Spoiler or Devenyns, that guy sat at the back all god-damned day. I'm happy that Voeckler won but it woulda been awesome to see Jens take that. Stage 10 Results: Spoiler Stage 10 Results FRA 1 VOECKLER, Thomas (EUROPCAR) 4:46:26 ITA 2 SCARPONI, Michele (LAMPRE-ISD) + 3 GER 3 VOIGT, Jens (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 7 ESP 4 SANCHEZ GIL, Luis Leon (RABOBANK) + 23 BEL 5 DEVENYNS, Dries (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) + 30 FRA 6 CASAR, Sandy (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 2:44 ESP 7 MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN, Egoi (EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI) FRA 8 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) BEL 9 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) KAZ 10 FOFONOV, Dmitriy (ASTANA) + 2:52 General Classification after Stage 10 GBR 1 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) 43:59:02 AUS 2 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 1:53 GBR 3 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 2:07 ITA 4 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 2:23 RUS 5 MENCHOV, Denis (KATUSHA) + 3:02 ESP 6 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 3:19 BEL 7 MONFORT, Maxime (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 4:23 BEL 8 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 4:48 IRL 9 ROCHE, Nicolas (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 5:29 USA 10 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 5:31
Anyone interested in joining my new Tour de France pool? It's called "what is Vincenzo Nibali going to whine about tomorrow?".
Stage 11 results: Spoiler Stage 11 Results FRA 1 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) 4:43:54 FRA 2 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 55 GBR 3 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) BEL 4 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 57 ITA 5 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) GBR 6 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) DEN 7 SÖRENSEN, Chris Anker (SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK) + 1:08 SLO 8 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 1:58 BLR 9 KIRYIENKA, Vasili (MOVISTAR) + 2:13 LUX 10 SCHLECK, Frank (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 2:23 General Classification after Stage 11 GBR 1 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) 48:43:53 GBR 2 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 2:05 ITA 3 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 2:23 AUS 4 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 3:19 BEL 5 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 4:48 ESP 6 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 6:15 USA 7 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 6:57 SLO 8 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 7:30 FRA 9 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 8:31 FRA 10 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 8:51
my thoughts on, and after, todays stage (contains spoilers) Spoiler * Sky won the TdF today. Unless they all crash out or get caught doping (please, please, please). * Todays stage will hurt guys not just today, but also tomorrow and the next two days too. * Tejay Van Garderen was on fucking fire today. I truly think he could've won todays stage if he didn't have to drag Cadel's soggy ass up the last climb. * I fucking hate team Sky. * The Frenchies brought their A-game this year. So far they have wins from Pinot, Rolland and Voeckler... all on beastly stages. None of that flat sprinter-stage pussy shit. Pinot and Rolland are here for good. They're both young bucks who will get big-time contracts soon. Apparently Sky is already pursuing Pinot. Fuckers... * Chris Froome could've won the TdF on his own today. He fucked Wiggins up when he attacked on that last climb. He looked real strong. * Nibali is a punk. I'm only rooting for him b/c he was the only one with a shot to take down Wiggins. I'll dislike him even more when he officially signs his deal with Astana. * Todays stage really missed guys like Hesjedal and Sammy Sanchez. * Levi Leipheimer was in the break today. At the end of the stage, he lost 24 minutes. 24 fucking minutes!!!
Im still mad that in 3 days of the mountains we got 1 mountain finish Hopefully its better in the Pyrenees
Not really. Only one mountain-top finish remains. That's why Wiggins and Evans were such big favorites coming into this years Tour, even before Contador was banned and Schleck was injured. Here are the remaining "mountain" stages: Stage 14 - this Sunday Spoiler Stage 16 - Next Wednesday - at least they have to tackle the Aubisque followed by the Tourmalet Spoiler Stage 17 - Next Thursday - at least it's a mountain-top finish Spoiler
Don't waste your time watching today's entire stage. Just watch the highlights online or the last KM. Stage 12 results: Spoiler Stage 12 Results GBR 1 MILLAR, David (GARMIN-SHARP) 546 FRA 2 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) ESP 3 MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN, Egoi (EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI) + 5 FRA 4 GAUTIER, Cyril (EUROPCAR) CRO 5 KISERLOVSKI, Robert (ASTANA) AUS 6 GOSS, Matthew Harley (ORICA-GREENEDGE) + 7:53 SVK 7 SAGAN, Peter (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) FRA 8 HINAULT, Sébastien (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 7:54 AUS 9 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) ITA 10 PAOLINI, Luca (KATUSHA) General Classification after Stage 12 GBR 1 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) 54:34:33 GBR 2 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 2:05 ITA 3 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 2:23 AUS 4 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 3:19 BEL 5 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 4:48 ESP 6 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 6:15 USA 7 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 6:57 SLO 8 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 7:30 FRA 9 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 8:31 FRA 10 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 8:51
Stage 13 results: Spoiler Stage 13 Results GER 1 GREIPEL, André (LOTTO BELISOL) 4:57:59 SVK 2 SAGAN, Peter (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) NOR 3 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (SKY PROCYCLING) FRA 4 HINAULT, Sébastien (AG2R LA MONDIALE) RSA 5 IMPEY, Daryl (ORICA-GREENEDGE) FRA 6 SIMON, Julien (SAUR-SOJASUN) ITA 7 MARCATO, Marco (VACANSOLEIL-DCM) BEL 8 GILBERT, Philippe (BMC RACING) SVK 9 VELITS, Peter (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) GER 10 HONDO, Danilo (LAMPRE-ISD) General Classification after Stage 13 GBR 1 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) 59:32:32 GBR 2 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 2:05 ITA 3 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 2:23 AUS 4 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 3:19 BEL 5 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 4:48 ESP 6 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 6:15 USA 7 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 6:57 SLO 8 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 7:30 FRA 9 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 8:31 FRA 10 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 8:51
Mørkov is a baller, too bad he won't win a stage. this tour is far and away the most boring one in my lifetime. We really need Andy and Contador to shake things up a bit.
awesome snapshot from todays finish with the following observation: Morkov has been really impressive so far. He'll get the combativity award at the end of the race if he keeps it up. Riis knows how to work his magic with guys like this. Over the past few years the Giro has totally overtaken the Tour when it comes to pure entertainment imo. The ASO really fucked it all up this year with the route plan, unless you're a Brit... No way Ginger Balls is lettin' go of that thing. He must be thinking about the Tour as training for the Olympics at this point because theres no way in hell he's going to win a stage.
Interesting tidbit: It's more than the budgets of Garmin, Lampre, Vacansoleil, Movistar, Ag2R and Saxo-Tinkoff too. Of those three riders, only Evans has a win this year...
A few reasons: 1. They're like the NY Yankees of cycling. They use their unlimited budget to buy riders that other teams have developed and brought up through their development squads. Sky sets the prices for these kids so high that other teams can't match. 2. The shit that pisses me off is that they're one of the only teams in pro cycling who don't clearly speak out against doping. Their team doctor is the guy from Rabobank who doped everyone up on EPO a few years ago. When asked about it, they don't talk about it. Until a few days ago, they dodged every question at the tour about doping. 3. Wiggins is their leader and he's a complete dickwad. 4. They're British.
Spoiler well, at least he didn't win in a wheel sucking douche way today. Stage 13 results: Fucking tacks man... Spoiler Stage 14 Results ESP 1 SANCHEZ GIL, Luis Leon (RABOBANK) 4:50:29 SVK 2 SAGAN, Peter (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 47 FRA 3 CASAR, Sandy (FDJ-BIG MAT) BEL 4 GILBERT, Philippe (BMC RACING) ESP 5 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI, Gorka (EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI) POR 6 PAULINHO, Sergio Miguel Moreira (SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK) + 2:51 FRA 7 MINARD, Sébastien (AG2R LA MONDIALE) SVK 8 VELITS, Martin (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) + 3:49 RUS 9 VORGANOV, Eduard (KATUSHA) + 4:51 NED 10 KRUIJSWIJK, Steven (RABOBANK) + 4:53 General Classification after Stage 14 GBR 1 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) 64:41:16 GBR 2 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 2:05 ITA 3 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 2:23 AUS 4 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 3:19 BEL 5 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 4:48 ESP 6 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 6:15 USA 7 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 6:57 SLO 8 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 7:30 FRA 9 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 8:31 FRA 10 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 8:51
Agree, I don't like the guy, but I don't have a beef with him today. He led up the final climb, worked in a chase (I assume, not on camera much), and broke away. Still skipped his celebration. Going to be interesting to see how much longer cycling can get away with it's athletes being so open to the fans. Tacks aren't new and aren't worth overreacting to in and of themselves, but it does remind us how incredibly exposed these athletes are.
Didn't they say something like Morkov has spend 700+ kilometers in the lead or lead group? He probably seems more entertaining than he should in this mostly boring tour. The lack of an elite climber with free rein to go for it (or dope coursing through his veins) is making for a dull tour.
Stage 14 results: Spoiler Fedrigo is a fucking beast. A virus basically killed his past 1 1/2 years but he's back now. Stage 15 Results FRA 1 FEDRIGO, Pierrick (FDJ-BIG MAT) 3:40:15 USA 2 VANDEVELDE, Christian (GARMIN-SHARP) FRA 3 VOECKLER, Thomas (EUROPCAR) + 12 DEN 4 SÖRENSEN, Nicki (SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK BEL 5 DEVENYNS, Dries (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) + 21 FRA 6 DUMOULIN, Samuel (COFIDIS, LE CREDIT EN LIGNE) + 1:08 GER 7 GREIPEL, André (LOTTO BELISOL) + 11:50 USA 8 FARRAR, Tyler (GARMIN-SHARP) SVK 9 SAGAN, Peter (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) BEL 10 BOECKMANS, Kris (VACANSOLEIL-DCM) General Classification after Stage 15 GBR 1 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) 68:33:21 GBR 2 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 2:05 ITA 3 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 2:23 AUS 4 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 3:19 BEL 5 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 4:48 ESP 6 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 6:15 USA 7 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 6:5 SLO 8 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 7:30 FRA 9 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 8:31 FRA 10 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 8:51
Saxo Bank could bet getting nasty next year: * Fuglsang is coming back * Breschel could be coming back from Rabobank * Riis may be going after Cancellara Edit: Roman Kreuziger of Astana may be heading to Saxo Bank too. The question-mark here is their budget.
Sport is do damn dirty ... AFP - Luxembourg's Frank Schleck, a former podium finisher at the Tour de France, has tested positive for a banned diuretic, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced Tuesday. Schleck, who finished third in 2011, is currently racing the 99th edition with the RadioShack team run by Johan Bruyneel.
tomorrow is the day boys.... if Evans, Van Den Broeck or Nibali want it, they're going to have to go for it tomorrow and again on Thursday. They all need a ~4 minute lead on Wiggins going into the final TT. I think BMC is going to have to sacrifice Tejay if they want to give Cadel a chance.
Stage 16 results: Spoiler Stage 16 Results FRA 1 VOECKLER, Thomas (EUROPCAR) 5:35:02 DEN 2 SÖRENSEN, Chris Anker (SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK) + 1:40 ESP 3 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI, Gorka (EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI) + 3:22 KAZ 4 VINOKUROV, Alexandr (ASTANA) FRA 5 FEILLU, Brice (SAUR-SOJASUN) + 3:58 GER 6 VOIGT, Jens (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 4:18 IRL 7 MARTIN, Daniel (GARMIN-SHARP) + 6:08 ITA 8 STORTONI, Simone (LAMPRE-ISD) ITA 9 CARUSO, Giampaolo (KATUSHA) NED 10 TEN DAM, Laurens (RABOBANK) + 6:11 General Classification after Stage 16 GBR 1 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) 74:15:32 GBR 2 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 2:05 ITA 3 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 2:23 BEL 4 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 5:46 ESP 5 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 7:13 USA 6 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 7:55 AUS 7 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 8:06 SLO 8 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 9:09 FRA 9 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 10:10 FRA 10 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 11:43 IRL 11 ROCHE, Nicolas (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 11:47 GER 12 KLÖDEN, Andreas (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 13:14 USA 13 HORNER, Christopher (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 13:39 DEN 14 SÖRENSEN, Chris Anker (SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK) + 14:43 RUS 15 MENCHOV, Denis (KATUSHA) + 21:06 BEL 16 MONFORT, Maxime (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 21:26 ESP 17 MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN, Egoi (EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI) + 21:41 POR 18 FARIA DA COSTA, Rui Alberto (MOVISTAR) + 22:47 RUS 19 VORGANOV, Eduard (KATUSHA) + 24:2 ESP 20 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 33:57 My thoughts: Spoiler * god-fucking-damnit * Tommy Voeckler is so badass. No race radio, no power meter, no heart rate monitor and no bike computer. Pure oldschool. * Tejay Van Garderen is now the leader of BMC. How badly did they fuck up this Tour? How badly did they fuck up this year? Phillipe Gilbert has been a ghost of his former self. Has anybody even heard Thor Hushovd's name this season? * Tomorrow could still be a big day but Nibali has to finish 6 minutes ahead of Wiggins to have a shot at holding onto the jersey going into the TT. That ain't gonna happen. * The ratings for this years Tour have been bad. Except in the UK (surprise!). * The Giro was awesome this year. This Tour sucks. The Vuelta has the potential to be the best GT of the season. Andy Schleck will be back and so will Contador. We'll likely see Ryder Hesjedal and J. Rodriguez too. The Vuelta has 7 mountain stages, including stages 3 and 4. They just say fuck it and go uphill right away. Oh yea, all 7 of those mountain stages are mountain-top finishes.
Farrar is no longer the Lanterne Rouge: • 152. Tyler FARRAR, Garmin-Sharp, at 3:13:24 • 153. Jan GHYSELINCK, Cofidis, at 3:14:45
actually, Ghyselinck finished outside of the time limit on todays stage so Farrar is still the Lantern Rouge. He's a good time trialist so he could TT his way out of it if somebody absolutely tanks...
Rumor out of France this morning has the Schleck brothers verbally agreeing to a contract with Astana. Take it as rumor but these last-week rumors pan out fairly frequently. If true, that would put Nibali and the Schlecks on the same team next year.
So the race organizers let Ghyselinck back into the race even though he finished outside the time limit. Ginger Balls is no longer the Lantern Rouge...
Stage 17 Results: Spoiler Tejay drops Cadel's saggy ass again and moves into the top 5 overall! If he absolutely blisters the final TT, which he is capable of, he could jump into the #4 spot. Stage 17 Results ESP 1 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) 4:12:11 GBR 2 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 19 GBR 3 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) FRA 4 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 22 FRA 5 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 26 BEL 6 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) ITA 7 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 37 USA 8 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 54 USA 9 HORNER, Christopher (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 1:02 IRL 10 MARTIN, Daniel (GARMIN-SHARP) + 1:11 General Classification after Stage 17 GBR 1 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) 78:28:02 GBR 2 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 2:05 ITA 3 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 2:41 BEL 4 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 5:53 USA 5 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 8:30 AUS 6 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 9:57 ESP 7 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 10:11 FRA 8 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 10:17 SLO 9 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 11:00 FRA 10 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 11:46
I am really hoping Thomas Voeckler takes the KOM jersey all the way to the podium in Paris. Here is how the competition stands after today's stage: King of the mountains 1. Thomas VOECKLER, Europcar: 134 points 2. Fredrik Carl Wilhelm KESSIAKOFF, Astana: 123 points With a total of 5 Cat 4's and 1 Cat 3 left in the race, that totals 19 points for the first rider over. I would imagine Europcar would be making sure Voeckler and his team mates are out enough to deny any catch up effort by Kessiakoff.
Voeckler and Kessiakoff had no change in KOM points today. Tomorrow is the ITT, so no points there and Sunday has two Cat 4 climbs, so a max 6 points are available. So, chapeau Thomas Voeckler !
Randomness: * Frank Schleck's B-sample tested positive. He's likely done for 2 years. * Speaking of the Schlecks, after Frank tested positive, Astana came out and said they're no longer pursuing both brothers. They'll take Andy but not Frank. Will they split up? Doubt it. * Rumors are floating about that Cavendish will leave team Sky after this season. Apparently he wants a more dedicated team for the sprint train and he won't be getting that at Sky with Wiggins and Froome going for every grand tour over the next few years. I think Sky has to let either Froome or Cav walk. * Next up is the Olympic Road Race on Saturday. It starts early at 5AM EST but there will probably be live streams of it somewhere. The course is considered to favor the sprinters but, keep in mind, each nation has half of the riders that they normally do (5 instead of 9). So, if a big name gets away in a breakaway, the sprint trains are going to have to work double-time to pull it back. Cavendish is the big favorite but Sagan and Greipel will be there too.
Wow on Frank. Not surprised to hear the Cav news and really hope Froome moves to another team. If Froome moves to become a team leader and all the favorites (Andy, Contador, etc) make it to the tour next year it could be as exciting as this one was boring. Is team radioshack in danger of going under/disbanding?
Yes. Radioshack is in big trouble. They might survive but so many riders are moving on that they might not even be at the World Tour level of cycling next year. Cancellara wants out, Fuglsang is out, Monfort wants out, Posthuma is out, both Schlecks are out, I think Popovich is going to retire and Voight will probably follow the Schlecks. That leaves very little left. My guess is that they fold. I think Froome stays and Cav goes. That would give Sky two GT contenders (Wiggins & Froome) and the team could focus the rest of the domestiques on sheparding those two. If they keep Cav and let Froome walk, they'll have to hire a team of 5-6 sprint train guys. That would mean they have to go out and sign some dudes and let some of their other young talents walk. I don't see that happening. In all honesty, I think they keep both. Not yet. Cadel is coming back next year and is going to make another run at the Tour. At least thats what he said yesterday. Honestly, I think BMC will be significantly better next year. They're signing Daniel Oss and Sylvester Szymd (pronounced like Schmidt) from Liquigas. Oss is Peter Sagan's #1 leadout guy and will be a big help for guys like Taylor Phinney and Thor. Szymd is one of the best climbers in the pro peloton. He is a pure domestique and can single-handedly blow up a race. I can see him and Tejay being a huge help to Cadel next year in the more mountainous Tour. Speaking of more mountainous, next years tour is the 100th anniversary. Rumor has it that all of the big climbs will be in it. Alpe d'Huez, Mont Ventoux, the Tormoulet, Galibier, etc. More than likely it'll be back to Schleck vs. Contador all over again. I guess it depends on where Andy ends up though.
for real. that list isn't even half of the big climbs that I've seen listed. I think there are going to be a bunch of mountain-top finishes too.
So tomorrow is the Men's Olympic Road Race. The course is 250km long and climbs Box Hill 9 times. While Box Hill is challenging, I've ridden it before, the race will likely end in a bunch sprint finish. Mark Cavendish is the overwhelming favorite tomorrow with Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Ian Stannard (Sky) and David Millar (Garmin) on the GB team. That team won 7 stages of this years TdF! There are also ~6 other Sky riders in the race but they're racing for other nations (or are they?). Other sprinters to watch out for are: Matt Goss (Australia), Andre Greipel (Germany), Peter Sagan (Slovakia), JJ Haedo (Argentina), Arnaud Demare (France), Y. Hutarovich (Belarus), Tom Boonen (Belgium), Edvald Boassen Hagen (Norway), JJ Rojas (Spain), and TMB's favorite Ginger Balls. I have a feeling that the race could split to pieces and someone will win out of a breakaway. Potential breakaway contenders are: Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), Lars Boom and Niki Terpstra (Netherlands), Phillipe Gilbert and Greg Van Avermart (Belgium), L.L. Sanchez and Alejandro Valverde (Spain), Matti Breschel (Denmark), Taylor Phinney (USA - though I bet he's going for the TT gold), John Degenkolb (Germany), Sylvain Chavanel (France), and Simon Gerrans (Australia).