Le Tour de France - starts 30 June 2012

Russinating · 1 Jul 2012 at 15:53

Found the TdF page on Betfair. Some interesting bets - 4.5 for Gilbert to win this stage and 1.26 for Cancellara to have the yellow. Apart from crashing out, how could Cancellara not retain the yellow?*

* Assuming the peloton catch the break away obviously.

touch · 1 Jul 2012 at 16:06

Its quite a hilly and technical finish so there might be some small time gaps. Cancellara is likely to be at the front for the small climb tho, so i dont see him losing any time today.

ic1male · 1 Jul 2012 at 16:07

Dayum, looks like I missed a crash or two whilst putting the bins out.

Nexus · 1 Jul 2012 at 16:08

Wow, spectator causing a crash again.

Russinating · 1 Jul 2012 at 16:10

Ridiculous how it still happens.

Thing is they're going ******* quick as well so it's proper scary being that close as a spectator. It's like standing in front of a train.

Russinating · 1 Jul 2012 at 16:21

Stuck some £ on Cancellara to retain the yellow now that he's made it to the front of the peloton and the gap's been closed.

Edit: Boom. Easy £9 from £45

ic1male · 1 Jul 2012 at 16:24

Flipping heck, have they forgotten there's a hill at the end?

Lunatic Dreyfus · 1 Jul 2012 at 16:31

That's a brutal climb! :eek:

Indigo · 1 Jul 2012 at 16:40

Just caught the last 20 minutes or so of this.

Good end to the ride but that hill did indeed look quite brutal.

ic1male · 1 Jul 2012 at 17:41

Peter Sagan. What a fella.

One · 1 Jul 2012 at 17:43

ic1male said:
Never knew the Ardennes was so picturesque. Looks like a lovely area for riding.

The pate is pretty good too.

George Hincapie · 1 Jul 2012 at 18:29

ic1male said:
Peter Sagan. What a fella.

Cancellara needs to stop letting people wheel suck him.

bam0 · 1 Jul 2012 at 18:44

George Hincapie said:
Cancellara needs to stop letting people wheel suck him.

He broke too early, and despite his "come on" signals there was no reason for anyone else to work with him. It was a pretty good last 20km today.

oli collett · 1 Jul 2012 at 19:30

bam0 said:
He broke too early, and despite his "come on" signals there was no reason for anyone else to work with him. It was a pretty good last 20km today.

He does have a habit of it, no-one was going to work with him for that!

Sagan does look cracking, could see him making another impact on stage 3. Looking forward to the sprint tomorrow, I don't think Sagan will quite be there but I can see him being in the top 5. Hoping Cav can take the stage tomorrow!

George Hincapie · 1 Jul 2012 at 19:43

bam0 said:
He broke too early, and despite his "come on" signals there was no reason for anyone else to work with him. It was a pretty good last 20km today.

No he didn't. He broke when he had the best chance of success. He needs to learn to sit up instead of just leading out. Being a warrior is fine, but not if it means you'll always come second.

George Hincapie · 1 Jul 2012 at 19:46

oli collett said:
He does have a habit of it, no-one was going to work with him for that!

Sagan does look cracking, could see him making another impact on stage 3. Looking forward to the sprint tomorrow, I don't think Sagan will quite be there but I can see him being in the top 5. Hoping Cav can take the stage tomorrow!

Cav seems to have lost something from his sprint recently. Probably attributable to his weight loss and focus on climbing. Greipel, Kittel and Matt Goss are on fire and any of them could have the edge on Mark. I'm sure he'll still win a few stages, but I don't think we'll see him win as prolifically as he has done in the past.

In other news, Tony Martin is out of the Tour with a broken collar bone, and Luis Leon Sanchez has a suspected fractured wrist.

touch · 1 Jul 2012 at 19:52

There was no point in him sitting up. He needed to get away on his own on that hill, as soon as sagan matched him up the hill, it was all about time for cancellara. There's no way he'll beat sagan in a sprint, but there is a good chance that he can hold on to his yellow jersey untill after the next TT.

It's not what he wanted, but even if he sat up, he still wouldnt have won from the group with EBH + Sagan.

George Hincapie · 1 Jul 2012 at 19:58

touch said:
There was no point in him sitting up. He needed to get away on his own on that hill, as soon as sagan matched him up the hill, it was all about time for cancellara. There's no way he'll beat sagan in a sprint, but there is a good chance that he can hold on to his yellow jersey untill after the next TT.

It's not what he wanted, but even if he sat up, he still wouldnt have won from the group with EBH + Sagan.

Of course there was. If Sagan thought Fabian wasn't going to ride then he'd have had to go for it. I think Fabian could beat Sagan in a sprint; I've seen him finish mid-top 10 on several flat stages - Fabian is fast. I don't think there was any danger of him losing the jersey, the break was more about gaining time so he has more leeway to keep it in the days to come.

oli collett · 1 Jul 2012 at 20:04

George Hincapie said:
Cav seems to have lost something from his sprint recently. Probably attributable to his weight loss and focus on climbing. Greipel, Kittel and Matt Goss are on fire and any of them could have the edge on Mark. I'm sure he'll still win a few stages, but I don't think we'll see him win as prolifically as he has done in the past.

In other news, Tony Martin is out of the Tour with a broken collar bone, and Luis Leon Sanchez has a suspected fractured wrist.

Don't tell me you're writing off Cavendish before it's really started? You know what happens when people start doing that?

You're right about the weight loss and yeah he probably won't be as dominant, but on a real flat stage like tomorrow I'd still fancy him in the top 3!

touch · 1 Jul 2012 at 20:06

Yes, cancellara is fast, but not as fast as the other 2. Even if he sat up and let one of them go to the front, there is still another guy in the group who can outsprint him.

I didnt mean that he was in danger of losing the jersey, but there are a couple of small climbs between now and the next TT, so any extra time he can make will help him keep it.
He went for the stage win (he likes to go early, and has won a few races by doing that), but as soon as he realised that he had 2 big sprinters with him, it was all about time.