Let me get this in before the TT starts...

Landis (I actually typed Lance there the first time...sheesh) absolutely
has to be the favourite to take yellow after the TT.

But doesn't it seem a bit premature to have anointed him already? Never
mind that he might just have a bad day, even a flat tire at the wrong
time could derail his work tomorrow. He's got some time to make up.

Sastre and Pereiro finished about 1:10 and 1:40 down on Flandis in the
first TT. The slightly longer second TT suggests the potential for
larger gaps yet.

So, will Pereiro experience the power of the yellow jersey? Anyone else
who might be able to sneak in and snap up the saffron shirt? My guess is
that anyone behind Cyril Dessel in GC now is completely out of hope, but
Kloden and Evans aren't completely out of it.

At the rate we're going, the time bonus in Paris might have GC
implications.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
Landis (I actually typed Lance there the first time...sheesh) absolutely
has to be the favourite to take yellow after the TT.

But doesn't it seem a bit premature to have anointed him already? Never
mind that he might just have a bad day, even a flat tire at the wrong
time could derail his work tomorrow. He's got some time to make up.

Sastre and Pereiro finished about 1:10 and 1:40 down on Flandis in the
first TT. The slightly longer second TT suggests the potential for
larger gaps yet.

So, will Pereiro experience the power of the yellow jersey? Anyone else
who might be able to sneak in and snap up the saffron shirt? My guess is
that anyone behind Cyril Dessel in GC now is completely out of hope, but
Kloden and Evans aren't completely out of it.

Evans doesn't stand a chance, not even at reaching the podium.

--
Morten Reippuert Knudsen :-) http://blog.reippuert.dk

PowerMac G5: 1.6GHz, 1,25GB RAM, 300+300GB SATA, 16xDVD DL, Bluetooth
mus+tastatur, R9600PRO, iSight, eyeTV200 & LaCie Photon18Vision TFT.

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 09:16:03 GMT, Ryan Cousineau
wrote:

Landis (I actually typed Lance there the first time...sheesh) absolutely
has to be the favourite to take yellow after the TT.

But doesn't it seem a bit premature to have anointed him already? Never
mind that he might just have a bad day, even a flat tire at the wrong
time could derail his work tomorrow. He's got some time to make up.

Sastre and Pereiro finished about 1:10 and 1:40 down on Flandis in the
first TT. The slightly longer second TT suggests the potential for
larger gaps yet.

So, will Pereiro experience the power of the yellow jersey? Anyone else
who might be able to sneak in and snap up the saffron shirt? My guess is
that anyone behind Cyril Dessel in GC now is completely out of hope, but
Kloden and Evans aren't completely out of it.

At the rate we're going, the time bonus in Paris might have GC
implications.

IMHO Flandis would have to melt down to lose it...err...not win the
"saffron shirt." His performance the other day was pretty much the
equivalent of a TT. Furthermore, in his first TT he had a mechanical
problem (puncture?) and still blew away the remaining contenders.

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 09:16:03 GMT, Ryan Cousineau wrote:

Landis (I actually typed Lance there the first time...sheesh) absolutely
has to be the favourite to take yellow after the TT.

But doesn't it seem a bit premature to have anointed him already? Never
mind that he might just have a bad day, even a flat tire at the wrong
time could derail his work tomorrow. He's got some time to make up.

Sastre and Pereiro finished about 1:10 and 1:40 down on Flandis in the
first TT. The slightly longer second TT suggests the potential for
larger gaps yet.

So, will Pereiro experience the power of the yellow jersey? Anyone else
who might be able to sneak in and snap up the saffron shirt? My guess is
that anyone behind Cyril Dessel in GC now is completely out of hope, but
Kloden and Evans aren't completely out of it.

At the rate we're going, the time bonus in Paris might have GC
implications.

I wanna see it. A real race into Paris. Not this happy little champagne ride
with a happy little bunch sprint with lots of color. I want sweat and dust and
fierce, desperate rides as the GC contenders try to out hammer and out think
each other on that flat stage. I wanna see Axel Meckx lead Floyd out.

Ron

RonSonic wrote:
On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 09:16:03 GMT, Ryan Cousineau wrote:

Landis (I actually typed Lance there the first time...sheesh) absolutely
has to be the favourite to take yellow after the TT.

But doesn't it seem a bit premature to have anointed him already? Never
mind that he might just have a bad day, even a flat tire at the wrong
time could derail his work tomorrow. He's got some time to make up.

Sastre and Pereiro finished about 1:10 and 1:40 down on Flandis in the
first TT. The slightly longer second TT suggests the potential for
larger gaps yet.

So, will Pereiro experience the power of the yellow jersey? Anyone else
who might be able to sneak in and snap up the saffron shirt? My guess is
that anyone behind Cyril Dessel in GC now is completely out of hope, but
Kloden and Evans aren't completely out of it.

At the rate we're going, the time bonus in Paris might have GC
implications.

I wanna see it. A real race into Paris. Not this happy little champagne ride
with a happy little bunch sprint with lots of color. I want sweat and dust and
fierce, desperate rides as the GC contenders try to out hammer and out think
each other on that flat stage. I wanna see Axel Meckx lead Floyd out.

Ron

A race into Paris for time bonuses AIN'T gonna happen. None of the top
three can sprint their way out of a bag. How could it be even remotely
possible they'll win the sprint on the final day? Or, even one of the
sprints along the way? There are too many people who want the glory of
the stage win to allow for one of the top three to get a sprint bonus.

The ONLY way the GC will change tomorrow is if a team or two decides to
split the field IF there happens to be a long stretch with serious
crosswinds. From the way everyone has been ranting about how much they
were awed by Floyd's ride on Thursday and how much they respect him, I
don't think any team would attack on Sunday. If Floyd's not in yellow
at the end of the day, will he attack? I can't see it.

Scott

Scott wrote:

A race into Paris for time bonuses AIN'T gonna happen. None of the top
three can sprint their way out of a bag. How could it be even remotely
possible they'll win the sprint on the final day? Or, even one of the
sprints along the way? There are too many people who want the glory of
the stage win to allow for one of the top three to get a sprint bonus.

The ONLY way the GC will change tomorrow is if a team or two decides to
split the field IF there happens to be a long stretch with serious
crosswinds. From the way everyone has been ranting about how much they
were awed by Floyd's ride on Thursday and how much they respect him, I
don't think any team would attack on Sunday. If Floyd's not in yellow
at the end of the day, will he attack? I can't see it.

Ha! This got me the same laugh that Sherwin and Liggett
get everytime they talk about the final stage always
ending in a bunch sprint.

Who am I?
I entered the 2005 final stage in 6th position yet I ended
the TDF in 5th position on a day in which no contesting
happens.

One bloody year ago contesting happened on the last stage
sure not for the yellow but geez.. how quickly people forget.

Bounty Bob wrote:
Scott wrote:

A race into Paris for time bonuses AIN'T gonna happen. None of the top
three can sprint their way out of a bag. How could it be even remotely
possible they'll win the sprint on the final day? Or, even one of the
sprints along the way? There are too many people who want the glory of
the stage win to allow for one of the top three to get a sprint bonus.

The ONLY way the GC will change tomorrow is if a team or two decides to
split the field IF there happens to be a long stretch with serious
crosswinds. From the way everyone has been ranting about how much they
were awed by Floyd's ride on Thursday and how much they respect him, I
don't think any team would attack on Sunday. If Floyd's not in yellow
at the end of the day, will he attack? I can't see it.

Ha! This got me the same laugh that Sherwin and Liggett
get everytime they talk about the final stage always
ending in a bunch sprint.

Who am I?
I entered the 2005 final stage in 6th position yet I ended
the TDF in 5th position on a day in which no contesting
happens.

One bloody year ago contesting happened on the last stage
sure not for the yellow but geez.. how quickly people forget.

Bob, that's exactly what I'm talking about... there are too many people
trying to win the stage to allow the top 3 in GC to get time bonuses.
Those three aren't sprinters and can only hope to win a flat stage if
the peloton LET'S them.

But, hey, thanks for helping me prove my point.

Scott

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 08:49:57 -0400, RonSonic
wrote:


I wanna see it. A real race into Paris. Not this happy little champagne ride
with a happy little bunch sprint with lots of color. I want sweat and dust and
fierce, desperate rides as the GC contenders try to out hammer and out think
each other on that flat stage. I wanna see Axel Meckx lead Floyd out.

The ride to Paris may be a procession, but the speed on the final
circuit is very very high. That stage is no parade at the end.

JT

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On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 23:06:35 +1000, Bounty Bob wrote:

Ha! This got me the same laugh that Sherwin and Liggett
get everytime they talk about the final stage always
ending in a bunch sprint.

Who am I?
I entered the 2005 final stage in 6th position yet I ended
the TDF in 5th position on a day in which no contesting
happens.

One bloody year ago contesting happened on the last stage
sure not for the yellow but geez.. how quickly people forget.

Yeah -- there are successful breaks from time to time. Jeff Pierce won
it in a break. Vinokourov won it in a break. Somebody I can't
remember won it in a break the year Andreu was second. Hinault won it
in a break once.

JT

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John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:


Yeah -- there are successful breaks from time to time. Jeff Pierce won
it in a break. Vinokourov won it in a break. Somebody I can't
remember won it in a break the year Andreu was second. .


Eddy Seigneur