Jeffrey Day Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 I know there are quite a few bicycylists out there and I'm sure some of you guys and gals follow the Tour! Anyone want to share their pre tour predictions? With Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich both retired from the tour and Floyd Landis banned this year, seems anything might be possible. I don't have any predictions, but I have my favorites that I like to cheer on! Of course I cheer for George Hincapie, Yaroslav Popovych and Team Discovery first. Then David Zabriskie of the USA, Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakstan, Thomas Voeckler of France, Axel Merckx of Belgium, Cadel Evans of Australia have all had great stage wins or tour performances in the recent past! Michael Rasmussen of Denmark ranks hight for me too because he is a mountain biker turned roadie who also seems to do well. Those are some of my favorite riders to watch. How about you guys and gals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailertrash Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 the kazak for GC. mcewen for green jersey. it should be a good tour, it is wide open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncermak Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 what is tyler hamilton's status these days? do I recall that he was serving a doping ban? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleb Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 what time is the airing of the time trial start? 8:30am on oln or CBS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C5 Golfer Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 I really do not care who wins - I just like to see it won fair and square and within the rules and no rumors or finding of doping for a change. But is this possible today? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimo Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Here is my one prediction... if an American wins, the French will accuse him of doping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 I really do not care who wins - I just like to see it won fair and square and within the rules and no rumors or finding of doping for a change. But is this possible today?Not as far as I understand it. It's not a matter of who dopes, it's a matter of who gets caught. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big mario Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 what is tyler hamilton's status these days? do I recall that he was serving a doping ban? Still serving his time. Should be an interesting one this year. mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmoore Posted July 7, 2007 Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 Is Levi Leipheimer entered? I know there was talk of him having a chance at one point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailertrash Posted July 9, 2007 Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 levi is leading the disco team this year, unless george shows to be stronger. everybody loves the crashes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted July 9, 2007 Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 Vino will win,but hopefully, Hincapie will take a stage or even two.Cancellara will win the TT and Cadel Evans will get his first stage win this year,maybe the pokadot jersey and place top 5 overall.The pocket rocket Robbie McEwen will win the green jersey as long Freddie and the rest of his leadout guys survive the week one crashes.Levi will be either 2nd or 3rd overall unless Popovic proves to be stronger and Disco rides for him.Personally, I think Hincapie should have been designated team leader the minute Lance retired, but maybe he's too willing to ride support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleb Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 what a crazy finish today! Incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 Barring doping scandals this TOUR is going to be kickass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted July 14, 2007 Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 Well,looks like nothing I predicted will come true,but that's making it more fun to follow.Another great stage today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big canuck Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 will win gc, Mekewens out a there!! Erik Zabel baby!!! Rassmusen fo polka dope. yeehaw!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinecure Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 I'd like to see JA Flecha win a stage just to see him do his archer impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Day Posted July 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 DAMN this has been a great tour to watch!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Here is my one prediction... if an American wins, the French will accuse him of doping. Do you still believe Landis is innocent? Do you still believe Armstrong is snow white ? Do you think Florence Griffith-Joyner should still own most of the women's records in athletism? Is Marion Jones clean? I have read an interesting Greg Lemond interview the other day, he explains why he left the pro tour, and how he said to Armstrong not to team with the italian doctor without success... Landis even tried to dirty Lemond's image by saying he had a " big secret" too ( which was true: Lemond had been abused as a kid, and told it in confidence to landis in hope he would come out and admit he doped..). Believe me, us, the french, don't care if the winner is from serbia, china, france or US of A if he is clean and has no suspect behaviour. Rasmussen is not appreciated now because of his suspicious behaviour with his danish federation....When Virenque doped, he got taken low by the french themselves...and only after he admitted it he did come back and come back as a great champion even if things were much harder physically.. N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Do you still believe Landis is innocent?Do you still believe Armstrong is snow white ? Do you think Florence Griffith-Joyner should still own most of the women's records in athletism? Is Marion Jones clean? N. I think that something like 90% of riders are using banned performance-enhancing substances - it makes the whole sport a joke. (The same goes for track and field, alas, though for some reason I think the percentage of users might be lower there.) My suggestion? They should have two classes: an "unlimited" class, with no testing, and a "natural" class, with testing for all riders at every event, as well as random testing. I don't mind if the dopers dope, per se, I just don't appreciate being lied to about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 I agree.I think it would be fun to watch the unlimited guys average 42mph in a time trial or climb 12%grades at 25 mph.Every once in a while we might even get to see some guy's head explode or kneecaps blow off in a sprint.It could be called the WCF. On a less sarcastic note it could like car racing where there is trickle down technology with great benefits to the general populace. BTW I don't take Lemond any more seriously than the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bird Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 I would like to see the loaded Olympics, "If you ain't dirty, you ain't welcome!!" I imagine a wieght lifter doing a clean and jerk and the arms coming off (I think SNL did a skit in this regard). to me it's like boxing or UFC, if two people are willing to get in the ring and beat the crap out of each other, i'll watch. Any abuse that is self induced is all right by me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleb Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 how do they figure its 90% of racers are using banned substances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 how do they figure its 90% of racers are using banned substances? Sorry, that wasn't very clear. I wasn't trying to recall something I'd seen somewhere, just making a jaded and cynical estimate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C5 Golfer Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 how do they figure its 90% of racers are using banned substances? If I had to guess why it would be that 80% of the racers say they do not do drugs and this allows them to fit in the 10% catagory. But that itself is just a guess too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 would be totally immoral to have an open category for doped athletes indeed...and I assume the armies have already tested the capacities of the human body with drugs ( amphetamins, lsd and other steroids) and the limit has to be the heart failure like an engine in a car....but true would be interesting to see how far/fast they would go. There is even famous doping ( amphetamins) case in climbing with Herman Buhl's incredibly success on the Nangat Parbat in the 50's ( alone, slept with a small jacket and no tent at 8000 + meters and walked back ( http://www.jerberyd.com/climbing/stories/nangaparbat/ )) Rassmussen is now the black sheep of the tour, and the vibes in the tour are bad! Everyone hopes Contador will take the lead...nice fights but a sad tour, again because of the doping! Let me get my glass of bordeaux before I nap :) N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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