2011 Tour de France/Tour Tracker (threads merged)

Yep, first guy us Ivan Gotti. Peron has a home in Colorado. Seemed very cool.

 

From today's stage 6 race notes:

Jury decisions

• 1000CHF fine for team mechanic of Europcar for having material ready outside of the vehicle (Article 12.1.040.21)
• 200CHF fine for Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Torsten Schmidt (sport director Leopard-Trek) for not following instructions from jury and race director (Article 12.1.040.2)
• 100CHF for Andriy Grivko (Astana) and Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha) for public urination (Article 12.1.040.29)
• 30CHF fine for Lars Bak (HTC-Highroad) and Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) for bidon collé (Article 12.1.040.37) – first infraction
• 50CHF for sport directors Brian Holm (HTC-Highroad) and Dmiitry Konyshev (Katusha) for above infraction

Talk about a reason for getting a ticket! Public Urination? The entire peloton often stops for a "Natural Break" as Phil Liggitt states (By the way Phil, beleive the proper term is "Nature break"). Point I'm trying to make is it seems that the UCI has rules even as to when a rider is allowed to whip it out and when not? Maybe the UCI has size and weight related regulations here too?

 

Maybe they are cracking down on the nature(al?) breaks since they may have caused some of the crashes yesterday.
Or maybe, right in front of some grandmas house?

 

Where do you find these?

I'm guessing right in front of towns or something. I was surprised to see a group yesterday or the day before stop right in front of a group of caravans/RVs.

 

On www.velonews.com they have a recurring daily report called "Tour Notebook"

 

Today sucked pretty bad... It would've been nice to have the whole field competing on Saturday and see what they could've done on the climbs and let that sort things out rather than incidental events. I'm trying not to spoil what happened for those of you who haven't watched yet, so I'm speaking in code...

 

If you think it's tough for the riders, try driving (or riding in) a team car! You're trapped in the car and cannot stop for a break, you must be there at all times for your team and can't risk loosing too much position in the caravan. You have to do your business in an empty orange juice carton or the like.
One race, the team mechanic riding in the backseat... did his business and dumped the carton out the window without looking. I glanced in the rear view mirror to see some fans lining the road looking down at their shoes with a grossed-out look on their faces!

 

Definitely disappointing. It seem like the racing hadn't really even started with all the flat stuff early. We never got to see who would seperate themselves on the climbs. Now several contenders are out of contention. I'm totally bummed.

 

At least they have alot of water bottles in the back seat with them in case they run out of orange juice cartons. I could just imagine the face of a competitor taking a swing from a water bottle and getting surprised.

 

Don't worry about the spoiler effect here. I think we kind of determined that this would be a spoiler thread. Those who do not whnt to know what happened shouldn't click to open a thread called 2011 Tour de France.

That said.... Did you see the HTC echelon on the run into town oin the last 10km. Perfect riding, perfect distance between riders, each one breaking off exactly where they should. It was as if they were riding the team time trail again. Truly a thing of beauty as far a cycling is concerned. Not to downplay the Manx man's own work, but when you have a leadout like that its almost difficult not to win.

 

SPOILER ALERT!

Ok, I'll let it rip...

I'm so bummed that Brakjovic and Wiggins are out, and that Horner and Leipheimer are out of contention. I guess there's always a chance they let Horner go on some breakaway and he gets it back, but that's most likely not going to be the case--he'll work for Kloden with Levi now...that sucks...

I was really looking forward to seeing who really was a contender and who wasn't, based upon the terrain and the course, not upon crashes.

I had a feeling last year that Frank Schleck was stronger than Andy, but he crashed out in the first week so who knows? Even Lance seemed stronger last year (compared to the prior year) in some ways but crashed out of contention.

Crashes are part of the deal, that's just part of the sport. But this year seemed like it was going to be one of, if not the, most competitive Tours in recent memory. Now, suddenly half the field of serious contenders has dwindled.

I know Brakjovic, Wiggins, Horner and Leipheimer were 4 of the least likely to be contenders, but you never know...and now we never will. Even Vino lost some time because of the crashes today, I believe.

Oh well, I need some cheese to go with my Whine.

 

I'll be really surprised if Horner is riding tomorrow. Did you see the film of Horner as he crossed the finish line? He did not know who he was, or where he was, or what he was doing. I can't believe that they let him ride in. Word was that he knocked himself out cold in the fall.

 

No WAY he is racing tomorrow. He rode 25k with a massive concussion and still hadn't gotten out of the fog. He's coming home is my bet. Totally bummed about it, btw.

 

Horner is one tough guy. I haven't seen the coverage yet, but if he lost 12 minutes, it must have been really bad. I really wanted to see him shine this year. Until now, things seemed to be really falling into place for him this year. At 39, he's not going to have many more chances.

 

From Cycling News:
"Horner would surely have failed at least one of the SCAT2 questions, as his team stated in a press release that he "remained foggy about his surroundings and the events of the day several hours after the stage ended". Video showed him coming across the line saying he didn't understand why he was 12 minutes behind - he had no recollection of the crash."

 

His gf posted he's in the hospital overnight for evaluation and to be watched. He ain't riding

 

Really sucks about Horner. I had a feeling he would've wound up leading Radio Shack this year. I did that L'Etape ride and when I made the left turn to climb Baldy Rd to the ski lifts, I was suffering pretty badly and only going about 5mph on the climb when a guy in a Radio Shack kit blew by me like I was standing still. It occurred to me that no amateur registered for L'Etape that would've been able to go that fast would've been behind me, and that it could be a pro doing recon on the route prior to the TOC. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was Horner as it was a bald rider with the full kit including the red arm warmers and matching bike, but I didn't get that good of look at him as he was probably going 20mph+ and it looked effortless. It was amazing. I'm no roadie, so I am slow, but it put things in perspective...which is partly why I had signed up for that event. It's really a bummer as it very likely was Horner's best and last shot at a podium or top 10 in the Tour.

 

You're probably right, but technically Bruyneel stated they would assess the situation in the morning. But who would clear him to ride the Tour after spending the night in the hospital with a concussion... I hope he's ok and that he is able to continue, but I doubt he'll continue. A real bummer as I had a feeling he might be the guy on Alpe d'Huez this year with his performance in the Tour fo CA, on Baldy, etc.

 

Saw the tape of Horner getting off the team bus and into the ambulance...a little frightening...I can't see how he's cleared to ride tomorrow, but if he passes all the test and scans, he'll be cleared...and watched closely. The race official assigned him an ambulance to follow him all the way to the finish and to watch to see if he had any issues. Heck, Cancellara kept dropping back to the Quickstep car to tell them that Boonen wasn't right before he pulled out.

The thought of having the few "classics" stages at the beginning was great, and supposed to break up the usual routine of everyone fighting to get to the front of the field...but the wind and everyone's desire to be at the front is what causes these things...watch any of the replays and you'll see guys on the wings trying to move up where there isn't any room, swerving around pylons and hopping sidewalks...no patience, and ironically, what causes the crashes is everyone's attempts to avoid them.

Hopefully it stays tight through the Pyrenees before that mountaintop finish on the Galibier.

 

WTF?! WTF?!

[video=youtube;lb8tsIoI43s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb8tsIoI43s[/video]