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


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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.

Yay! :D

Go Aussie!!!!!

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.

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.

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

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.

They just call it differently, right?

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 :)

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

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

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

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.

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.

Not a bad call there. Not bad at all.