Tour de France 2007

[nedder]

Any predictions for this years tour ?

Yellow : Vinokourouv/Valverde/Leipheimer/Kloden??
Green : Robbie McEwan
Polkadot: Rasmussen

[Dodge]

Can't see further than those tbh. Michael Rogers maybe a shout as an outsider as the time trials should suit him

[Docboy]

That no one is clean??

[Rovers fan]

can i just ask what is the green jersey for? its been years since i watched the tour de france

[DmanDmythDledge]

can i just ask what is the green jersey for? its been years since i watched the tour de france
Points leader.

[Dodge]

can i just ask what is the green jersey for? its been years since i watched the tour de france

POints are awarded for intermediate sprints during each stage. Usually something like 1st gets 4, 2nd gets 2 and 3rd gets 1.

Points are also awarded for finishing positions at the end of each stage. First gets 30 and the person in 20th position gets 1 (figure out the scale yourself).

Leaders of the points category wears the Green jersey. Its now a completely sprinter jersey but it wasn't always that way

[Rovers fan]

has the yellow jersey winner ever won the green jersey as well?

[Dodge]

has the yellow jersey winner ever won the green jersey as well?

Twice. In 1969 Eddie Mercx won Yellow Jersey, Green Jersey and Polka Dot jersey (for being "King of the Mountains" (the best climber) ). Bernard Hinault was the last to do it in 1979. In 1998 Sean Kelly won yellow and Green jerseys in the Vuelta D'Espana

There used to be a combination jersey which was based on points earned in all categories and general classification. (Mercx won this in 1969 also).

And there was alaso a red jersey for a time that was based on points earned in the intermediate sprints only. Kelly won this three times (including the last ever in 1989)

[inexile]

i also remember sean kelly wearing a multi coloured jersey in one tour, as he was the holder of the red, green and polka dot jerseys at the time.

[Dodge]

i also remember sean kelly wearing a multi coloured jersey in one tour, as he was the holder of the red, green and polka dot jerseys at the time.

No Kelly never hekd the polka dot jersey. He was wearing the "combination jersey" I posted about above

[Real ale Madrid]

Now that the alps are over and the tour is taking shape - who do people think will win now? Vinokourov is finished now. Of the top 5 or 6 i must say that Valverde looks the strongest. But with Kloden's time trialing he could still have a shot, but he is 5 minutes behind Rasmussen which even now is a lot. Rasmussen must be the favourite but Valverde will be his biggest threat imo.

I had a little flutter on Oscar Pererio Sio before the tour €5 e/w at 50/1. Thought it was a good bet seen as he was 2nd last year. He is currently 14th about 6 and a half mins behind Rasmussen and 4 odd mins behind Mayo in third. Will need to have an exceptional week in the mountains next week to get into the top 3.

[Dodge]

Valverde is favourite with betfair punters, closely followed by Kloden. Rasmussen has been an awful time trialler in the past and lost over 5 minutes to Vino last year, so not inconceivable he could lose same to Kloden. Yellow Jersey usually helps a rider fight though

I think Cadel Evans has a shout too

[Macy]

There's two long ITT this year, both still to come. The lead of Rabobank could be back to being open after the one this week, never mind the lead of the tour. Kloden still very much in it imo, given the rest of the leaders wouldn't be renowned time trialists. Still wide open, and I'd expect the whole podium to be wide open until the second time trial.

[sligoman]

vLNTuxFdvvg

[bellavistaman]

ridiculous!

[Bluebeard]

:eek:

The tyre buckled like it was made of cardboard.

You have to love the lack of concern offered eitehr by the dog or its owner:rolleyes:

[passinginterest]

:eek:

The tyre buckled like it was made of cardboard.

You have to love the lack of concern offered eitehr by the dog or its owner:rolleyes:

At least the dog looked embarassed :D

[sligoman]

The tyre buckled like it was made of cardboard.That's what I thought funny. Was sure the wheels would be a bit more sturdier than that, but then I suppose that would slow them down if they weighed too much.

[Dodge]

Bikes are made of the ligthtest materials possible. Aero-dynamicism being the key.

Works great until a dog gets in your way

[the 12 th man]

Tour rocked by Vinokourov's failure of a drug test .Looks like he had an illegal blood transfusion .Astana team has withdrawn from the race.

Tour de France/ Professional Cycling in big trouble and its reputation in tatters unless the drugs thing is faced square on.In other words "proper" controls at all Professional events.

[TheBoss]

I have always enjoyed watching Cycling, seeing who the better man is through many events. But some people just can not accept being worse than the best so they take drugs and stuff to make them better and it is ruining the sport, the TV fans might just start not too watch it anymore, if they are watching cheats winning the races. Even Rasmussen is under the Spotlight aswell, if he has taken anything and wins the tour, 2 years straight and no winner, could really damage the sport.

[Macy]

Tour de France/ Professional Cycling in big trouble and its reputation in tatters unless the drugs thing is faced square on.In other words "proper" controls at all Professional events.
This is where they're caught in catch 22 though. Proper controls, such as the method which caught Vino, are met with distain and moral outrage when they work (such as we're seeing now). Maybe cycling would've been better off adopting a head in the sand attitude like many other sports, like most of the field games. Methods used in cycling would be equally beneficial across many sports, but since they don't do the same tests they're never going to have to deal with the consequences.

Now doubt Kimmage will be all over the radio, with no current cycling commentator/ reporter/ fan as any kind of balance, in his usual bitter extreme way saying how everyone is corrupt and how he was right all along... (not to take away from Rough Ride which is a great book)

[the 12 th man]

. Methods used in cycling would be equally beneficial across many sports, but since they don't do the same tests they're never going to have to deal with the consequences.



I'm sure you're right there Macy but with Cycling so damaged by it (allegations etc) that I don't think there's any choice if it wants to remain an event that has any credibility or remain being covered by TV/Radio etc.

Imagine if you could watch a Tour de France knowing everybody was clean:cool:

[Macy]

I'm sure you're right there Macy but with Cycling so damaged by it (allegations etc) that I don't think there's any choice if it wants to remain an event that has any credibility or remain being covered by TV/Radio etc.
There is no choice, I just hate hearing people being sneering on Radio/ TV about cycling, and then they move on to Athletics as if it's 100% clean, and then Football that doesn't even do blood testing, and then onto the GAA which has a shambolic testing procedure from what I can see...

Having said that, the UCI are about as organised as the FAI. How they let a situation like Rasmussen develop where he can miss 4 tests and still not hit the 3 strike rule is ridiculous.

[Stuttgart88]

I just hate hearing people being sneering on Radio/ TV about cycling, and then they move on to Athletics as if it's 100% clean, and then Football that doesn't even do blood testing, and then onto the GAA which has a shambolic testing procedure from what I can see... Hear hear.

The sport is clearly in trouble, but it annoys me intensely when football, my main sporting interest, is corrupted by cheats, divers, touts, bent agents, bent managers, foreign billionaires with very questionable ethical records and so on. Nobody batted an eyelid. Scumbags like Joey Barton are idolisewd. 'arry Redknapp, don't you just love 'im & 'is whelling & dealing? No, he's a crook. The only questions being asked at man City recently werre whether Sven was the right manager, not whether a corrupt politician was an appropraite owner of what's essentially a public asset. The FA's "fit & proper persons" test is a farce.

Rugby Union is generally played in a much more honest spirit but watching the All Blacks vs the Lions was an eye opener - the O'Driscoll tackle, perpetual offside, deliberate obstruction of players chasing an up-and-under while pretending it was accidental...

At least cycling is facing its demons and in due course it'll be better for it. Good riddance to Astana. In Germany it's thought that Kloeden moved from T-Mobile to Astana once T-mobile announced its zero tolerance policy, though that didn't stop one of their riders testing positive in the Alps.

I've always loved watching the tour, even back in the early 80s when the only coverage was a short review of the week's action on World of Sport (Joop Zoetemelk / Team Raleigh era) and it is still a compelling event in my opinion. In fact it's the only sport Mrs Stuttgart will watch with me!

I'm considering doing next year's l'Etape, but that's a different story.

[Bluebeard]

I have been watching cycling for years too, particularly. I'd drifted away from it for a few years between the Pantani thing, the dominance of the most boring man in cycling, and Festina gate. This year, when I had heard that they were starting to take a real grip on the drugs side of things, and it looked likely that they were going to retrospectively strip Landis of last year's title, I came back to it.

I have enjoyed this tour immensely so far, but I feel betrayed once more by the drug allegations. I have to say that kicking off the drug cheats so fast was great to see. However the Rasmussen issue is a very serious breach that I would like to hear something concrete on. I was particularly deligthed to see a Grimpeur doing well, especially a former Mountain Biker, and had been looking forward to the time-trial on Saturday with Baited breath, but then this makes it all seem so worthless.

Any sport where a tragic death like Pantani's can happen, needs serious work. I think that there is a movement to bring an end to it; but it is becoming clear that there is a hell of a lot of work to do.

[Dodge]

. In Germany it's thought that Kloeden moved from T-Mobile to Astana once T-mobile announced its zero tolerance policy, though that didn't stop one of their riders testing positive in the Alps.


But look at the way they dealt with it. No messing, no arguing. "He's suspended until the B sample results,a nd if thats positive he's sacked" I got the sense they were definitely serious about cleaning up their act

Vinokourov was linked with the whole Operation Puerto thing so its not a total surprise. Just disappointed as I loved his attacking style.

Reading "game of Shadows" at the moment about the whole BALCO thing and if you thing cycling is dirty you should read this book and see the extent of drugs in US sport where the big 3 (MLB, NFL and NBA) have had to be dragged kicking and screaming into drugs tests and where bans are ridiculously soft

[Macy]

The Rasmussen thing is simple really - 3 tests missed counts as a failed test. However, it's 3 missed per testing agency - he's missed two for the danes, and two for the UCI. Where it really stinks is why he was allowed to start and why the Danes decided to keep quiet until he was in Yellow. He should never have started, but someone somewhere decided to hammer the sport in it's period of maximum coverage rather than to stop it getting that far.

[Dodge]

I thought he only missed 2 in total but admittedly wasn't around much yesterday to read about it

memories of a few years ago when they made the huge announcements in the 2nd week in le tour. its almost like they want to destroy it

[Stuttgart88]

Vino was one of the so-called "men in black" before the Tour started, cyclists training in non-descript kit, not their team training kit, in remote locations to avoid being recognised. Vino claimed it was to avoid hangers on and ametuers trying to ride with him. Yeah right.

As I saw elsewhere this morning, "In Vino no Veritas". Shame, because I think everyone liked his style, just like everyoneone loved the Abdoujaparov from Uzbekistan before him.

Rassmussen missed 4 tests, 2 each for different orgainsations.

[NY Hoop]

Now doubt Kimmage will be all over the radio, with no current cycling commentator/ reporter/ fan as any kind of balance, in his usual bitter extreme way saying how everyone is corrupt and how he was right all along... (not to take away from Rough Ride which is a great book)

100% correct. He is a very very bitter man. Or as he would say himself: He. Is. A. Very. Bitter. Bitter. Man.

Yet another sad day for a great sport. But while I agree about football being controlled by questionable characters the players arent injecting themselves or replacing blood before games.

Finished Pantani's book there recently by Matt Rendell. Very powerful but also a deeply sad indictment about the sport.

IMO the only way that cycling will clean itself up is if the tv stations threaten to pull out therefore losing the major financing. Just cant see the Tour happening without tv though.

KOH

[the 12 th man]

IMO the only way that cycling will clean itself up is if the tv stations threaten to pull out therefore losing the major financing. Just cant see the Tour happening without tv though.

KOH

As well as TV etc regarding continuing to cover the race (as you know some already pulled out) can you imagine what the various team sponsors must be thinking right now?.

David Walsh getting ready to let rip as we speak..

[Macy]

Yet another sad day for a great sport. But while I agree about football being controlled by questionable characters the players arent injecting themselves or replacing blood before games.
That we know of. Pretty hard to know, if there's no tests. I wonder how many asthmatic footballers there are? Quite a high percentage of Rugby players are apparently.

Just reading the Pantani book myself, just hadn't got round to it as I was never a huge fan of him as a rider (always preferred the all rounders to the pure climbers tbh). Awaiting delivery of the Robert Millar book at the moment.

[WeAreRovers]

Rassmussen missed 4 tests, 2 each for different orgainsations.

And was tested twice pre-Tour and 14 times since the Tour started. This stinks of Kimmage et al looking for another bad guy. The sight of actual drug cheat David Millar getting on his moral high horse about Rasmussen is sickening.

Macy - re. Pantani, I'vre always loved the pure climbers. This young Colombian lad Soler Hernandez has been the story of the Tour for me this year.

KOH

[Dodge]

Nah, Contador is the best climber I've seen in years. They've always been my favourites. Claudio Chiapucci being probably my favourite non Irish cyclist of all time

[Macy]

And was tested twice pre-Tour and 14 times since the Tour started. This stinks of Kimmage et al looking for another bad guy. The sight of actual drug cheat David Millar getting on his moral high horse about Rasmussen is sickening.
I don't know, it needs a few poachers to turn game keeper if it's genuinely going to be clean. Lest we forget, Millar has never actually tested positive and confessed when he could've roughed it out like others have done. Most of the interviews I've seen he said it didn't look good, but criticised the UCI's whereabouts system rather than Rasmussen? Like I said, what really stinks about the Rasmussen case is that they waited until the middle of the tour, with him in yellow, to suspend him. There's no credible explaination bar cause maximum damage.


Macy - re. Pantani, I'vre always loved the pure climbers. This young Colombian lad Soler Hernandez has been the story of the Tour for me this year.
Just something about Pantani that I never warmed too. Even now actually after being a bit into the book. Having said that I used to love it when Chiapucci would go off on a mad one. :D

[WeAreRovers]

Nah, Contador is the best climber I've seen in years. They've always been my favourites. Claudio Chiapucci being probably my favourite non Irish cyclist of all time

I love Contador too - and I hope he does Ras today - but the skinny little Colombian rocks. He only took up cycling at 17 when a race went through his hillside village. He won the race the next year. Agree about Chiapucci.

KOH

[NY Hoop]

The sight of actual drug cheat David Millar getting on his moral high horse about Rasmussen is sickening.
KOH

Spot on.

His namesake Robert was a classy rider although Macy this is probably not in that book:

http://www.cyclinglogue.com/about-cycling/robert-millar-is-no-longer-a-man.html

KOH

[Macy]

I don't think it's true if that's about him now being a woman? iirc the author was asked about that when he was Off The Ball and he said it's not true?

[Real ale Madrid]

Calos Sastre has made a bit of a breakaway today. Could be significant - anyone watching? Stuck at work.

[Stuttgart88]

I actually admire Millar. He gave an interview a couple of years ago which was as frank as anything I've heard. He had a passion for cycling, lost that passion and I think he's genuinely found it again.

I know Rassmussen tested clean recently, but isn't the suspicion that he did his doping whilst doing his hard training?

There's also the story of an ex-friend being duped into carrying blood doping agents by him about 5 years ago.

I agree totally though that any story about Rassmussen could easily have been broken by the Danes at the end of June

I'm gonna back of this thread now, want to watch ITV4 this evening without knowing the result.

[Dodge]

Calos Sastre has made a bit of a breakaway today. Could be significant - anyone watching? Stuck at work.


might be able to watch it on www.tg4.tv I am (with the english despatches on www.letour.fr for names etc)

The little Columbian looks to have made the polkadot jersey his own

[NY Hoop]

I don't think it's true if that's about him now being a woman? iirc the author was asked about that when he was Off The Ball and he said it's not true?

Christ I hope not although his disappearance for years is questionable. Nearly lost my lunch when I saw the photo there though.

ETA placed bombs along the route today. Luckily the Tour had passed before they went off. Fcuking scum.

KOH

[Real ale Madrid]

might be able to watch it on www.tg4.tv I am (with the english despatches on www.letour.fr for names etc)

The little Columbian looks to have made the polkadot jersey his own

Thanks - cant seem to get that TG4 link to work, following on le tour website which has been a Godsend the last 2 and a half weeks!

Soler / Sastre group lead about 5 mins now.

[Bluebeard]

Millar is a cycling legend, did a hell of a lot for the sport. If he wants to be a she now, so be it, s/he is entitled to his life as he wants - he never courted fame back in the day, he just cycled. I think that it was noted newspaper the Daily mail that decided to drag that old number back up when the tour started.

If s/he wants to wear pink lipstick and a thong and sing Marlene Deitrich songs in his personal and private life, let him, and let him be as long as s/he doesn't make a deal of trying to be in the media. Open season on the idiots (regardless of gender or whatever) who do.

[Dodge]

Not true though. The original story has been removed from the link above

[Réiteoir]

Cristian Moreni of Cofidis has been confirmed as rider who tested positive for testosterone following the Tour de France's 11th stage on July 19. Coming just one day after news that Astana's Alexandre Vinoukourov tested positive for a blood transfusion, news of the second positive doping control hit the Tour de France when the French newspaper L'Equipe reported Wednesday afternoon that one sample from stage 11 has tested positive for testosterone. It was later announced that the rider in question was Cofidis' Cristian Moreni.

The newspaper reported that the analysis to determine if the testosterone was of exogenous origin had already been completed, and the IRMS confirmed that the chemical came not from the rider's body but from a man-made source.

The testing was performed at the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory - the same lab responsible for performing tests on Floyd Landis' 2006 Tour sample that showed a similar result. This result is the second positive of the Tour, and the third testosterone positive announced this month after Patrik Sinkewitz (T-Mobile) and Matthias Kessler (Astana).

The 2004 Italian Champion finished 102nd on the transitional stage to Montpellier, 3'20" behind winner Robert Hunter (Barloworld). In addition to his national championship win, the rider from Lombardia finished second in the 2005 Tour stage 18, in Mâcon, behind Matteo Tosatto. A B-Sample may be requested by the 34 year-old.

Moreni and the Cofidis team were part of a group of riders who staged a protest at the start of today's stage in Orthez, along with the other French teams and the Gerolsteiner squad. The teams came together to form the new 'Mouvement pour un cyclisme crédible' - and stayed behind at the start and allowing the rest of the peloton to ride on ahead in protest of continued doping in the peloton, as evidenced by Vinokourov's positive test for blood transfusion.

[Réiteoir]

Leader Rasmussen kicked off Tour

Race leader Michael Rasmussen has been kicked out of the Tour de France and sacked by his Rabobank team.

The 33-year-old Dane has been at the centre of controversy during the Tour since it was revealed he missed out-of-competition drugs tests.

Rasmussen looked odds-on to win the Tour on Sunday after taking Wednesday's stage, which increased his lead over second-placed rider Alberto Contador.

But Rabobank have learnt he lied to them about his whereabouts in June.

Young Spaniard Contador now assumes the race lead with four days remaining.

And the Discovery Channel rider will go into Thursday's flat stage from Pau to Castelsarrasin with a one minute 57 seconds lead over Australian Cadel Evans.

Rasmussen's sacking follows the high-profile positive drugs test on pre-race favourite Alexandre Vinokourov in a dramatic 24 hours for the race.

Vinokourov's Astana team withdrew from the race in protest, and Cofidis have also pulled out following the positive test on their rider Cristian Moreni.

Rasmussen has admitted making a mistake in missing out-of-competition drugs tests but insists he backs moves to make cycling drug-free.

"I'm sorry the situation is coming out now, when I'm wearing the yellow jersey, and it's harming the sport that I dearly love," he said before his 16th stage win.

"I want to make absolutely clear I've had out-of-competition tests prior to the Tour de France, 14 tests during the Tour and all the results are negative.

"I do support my team in the fight against doping and [for] a clean sport."

However, Rabobank have since discovered that Rasmussen lied to them over where and what he was up to during the month of June, when he was in fact in Italy and not in Mexico as he had told them.

"Michael Rasmussen has been sent home for violating the team's internal rules," said a Rabobank spokesman.

It remains unclear whether the team will continue riding or pull out as Astana and Cofidis have.

The Danish Cycling Union said last week Rasmussen had been warned for missing two random controls earlier this year and banned him from September's world championships and the 2008 Olympic Games.

It later emerged he had already been warned twice by the International Cycling Union (UCI) for missing two separate random tests in the past 18 months.

Rabobank manager Theo de Rooy said he was aware of the missed tests and revealed he fined Rasmussen 10,000 Euros (£6,720).

"I informed the UCI about the missed tests prior to the Tour de France, and UCI president Pat McQuaid has said that they could not prevent Michael Rasmussen from racing on the Tour," said De Rooy.

"For me, there is no case to answer."

As part of Tour de France policy, the race leader is tested after each stage and Rasmussen has worn yellow since his breakaway win in Tignes last Sunday.

However, De Rooy has now taken the ultimate action after new information came to light about Rasmussen's whereabouts that made a mockery of the rider's claim he made simply made an "administrative error".

McQuaid said: "My immediate reaction is, why didn't they do this at the end of June, when they had the same information?

"The team decided to pull him out - that's their prerogative. I can only applaud that. It's a zero-tolerance policy and it's a lesson for the future."

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said: "The important thing is not that he has been sacked by his team but that he will not be at the start of the stage tomorrow.

"We cannot say that Rasmussen cheated, but his flippancy and his lies on his whereabouts had become unbearable.

"I at the very least do not feel that I have been dishonoured.

"One cannot mock the Tour de France impunitively like those riders," he added, referring to Rasmussen, Moreni and Vinokourov.

[TheBoss]

What more is there to say.

[sligoman]

Is there any other sport where drugs is used as widely in?