Tour de France - Who will finish higher (w/o Contador and Schleck)

[Anonymous]

All the tour de france threads are pretty much dominated by Contador and Schleck, the two big favourites for the race.

So ignoring those two, who will finish highest.

 

[Anonymous]

Tough question. I gotta go with Evens.

 

[Parrulo]

robobasso will be back baby!!! terminator style!!!"

on a serious note now. i expect a great performance from basso this year. second behind samu and then gesink imo

 

[Bike Boy]

I have to say sammy.

 

[Greenflame]

Went with Basso. Why is Nibali in there btw? He's not riding.

 

[Scansorial]

I'm worried about Basso's form and Evans will probably have some type of bad luck. I think Gesink will be the best of the rest.

 

[Spine Concept]

My head says Samu but my heart is inclined towards Gesink. I've got to follow the latter.

 

[Task_Force]

I think Basso, hope Gesink and it probably will be Samu

 

[luckyboy]

Gesink. Or maybe Basso or Sanchez, but I would hope for Gesink.

Also are those odds real?

 

[Anonymous]

Samu
Gesink
basso
and tony martin

 

[Jeanne]

I have to say sammy.

agreed (WT*, message is too short!?!?)

 

[nesocip]

Heart says Samu, head says Basso.

Voted Basso, since it was a poll with betting odds, and worst thing in betting is to follow the heart.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Gesink OR Samu
with vdb or evans in 3rd

 

[Havetts]

Would be between Samu and Gesink. Seeing Samu in the Dauphine makes me inclined to go for Gesink, also the heart says it (sorry Hitchens :3).

 

[*Falze*]

Samu was not at the races in the Daupine and the TTT really scares me. Hopefully it will be business as usual.

I also find he is badly positioned at the wrong time and has to slowly climb back up later in the climb. Maybe he prefers his own tempo, or maybe its positioning.

Goooooo SS.

 

[phanatic]

Vacillating between Basso and Evans. Voted Basso here, but for Evans to win it all yesterday (basically hoping for a shocker).

 

[jobiwan]

Voted for Samu, but it could be anyone really.

 

[Publicus]

No way Nibbles makes the podium, let alone wins, a race he's not entering. As for who wins in the absence of The Great One and the Little Engine That Maybe Could, I'll put my money on Wiggans. None of the others listed are really attacking climbers in the mountains and as such they can drop him, but they won't just motor away like TGO and LETMC.

And let me just add, Wiggans should absolutely CRUSH the other GT contenders in the final ITT. Save maybe Jani B and TGO.

 

[taiwan]

I don't think Gesink has shown anything yet to put him on the podium, although it is possible. It can be hard to tell with all the hype surrounding him

Went for Samu to continue his steady progress, but a scenario occurred to me wherein Bert and Andy go up the road, all the other guys just ride in a group and then Wiggins steamrolls them in the TT.

Don't know if that's plausible, may be overrating Wiggins' ability to hang on in such company with the stakes as they are.

 

[AlejandroValverde]

Voted for Wiggins - nobody much much stronger in mountains(besides AC and AS) and he is much stronger in TT than others.

And why Nibali is here??

 

[Anonymous]

And why Nibali is here??

Because i havnt actually looked at the startlists yet. I went from the bookmakers who are clearly stupid.

 

[TeoSheva]

Horner can be the best too... and Brajkovic as well
I hope in Wiggo, and also in Martin: at the end, they are stronger than Contador in something, the others aren't

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I don't think Gesink has shown anything yet to put him on the podium, although it is possible. It can be hard to tell with all the hype surrounding him

Went for Samu to continue his steady progress, but a scenario occurred to me wherein Bert and Andy go up the road, all the other guys just ride in a group and then Wiggins steamrolls them in the TT.

Don't know if that's plausible, may be overrating Wiggins' ability to hang on in such company with the stakes as they are.

Probably because every stage-race Gesink has entered this season he podiummed in, bar the Dauphine where he took it easy and still podiummed both final mt stages.

 

[taiwan]

Probably because every stage-race Gesink has entered this season he podiummed in, bar the Dauphine where he took it easy and still podiummed both final mt stages.

Kloeden, Wiggins, Evans, Martin have all had comparable seasons. Then there are the riders like Samu, Basso and JVDB who have been mostly invisible for one reason or another but will be good in July. Evans, Kloeden, Basso, JVDB, Samu all have better records at the Tour so far. I don't think the podium's out of reach for him, I just don't think he's really distinguished himself to the point where he becomes the favourite for that spot.

 

[Spine Concept]

Kloeden, Wiggins, Evans, Martin have all had comparable seasons. Then there are the riders like Samu, Basso and JVDB who have been mostly invisible for one reason or another but will be good in July. Evans, Kloeden, Basso, JVDB, Samu all have better records at the Tour so far. I don't think the podium's out of reach for him, I just don't think he's really distinguished himself to the point where he becomes the favourite for that spot.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 5 years than Gesink would not be on your shortlist for a podium candidate. If past tour results is your only parameter to gauge his chances than your argument is flawed. It hasn't always been black and white with Gesink in terms of results. I wouldn't go as far as saying he's the red hot favorite, however, if you're going to put those names on your shortlist and omit Gesink than you're are letting the "hype" around him get to you and consequently cloud your judgement.