Cadel EvansSadly Evans has finished second for the last 2 years through a combination of weak teams and slightly less than ideal preparation. This year will probably not be too different, as his team, Silence-Lotto hasn't really gained much strength in the last 12 months. The rider who won the King of the Mountain classification in '08, Bernard Kohl, was signed to Silence-Lotto to help Cadel in the mountain stages for this year, then tested positive for drugs and was banned. To make things worse, one of Cadels current team-mates was busted for blood-doping in a test taken 2 years ago. So things really aren't looking so good for perpetual bridesmaid Cadel.
To make things even more interesting, Lance Armstrong - possibly the greatest cyclist ever - is riding again after retiring in 2005 in a team (Astana) with the winner from 2007 Alberto Contador. Armstrong says he will support Contador, but everyone is pretty sure Lance won't be able to resist the temptation to make a lunge for glory.
Anyway to get you in the mood, I present Kraftwerk's ode to the Tour:
And for those of you who want to see what Lance Armstrong is capable of, check out this epic climbing duel between him and Marco Pantani.
Interestingly Pantani died a few years later of Cocaine poisoning.
Of course some people only watch for the crashes, so for the sadists among us, here is a butt-clenching compendium of Tour crashes with pithy commentary.
No matter what happens, it's going to be an interesting Tour. I'm looking forward to many late nights watching super fit men in spandex ride their pushies around.
4 comments:
Apparently Cadel has been given the nickname 'Cuddles' following his threat to cut someone's head off last year for almost standing on his dog, plus head-butting a camera.
I remember Marco 'the Pirate' Pantani well with his distinctive bandanna, much missed.
I wonder what the betting is like for Mr Indestructible to get his 7th. I recently read that he basically just doesn't produce lactic acid, he's the Stig of road racing.
Centrebet quotes the following for the win:
Contador $1.95
Armstrong $4.50
Schleck(A) $6.50
Evans $10.00
Yeah Pantani was a freak. They reckon he and Armstrong were both full of juice at the time. If you watch the end, it looks like Lance lets Pantani win, and apparently Pantani was so disgusted by that, they fueded for years.
Well until Pantani snorted his own body-weight in Coke anyway.
was this the big project you had due today? researching and blogging about the tour?
The only bit I really ever watch is Gabriel Gate's foodie bits...
I did that while the clients took an hour to reboot their dev server. The project is already around a week behind.
I quite like the GG foodie things as well. What's the name of his Gendarme Doppelganger?
Post a Comment