometres.

Can someone tell me, how many mountain top finishes is there? 4? The CN report says 6 mountain stages, but i assume a couple are descent finishes...

 

[Anonymous]

only one time trial..im surprised... im glad to see the ttt go, but not so sure about only 1 tt, it is nice to have a flat one and a mountain one.. will be interesting to see if it makes things better, ie. times closer so riders looking to break more, or worse, times closer, riders scared to do anything...

QUOTE]

I suspect the second option. wouldn't mind a 30k hilly TT in the middle somewhere (say stage 9 or 10), but too late to tell ASO now

Last week will be good. At least the climbers will have to attack in the third week, to gain time before a decent length TT

 

[The Sheep]

 

[The Sheep]

 

[RhodriM]

http://www.letour.fr/2010/TDF/COURSE/us/le_parcours.html

 

[McLovin]

I think it's good that Madeleine gets a bit of what it should have. A MTF on Madeleine would be mindblowing, but even with a 21 km downhill should be good. It will make bigger gaps than Morzine in my opinion, even it's the "easier" side (28.3 km with 5%).

 

[python]

only three mountain top finishes? i expected more and agree with those who'r disappointed with tt. would love to see a mid course mountain tt.

 

[pmcg76]

Thankfully no TT but some of the mountain stages are neutralised, the stage to Pau is a tough route but too much distance between final climb and finish. What a waste.

 

[RhodriM]

only three mountain top finishes? i expected more and agree with those who'r disappointed with tt. would love to see a mid course mountain tt.

Much chance of anything interesting happening on stages 9 and 15 as well, or not?

I hope someone has a pop on Avoriaz or it's going to be a dull first 2 weeks.

 

[BroDeal]

only three mountain top finishes? i expected more and agree with those who'r disappointed with tt. would love to see a mid course mountain tt.

No big surpise after Christian Prudhomme's comments the other day. The man is obviously an idiot. You would hope that he would have learned something from this year. Celarly he did not.