Tour 2012. Who is your money on.

[theyoungest]

Well its not really a far off assumption to suggest a rider would have gone faster if he did not have a injury

I doubt it bothered him much during the stage itself... remember Evans initially had no problems on the stage where he hurt his elbow (or what was it again). Adrenaline works wonders.

 

[Angliru]

He can do what he wants, hes the pope.

Sure he might have to buy out his contract or something, or the new team would, but if come February Geox has no invite i think he can move. Least thats what was suggested this year.

Also he could try some back room stuff now. Ask Prudhomme face to face, is Geox going to be allowed in or not.

If I recall correctly he has a clause in his contract that allows him to bail if the team isn't invited to the Tour. He apparently decided to stick it out this year likely to avoid the drama of searching for a new team at almost mid-season. I don't think he will sit idly by for another season and miss the Tour again. I'd love to see him in the Tour and it opens up another discussion as to what team he would fit in with should Geox not get an invite.

Edit: Nielsa beat me to it regarding the Menchov exit clause at Geox.

 

[The Hitch]

I doubt it bothered him much during the stage itself... remember Evans initially had no problems on the stage where he hurt his elbow (or what was it again). Adrenaline works wonders.

the fact that they do well doesnt mean they have no problems, its just means its not that as big a problem originally as it turns out to be in the coming days.

Evans stayed with in the pack, and staying in a pack doesnt neccesarily require full effort whereas trying to drop and put time into someone does.

If all Sanchez had to do was stay with a group the adrelaline would have helped him manage it. But he needed to put time into Menchov and it probably was harder to attack and drop him due to the broken wrist.

You want to be in as good a condition as possible while climbing the Tourmalet.

 

[SimonC]

Ithink he could do well in stage races and I think going to Sky was the worst possible option with him looking at the riders they have got. Ultimately he will be riding on the front of the peloton all day for Cav chasing back breakaways for most of his season.

You've no idea how he will be used by Sky, your making a massive assumption based on nothing.

 

[karlboss]

Contador has to be the favourite if he's there. Schleck will come 2nd again even if Contador isn't there. Wiggins, Evans, Sanchez are all about even for me. Interested to see what Valverde can bring.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

You've no idea how he will be used by Sky, your making a massive assumption based on nothing.

not really, common sense would suggest he is some what right.

Unless you expect froome, wiggo and cav to happily ride for porte.

I'm sure porte will get some chances here and there. But with their squad it would be unsurprising to see those chances limited. Especially in the big races.

certainly not an assumption based on nothing anyway.

 

[cineteq]

Unless you expect froome, wiggo and cav to happily ride for porte.

Add EBH to the mix as well.

 

[Escarabajo]

Richie Porte was a great support for Contador in the last Tour, especially in that Queen stage to Galibier. He was always two to three hairpins down so he could catch Contador in case he fell down the mountain.

 

[sultanofhyd]

Richie Porte was a great support for Contador in the last Tour, especially in that Queen stage to Galibier. He was always two to three hairpins down so he could catch Contador in case he fell down the mountain.

Post of the decade.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Porte will be under no illusions. He'll have to work like a dog for Cav and Wiggo and that would have been made clear when he signed.

He might get to lead at a 1 week race which has a significant time trial element that Wiggo, Froome and Cav aren't doing. A Romandie or Eneco maybe.

 

[Richeypen]

Porte will be under no illusions. He'll have to work like a dog for Cav and Wiggo and that would have been made clear when he signed.

He might get to lead at a 1 week race which has a significant time trial element that Wiggo, Froome and Cav aren't doing. A Romandie or Eneco maybe.

EBH will love that

 

[Havetts]

Richie Porte was a great support for Contador in the last Tour, especially in that Queen stage to Galibier. He was always two to three hairpins down so he could catch Contador in case he fell down the mountain.

*favorite post*

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Also throw in names that havent been mentioned so far or arent in the poll, who could do well.

Like Kreuziger. Nibali. Levi. Who else.

Levi? That's scandalous.

 

[jordan5000]

I'll go with Cadel, only for the reason that I know for sure (barring some accident) that he'll be riding in July, I was really hoping this would be Andy's year, but sadly there are too many time trials.

 

[Angliru]

I'll go with Cadel, only for the reason that I know for sure (barring some accident) that he'll be riding in July, I was really hoping this would be Andy's year, but sadly there are too many time trials.

2011 was Andy's year, he just blew it.

 

[hfer07]

Berto (If allowed) still on top of my list-BUT I have this estrange feeling that 2012 will be the year of an epic upset caused by someone like Cancellara, Voeckler, Rolland, Froome or a good rouleur with a good ITT skills IF a successful breakaway containing one of these riders gets more than a 10 minutes gap and happens to be in the 2nd Week....

 

[trevim]

Sanchez is going to match everyone but Contador in the mountains, lose a little but not too much time to a few gc riders in the tt and then have a few hills for maybe a little luck. If Contador rides he wont win unless Contador crashes out.

If Contador doesnt ride Samu has a better chance than anyone but Menchov and Cadel and his performances last few years suggest he can really take it to these 2 (would have beaten Menchov in 2010 if he didnt crash himself), possibly best climber this year, but unable to challenge due to lost time.

What happened to him on Galibier? He lost 2.30 minutes to F. Schleck/Evans. Did he cracked or what? I had the impression that besides the time he lost on the 1st stage and TTT he had a bad day on a mountain to, so maybe he wasn't the top climber this year.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Berto (If allowed) still on top of my list-BUT I have this estrange feeling that 2012 will be the year of an epic upset caused by someone like Cancellara, Voeckler, Rolland, Froome or a good rouleur with a good ITT skills IF a successful breakaway containing one of these riders gets more than a 10 minutes gap and happens to be in the 2nd Week....

Now that would be pretty awesome, but I doubt they'll let Froome get a 10 min advantage. Same goes for Voeckler after this year.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Oh I voted Cancellara for the lulz

 

[jordan5000]

Berto (If allowed) still on top of my list-BUT I have this estrange feeling that 2012 will be the year of an epic upset caused by someone like Cancellara, Voeckler, Rolland, Froome or a good rouleur with a good ITT skills IF a successful breakaway containing one of these riders gets more than a 10 minutes gap and happens to be in the 2nd Week....

I could see Voeckler or Rolland doing, Froome maybe, but Cancellara? No way, he'll lost 15-20 minutes on every mountain stage.

 

[Angliru]

What happened to him on Galibier? He lost 2.30 minutes to F. Schleck/Evans. Did he cracked or what? I had the impression that besides the time he lost on the 1st stage and TTT he had a bad day on a mountain to, so maybe he wasn't the top climber this year.

Contador and Sanchez had gone on the attack the previous stage, if recall correctly, on the descent in the rain. This was the stage where Andy lost time and complained that the Tour shouldn't be decided on dangerous descents like that. They likely hadn't recovered from the previous day's efforts and didn't have the legs for the Galibier stage. I recall Contador saying rather than blow up completely and lose big minutes, he decided to ride at his own pace and minimize his losses. I'm assuming Sanchez did the same.

 

[The Hitch]

What happened to him on Galibier? He lost 2.30 minutes to F. Schleck/Evans. Did he cracked or what? I had the impression that besides the time he lost on the 1st stage and TTT he had a bad day on a mountain to, so maybe he wasn't the top climber this year.

He attacked on 4 of the 5 mountain stages before then, or to put it another way 4 of the previous 6 stages.

Eventually it got the better of him.

Though I do think Schleck was probably the best climber in the race.

 

[The Hitch]

Contador and Sanchez had gone on the attack the previous stage, if recall correctly, on the descent in the rain. This was the stage where Andy lost time and complained that the Tour shouldn't be decided on dangerous descents like that. They likely hadn't recovered from the previous day's efforts and didn't have the legs for the Galibier stage. I recall Contador saying rather than blow up completely and lose big minutes, he decided to ride at his own pace and minimize his losses. I'm assuming Sanchez did the same.

Actually there were 2 of these descent finishes.

Contador and Sanchez attacked on both.

Well on the first it was Contador who attacked 3 times. The third time only Sanchez and Evans stayed with him. Evans attacked on the descent, or rather just went really fast and ended up distancing Contador and Sanchez though together they brought it back to 2 seconds.

This was the descent where Schleck lost lots of time and complained.

The next day, Pinerolo, Contador only tried once on the climb, but then Sanchez and Contador attacked on the descent and got a decent gap.

Schleck managed to stay with everyone else on the descent.

But there was 3.5k of flat after the descent and there Contador and Sanchez lost all their advantage to the 9 man group of Schlecks Evans Uran etc.

 

[hfer07]

I could see Voeckler or Rolland doing, Froome maybe, but Cancellara? No way, he'll lost 15-20 minutes on every mountain stage.

gotta remember who's going to be his DS next year..
bottom line- the announced (unofficial still) parcours is making the race wide open for someone with guts and ready to take big risks in a breakaway just with the aim to profit from the constant guard among the "main favorites"...

 

[trevim]

He attacked on 4 of the 5 mountain stages before then, or to put it another way 4 of the previous 6 stages.

Eventually it got the better of him.

Though I do think Schleck was probably the best climber in the race.

Yeah he was riding behind the favourites since the very beggining of the Tour so he didn't have anything to lose by attacking. But in normal circunstances (if that exist) I agree that after Contador he can be one of the best climbers there.

I just couldn't recall if anything else had happened (crashes, injuries,....) but it was probably too much attacking that gor the best of him.