Professional Cycling - Alright already!! Lets get climbing!

I like the sprints as much as the next fan, but 7 stages is enough, let the suffering begin, and seperate the men from the boys!

Yep, it is getting routine!

Give Robbie et al some thing to 'look up to', starting tomorrow. (I predict he will come in 165th)
:)

Amen!

I'm taping these stages coming up fershizzle. Great stuff coming up! Whoo hoooo!

Koffee

+1 to everyone..... now the Tour FINALLY starts...... I hate the flat stages where it is just a destruction derby with riders crashing out.

This tour - for all the hype and "Who will be King" will end up being a 1 climb race. Everyone (Including me) has hoped for some kind of attack - Floyd with the hip - Levi with the ???, George with the 2nd place sprint to wear the YJ for a day, Mayo falling OTB in the first climb, and the YJ falling off the back of a pace setting peleton today.

All the DS's are looking for a 1 time attack and then a pace ride into Paris - Prove me wrong!!! PLEASE!!!

It's wide open and Al Trautwig is picking winners and has the OLN YJ.

Say it ain't so!

Ti-Carbo

Here comes Rasmussen! <squeak squeak clunk rattle>

Az

To what extent did the guys predicted to finish after Ullrich, Baso, Mancebo, Valverde, et cetera...develop a sense of complacency? It seemed on the ITT that Landis, Kloeden, and to some degree Savoldelli were the only GC contenders off the top of my head who did not suffer from unexpected disapointments. When Mayo got dropped I was in shock. Has the huge pre-race boost to morale been shattered after an embarrassing ITT performance? Did hincapie go into the ITT thinking he had a top 5 place locked up without excessive suffering? Leipheimer admitted to not having trained after the dauphne--the sprinters are looking in better form than he is. Has the Puerto case led to a cutting-back on doping during the tour?

Pre-race, the U.S. was in unbelievable position--Jullich's crash and Levi's mystery ailment have been big blows. I think Hincapie's early success got everyone overly exited about another US tour winner.

I think discovery dropped Chechu intentionally to save him for an attack lead-out tomorrow along with Eki and Padrnos. T-mobile will be reeling from a fantastic ITT showing and a day breaking wind for the peloton, Phonak will have to be alert and ready to attack themselves. I am afraid though that this year will come down to the last ITT, as gaps on climbs will disipate in the flats that lead up to the finish.

I saw it as scared cats on the road. Everyone realizing that the race is wide open, someone needs to step up, but who??? Pins and needles baby! Odd break away Wednesday, that was a large gap, but today will be interesting. Yeah, the whole Levi thing.....weird