Le Tour de France

[Wim]

I agree Wim and I'm very well aware this is not the Tour de France only ... actually it is paradoxal that those who really try hard to restore their sport find themselves in the spotlight and get criticism, while they should be praised.

Young rabbit? ...

Exactly it is very unfair sometimes.

Something more delicate now :
Hmm perhaps it could be these were not exactly the right words after all to give a compliment to a woman I guess. So forget about the rabbit Monique!

[Kathrin]

and another one was caught...

[Wim]

Ricco & Piepoli , the eagles of Saunier Duval, are sacked as expected.

So Cavendish did it again. Yesterday he catapulted himself after taking some advantage of the acceleration of the Quick Step train and coming from behind Steegmans. But today was more amazing : when the peloton was already at full speed in the final meters he could still accelerate and winning very comfortably.
No need to say his electric speed comes from the track cycling races he is frequently doing. 4 sprints 4 victories ...and a golden medal in Peking ?
He probably will quit the Tour after tomorrow to prepare for Peking.

[Wim]

Very good sport this afternoon resulting in this overall Tour standings:

1 Frank Schleck (Lux/CSC) 63h57min 21sec
2 Bernhard Kohl (Aut/GST) 0:07
3 Cadel Evans (Aus/SIL) 0:08
4 Denis Menchov (Rus/RAB) 0:38
5 Christian Vande Velde (US/GAR) 0:39
6. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CSC) 0:49

So a promising week to come in the Alps with on Wednesday the mother of all stages http://www.de-renner.nl/embrunlalpedhuez.html

If you look at the altitudes (Galibier nearly 2700 m...) you can imagine it will be hell in the Tour on Wednesday for a lot of riders. A good climber at 1500 m altitude is not necessary a good one at >2000 m (oxigen comsuption etc..)... and the distance is 210 km !

[Wim]

Tomorrow and interesting day in the Alps as well :
http://www.de-renner.nl/cuneojausiers.html

50 km of climbing and 'Le col de la Bonette' as the 'roof' of this Tour with an altitude of 2800 meter !!

Time to go myself me think so tomorrow at 12 o'clock we leave for the Alps to witness the mother of all stages on Wednesday. Still hesitating what mountain we will choose : Galibier, Croix de Fer or Alpe dhuez. The last - also called Holland Berg - is the most interesting because the arrival is at the top. But I have to be back here in Gent at Thursday at 8 am sharp because I have to join my female boss for a meeting in Brussels. This is a so called '44 hours trip'. The only conclusion about all this is that women can be very cruel and have no mercy !! But we knew that already didn't we ? Next years strategy is simply to invite her!

[Kathrin]

women can be very cruel and have no mercy !! But we knew that already didn't we ?

haha, not all of us are like that. But if we see that some men just "deserve" it, we do our very best

[Ekphantos]

I've just realised that I'll be in Paris the day they arrive there. Now, I am not interested in the TdF as such, but do you think it would still be worth seeing the arrival, for the atmosphere? I have no idea how it is like....

[berolina]

Go and watch it! They'll be very fast so you'll probably not see any particular rider but they'll do a few rounds around Champs-Élysées. It's very impressive to see this live I reckon.

[Wim]

Indeed Berolina. Even for the ones not very interested in the Tour it is quite exciting to see those riders in action on probably the most beautiful avenue in the World. They are riding around L'Arc de Triomphe and passing Place de la Concorde several times. Very mythic, so Ekphantos yeah go and watch...
The speed will be mega with peaks over 60 km/h.

[Wim]

So Sastre is the winner of the Tour 2008. His CSC team of course was at the base of his victory. The stage to Alpe d'huez was very significant for this. An isolated Evans (Silence Lotto) surrounded by CSC riders while Sastre was on his way to the top. I saw Evans for about 1 minute on his climb to the top forced to take the lead in order to minimize his deficit on Sastre and you could see how he was struggling physically to keep the pace high. But all my respect for the man that day. And then today Sastre had to do it on his own. Evans under pressure and after an very demanding week was not able to fulfill expectations and really underperforming. A good Tour and what a sport.

[Wim]

Sastre was in the city of Ghent today, a few hundred meters from where I live He visited sick children hit by cancer and gave a nice 10.000 euro to the hospital where they are treated.


http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza.be/wi..._2008/1.348747

[marshall]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/sp...ef=othersports

Seems that Armstrong plans a comeback That would be great

[noel]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/sp...ef=othersports

Seems that Armstrong plans a comeback That would be great

2009 La Tour de Lance resumes!

[Caroline]

Absolutely stunning news! Yes the Tour comes to life again

[vuce]

2009 La Tour de Lance resumes!

He's getting older, you know...