stevesurf

THIS IS A TOUR STAGE THREAD - POSSIBLE SPOILERS TO FOLLOW!

meb

Triple HCs the day after a double HC stage.

J.W.

Man oh man i wish i could be there to watch and cheer.....

Suzie Green

I love how they put a bonus sprint for the green jersey right at the base of Alp d' Huez. What are they thinking?

meb

Probably more oriented for bonus time which coincides with the green jersey locations. There isn't likely to be any green jersey contender getting those points. But for 6 bonus secs before ascending Alp d' Huez I think it's only for someone who has beaten down the opposition in the Alps, is in command of the stage, and is just taking a nice little GC padding for the stage.

It appears they may have dropped the time bonusses, so the sprint may have become really moot.

jonathanrules

ditto

SunSwingsLow

This has to be one of the most difficult stages in recent tour history.

brutal.

Columbiafan

Maybe those sprinter points could be used for someone like kirchen if he has it in him to get over the mountains that could probably give him a little boost

2wheeled

This is the make or break stage. Put time into Evans or he'll whoop'em in the TT.

wabbit

italians seem to to well on the alpe...now that piepoli is gone, i'm thinking cunego is a possibility; evans is motivated, since he's in the yellow and hasn't won a stage yet, and he seems to be in good climbing form.

jensenheals

Whoever is taking the best drugs will win. Nobody is beyond suspicion. Some will be caught, some won't.
The last rider to win the tour clean was riding before the drugs were invented.

I love Barry Bonds! What a show!
Let them all drug themselves silly for our entertainment.

yellowjeep

Ok sweet, the token the winner is drugged post is out of the way early.

Moving on....

As long as Evans doesn't win I don't care.

Pedaleur

Correct. No time bonuses.

2wheeled

...and a better tour because of it.

Miguelangel

ITs going to be the thoughest and best stage... while rooting for all spaniards, Dennis Menchov can still take it... Love this tour is truly up for grabs!!!

wabbit

i thought of menchov too...or one of the spaniards.

Vuroth

I think Sastre has been had this day circled on his calendar for a while. CSC will be doing something special, for sure.

Pascal d'Huez

Hello everybody,

By waiting for this terrific stage, I want to prove that a frenchie can win (sometimes).
Please sing with me my new hit "Alpe d'Huez (my heart is gone)". You'll see, I can top Cadel Evans for the award of the worst accent ever.

Regards,

Pascal d'Huez / sporterotism.blogspot.com

bac

Certainly there will be a breakaway. Also, certainly the pure climbers will be on the attack while the GC guys attempt to defend. Damn is this going to be fun to watch!

... Brad

Mild Stallion

That "It will break you" spot on versus was cool. I can't find it now! Does anyone have a link to it?

Columbiafan

i could see vdv winning it or taking it far the way he looked in the climb yeasterday impressed me. I loved his strategy sticking with schleck and evans but csc will be on their guards now so its tough they will not let evans get away but someone like sanchez or vdv maybe ahhh im sooo excited for this stage

USAZorro

That is beyond curious. Guess it's main purpose is to make someone 800 euros wealthier.

USAZorro

Things could be quite a bit different after tomorrow, but if the yellow jersey changes hands on stage 17, it won't be because one of the teams "let them go". The winner on this stage is going to have to earn it.

Mild Stallion

Methinks VDV can hang with the leaders, but can't muster the power to attack them. (Nor does he have the firepower on the team to wear them down) He has to limit his losses and give his all on the TT.

That said, I'm rooting hard for this guy.

As for Sastre, no way is he going to blow away everybody by 6 minutes, which is about what he will need if he wants to survive the Time Trial.

Dolomiti

2:30 on Menchov and Evans on this stage, and 3:30 on them Tuesday