TDU race thread

[meat puppet]

Let me embarras myself, once again, by making a claim that Hesjedal will shine. Gonna get a stage win on the Willunga, at least.

 

[jens_attacks]

lol what is lindsay lohan doing on this thread?cute little crackhead,i love her

 

[Andy99]

Provisional Start List;

Ag2r La Mondiale (France)
Martin Elmiger (Swi)
Manuel Belletti (Ita)
Kristof Goddaert (Bel)
Blel Kadri (Fra)
Romain Lemarchand (Fra)
Matteo Montaguti (Ita)
Boris Shpilevskiy (Rus)

Astana (Kazakhstan)
Dmitri Muravyev (Kaz)
Borut Bozic (Slo)
Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita)
Francesco Masciarelli (Ita)
Assan Bazayev (Kaz)
Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz)
Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz)

BMC Racing Team (USA)
Alessandro Ballan (Ita)
Mathias Frank (Swi)
Adam Blythe (GBr)
Marcus Burghardt (Ger)
Martin Kohler (Sui)
Manuel Quinziato (Ita)
Greg Van Avermaet (Bel)

Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain)
Romain Sicard (Fra)
Gorka Izagirre (Spa)
Victor Cabedo (Spa)
Pablo Urtasun (Spa)
Ruben Perez (Spa)
Adrian Saez de Arregui (Spa)
Riccardo Garcia (Spa)

FDJ-Big Mat (France)
Sandy Casar (Fra)
William Bonnet (Fra)
Arnaud Courteille (Fra)
Frederic Guesdon (Fra)
Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr)
Jeremy Roy (Fra)
Jussi Veikkanen (Fin)

Garmin-Cervelo (USA)
Ruder Hesjedal (Can)
Jack Bauer (NZl)
Robbie Hunter (RSA)
Natahn Haas (Aus)
Heinrich Haussler (Aus)
Andreas Klier (Ger)
Martijn Maaskant (Ned)

GreenEdge (Australia)
Cameron Meyer (Aus)
Robbie McEwen (Aus)
Jack Bobridge (Aus)
Simon Gerrans (Aus)
Matt Goss (Aus)
Stuart O'Grady (Aus)
Leigh Howard (Aus)

Katusha (Russia)
Oscar Freire (Spa)
Maxim Belkov (Rus)
Giampaolo Caruso (Ita)
Luca Paolini (Ita)
Xavier Florencio (Spa)
Eduard Vorganov (Rus)
Gatis Smukulis (Lat)

Lampre-ISD (Italy)
Alessandro Petacchi (Ita)
Grega Bole (Slo)
Davide Cimolai (Ita)
Massimo Graziato (Ita)
Danilo Hondo (Ger)
Matthew Lloyd (Aus)
Davide Vigano (Ita)

Liquigas-Cannondale (Italy)
Stefano Agostini (Ita)
Daniele Ratto (Ita)
Federico Canuti (Ita)
Kristijan Koren (Slo)
Alan Marangoni (Ita)
Mauro Da Dalto (Ita)
Fabio Sabatini (Ita)

Lotto-Belisol (Belgium)
Andre Greipel (Ger)
Vicente Reynes (Spa)
Marcel Sieberg (Ger)
Adam Hansen (Aus)
Greg Henderson (NZl)
Jurgen Roelandts (Bel)
Olivier Kaisen (Bel)

Movistar (Spain)
Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa)
Imanol Erviti (Spa)
Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa)
David Lopez (Spa)
Angel Madrazo (Spa)
Javier Moreno (Spa)
Alejandro Valverde (Spa)

Omega Pharma-QuickStep (Belgium)
Gerald Ciolek (Ger)
Matthew Brammeier (Irl)
Serge Pauwels (Bel)
Andrew Fenn (GBr)
Gert Steegmans (Bel)
Matteo Trentin (Ita)
Julien Vermote (Bel)

Rabobank (Netherlands)
Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa)
Michael Matthews (Aus)
Tom Leezer (Ned)
Mark Renshaw (Aus)
Jos Van Emden (NEd)
Graeme Brown (Aus)
Wilco Kelderman (Ned)

RadioShack-Nissan (USA)
Daniele Bennati (Ita)
Linus Gerdemann (Ger)
Jan Bakelants (Bel)
Tiago Machado (Por)
Hayden Roulston (NZl)
Jesse Sergent (NZl)
Jens Voigt (Ger)

Saxo Bank (Denmark)
Sergio Paulinho (Por)
Anders Lund (Den)
Luke Roberts (Aus)
Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol)
Jonas Jorgensen (Den)
Jonathan Cantwell (Aus)
Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn)

Team Sky (Great Britain)
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor)
Geraint Thomas (GBr)
Chris Sutton (Aus)
Alex Dowsett (GBr)
Michael Rogers (Aus)
Danny Pate (USA)
Mathew Hayman (Aus)

Uni SA-Australia (Australia)
Steele Van Hoff (Aus)
Jay McCarthy (Aus)
Rohan Dennis (Aus)
Lachlan Norris (Aus)
Tom Palmer (Aus)
Plus two further riders to be confirmed

Vacansoleil-DCM (Netherlands)
Romain Feillu (Fra)
Thomas De Gendt (Bel)
Sergey Lagutin (Uzb)
Marcello Pavarin (Ita)
Kenny Van Hummel (Ned)
Mirko Selvaggi (Ita)
Wouter Mol (Ned)

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/531278/tour-down-under-2012-start-list.html

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

So who would be the favourites for winning this thing?

 

[jens_attacks]

i'm going with ballan and valverde

 

[Panda Claws]

Steegmans

 

[will10]

So who would be the favourites for winning this thing?

I think so far in this thread we have 75 candidates for "a stage win on Willunga"

I would go with any of the names mentioned in post #204

 

[Ruudz0r]

For fun final GC:

1 Ratto
2 Gerrans
3 Haas
4 LL Sanchez
5 Van Avermaet

(I like to go for a surprise)

 

[Parrulo]

so seems like paulinho will be saxo's "leader" for this race. i hope riis gets something special out of him this season, just a few days ago i was talking with a friend of mine that does some btt races where some portuguese road pro's race and he was told by one of those pro's(one whom pretty much every1 on this forum knows) that paulinho was the biggest wasted talent he had ever seen and that he could do much more then he has done so far if given the chances.

 

[Cimber]

so seems like paulinho will be saxo's "leader" for this race. i hope riis gets something special out of him this season, just a few days ago i was talking with a friend of mine that does some btt races where some portuguese road pro's race and he was told by one of those pro's(one whom pretty much every1 on this forum knows) that paulinho was the biggest wasted talent he had ever seen and that he could do much more then he has done so far if given the chances.

to me it seems as if its Roberts who will be their main leader for TDU:
http://saxobanksungard.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=3458

Ye it would have been nice if Paulinho hadnt been domestique so often. Maybe he can pull something off in the ardennes this year.

 

[Anonymous]

INteresting that the ASO are now involved with the TDU
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/giant-bonus-for-tour-down-under/story-e6frecj3-1226235993915

The company has been focusing on the globalisation of cycling

Meh...

 

[The Hitch]

INteresting that the ASO are now involved with the TDU
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/giant-bonus-for-tour-down-under/story-e6frecj3-1226235993915



Meh...

lol "potential audience of 5 billion"

 

[Mambo95]

I can't see past Gerrans for the win. This will mean a lot to GE and the Aussies on any team are always sharp for this.

 

[Anonymous]

lol "potential audience of 5 billion"

yeh, thats how globalised cycling is going to be

Maybe thats what causes the world to end.. 5 billion people simultaneously listening to Phil Liggett

 

[Ferminal]

INteresting that the ASO are now involved with the TDU
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/giant-bonus-for-tour-down-under/story-e6frecj3-1226235993915



Meh...

Sell the whole 4 hours of coverage?

 

[greenedge]

I do not want ASO getting involved so much. They will want to change the race.

Paulinho is a wasted talent ( his silver in 04 Olympic Games should have spurred him to greater things ). I hope he can go well, though at some races this year.

I hope Haas can go well.

 

[the asian]

I can't see past Gerrans for the win. This will mean a lot to GE and the Aussies on any team are always sharp for this.

EBH says Hello!

 

[the asian]

Good to see Sicard racing after missing the last year through injury.

 

[Parrulo]

to me it seems as if its Roberts who will be their main leader for TDU:
http://saxobanksungard.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=3458

Ye it would have been nice if Paulinho hadnt been domestique so often. Maybe he can pull something off in the ardennes this year.

i see, well maybe he can try something on willunga hill

oh and he isn't riding the ardennes because he has some really nasty allergies, i thought that was mostly BS to be honest but apparently it isn't as riis himself said he would change paulinho's schedule so he wouldn't race a lot during the spring because his allergies don't allow him to be competitive at all

but there are many other races along the season where he can entertain us with his breakaways ^_^

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I do not want ASO getting involved so much. They will want to change the race.

Paulinho is a wasted talent ( his silver in 04 Olympic Games should have spurred him to greater things ). I hope he can go well, though at some races this year.

I hope Haas can go well.

haas is overrated beyond hel. why because he won some crappy race in australia in october??

paulinho is extremely good in extreme heat. is the only reason he won silver that day. also in races now in extreme heatr he is always very strong. I think tour de france 2 years ago or something


who do you guys reckon is in great shape? Matthews?

I go with either matthews or bobridge, wasn't he the strognest on willunga hill last year?

 

[Cimber]

oh and he isn't riding the ardennes because he has some really nasty allergies, i thought that was mostly BS to be honest but apparently it isn't as riis himself said he would change paulinho's schedule so he wouldn't race a lot during the spring because his allergies don't allow him to be competitive at all

Thats new to me. To bad if thats the case. The classics + the Tour would be a nice calendar for him. Maybe he can give the autumn classics a crack instead

 

[craig1985]

Issoisso (who is also Portuguese) has mentioned before that Paulinho suffers from allergies that prevents him from doing the Classics.

 

[craig1985]

haas is overrated beyond hel. why because he won some crappy race in australia in october??

paulinho is extremely good in extreme heat. is the only reason he won silver that day. also in races now in extreme heatr he is always very strong. I think tour de france 2 years ago or something


who do you guys reckon is in great shape? Matthews?

I go with either matthews or bobridge, wasn't he the strognest on willunga hill last year?

He won a bit more then that in the Australian domestic scene. Fair enough if Bobridge won the Sun Tour and people were gloating about him but he didn't. Give Haas some credit for riding on a Continental team and then beating plenty of WT riders in the process, the same team that won the Japan Cup. I don't think anybody thinks he will win the TDU or a stage or to be Australia's next cycling superstar.

 

[theyoungest]

haas is overrated beyond hel. why because he won some crappy race in australia in october??

Well, he did beat Bobridge, the guy you've just mentioned as a big favourite for the TDU. On a pretty similar climb to Willunga Hill. Add to that he's Australian, and thus in great form for this race.

I think the hype comes more from his Japan Cup win, against Cunego and some Liquigas dudes.

who do you guys reckon is in great shape? Matthews?

I go with either matthews or bobridge, wasn't he the strognest on willunga hill last year?

He was close, but Hermans was better. Matthews might be a good bet, on bonus seconds (if his team doesn't use him as a leadout for Renshaw, that is... last year they went for Graeme Brown in the first stages).

 

[Kwibus]

So who would be the favourites for winning this thing?

Obviously Kelderman.