Tour de France

[mhku]

Is the tour being shown on any other channels other than ITV4 and Eurosport?

_http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/news_tour_de_france_tv_listings_article_127354.html


You can get all the Tour news here:

_http://www.bikeradar.com/tour-de-france-08

 

[mhku]

Mark Cavendish, from the Isle of Man, won a 4th stage today. He had already made history on Thursday when he became the first ever Briton to claim three stage wins in a single edition of the Tour, overtaking former British great Barry Hoban.

_http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/7514166.stm

 

[Salty25]

Cav's doing great, hopefully he'll end up with an award at the end.

 

[rolfw]

Bodes well for the Olympics.

 

[mhku]

There's talk of an all GB pro team for the 2010 TdF. Would raise a smile if Wiggle (the bike shop) sponsored them although unlikely at a cost of £6m a year.

_http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/may/28/tourdefrance.cycling

_http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/analysis_how_british_pro_team_is_rapidly_taking_shape_article_262366.html

 

[Salty25]

Heard about a 'Team GB' before, would be a good idea I think, especially considering our world beating track squad.

If I remember correctly, during the scandal of Operacion Puerto, they were even talking about all the Grand Tours turning into national teams only.

 

[mhku]

Cavendish has left the Tour now. Although not a surprise it's a shame he didn't last to try to win the sprint on the Champs Elysee.

_http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/7515986.stm

The tour is in the Alps for the next few days- let's see if Cadel Evans can keep yellow.

 

[dardruba]

Cav's doing great, hopefully he'll end up with an award at the end.

What did you mean by that? at the end of what? what award other than the glory of Stage wins?

He was there as a sprinter, not an all rounder, he went with the Team to the Tour knowing that his skill would only be needed in the early stages and that his country needed him to train with their Olympics team.

 

[Salty25]

What did you mean by that? at the end of what? what award other than the glory of Stage wins?

He was there as a sprinter, not an all rounder, he went with the Team to the Tour knowing that his skill would only be needed in the early stages and that his country needed him to train with their Olympics team.

Points Classification? Anyway, it's not going to happen this year at least, the Olympics has been deemed more important.

 

[dardruba]

Points Classification?
I see now.

What an ending today!

 

[mhku]

The Alps are always good

Who do you reckon? Schleck, Vande Velde, Menchov (he recovered well after falling off), Sastre?

Or will Evans fight back (as a previous MTB rider he should know hills well)?

 

[mhku]

Where did the hundreds of people supporting the Tour on the Cime de la Bonnette-Restefond park today? Europe's highest road and the narrow road was lined with cheering spectators - another amazing stage.

In his first year as a professional cyclist, 21 year old South African cyclist John-Lee Augustyn of Barloworld was first over the summit but misjudged a turn on the descent and fell over the edge of the road on a sharp corner, sliding down the mountain at a very steep point- luckily he was unhurt and finished 35th.

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_de_la_Bonette
_http://www.teambarloworld.com/riders_view.php?l1=1&l2=1&id=25&l=1

Tomorrow could be a deciding day ending in l'Alpe d'huez. It's live from noon on ITV4 and Eurosport.

Top 10 overall

1 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
2 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner, 0.07 behind
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto, 0.08
4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank, 0.49
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank, 1.13
6 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle, 3.15
7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia, 3.23
8 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne, 4.11
9 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi, 4.38
10 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale, 5.23