Who made this TdF worth your time?

[ImmaculateKadence]

Well so far....

Hushovd for the way he fought to hold the jersey, and the two stages he won even though they didn't really suit him well.

Evans for obvious reasons. He deserves to win this Tour. He's ridden like a champion every stage.

Farrar for finally getting his first win.

Hoogerland and Flecha for their spirit and courage

Schleck the younger for his ride today.

It has also been an excellent route; some beautiful parcours in this years race. Fantastic job by the organizers.

...and the fact we still have three more days.

 

[Gubby Allen]

Voeckler, Rolland & Jerome, Europcar as a team & worked phenomenally well. Both the Norwegians, Gilbert & Cav have shown their class. Glad Cunego has competed, infact all 7 of those 2nd-8th were probably expected top 10 so well done for delivering and preventing 2 or 3 horse walkover.

I'd add Vino too, pity we lost him, JVDB, Wiggins & Kloden - would've been fascinating had they been amongst the Basso, Cunego, Sanchez placing.

Thomas, Greipel, Rojas & Roy deserve mentions too, only Katusha & Radioshack have failed to have any real impact bar Silin.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

yes, very strange, what was intended as humour in britain, has turned into news in norway.

To be fair, I think they're pretty well aware that it's a joke, and it's making the news in the same way as any other 'weird and wonderful' quirky little news item does.

 

[The Hitch]

I think I can see why; but some text to go with each rider would be welcome

All right then. And thanks for asking.


1 Rolland - While everyone has praised Voeckler, hes been the one thats been up there every single day probably stronger than Voeckler as he does not get dropped but rather paces Tommy when Tommy is in trouble. So hes one of the top top climbers of this Tour. Probably one of the top 5. Who saw that coming?

Forget tommy. This is Frances big GT hope.

After Sunday of course.


2 Alberto Contador
I love him for racing the Giro. And hes come here, the only one from the top 10 other than Gadret who dropped out early, to do so, and made the race on several stages. Been absolutely brilliant and well mannered everytime he was interviewed. Owned the descents. the guy loves cycling, and i love him for it.

3 Voeckler. Created special interest in France. Might bring out thousands more onto Alpe tomorow. Story of the Tour.

4 Andrew Schleck- Broke away from 60k risking his entire Tour. Doesnt need to do anything else to hold position.

5 Samuel Sanchez. Only GC candidate to try in Pyranees. Also tried on early alpine stages.

6 Peraud-The other nobody climbing with the favourites. Overlooked because of Voeckler and Rollands accomplishments. You could expect it from Uran or Taaramei or Danielon. But Peraud.

Like Gadret hes past 30 and coming from another background, but considering he just switched, hes doing amazing.

7 Vanendert- Climbed with the favourites in Pyranees and won Plateau.

8 Evans- Stage 16 descent and his effort from about 12k out today.

9 Hushovd- The stage wins are geat but what really impressed me was his performances in some of the uphill finishes on the first week including Superbesse. Outclimbed Andrew and Gesink

10 Gilbert.

Attacking riding at unexpected points. Guy rides with balls.

 

[Anonymous]

To be fair, I think they're pretty well aware that it's a joke, and it's making the news in the same way as any other 'weird and wonderful' quirky little news item does.

its all double dutch to me, have no idea what they are saying

 

[Mambo95]

6 Peraud-The other nobody climbing with the favourites. Overlooked because of Voeckler and Rollands accomplishments. You could expect it from Uran or Taaramei or Danielon. But Peraud.

Really? He's come 4th in Pais Vasco, 7th in the Dauphine and 9th in Paris-Nice. Now top 10 is better than I would have expected, but it's not really come out of the blue. Doesn't make it an invalid choice though.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I did expect Peraud to be pretty good. Maybe not as good as he has been, but I expected him in the Moreau/Goubert kind of role. The number of GC men crashing out has brought him to the fore.

His stage race results over one week since converting to the road have been good - 9th in Paris-Nice, 5th in País Vasco, 12th in Poland last year (the first two being bumped up after Valverde's DQ), 6th in Paris-Nice, 6th in Critérium International, 7th in Dauphiné this year.

I thought the Dauphiné form might mean he was on the downslide here, but the massively backloaded Tour route enabled him to sleepwalk through the first 2 weeks and peak again for this week.

 

[The Hitch]

its all double dutch to me, have no idea what they are saying

Is your first name really Brukeren?

 

[CatsNK]

I stopped watching after Vino's crash. The impossibility of watching it at work combined with difficulties in the evening (no Vs) made it not feasible to watch. I guess if it hadn't been for Vino's crash and the early crash causing AC to fall behind I would have paid for on-demand streaming so I could watch it at night, but I just couldn't stomach the race. Not to mention that every night reading the recap it was appearing somewhat dull.

Just looking forward to Vuelta here - we have Universal and since Vino's not in it, he can't crash out of it, LOL.

 

[cineteq]

To be fair, I think they're pretty well aware that it's a joke, and it's making the news in the same way as any other 'weird and wonderful' quirky little news item does.

You're a joke. If you have nothing to add, do NOT participate.

It's been worth watching all these guys
Evans, Contador, Schlecks, Gilbert, Hushovd, Boasson Hagen, Voeckler, Hoogerland.

It would have been more fun if Gesink, Horner and Kloeden could have stayed.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

You're a joke. If you have nothing to add, do NOT participate.

It's been worth watching all these guys
Evans, Contador, Schlecks, Gilbert, Hushovd, Boasson Hagen, Voeckler, Hoogerland.

It would have been more fun if Gesink, Horner and Kloeden could have stayed.

Erm... that comment was a response to the Norwegian news report on dim, not a response to the thread about the Tour...

And I am pretty sure that the Norwegian news source knew from the context that dim's offering himself up for a date with EBH was a joke. No need for the ad hominem.

 

[Old&slow]

1. Hushovd. His effort to keep yellow, the two amazing stage wins and finishing in the top 10 the first 8 stages.
2. Gilbert was just amazing
3. The continued dominance of Cavendish.
4. Cadel being the strongest rider. A really amazing effort by Cadel
5. The Effort By Voelker. I don't like him as a rider but I have to admire the effort.
6. Contador getting dropped and being so weak throughout the Tour. Karma.

 

[Nastyy]

I did expect Peraud to be pretty good. Maybe not as good as he has been, but I expected him in the Moreau/Goubert kind of role. The number of GC men crashing out has brought him to the fore.

His stage race results over one week since converting to the road have been good - 9th in Paris-Nice, 5th in País Vasco, 12th in Poland last year (the first two being bumped up after Valverde's DQ), 6th in Paris-Nice, 6th in Critérium International, 7th in Dauphiné this year.

I thought the Dauphiné form might mean he was on the downslide here, but the massively backloaded Tour route enabled him to sleepwalk through the first 2 weeks and peak again for this week.

And he probably would've won the Pais Vasco if he hadn't crashed in the TT. His TT is a bit worse this year than in the previous years so he might struggle to keep his Top10 since Taaramäe is so close to him.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Contador bonks, Contador bonks, and then again I saw yesterday that Contador bonked. I hope to see Contador bonk AGAIN.

And maybe Contador getting owned by Voeckler in TT.

 

[lastchancellara]

Hoogerland has been a revelation, I have non cycling friends saying 'whos Hoogerland' but most of all Voeckler, what guts. Could even be a podium now.
One thing; as much as I love to read cyclingnews...will you please stop calling Voeckler the 'plucky' Frenchman. Plucky could describe an old lady pushing her way to the front of the pension cue or perhaps even the monkey that stole my sandwich at the zoo....it does not justifiably describe the man that has held onto yellow over two mountain ranges....all whilst licking his lips and grimacing!!

 

[Sørensen]

Tour been a bummer for me. Early crashes and drop out and injuries to a lot of the contenders has ruined it imo. No matter who ends up first in Paris it will be a shallow victory with so many contenders out.

Thor and Voeckler the only few highlights I reckon.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Hoogerland, Hushovd, Contador, Samu Sanchez, Boasson Hagen, Cav, Evans and Gilbert.

 

[Shardi]

Gilbert
Hushovd
EBH
Contador
Hoogerland

 

[Amsterhammer]

Johnny Hoogerland
Thor
Gilbert
Voeckler (grudging respect though I don't much care for him)
Rolland!! (what could he have done if allowed to ride for his own chances?)
Roy

From a purely Dutch perspective, big respect for (unknown) Rob Ruijgh, who will (almost certainly) finish as the top Dutch rider in Paris!

 

[Grayguard]

Well, after today, I would add Contador to the list twice

 

[Angliru]

All of them. It's been a great tour and I appreciate every single rider who has got on their bikes this tour. They have been phenomenal.

No offense but your previous posts don't give me that impression especially as it applies to a particular rider. Nevertheless I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and guess that you have been swayed by the recent stages.

Rider's that made my Tour:
Contador
Hushovd
Samu
Boasson Hagen
Hoogerland/Flecha
Jeremy Roy
Voeckler
Vandenert (sp?)

 

[Zaschrona]

Schleck brothers.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Well, what a huge difference stages 18-19 has made on our outlook of how the Tour has gone in regard to the GC. There have been many other bright spots besides the GC, but the GC really came alive the last 2 days. Hats off to the way they have all raced.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Well, what a huge difference stages 18-19 has made on our outlook of how the Tour has gone in regard to the GC. There have been many other bright spots besides the GC, but the GC really came alive the last 2 days. Hats off to the way they have all raced.

Yea, funny how some great stages in the Alps have made people forget everything else that came before.

Though I guess that's the point of having the big finale - it gives you excitement by the bucketload and you're prepared to forget that most of the reason is that they deliberately tried to prevent anything too interesting happening earlier on.

 

[Grayguard]

Yea, funny how some great stages in the Alps have made people forget everything else that came before.

Though I guess that's the point of having the big finale - it gives you excitement by the bucketload and you're prepared to forget that most of the reason is that they deliberately tried to prevent anything too interesting happening earlier on.

Well, if you think only 18+19 was thrilling to watch, we saw two different races Or we're just thrilled by different things... Either way, I think many of the other stages were thrilling too.