posted Jul 26, 2008

Eazly sheleck brothers should have bin won de Tour,jellow for de BIG,and white for di SMALL,this is a big present 4sastre,what they gaved to him(A WEAK CLIMBER).he won des alp de huez,coz his rivals waz not in mood(like) of winning.Last year he had ahrd time in pyrenie or des alp..
I think andy shleck will be A star rijder 2009 TDF;

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posted Jul 26, 2008

I think Barloworld have agreed to continue funding until the end of 2009, but they are taking their name away from the team.

As for Cadel Evans he certainly has not helped his image by his attitude towards the media, McEwen and most other Australians in the Tour De France have had a much better attitude towards the media, and as a result have a much better opinion in the public's eye.

British cycling now appear to have a much better structure in place, and certainly better facilities and hopefully the success at the Worlds and the Tour De France can be repeated at Beijing and indeed London. http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/gbr/News2008/20080726_Geraint_Thomas.asp

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posted Jul 27, 2008

Not to blow my own trumpet but I did call it spot on. With the radio transmissions they have today CSC could pace Sastre to stay close enough to Evans.

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posted Jul 27, 2008

without wanting to be too sceptical

Is anyone else not at least a little doubtful about Sastre's time? Look at the people around him: he beat Voigt, was close to Hincapie and only lost a few seconds to Menchov and Evans - all very good time trialists. Both Schlecks lost a lot more time and yet seemed to have similar power/weight ratios. Riis said that Sastre was moving as fast as Cancellara in the last 15k! That just seems unlikely to me.

And what about Gerolsteiner's performance? Kohl, Schumacher...

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posted Jul 27, 2008

People raising eyebrows about Sastre's performance are forgetting Sastre finished over 2 minutes down on the winner. Had Evans matched Schumacher or Cancellara's times he would be in yellow now. They are also ignoring the excellent technique Sastre showed, I watched his body movement and the line he look relative to painted lines on the road - extremely efficient not much "weaving" even later into it.

You only get that efficiency with many hours riding in the timetrial position. Despite that he still finished over 2 minutes down on the winner - the guy is clean the days of Armstrong putting 3 minutes into climbers on climbs then putting 3 minutes into TT's specialists the next day in TT's are gone, it's back to being a clean sport for the most part.

I'm convinced Schleck was riding well within himself, he was cruising. I'm not sure about the rules but I would not been surprised had Sastre had a problem in the final kilometers, to see him have schleck's bike away in a jiffy.

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posted Jul 27, 2008

Another attack on Australians - this time by fat_ernesto
"No cleverGiddyup, not childish, just true. Evans rode a cynical and arrogant (true Australian traits!) Tour, he sat on wheels and assumed Sastre would roll over for him in the TT."
We might well remember this next time we are dragged into some far-flung military conflict by the 'mother country'? This kind of bigotry wouldn't be tolerated in regards to other nations. It's like saying the Scots are all 'miserable tight gingas' or the French 'never wash & smell of onions' - ridiculous stuff!!
Back on topic. The Australian cricket team may well be arrogant but I don't think our cyclists think they are a cut above. Cadel's behaviour was more to do with the pressure he was under & his highly strung personality - certainly not arrogance. He rode a great tour generally unsupported. Recent winners like Armstrong & Contador had very good supporting teams. Sastre kept a very low profile until the third week - he rode a very smart race but was able to because of his strong team. I don't know whether he would have had the strength to dominate on the Alpe if he had been riding without the Schlecks, Jens Voight , Cancellara & O'Grady. Cadel needs better support next year. CSC (Saxo) vs Astana will be great next year. Maybe Cadel can arrogantly & in true Aussie style lurk behind these two teams & surprise everone - he won't be favourite next year.

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posted Jul 27, 2008

Cadel didnt have the team to win , sastre is a worthy winner, good tour overall

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posted Jul 27, 2008

How much stronger are team CSC compared to all of the rest.

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posted Jul 27, 2008

CSC are good, but it was the tactics of Bjarne Riis & co which set them apart. Look how strong Caisse looked in the first week but their tactics were as poor as CSC's were inspired.

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posted Jul 27, 2008

Yes amorto, tactics DO go a long way in the tour, but you need a team who can carry them through. CSC out-did all the others because their riders were as good as their tactics. Few other teams could say the same.

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