Stage 1: Strausbourg- Strasbourg, 183 km

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Wow. Big George was sooooo close. I was really rooting for him.

I'm at the campground until Tuesday (have a seasonal site)....BUT, just got wireless internet up here :D. So...."camping" will be a bit more tolerable. And thank God for DVR, too.

I hate to see many riders not being there (even though I like Lance, I was actually really looking forward to this year to see what would happen), but it should still be an interesting fight; just among those who some of us may not have been pulling for before. Months ago I wold've liked to have seen Hincapie do well, but there was no way he was going to beat Basso or Ullrich.....or even Vino. Now it seems it could be open to quite a few guys, so we may actually have a race to watch.

As much as the whole thing sucks, hopefully this will be a step in the right direction to clean things up. If the ultimatim is "ride clean or don't ride at all", perhaps more teams and riders may not be so willing to take those potentially career-threatening risks. I'm sure the racing will be just as exciting, and the results would probably be similar....just at a slightly lower pace.

What was up with Hushovd? I didn't think that guy could time trial and he beat a bunch of TT specialists including zabrisky??? And Floyd, where was he? Ditto for levi????

He has been the Norwegian TT champ 3 or 4 times in his Career.

And Floyd, where was he? Ditto for levi????

Floyd had a flat and was 8 seconds late getting to the start. Presumably, he'd have only given up 1 second had he been on time at the line.

My pick for Stage 1 win is gonna be Tom Boonen in a bunch sprint. With Robbie McEwen 3rd, and hmmm Zabel 2nd to make it really interesting, I think Milram's gonna really deliver him to the line this year sans Pettachi

What was up with Hushovd? I didn't think that guy could time trial and he beat a bunch of TT specialists including zabrisky??? And Floyd, where was he? Ditto for levi????

He's also racked up a lot of sprinting points in the past, and this was a short distance. O'grady did pretty good too, and he's not typically good at TTs. More sprinters near top.

What time (French Local) does this race start?

....flat course, a day for the sprinters. Thor has enough time to hold the yellow from the other sprinters, provided he gets a top ten finish (or so). My picks:

Boonen
McEwan
Hushold
O'grady

....flat course, a day for the sprinters. Thor has enough time to hold the yellow from the other sprinters, provided he gets a top ten finish (or so). My picks:

Boonen
McEwan
Hushold
O'grady


Does Thor need to get a top 10 finish? How many places are awarded the time bonus? If only 3 places, can't Thor technically finish in the 100th and still keep his yellow if the time bonus won't beat Thor's time?

Does Thor need to get a top 10 finish? How many places are awarded the time bonus? If only 3 places, can't Thor technically finish in the 100th and still keep his yellow if the time bonus won't beat Thor's time?

depends who wins the stage....I think it's 20secs bonus for winning (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), so in theory, if Thor doesn't score any bonus time in the sprints, anyone who finished within 20 secs of him can take the yellow. Most of the favoured sprinters did Ok in the prologue, so if say McEwan or Boonen win & Thor gets no points, he'll lose the yellow. I think 'bonus' time goes to at least the 1st 10 over the line....so If Thor gets say 10 secs bonus & is 20 secs in front of McEwan after the prologue, Mcewan can't take the yellow even if he does win the stage

I can't imagine anyone getting away with anything sneaky with the 83 dead flat km after cote de heligenstein. Flip a coin, McEwan or Boonen. Anyone know what the finish is like? Its supposed to be on part of the prologue course but I can't find any details.

depends who wins the stage....I think it's 20secs bonus for winning (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), so in theory, if Thor doesn't score any bonus time in the sprints, anyone who finished within 20 secs of him can take the yellow. Most of the favoured sprinters did Ok in the prologue, so if say McEwan or Boonen win & Thor gets no points, he'll lose the yellow. I think 'bonus' time goes to at least the 1st 10 over the line....so If Thor gets say 10 secs bonus & is 20 secs in front of McEwan after the prologue, Mcewan can't take the yellow even if he does win the stage
You explained it clearly, except unfortunately McEwen is 28 seconds back so SOL in a bunch sprint as far as yellow goes. O'Grady and Boonen are both well within striking distance.

depends who wins the stage....I think it's 20secs bonus for winning (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), so in theory, if Thor doesn't score any bonus time in the sprints, anyone who finished within 20 secs of him can take the yellow. Most of the favoured sprinters did Ok in the prologue, so if say McEwan or Boonen win & Thor gets no points, he'll lose the yellow. I think 'bonus' time goes to at least the 1st 10 over the line....so If Thor gets say 10 secs bonus & is 20 secs in front of McEwan after the prologue, Mcewan can't take the yellow even if he does win the stage

The time bonuses at the finish line are 20" for 1st, 12" for 2nd and 8" for 3rd.

Looks like Thor maybe cut his arm on the barrier when flying by, he seemed to be looking at it as he crossed the line, and it looked red. Did he go down after the line?

Looks like Thor maybe cut his arm on the barrier when flying by, he seemed to be looking at it as he crossed the line, and it looked red. Did he go down after the line?I agree; he's hit his arm on something.
He had blood on his arm as he crossed the line -- I saw it on the side view

a spectator's camera, maybe?

On OLN they just showed him him hitting a spectators camera with his helmet - dunno how that explains the arm.

he hit one of those green cardboard gloves. Its not a big wound but a bit deep so thats why it was bleeding like hell. McEwen and Boonen were also both hit by something thrown out of the public. McEwen was thinking it was some kind of waterbottle. Strange finish.
(btw: source is the belgian tv station Sporza)

He got a two inch long cut according to sport manager Roger Legay, and he's taken to hospital. They believ he'll be on the starting line tomorrow.

Talk about your paper cuts. I feel bad for Thor.

But that was a real cool move by Hincapie to pick up that sprinter's time bonus. It gives him the Maille Jaune, at least for a day.

Dang near missed the end taking a nap, woke up with 4km to go. Thankfully I didn't miss all the action at the end.

Thor was certainly bleeding at the cross of the line. One of the slow motion shots at the line clearly showed his arm was red at the line. Most likely it was one of those green hands from the replays, but it could have been any number of other less visable objects to do it. In any case I wish him the best and that he's able to stay in the race.

George made quite the move to pick up the little bonus needed to land himself in the yellow though. Not sure if it was smart to go for it on the first stage, but suppose having never been in yellow before I wouldn't want to hold back either. Being Discovery team it will be interesting to see if the team is strong enough this year to keep George in the yellow for a while, let alone have him in it when the race reaches Paris. There's a whole lot of miles left to ride.

He got a two inch long cut according to sport manager Roger Legay, and he's taken to hospital. They believ he'll be on the starting line tomorrow.

Good to hear. Sure looked ugly laying on the ground though. Always hate to see the leader down and possibly unable to defend it on the road.

Yes, awsome move to get in yellow. I am still wondering though what could have caused Thor to go down after the line, unless the fan made him unstable? Crossed wheel?

He got a two inch long cut according to sport manager Roger Legay, and he's taken to hospital. They believ he'll be on the starting line tomorrow.

I hope that's the case. Listening to Paul and Phil one would get the impression that his career is over :rolleyes: Still, cool finish, cool race...loved Georgie-boy sneaking in on the sprint to get his 2 seconds.

Strange finish. There are a lot of class sprinters in the Tour this year. All the big guns watched one another. Happened the other year too when Kirsupuu won on the first stage. Great move by Casper to throw caution to the wind and hit them when he did. Normal transmission should resume tomorrow.

Sliced by a big green hand? Aren't those things foam rubber? If that spectator had a blade inside it to cause mayhem he really should have a bullet in his head.

If that spectator had a blade inside it to cause mayhem he really should have a bullet in his head.
Sheesh, you guys and your conspiracy theories.... He would have hit it at 40mph. At that speed almost anything would open up your arm.

Sheesh, you guys and your conspiracy theories.... He would have hit it at 40mph. At that speed almost anything would open up your arm.

It was the bloke on the grassy knoll what done it.......

Just before he was struck by the foam hand he was very very close to the barriers. I think he may have brushed up against them and that's what did it. I have a hard time believing he was cut by a foam hand.

I hope that's the case. Listening to Paul and Phil one would get the impression that his career is over :rolleyes: Still, cool finish, cool race...loved Georgie-boy sneaking in on the sprint to get his 2 seconds.

2 seconds that put him in the Yellow Jersey.

What happened to DiLuca, finishing two minutes back? Was he sick or just demonstrating emphatically that his GT possibilities are non-existent?

There's kind of a French thing beginning to happen in this TdF. OK, just one stage, but throw in the World Cup and you can see it starting.

What happened to DiLuca, finishing two minutes back? Was he sick or just demonstrating emphatically that his GT possibilities are non-existent?

There's kind of a French thing beginning to happen in this TdF. OK, just one stage, but throw in the World Cup and you can see it starting.

Pleeaassee don't go there. Not yet. Enjoy it while you can.

Nice to see George in the yellow.

Too bad about Thor.

What happened to DiLuca, finishing two minutes back? Was he sick or just demonstrating emphatically that his GT possibilities are non-existent?
The lack of that pre-season 'training trip' to Mexico seems to be having an effect this year...

Talk about your paper cuts. I feel bad for Thor.

But that was a real cool move by Hincapie to pick up that sprinter's time bonus. It gives him the Maille Jaune, at least for a day.

It was lame that CA let it happen, or that no one else tried to do it, or even that Husholvd let Hindcappie out of his sight. Although Husholvd was strong at the finish and was close to get top 3 if he wasn't hit.

I had to register to post this - as I am so shocked.

I reviewed the last 50m many times on my digital recorder and before the green hand hits thor there is a hand that pokes him right bellow his sholder. If you recored the race watch the end very closely before the green hand hits him. There is no way a foam hand (or even cardboard) would cut him like that.

I thought this was a poor stage. There going too much by the screen play: too much standing aside for the sprinters.

41kph average on such a flat stage is slow compared to last year.

I hope to see more effort, and less scripting, this tour.

As far as I can tell from the UCI and TdF rules, had the spectator hit Thor with a bat the results would still stand. Regardless of the cause, he lost and is now injured (unknown how bad). It sucks but that's life. I bet riders give the fences a little more room in the future.

He never struck the fence. You can plainly see that before the Big Green Hand his arm was fine and he had at least 2 feet of clearance to the barrier side. Whereas other fans were pulling their hands/cameras/waving flags/whatever out of the way at the last second, that ONE HAND stays there like a rock-- Thor recoils or rebounds slightly from it as he sweeps by. There's no conspiracy theory, I don't think someone was targeting him specifically, but I really do think someone was up to no good and had a knife in that stupid foam thing.

He did not touch the fence. A spectator reached out at him (as many do) and had a poking contact with his arm. At least that is what I saw with my slow motion digital feed.

Stadings don't change - however, perhaps someday they will do something about the spectators.

What happened to DiLuca, finishing two minutes back? Was he sick or just demonstrating emphatically that his GT possibilities are non-existent?


Good lord. The guy's sick.

Some of you are pathetic.

ONE HAND stays there like a rock-- Thor recoils or rebounds slightly from it as he sweeps by. There's no conspiracy theory, I don't think someone was targeting him specifically, but I really do think someone was up to no good and had a knife in that stupid foam thing.



This is exactly what I saw.

The fence is where spectators are and regardless of intent Thor was injured by a spectator. Therefore, I believe that riders will remember to avoid that danger zone. This happens every couple of years (LA and the musette bag?) but in time riders forget the danger of unpredictable spectators and get closer until something like this happens. This particular occurrence is more regrettable because it happened at the finish (no time to recover) and it may put the yellow jersey out of the race (unknown injury severity at this time).

And where the heck was Tom Boonen? I thought he was in position for the sprint but he didn't make the top ten.

the foam hands may well be wire skeletoned, mcewen was cut or bruised 2 years ago.

Sad about Thor ... you could see him swerve to his left right as he went by the green hand. I guess the good thing is that swerve didn't cause a mass pile up. I hope he can continue.

Great move by George to grab 2 secs only 9.5k from the finish while all the sprinters were starting to jockey for the finish. Veteren move by a Veteren rider. I am surprized that CA wasn't marking the few riders that could catch Thor at that time bonus. CA did have Hinault keep George from the 4' second place bonus, but no one else from CA covered for the 3rd place. I wonder if Disco will do much to defend the yellow ... hard to see how they can keep it from some of the sprint teams over the next week with the small time gaps from the prologue.

That's truly a great accomplishment for George ... not a lot of riders earn a malliot jaune in their careers. How many Americans have worn it? Who else besides Lance, Greg and Z-Man?

George was a few seconds away from it in 1998 as well. He was racing the TdF while wearing the Stars and Stripes of the US professional Champion. He got to within a few seconds, but couldn't get any time bonuses, or finish high enough in the bunch sprints. He was in 2nd place for most of the first week.

It's not often you see the US Championship Jersey in the TDF, Armstrong won a stage while wearing it in 1993.

Thor is now reportedly back at the hotel (after having the 5 cm long, 3-4 cm deep cut sewn up at the hospital), where he states that he feels "okay", and that he'll definitely start tomorrow. He is not denying that the injury may restrain him in a sprint finish, though.
Erling.

Those green hands are plastic. Riders have been complaining about them even since they first appeared. There is now talk of a ban on the hands in the final 2K on flat stages.