Kai Winters

I just listened to a podcast on Bicycling.com about the 2010 route. It sounds quite interesting.
Who knows who will do well or not. It is much to early. Illnesses, injuries, Murphy, etc. all play a hand in the Tour and season itself.
The TTT is interesting but takes a ton of planning, logistics, preparation, etc. and it can all go to hell in a hand basket real fast if Murphy takes a hand at the wrong time.
I prefer a Tour that is very dramatic with 5 riders contending for the "Yellow". For me that is drama and racing at its' best.

Is it July yet?

El Diablo Rojo

Or Garmin. As long as AC is on any team other than Astana he's the odds on favorite for the win. Honestly I can't understand why the Lance FanBoys just can't accept that he's aged.

Quel

Has anything else been said about Contadors team? All I've heard is that he is locked into Astana into 2010, but I have no idea how long into 2010, and it would take a fool to release him early. Astana is definitely a weak support team for Contador with the departure of Lance, Levi, Andreas, and, most importantly Johan. He still has to be the favorite if he is on Astana, but on most other teams he has better odds.

As for Lance, I doubted him last year, but no longer. The dude finished 3rd place in the Tour at 37 years old. He's a freak of nature. I don't expect him to win, but I expect him to be as competitive as any person not named Alberto Contador. I won't count him out again until he proves he can't hack it, no matter what his age.

El Diablo Rojo

The whole Astana thing is in flux. They claim to have their financing in place but that is no guarantee that they'll get their license renewed. Then there is the very real possibility that ASO won't invite them to the Tour because of Vino's involvement with the team. Contador is going to need some good lawyers to get out of this mess but I think he'll manage to get out the contract.

Walter

I'm moving this over to Pro Cycling. October is too early for the "Lance Drama" to start.

At least in Pro it's 24/7/365 drama.

JosephM

Thats why I wish they would keep it in the tour.
Anyways, I cant wait!
Only 9 months away!

Laggard

Oh dear lord.

Laggard

And the Tour of Lombardy is only a few days away.

chitown29

Why no TTT this year?

Laggard

The TTT has not always been featured in the TDF. The reason it is not there next year likely has nothing to do what you think.

HigherGround

This could be the single biggest threat to Contador winning the 2010 Tour.

Most people would agree that it's in Contador's best interest to do whatever it takes to get out of Astana. Vino's presence could be an obstacle to the team getting invited to any race organized by the ASO. The team appears to be greatly weakened by the mass exodus to Team Radio Shack, and their financial stability seems to be consistently in doubt. Contador's best hope is that Astana's Pro Tour license doesn't get renewed. Otherwise, the paying the buy out clause for escaping the final year of his contract would be worth almost any price.

I can't wait, it's one of my favorite classics! I just wish that Versus or Universal Sports were broadcasting it.

Rumpled

I'm sure that what I think has no bearing on what ASO does.
I realize the TTT is an interant visitor to le Tour.
I think the team dominance problem is one of the aspects against including it this year. I don't even know if the TTT has ever been in consecutive years.

The Weak Link

The Tour de France ain't no Nobel Peace prize. Let the ride decide.

bbattle

As far as I know, Contador has no buyout clause in his contract. I think if he coughs up enough money he'll get out of there. Astana doesn't have many riders left at this point; to field a good team to ride for Contador would be difficult.

Contador is the heavy favorite IF he gets to ride. If not, I'd go with Andy Schleck or Lance. Andy will do better in the mountains but lose time on that long time trial. Saxo Bank and RadioShack will both be strong teams for the Tour. I wouldn't discount Cadel or Sastre or Menchov if he doesn't ride the Giro next year.


They took the TTT out because it did decide the winner early on last year. There's a couple of teams that would've dominated it and several that would've sucked at it and thrown their GC riders into trouble.

The stages in the North could be tricky; breakaways could well succeed here. the Classics riders are happy about these stages.

Laggard

Cite please.

DMF 

Hey, the real Lance may be back next year, but don't bet on that happening. Contador is just too damn good. At best Lance can hope to draw.

DMF 

True but, as of the 13th, according to velonation Astana has also refused to release Andreas Klöden, Gregory Rast and Haimar Zubeldia. So if the contracts are iron-clad Contador might still have some help.

HigherGround

I think that he does, but perhaps I was making assumptions. For example, it had been speculated that Garmin might release Bradley Wiggins to Sky, and use that money to finance Contador's transfer to Garmin. (Of course it doesn't look like Wiggins will be leaving Garmin in 2010.)

Thanks for the link, I hadn't seen that. When I looked for an article I saw recently about Bruyneel finally being able to leave Astana, I discovered this article (from today) stating that Kloden and Rast will be able to leave Astana as well. However, it looks like Haimar Zubeldia will be staying at Astana. It will be interesting to see who Astana manages to sign to fill all the gaps in their roster.

DMF 

Hmm? I heard some time ago that Popo had already been separated.

Regardless, this confirms to me the truth of the claim that the riders' contracts are actually with the SD (Bruyneel) rather than with the team. I bet the assignment of Contador's contract was the price for releasing Bruyneel et al.

See, Alberto? It doesn't pay to piss off your SD.

DwayneS

The fact they removed the TTT shows that the TDF is still a real sport unlike nearly every other major sport which focuses entirely on ratings and how many viewers they can snag.

jenerik

Lance will be on form but will only win if the race gets "tactical" Contador is hands down the favorite and the best tour rider in the world right now (would have been amazing to see Armstrong vs Contador in their prime) , but Contador he has never won any of the tours without Johan. Will be interesting to see how critical Johan is. This Tour also favors Andy as there is only 1 TT and a lot of climbing. But I see a repeat of this years podium.