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Surely we can do without "heroes" like Vinokourov. I wouldn't have waited for him either, whether he was injured or not.
Very surprising that Bertie wasn't paced back to the peloton by his men, can you imagine what Lance would have done if that had happened to him...!
Outside of Wiggo & Cav I'd have to go for Philippe Gilbert, he's been excellent. Always been a massive fan of Jens too.
Cav.
Heart on his sleeve, talks the talk, walks the walk.
I dont have any one favourite but attacking or hard as nails riders do it for me. Jens "shut up legs" Voigt, Tommy V, Crazy Thomas de Ghent, Johnny Hoogerland and little Amets Txurruka all get my full support. I've even come around to supporting Vino in the last two years 😮
Yeah, the last thing the tour needs is controversial, exciting, enigmatic riders like Vino.Surely we can do without "heroes" like Vinokourov.
Suppose you think the tour is better off without Pantani as well?
*treading dangerously close to breaking headfirst's original rule...*
Oi! 13th!!! Watch yourself now!! and mikeP - don't you start... 👿
I'm leaning towards Cadel Evans, I think he's really turned himself around in terms of his public image
Definitely turned his image around with his season in the rainbow jersey, IMO. Would like to see him do well, though suspect the big mountains will be his downfall once more. His diary is usually worth a read, typically updated each day of the tour. Still seems to have more haters than supporters though (maybe an Aussie thing?)
Karpets.. anyone Russian and still sporting a mullet deserves respect.
I think Mr Fabulous is too mellow to guide a raging peleton, even Thor had problems keeping them at pace yesterday..
Gutted to about Vino too, despite his transgression a couple of years ago, he was one of my fave riders, a true baradour. Big up respect to him and Evans in last years Giro, totally brilliant display of riding ability and determination.. You know the stage.
Totally agree that this years tour is not the same as last years, or any years previous. It's too cut throat, too much to loose/gain and too much at stake.. Look at the beefcake Andy has around him every single pedal stroke the lad makes.. All the old skool riders are either retiring or dropping out, whose left but the youngun's.. change, all change please. Glad to see some new faces ride hard.
Gilbert. can only attack, doesn't know how to do anything else, oh and I've got the same bike as him!
Also a big fan of Boonen, but I fear his best days are a long way behind him
Ahem. Sorry headfirst 😳
Back on track. Cancellara for me. Seeing him on the Paris Roubaix battling between just going for it while resisting dragging the other guys along behind him was great entertainment, and when he finally snapped and just bolted for the line, the winner was lucky there wasn't enough road left frankly!
Tommy Voeckler, 'french housewife's darling'
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French housewives like a nice bit of tongue action?
[i]I said this on another thread yesterday - there's no one strong team that can control things effectively. Even HTC's lead-out train, probably the best in the world, don't always have it their way. Compare it with Cipo's old Saeco lead out train in the 90's, nothing ever came close to them![/i]
ok
Mario Cipollini
1993: 1 stage win;
1995: 2 stage wins
1996: 1 stage win;
1997: 2 stage wins;
1998: 2 stage wins
1999: 4 stage wins
Mark Cavendish
2008: 4 stage wins
2009: 6 stage wins
2010: 5 stage wins
2011: 2 stage wins
Don't really have a favourite tour rider, but I do enjoy watching it and looking out for the British riders, however Johnny Hoogerland is a name I am not going to forget in a hurry after yester day, a particularly super human effort to finish after the accident. I just hope he is able to continue and compete for the king of the mountains.
Karpets.. anyone Russian and still sporting a mullet deserves respect.
Maybe when he gets a bike that fits him.
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Regardless of everything else, Vino doesn't know how to wear a helmet.
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My favourite would be Andy or Cadel, I'm having difficulty choosing at the moment - Andy hasn't done much so far.
Although if I could choose from my nationality it would be Cav followed by Wiggins followed by Geraint.
[img] http://www.bigringriding.com/photo/1280/7416960600/1/tumblr_lnvepbviRC1qbxnpg [/img]
RealMan:
Although if I could choose from my nationality it would be Cav followed by Wiggins followed by Geraint.
But you can't, that would be cheating. And we know how everyone feels about cheats...
[For me, it would be Geraint followed by Wiggins followed by Cav].
The most interesting TdF for a while.
More 'stuff' going on than for years - controversial riders, bad driving, controversial route choice, no prologue, no mountains for a week and a half.
Loads to discuss.
And we've got a 'who's your favourite rider' thread?
So tell me guys, what's your favourite colour?
And we've got a 'who's your favourite rider' thread?
Everything else just turns into an argument about drugs..
And we've got a 'who's your favourite rider' thread?
David Millar for being plain speaking and not shy about voicing his opinions.
Geraint Thomas for being under-rated but bloody good. TdF winner in waiting there.
And we've got a 'who's your favourite rider' thread?So tell me guys, what's your favourite colour?
Should've got here earlier IdleJon (living up to your name? 😉 ), page 1 was quite interesting.
Suppose you think the tour is better off without Pantani as well?
I still miss him and still the fastest time up Alpe Huez [ I will let RM correct me on the spelling whilst reminding us he did it twice etc ]
Great guy back in the day when you knew it was fair as you knew everyone was cheating [but LA ]- Wades in with joke hoping ot get away with it and not let it descend into the dreaded drug one
Cav - honest and great interviews
Wiggos out "shit" for example brutally honest
Millar I like redemption and he has class IMHO
Alpe d'Huez.. and I've only done it once, and I shaved a massive 8 minutes off Pantanis time 😉
The first time man split the atom was when the atom tried to hold Realmans wheel, but cracked.
Shamlessly plagarised from http://www.jensvoigtfacts.com/
To be fair, I was in a Mondeo. Will hopefully get a chance to ride d'Huez in a few weeks, and although I'm not fit at all at the moment, I'm hoping for a reasonable time. Sub 55 would be nice, sub 50 would be awesome.
Doing it next year with my brother we have been since 1987 😉
His refusals not mine
Ah yeah.. a Welsh tour winner.. that'd be something 🙂
Cav.
Heart on his sleeve, talks the talk, walks the walk
Yeah - top man is Cav. I was talking about CG contenders though.
all this 'lack of respect' 'more cut throat now' stuff really reminds me of the last season of the wire. whose gonna shoot prop joe? who is the marlo in the peleton?
what we are (were) asking is, 'who is bunny to all the new kids? right?'
cav has got to be be michael. jens maybe omar? Lance's old crew all had a shot after he'd gone didn't they? george hincapie is slim charles NO DOUBT!
After seeing what he went through yesterday and how he responded to it - Hoogerland is my favourite rider. Absolute hero of a man.
Meanwhile in other rest day news...
First positive doping test. 🙁
Not Cancellara, he was a bit snide last year and is he even a big player in the Tour?
Evans has gone up in my estimation since the World Champs and seems to be the only GC contender racing, the plucky Ozzies always there. And he gained some nail award points last year climbing with only one good arm. Plus he has and will be up there all race long, and you can't say that about Cancellara.
He just needs to kick that ****ing stupid little mutt off a mountain and buy a Rotwieler and wear some looser pants and his the man.
We were talking a bit about this earlier today, and there just aren't the aggressive riders like Merckx, Hainault and Armstrong anymore. Evans is the closest we have.
I'm just surprised it took this long for one of the cars to knock out a competitor - if anyone has had the misfortune of being on the road between the stage finish and the location of the hotels in recent years they would know what I mean.
The drivers of the cars in the caravan get so hyped up by being in convoy and having the roads closed for them that they go absolutely mental. I've seen the convoy screaming along an alpine road after the race has finished at about 70mph when thousands of people/families etc are squeezed up against the barriers trying not to get wiped out as they walk back to their cars.
It was so bad coming back from Alpe d'Huez a couple of years ago that I smashed a rear quarterlight with my umbrella as one went past. It felt good.
LOL!
Miller might be as good as any. He does have a little of that "Elder Statesman" about him..
Do we really want someone like Lance running things again? I've been reading some books recently about his control of the peloton and it really does seem like his influence wasn't that positive and was more about him and his team controlling the race for themselves than managing the race as per the "unwritten rules".
I also don't buy the thing about it being just money that's making a difference. Baseball has a LOT of money in it but the rules are still fairly ruthlessly enforced and players are often thrown out of games for settling scores etc. Looks more like the riders don't really give a shit any more.
The politics of the peleton must be extremely complex is all I can say so from the outside looking in picking a patron isn't mch more than a matter of guesswork..