Professional Cycling For the Fans - Stage 1: Fromentine- Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile

Saturday, July 2 19 km Fromentine > Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile (TT)


http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2005//tour05/graphics/profile1.gif

Dodger to win. Custom made for him.

Winds could be a factor. I hope not. I hate foul weather TTs. I'm on board with Michael Rogers. Definitely custom made for him.

Winds could be a factor. I hope not. I hate foul weather TTs. I'm on board with Michael Rogers. Definitely custom made for him.


Yay! :D

Go Aussie!!!!!

David Millar will win for sure....





DOH!

David Millar will win for sure....





DOH!


lol....

Not the typical prologue.

Perfect for Lance would be to come in at one of the top positions but not first. Strong enough to show he's still in charge, but not so strong that he'd have to defend the yellow jersey.

Not the typical prologue.




no prologue this year....it's listed as an ITT.

Me says Dekker(is he racing) or Basso..

Thomas Dekker is not on Rabobank's start list.

Thomas Dekker is not on Rabobank's start list.

But it's E. Dekker's 11th go around.....:)

Thomas Dekker is not on Rabobank's start list.
Well... then add zabriske...

Armstrong, Cancellara, Rogers,Ullrich, Botero Maybe even Levi.... it will be cool for sure.

its an interesting distance, a bit long for the short prolouge specialists. Its going to be a matter of max sustained wattage for around 23 minutes. I think It favors Armstrong and the other guys who can put out 7 watts per kg for over 20 minutes.

I think Lance will try to win it, they don't have to defend the Jersey, they can let it go on the next stage easy. But any time lost to the favorites may not be the 15 or less second gaps you normally see after a shorter prolouge. This being his last tour, every second counts.. :rolleyes:

Plus it makes a statement.

no prologue this year....it's listed as an ITT.

They just call it differently, right?

They just call it differently, right?
Prolouge is shorter

Prolouge is shorter

I mean, the number of stages still the same as last year, right?

My god, look at that hill... 30 m of sheer terror. I'll bet CSC pulls out a Cervelo wonderbike just for the occasion :)

Prolouge is shorter

And Prolouge was optional. A common last place time was given if you elected not to run.

My god, look at that hill... 30 m of sheer terror. I'll bet CSC pulls out a Cervelo wonderbike just for the occasion :)


I'd put the 26 on, just in case :)

I'm rooting for Zabriskie, if only for the post-stage interview. :D

My god, look at that hill...

Will someone get the dotted jersey for that 'hill'? Perhaps a sprinter, I remember, that Marcel Wuest once won that Jersey in a similar TT :)

How do they determine the start order? My guess is that Armstrong gets to go last (as defending champion) and he will aim to finish ahead of Ullrich, but not necessarily win it.

Michael Rogers has to be the favorite going in.

Rogers is 75-1 to take the yellow on Saturday. That's what Mr. Bookmaker thinks.

McGee or Botero will be in yellow come Sunday.

Not the typical prologue.

Perfect for Lance would be to come in at one of the top positions but not first. Strong enough to show he's still in charge, but not so strong that he'd have to defend the yellow jersey.

I don't think they would even try to defend it...they had the same situation last year after an early stage and I recall an interview with Lance where he blantantly said USPS wasn't worried about defending.

Well... then add zabriske...
Not a bad call there. Not bad at all.

How do they determine the start order?

IIRC, it's by race number. LA starts last as he gets rider #1

Ullrich will win easily, Botero 2nd, with Cancellara, Liepimer, McGee and Armstrong, Rodgers picking up the scraps

Rogers
Armstrong
Ullrich
Voigt
Zabriskie
Julich
Cancellara

In that order. :)

Does the fact that the weather looks bad (rainy & cold besides the inevitable wind) change anyone's picks?

Basso/Zabriske... CSC baby...

DarkHorse... Karpets/Landis

I mean, the number of stages still the same as last year, right?

yes, last year 20 stages, 1 prologue.

This year 21 stages.

My god, look at that hill... 30 m of sheer terror. <snip>

The dreaded Pont de Noirmoutier:

http://www.vjoncheray.com/phototheque-img/img_maxi/1840.jpg

yes, last year 20 stages, 1 prologue.

This year 21 stages.

Thanks. I can sleep well now. :)

How do they determine the start order?

IIRC, it's by race number. LA starts last as he gets rider #1
No, not by race number; then all the 9 Discovery riders would start last.

The pack is divided into 9 groups, and the team managers have to nominate 1 rider for each group. Within the groups, I guess, they can start acc. their race number.
Normally (and this could be mandatory) #1 starts as the last rider in the last group. And #11 (this is usually the number for the 2nd on the podium from last year) as the 2nd last rider? This can be a disadvantage if it's forseeable that the weatherconditions will be worse till the end. Then, for example, Riis could nominate Basso for the first group.

No, not by race number; then all the 9 Discovery riders would start last.


Oh yeah... good point.

Does the fact that the weather looks bad (rainy & cold besides the inevitable wind) change anyone's picks?

I'd give a slightly lessened outlook for the short TT 'specialists'. With the conditions, this seems much more like a full Tour de France time trial than a prologue. (moreso than the one in 2001)

Jan will take this one, because I really, really want him to.

Jan will take this one, because I really, really want him to.

I don't know, that neck bandage might be a big disadvantage in a headwind!

:D

Dodger to win. Custom made for him.

Ditto

I'd give a slightly lessened outlook for the short TT 'specialists'. With the conditions, this seems much more like a full Tour de France time trial than a prologue. (moreso than the one in 2001)

Oops. I ment 2000. http://www.cyclingnews.com/results/2000/jul00/tdfrance00/stages/tdfrance00st1r.shtml

Have start times even been declared? For some reason, it's 12 hours before the start of the race and the official site doesn't even list the riders participating.

this reminds me of how on USPS was in the TTT last year. AH CAN'T WAIT!

Mick Rogers to win today's TT.
Go you good thing!

The order that the riders go in today is based on last years results. I am not positive about the order for the guys who weren't in the Tour last year. So the Final 4 riders should be, in order:

Uhlrich, Kloden, Basso and Lance-o

Basso and Armstrong

The order that the riders go in today is based on last years results. I am not positive about the order for the guys who weren't in the Tour last year. So the Final 4 riders should be, in order:

Uhlrich, Kloden, Basso and Lance-o

18:41 Fabian Cancellara (Fassa Bortolo)
18:42 Santiago Botero (Phonak Hearing Systems)
18:43 Denis Menchov (Rabobank)
18:44 Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto)
18:45 Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne)
18:46 Ivan Basso (Team CSC)
18:47 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile Team)
18:48 Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel

Kloden starts over two hours earlier.

it would be great to see coverage of the tour, on the "OLN TOUR DE FRANCE LIVE COVERAGE"- i've been watching for 2 hours now and have yet to see a cyclist on the road that isn't some clip from last year.

Zabriskie tore it up! From the BBC:

1600: The consensus is that Zabriskie's time is good enough to hold until the final few riders come in and it may even be enough for the stage win.

The American tells BBC Sport at the finish: "I spent the whole time not being able to hear crowd because I had team boss Bjarne Riis in the ear telling me to catch the motorbike."

son of a........ stupid OLN, i wish they would STFU about lance and just show me the friggin race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

son of a........ stupid OLN, i wish they would STFU about lance and just show me the friggin race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Amen! Gosh, enough w/ the Lance love fest. The color guy of the pre-race show is annoying as all f*ck. WTF, the "god loves lance more" stuff, this guy's weird. And he just looks like he's a pedifile. But enough of my bashing him, I wanna see a race, not two flabber mouths!