Time trial_ le tour

[backhaus1@bigpond.com]

The team trial has taken a lot of interest out of the Le Tour so early on. As expected the big budget Astana team with the best team by a mile has established a dominant position. The only remaining question is which Astana rider will win the Tour.
Riders like Cadel Evans in poor teams have no chance of winning.

Michael Mc Kenzie.
Australia.

 

[marinoni]

Welcome! I don't really agree that the TTT completely shut the race down. I still think Schleck has a shot. The other thing is, the current state of affairs is going to force Cadel, Menchov and others to ride aggressively in the mtns, so at least they should be exciting. Also, no one really knows how well Armstrong will climb. This is slightly off-topic but I'm not 100% sold on Contador. I believe the only results that matter when guaging a riders Tour chances are his Tour results. I've seen too many Giro and Vuelta champs flop in the Tour. Contador has won 1 Tour and that was by the back door because of Rasmussen. Don't get me wrong, he's probably as good as everyone thinks, I'm just saying lets wait till the mtns to see for sure.One last point- I think people sometimes make too much of how you need teammates in the mtns. Evans can follow whatever Astana rider is driving at the front just as easily as LA or Conti. Lemond won the 89 Tour with a team that makes Lotto look like 9 Eddy Merckx clones.

 

[Hotbrakes]

I am not a fan of the TTT, never have been, never will. We are now down to 2 possible winners. How come the TTT went missing for 3 years and now it's suddenly back again. I will still watch the Tour until the end because I love it, but it has lost a bit of it's unpredictability. Contador or Armstrong will win. Unless they both crash that in the destiny of this years Tour.

 

[BroDeal]

I am not a fan of the TTT, never have been, never will. We are now down to 2 possible winners. How come the TTT went missing for 3 years and now it's suddenly back again. I will still watch the Tour until the end because I love it, but it has lost a bit of it's unpredictability. Contador or Armstrong will win. Unless they both crash that in the destiny of this years Tour.

Because the ASO got rid of the old management. The old management struggled to come up with ways to limit the effect of the TTT. Finally they got rid of it altogether. The new management apparently was not paying attention.

Not having time bonifications on stages combined with inclusion of the team time trial was another act of stupidity.

 

[uphillstruggle]

The whole point of the route was supposed to be that come the final few stages we would not know who would win and the TTT goes and completely kills of a lot of GC hopefuls. So although it maybe close, it will be close between a select few: basically Astana or Shleck on a outside bet. With no TTT there could have been 10 riders capable of winning this year.

Having said that this years tour has been exciting and watching two team mates attck each other should be a laugh.

 

[Modiss]

There's nothing wrong with the inclusion of the TTT after all the race is a TEAM event.

There were a number of contributing factors for a 46 minute stage having such an impact on this years race.

Don't blame the RTTT for a technically difficult course, poor team management and a lack of race planning.

Also the current thinking that shorter events have less effect has one big flaw. Bring back the 100km after all there is 9 of them now.

Most events that catch riders and teams out are the ones that aren't held regularly, I say more RTTT's so race organisers and teams can get it right.

Do it properly or not at all.

 

[whiteboytrash]

The team trial has taken a lot of interest out of the Le Tour so early on. As expected the big budget Astana team with the best team by a mile has established a dominant position. The only remaining question is which Astana rider will win the Tour.
Riders like Cadel Evans in poor teams have no chance of winning.

Michael Mc Kenzie.
Australia.

The biggest problem was not so much the course but the order the teams went off. Right you are, the poorer less stacked teams started first. This meant they were the ones to crash and find out how c*ap the course really was. This then benefits the later starting teams who saw who crashed where and what bends were the tightest and informed their riders. For the TTT only the start order should be random not based upon placement of team’s riders in the GC. Silence never had a chance.

 

[workingclasshero]

The team trial has taken a lot of interest out of the Le Tour so early on. As expected the big budget Astana team with the best team by a mile has established a dominant position. The only remaining question is which Astana rider will win the Tour.
Riders like Cadel Evans in poor teams have no chance of winning.

Michael Mc Kenzie.
Australia.

why am i not surprised?

anyhoo, i agree with you.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Maybe Le Tour should have arranged a transfer for poor Cadel to be able to ride in a less poor team so that he would have a chance???

I bet we wouldn't be hearing this whinging if Cadel happened to be in a stronger team than S-L. It sounds to me like those complaining about the impact of the TTT are suggesting/hinting/implying that the organizers somehow deliberately picked the course to favor Astana.

I refer you to the very interesting contribution by a local cyclist in the Montpellier TTT topic.

 

[Anonymous]

i think cadel should just do a robert miller and enter the womens tour..

hes still probably come second..