Any predictions for Le Tour?
So many big names gone…should be interesting race.
I’m hoping Cadel Evans takes it…remember watching the guy win his first MTB World Cup race in Wellington 9yrs ago…was cheering him then, will cheer for him now 
Go Cadel!
i will actually BE in france for this.
I hope to get near enough to take pictures.
Not sure that will equate to a more interesting race…could go the other way, as Basso and Ulrich were going to push each other and the rest of the field pretty hard.
I think Floyd is going to take it.
Blast! No OLN in my hotel room!
The link to TDF is http://www.letour.fr/index.html
Live Update English version http://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/LIVE/us/100/index.html
My money is on that guy in the devil suit.
Valverde crashed out today, he was considered another strong GC (General Classifiction) contender
I would really like to see Cadel Evans win this, but to really open up the debate. What about the other jerseys?
Green?
Polka Dot?
I think that the battle for green is going to come down to either McEwan or Boonan, so far, McEwan seems to have the edge, but Boonan is currently in both Yellow and Green.
I think currently that the GC Contenders are (in no particular order)
Levi Leiphemer (Gerolsteiner)
Floyd Landis (Phonak)
Iban Mayo (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto)
Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile)
George Hincapie (Discovery Channel)
I think that there are other strong riders, I don’t know who is going to step up to the plate in Team CSC, maybe Bobby Jullich or Jens Voigt.
Despite the big names out, it has been a pretty good Tour so far, who would have thought that the Prologue would be decided by 0.73 seconds? And that four riders would be seperated by less than a second?
3 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 0.04.21
4 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.04.80
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears 0.04.92
6 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team CSC 0.04.93
Then in Stage 1, George Hincapie took a 2 second time bonus to take the Yellow Jersey from Thor, which was won by Jimmy Casper as all of the favorites hesitated. Thor had his arm cut very badly in the finishing sprint, and collapsed afterwards.
Then in Stage 2, Kessler tried to sneak away on the last climb, and steal the stage win, only to be caught in the last 200m. The bunch sprint taken out by Robbie McEwan.
Then today in Stage 3, Kessler tried the same tatic and managed to pull it off, he attacked on the last climb on the day, 2km from the finish, got away and managed to hold off the bunch for a terrific stage win. And of course Boonan is now in Yellow for the sage through Belgium tomorrow.
I think that this is going to be a very interesting Tour, so far the Yellow has changed hands after each stage, with 3 people having worn it. It is early days yet and the mountains are yet to be reached, but it is very wide open.
James
Today Erik Dekker felt badly, and gaved up. He stais in hospital tonight.
He used to be a team-mate of me in 1994 and 1995.
In '94 he won silver on the Olympics in Barcelona (after Ullrich or Armstrong), after they all became pro.
He had some very unfortune injuries in the past, and he finaly recovered, and booked nice results again. As this is was last Tour, it’s a very sad way to leave le grande boucle this way.
Also it was weird to have the Tour de FRANCE in The Netherlands today (I did’nt went).
That’s Didi Sentf. A former car builder/designer in east-Germany.
I’ve been corresponding (by snail-mail) with him in the past.
He looks kind of stupid, but certainly is not.
I’m going for Floyd, and I think he has a decent shot at finishing in Paris with yellow on his shoulders. Levi Leipheimer could have had a good shot as well, but he worked pretty hard in the Dauphine and probably isn’t on top form, though he is still pretty strong. Hincapie has a shot as well, but most;y because he has such a strong team… i’m not quite as into it this year because i was so put off by the doping mess, and was looking foward to seeing the Basso/Ullrich showdown. You never know, someone completely out of the blue could really step it up this year… As far as the green jersey, it’s between Boonen and McEwen- what will probably make the difference is one of them getting hurt-right now they are only 1 point apart in the standings.
That was a bit rambley…
thats so cheep that ulric and baso cant race. i was pissed
I wouldn’t say cheap.
For those who aren’t aware, the reason that some of the big names didn’t ride comes from a doping scandal.
In late May, the manager of a Spanish Team (then Liberty Seguros Wurth) was arrested on doping charges. The day before the Tour started a list of names were released of riders who are believed to be involved. This list included Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso.
Now, last year, the UCI started up a new competition, the ProTour. One of the big things with this was a strong anti-doping policy. Part of that policy was that any rider who was implicated in a doping scandal was immediately suspended by their team, these riders weren’t replaced for the Tour. This is why the newly named Astana Wurth didn’t ride, 5 of thier 9 riders were named and the no longer had the minimum 6 riders to start the Tour.
While I hope that Ullrich and Basso aren’t convicted with doping charges, I think that this is yet another step towards cleaning up professional sport.
James
i wouldn’t say cheap either, but i was pissed when i heard they weren’t racing.
that and armstrong quitting makes it different for me…
From having watched the last few Tours, I felt that 2003 was one of the most exciting Tours in the last few years, why? Because it was close and it actually looked like Armstrong may lose.
I don’t hate Armstrong, nor am I an anti-Armstrong, it was just I really wanted to see someone else win it.
At this stage it seems that Floyd Landis is the favorite, but he doesn’t have the strongest team, I think that still goes to Discovery or CSC, so anything could happen.
I am just looking forward to the TT on Saturday, as while it won’t determine who will win, it can quite easily determine who won’t win, then bring on the Mountain Stages.
James
i would really like to see George Hincapie win
I would really like to see Rasmussen win, but I think it’s going to be Landis or Evans. It’s hard to pick favorites now before the interesting stages.
I’m looking forward to the time trial.
watch out for the July 13th run: that will be bear country! (my home turf! the arrival is at “pla de beret” … and I was born on the other side of the mountain) I bet that rain and fog will dim the TV reporting and make things more mysterious 
watch the Aran valley and its beautiful churches!( and earlier in the day the bucolic Campan valley) Watch out: mountains full of trails for Muni!
edit: the day after the tour will be passing before my family home (they say at 14h18!!)! alas I won’t be there!
i’m pulling for levi leipheimer mostly because i work for a specialized dealer and hope they’d have a special deal on a sweet bike. but i also think landis and hincappie have good hsots, at least for americans.
Unfortunately, I think that Levi is not likely to win. He is currently 6:43 down on the GC after a pretty bad Time Trial in Stage 7.
T-Mobile seem to have a pretty good strangle hold, as they currently have positions 1, 3, 4 and 5 on the GC, all of their riders are within 4:30 of yellow. The big question though is who is going to be captain?
Evans and Landis are both in pretty strong positions though, so the Tour is still wide open. I am not prepared to try and pick a winner, but if I had to bet I would probably put it on Landis. I think that Evans is very likely to be on the podium though.
James
It’s seems so weird to think about Armstrong not winning…as long as I’ve known about the Tour, I’ve always associated that with an Armstrong win…the question was always “Who’s second?”
Landis has avascular necrosis of his hip 
If he survives the mountains without it crumbling and finishes on the podium it will be an amazing achievement indeed.
I’m still picking Evans for the win 
If you asked after Stage 15 (Gap to l’Alpe-d’Huez) who was going to win the Tour, I would have said Landis. He was in a pretty commanding position, and none of the other riders seemed to be able to touch him.
Then came Stage 16 (Le Bourg-d’Oisans to La Toussuire). Landis lost over 10 minutes in the stage, and about 9 minutes to Oscar Pererio (who was in second by 10 seconds).
Although this is the best Tour in several years, I think it just got a whole heap better.
Oscar Pererio now stands a pretty good chance of winning overall, but I think that Carlos Sastre and Andreas Kloden may have something to say about that.
Cadel Evans may finish on the podium, but he is currently 5th overall, he could get to third, but if anything is to be seen in this Tour, anything could happen.
I get the feeling I am going to stay up tonight and watch Stage 17 though.
James