Tour de l'Ain 2011 2.1 09/08 - 13/08

[LaFleur]

Figured that a decent race like Tour de l'Ain needs a thread and it also gives me a chance to work on my Race-opening "skills".

The most notable starters are Rolland, Taaramae, Kangert, Hoogerland(most Vacansoleil team is worth a note), Gadret, Peraud, Dupont, Coppel, Moncoutie. All starters and teams are in here: http://www.tourdelain.com/images/stories/pdf/engage_liste/Liste-Inscrits-2011.pdf

The Routes
Prologue:

Stage 1:

Stage 2:

Stage 3:

 

[LaFleur]

Stage 4:

Col du Grand Colombier

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Do like this race. That climb should be in the Tour too. The Lelex finish should be good for a nice uphill sprint too.

One of the more underrated races on the calendar, this one.

 

[theyoungest]

Very nice course, this year. They interchange the course between even and odd years, it seems. And a nice field, with a lot of young talent (Pinot, Poels, Rolland, Taaramae, Coppel). Plus our Colombian friends. What's not to like?

 

[Tuarts]

Very nice parcours. Thanks for the post.

Rolland ftw ofc.

 

[roundabout]

I could be wrong but it see,s they are climbing this version of the col du Grand Colombier

http://cyclingcols.com/profiles/GrandColombierS.gif

Still very difficult.

 

[LaFleur]

Oh yeah, sorry, misunderstood the profile, I'll update the post.

 

[jens_attacks]

gadret vs rolland showdown and colombia es pasion to fire up the race.

 

[LaFleur]

Sorry to dissapoint you and show my fanholism to Taaramae, but the last one to win the Grand du Colombier 2 years ago in the same tour, also his last win to date as a pro: http://www.tourdelain.com/actualites/188

Kangert also wants to put in a serious performance in here, since he should be in his top form since like... forever

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Kelderman ftw

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Looking forward to this. Will be great with all this young talent competing.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

go go kelderman. He wont win this, but I'd like to see how he goes.

he did an ok race last year. 2nd on prologue and 12th overall.
Should be getting better form with Tour de'Avenir just a month away

decent startlist. Hard to pick a winner.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

If he has any form left it should be for Rolland. But in these shorter stage-races Taaramae might be a tad better

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I was thinking Taaramae, or even coppel. I suspect Rolland wont really feature. just a hunch.

 

[greenedge]

Kelderman ( D_T YOU OWE ME SOMETHING FOR SUPPORT and i am going for him off your hyping ), Rolland because he has now established himself as a real threat should try win something and Taaramae and Gadret to pose real threats. AG2R will have the strongest team

 

[Tank Engine]

I was thinking Taaramae, or even coppel. I suspect Rolland wont really feature. just a hunch.

Is Taaramae riding? He wasn't on the cyclingnews list. Coppel and Rolland should do well. Hope Hoogie has fully recovered from the Tour accident, as he's always entertaining. Gadret should do well if he's got over his fatigue post-Giro.

Looks like a great parcours. Nice mixture of stages.

 

[LaFleur]

There's a newslink about him participating in the official website and he is on the website's startlist. Cyclingnews will replace Buffaz with Taaramäe any minute now hopefully . He will decide his participation in the Vuelta with Tour de l'Ain.

 

[Phoenix23]

l'Ain is always a good race imo. I hope the Columbians put on a show on the Grand Columbier. I'm tipping Pierre Rolland although it is hard to know how he is feeling after racing very hard in the Tour. No Voeckler kinda makes me sad, it would be nice to see if the Tour was a fluke or if he has suddenly blossomed.

 

[Tank Engine]

There's a newslink about him participating in the official website and he is on the website's startlist. Cyclingnews will replace Buffaz with Taaramäe any minute now hopefully . He will decide his participation in the Vuelta with Tour de l'Ain.

Thanks for that. A great addition to the list of GC contenders, possibly the favourite.

 

[woodburn]

Sorry to dissapoint you and show my fanholism to Taaramae, but the last one to win the Grand du Colombier 2 years ago in the same tour, also his last win to date as a pro: http://www.tourdelain.com/actualites/188

Kangert also wants to put in a serious performance in here, since he should be in his top form since like... forever

He took the overall win from a certain Mr. Chris Horner on the final day.

 

[LaFleur]

cyclismactu.net favorites...
**** Pierre Rolland, Jean-Christophe Péraud

*** Jérôme Coppel, Thibaut Pinot, John Gadret, Rein Taaramae

** David Moncoutié, Wouter Poels, John Atapuma, Damien Monier

* Wilco Keldermann, Anthony Charteau, Thomas Bonnin, Romain Bardet, Hubert Dupont


Freaking joke if you ask me Coppel, Pinot and half-dead Gadret to match Taaramae, Atapuma and Monier in the same class as Moncoutie and Poels? Anyways as Rolland is concerned, I don't think that he can be considered as a huge favorite to all the tours from now on cause of a 1 Grand Tour 11th place. I mean yes, he is a huge talent and ofcourse I know that, but he hasn't done anything BIG before that... let's see, starts tomorrow and I'd expect both of the Estonians to be comfortably in the top 10 after the prologue

 

[roundabout]

woohoo, Bonnin got a star. Watch him fail now.

Pinot should be good, not sure if he can match the big favorites but it won't be a big surprise should he do so.

Surprised no team picked up Bardet

 

[LaFleur]

The departure times: http://directvelo.com/actualite/13975-tour-de-lain-prologue-les-horaires-de-depart.html

Freaking late if you ask me, but I guess it will get alot of spectators.

 

[theyoungest]

The departure times: http://directvelo.com/actualite/13975-tour-de-lain-prologue-les-horaires-de-depart.html

Freaking late if you ask me, but I guess it will get alot of spectators.

Isn't this the same every year?

 

[Kwibus]

I've never followed this race before, but it certainly looks like a fun stage race.

Specially interested in Poels and Kelderman and the colombians.