Author Topic: Pro Cycling 2023  (Read 1456094 times)

Offline kaz1983

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Pro Cycling 2023
« on: May 22, 2011, 10:55:57 am »
Seeing as it was mentioned in the Cyclist Thread that it might be an idea to start a thread for the Giro and up coming Tour de France and I have fuck all else to do, I thought I may as well... anyway as the title says anybody wanna chat shit about the Giro, Tour de France, Vuelta or anything else related to cycling here is the place to do it.
« Last Edit: May 2, 2023, 08:51:35 pm by the 92A »

Offline kaz1983

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2011, 04:15:04 am »
Man With The Plan.

Is there a better in-race tactician than Saxo chief Bjarne Riis? A better builder of teams? A more successful DS?

I don't have an answer, per se, about Riis' string-pulling prowess. You'd have to be in the team cars to know who pulls what strings before you could say anything definitive. Also, Riis has a team of directors who pitch in too. And then there are the riders. But riders come and go; sporting directors too (adieu Brian Nygaard). Going back over the years, about the one constant at CSC/Saxo Bank/Sungard is Riis himself. That, and winning. At the very least, he doesn't get in the way. At most... he's the master puppetteer.

Why I feel the need to praise Riis right now is, naturally, due to the shape of this Giro d'Italia. By luck or genius, Riis has Alberto Contador exactly where he needs to be headed into the final phase of an extraordinarily difficult Giro. Sure, Contador is the best, no matter what. But he can be pressured, as we saw last year (more on that in a moment), so it was a great move on Saxo-Sungard's part to have Contador riding so aggressively in the first week. And surely it was planned -- seeing Contador on the attack in Tropea, at the end of a non-GC stage, was a tipoff that he might just blow the doors off everyone on Mount Etna. Which he did, and then did again in Grossglockner and again the next day. Even before the mountain time trial and another week of mountains, it was clear this Giro was over.

Why is this so brilliant? Because Contador is a looming presence. Surely in the minds of his rivals, seeing him go up the road is confirmation that they don't have a chance. Ordinarily in a race like this riders would hold back for the final week. But seeing Contador sitting back, waiting for week three, would conceivably embolden his rivals, and a week in the Dolomites where it was everyone against the treble-Tour champion could be extremely stressful for Saxo. Riis and Bert snuffed out that hope before it could grow.

Doubly smart too... Contador will likely cruise to Milan with the win, under no real pressure in the final week. He can simply follow wheels, and even there he doesn't have to all the time, though he will, and with ease. Which means, as much as is humanly possible, Contador will emerge victorious in this Giro without having completely wrung himself out. If for some reason he's allowed to start in the Tour, well, he might still suffer there but Saxo are doing their best to maximize his chances of going for the Double.

Crediting Riis with this is speculative -- we're talking about Contador, after all -- but if the most he can do is not screw things up, then surely Riis has done that. Contrast this with last year's Tour, when Contador was riding for Yvon Sanquer and Riis was directing his chief rival Andy Schleck. Despite much public fanfare about his cobble riding, Contador got completely outfoxed by Riis and co. in the Arenberg stage, when Fabian Cancellara motored away with Schleck, leaving Contador in the dust. The 41 second lead (53" gained that day +10" gained in stage 8 minus 22" lost in the prologue) held up into the mountains, where Schleck could just stick to Contador's wheel through the race's manageable climbs. Then see who blinks in the time trial. It was a damn good plan, one that could have seen the unseating of a dominant champion, had Schleck kept his chain on.

Arugably this was as masterful as the 2008 Tour plan, which still stands as Bjarne's only Tour win (Riis and Ivan Basso won the 2006 Giro). There, Riis deployed his two decoys, both Schlecks, effectively enough to put a superior but otherwise defenseless Cadel Evans under constant duress. IIRC there was some talk about how they really meant for Frank to win (Andy was too green still), but lurking comfortably behind the battle lines was Carlos Sastre, who famously launched his career-defining move up the Alpe to win the Tour. None of the CSC guys could have beaten Evans one-on-one, but collectively they pulled it off.

Riis' success in the classics is just as impressive. Sure, launching Fabian Cancellara last year didn't require much work on his part, but grooming Cancellara for his 2006 Paris-Roubaix win, and deploying him aggressively, was at least part Bjarne. Even more so was O'Grady's decoy win a year later. But sweetest of all, and very typical of Riis, has to be Nick Nuyens' Ronde win. Riis has long had a knack for picking up talented but overlooked guys -- Sastre, Julich, Zabriskie, etc. -- and reviving their careers. Nuyens had a good start with Quick Step but faded a bit at Cofidis and became lost at Rabobank. Here's how he described to VeloNation the experience of switching teams this offseason:

Quote
From the moment Riis contacted my manager, he immediately said that he wanted to work with me. There was no discussion about money or anything else, it was like: ‘he’s a good rider, he’s won some semi-classics but I think he can do more,’ and when a man like Bjarne talks like that it gives you immediately a lot of confidence. Then also when we started to work on the training camp. Just small things, small words, that help you to have more confidence.


Riis built him up. Riis didn't put him in position to win de Ronde -- that was luck and Nuyens' own instincts, one assumes -- but at a minimum Riis set Nuyens up to be at his best, to the shock of many who'd written him off. Meanwhile, Cancellara got little return on his superior form, thanks in part to the actions of others. But the year after he leaves Saxo, suddenly he's shut out of the monuments. It's hard to write that off entirely as coincidence.

There are other examples -- Tyler Hamilton, for one -- which raise questions about Riis. A former doper himself (1996, whaddyagonnado?), Riis has presided over his share of mirages. Hamilton came out of domestique duty to LBL victor, then a grand tour leader (at Phonak), before being caught. Basso was Riis' biggest prodigy, molded from a young age to be a grand tour winner, before his dog's medicinal needs became public fodder. Riis has had his share of black eyes. But the Schlecks and Sastre and Cancellara aroused minimal suspicion, and apart from Contador's troubled 2010 there is little to raise eyebrows. Never know with this stuff, but I would not call Riis Cycling an especially dirty corner of the sport. I tend to think of it as cleaner than the norm. Time will tell.

Anyway, chapeau to Contador, he's earned the title here that seems so inevitable. And chapeau to Riis, as he adds a third grand tour to his own glittering resume. Probably not done there either.

http://www.podiumcafe.com/2011/5/25/2190009/man-with-the-plan

Offline The_Cutter

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2011, 03:26:32 pm »
Oh yes, I'm gonna spam this thread so hard every year.

C'mon Nibbler, do some kamikaze descending just to give Contador a little scare. :D
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Offline The_Cutter

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2011, 04:04:28 pm »
All action finish that was, Contador gifted Tiralongo the win. Think it was his first ever. Good effort by Nibbler to grab third and get some secs on Scarponi. Rujano was the big loser today, lost more than 2mins.

There's nothing stoppin' Contador, but the battle for second should be fun fun fun.

Tomorow:


I hope Nibbler keeps up on Finestre, then goes nuclear in the descent and grinds it on Sestriere.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2011, 04:16:44 pm by The_Cutter »
"A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end . . . but not necessarily in that order." Jean-Luc Godard

'I'm sorry Wayne. Please finish your cider.'

Offline Mal

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2011, 05:24:40 pm »
All action finish that was, Contador gifted Tiralongo the win. Think it was his first ever. Good effort by Nibbler to grab third and get some secs on Scarponi. Rujano was the big loser today, lost more than 2mins.

There's nothing stoppin' Contador, but the battle for second should be fun fun fun.

Tomorow:


I hope Nibbler keeps up on Finestre, then goes nuclear in the descent and grinds it on Sestriere.

CAS & the doping controllers might disagree...
@ManifoldReasons

Offline The_Cutter

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #5 on: May 27, 2011, 10:05:59 pm »
CAS & the doping controllers might disagree...
Well, this is profesional cycling we're talking about here. There is about a 50/50 chance that a GT winner will be caught every year.  ;)
« Last Edit: May 27, 2011, 10:07:50 pm by The_Cutter »
"A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end . . . but not necessarily in that order." Jean-Luc Godard

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Offline humph77

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #6 on: May 27, 2011, 10:47:17 pm »
Can't make my mind up whether I want Berty done or not, just gutted he's implicated in first place cos watching him sprint up those mountains like today again is awesome..

Anyone see that joker spectator with piece of beef on string on end of long stick running along dangling it in front of Berty in earlier mountain stage with allegation written on his bare chest - quite funny really.

Yeah interesting race for second only now.

Offline The_Cutter

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #7 on: May 28, 2011, 02:33:00 pm »
Can't make my mind up whether I want Berty done or not, just gutted he's implicated in first place cos watching him sprint up those mountains like today again is awesome.
There has been a Manolo Sainz shaped shadow looming over him for a long long time.


Anyway it's on! Should be a nice entertainment for an hour... starting now! Carnage!  ;D
« Last Edit: May 28, 2011, 02:37:57 pm by The_Cutter »
"A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end . . . but not necessarily in that order." Jean-Luc Godard

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Offline The_Cutter

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #8 on: May 28, 2011, 04:08:01 pm »
Well... that was a let down. Great ride by Kiryienka, holiday ride for Contador. Don't know what Scarponi was waiting for, because Nibali was cracked, he should've attacked with Purito.
"A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end . . . but not necessarily in that order." Jean-Luc Godard

'I'm sorry Wayne. Please finish your cider.'

Offline kaz1983

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #9 on: May 28, 2011, 06:26:32 pm »
If Contador starts the Tour, I'd love him to take the yellow and polka dot jersys this year ... it would be great to see.

Offline pewithree3

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #10 on: May 28, 2011, 09:02:09 pm »
Lovely views today, drove back that way some years ago with family after a holiday
in Italy, but turned right before Sestriere and went through Susa and then over
Mont Cenis into France.
Driving up was bit scary but worse was coming down especially as a big truck
had gone over the edge on a hairpin and a big breakdown crane was trying to
lift it out as we edged past. Stopped a few times to let the brakes cool down.

Offline kaz1983

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #11 on: May 30, 2011, 08:23:53 am »
So Contador wins another grand tour.... I wonder how strong he will be if he rides the Tour de France considering the way he rode the Giro.

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #12 on: May 30, 2011, 08:46:59 am »
So Contador wins another grand tour.... I wonder how strong he will be if he rides the Tour de France considering the way he rode the Giro.
as strong as the Doctors let him be. :P

Offline McSquared

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #13 on: June 7, 2011, 12:41:28 pm »
Watched the criterium du dauphine yesterday. Nice warm up for the mountains in le tour with 5 x mountain top stage finishes. Not much for the sprinters mind

Wiggins nicely positioned in 4th

info

http://www.letour.fr/us/homepage_courseCDD.html

watch

http://mypremium.tv/

eurosport 2, stream 2 from 1:30pm today
« Last Edit: June 7, 2011, 12:43:32 pm by McSquared »

Offline kaz1983

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #14 on: June 7, 2011, 12:45:06 pm »
Yeah that is a good indicator that race, will be interesting to see the final standings.

Offline McSquared

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #15 on: June 8, 2011, 04:14:22 pm »
good individual time trial today for wiggins

put himself in the yellow jersey with a 1:11 advantage over cadel evans

the stage is identical to the individual TT in le tour this year

Offline INABITSKI

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #16 on: June 8, 2011, 04:36:24 pm »
Ahh just seen this thread... almost that time of year when I sit on my arse all afternoon watching the Tour.

Just watched the Time Trial with Wiggins going into yellow.

Might stick a few bets on this year for the TdF.

Offline INABITSKI

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #17 on: June 10, 2011, 04:30:40 pm »
Still in yellow for Brad. Good day of mountains tomorrow too.

Offline McSquared

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #18 on: June 10, 2011, 04:50:41 pm »
rcuk are running a fantasy tour de france this year, with a first prize of a trek madone 5.2

http://www.rcukfantasytourdefrance.com

Offline PhlegmJehst

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #19 on: June 10, 2011, 08:42:55 pm »
remember watching this guy as a kid when i was watching the tour on ch4 in the old days, great sprinter even better name!

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov!!!!

Offline INABITSKI

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #20 on: June 10, 2011, 09:27:01 pm »
remember watching this guy as a kid when i was watching the tour on ch4 in the old days, great sprinter even better name!

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov!!!!

About the time I started watching too. People I don't even remember from school, but will always remember that name!

Offline arthur sarnoff

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #21 on: June 10, 2011, 10:07:25 pm »
remember watching this guy as a kid when i was watching the tour on ch4 in the old days, great sprinter even better name!

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov!!!!

Ah, the Tashkent Terror.  What a rider.  That crash was about the time I first started getting into cycling.  Not one you ever forget, is it?.  I always chuckle when today's sprinters get called up for leaving their line, Abdoujaparov was all elbows and he wouldn't think twice about shutting someone off, no matter how dangerous it was.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2011, 10:13:32 pm by arthur sarnoff »

Offline pewithree3

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #22 on: June 11, 2011, 07:46:59 am »
Many years ago a friend was riding in the British road race championship
and there were four of them who had been away in a break for miles.
A couple of miles out from the finish my friend said to one rider who had not
done his share of the work, " if you attempt to come past us in the sprint you
will end up in hospital!"
Sprinting is for girls now.

Showed the Abdu sprint to my grandson last year, he was amazed.

Offline Paganitzu

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #23 on: June 11, 2011, 09:56:10 am »
Yeah that is a good indicator that race, will be interesting to see the final standings.
Final standings won't say much, some cyclist will cycle on a their heart rate and only test themselves in 1 stage.

Offline INABITSKI

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #24 on: June 11, 2011, 11:59:32 am »
Anyone know where they will be showing todays stage live? Both Eurosport channels showing Tennis and Le Mans racing.  :wanker

Best day aswell with all the climbs.

Offline pewithree3

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #25 on: June 11, 2011, 12:07:09 pm »
steephill is a web site which has a direct feed for the dauphine this afternoon.
Go to the website and just click on Citerium Dauphine which will bring it all up.

Offline INABITSKI

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #26 on: June 11, 2011, 12:20:21 pm »
steephill is a web site which has a direct feed for the dauphine this afternoon.
Go to the website and just click on Citerium Dauphine which will bring it all up.


Thanks.

Offline kaz1983

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #27 on: June 11, 2011, 12:26:40 pm »
Anyone know where they will be showing todays stage live? Both Eurosport channels showing Tennis and Le Mans racing.  :wanker

Best day aswell with all the climbs.

I'm lucky Eurosport are showing it in my neck of the woods.

Offline INABITSKI

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #28 on: June 11, 2011, 12:31:03 pm »
I'm lucky Eurosport are showing it in my neck of the woods.

Only got delayed coverage here for today and tomorrow.

Offline INABITSKI

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #29 on: June 11, 2011, 03:38:10 pm »
Got a stream up but with no sound, casually watching now and then.. just seen a couple of cows in the road and took out a few of the riders.  :o

Offline INABITSKI

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #30 on: June 12, 2011, 03:57:40 pm »
Well done Brad. Nice win that.

Offline shippers

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #31 on: June 12, 2011, 04:33:19 pm »
Ah, the Tashkent Terror.  What a rider.  That crash was about the time I first started getting into cycling.  Not one you ever forget, is it?.  I always chuckle when today's sprinters get called up for leaving their line, Abdoujaparov was all elbows and he wouldn't think twice about shutting someone off, no matter how dangerous it was.
That's because he rode the last 400 metres without looking up :-) Brilliant lunacy :-)

Offline MadErik

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #32 on: June 12, 2011, 05:36:45 pm »
Well in, Brad!
"I was only in the game for the love of football -- and I wanted to bring back happiness to the people of Liverpool."

Offline humph77

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #33 on: June 15, 2011, 11:22:51 pm »
Looking forward to Le Tour and to add some interest RCUK emailed us info on their 'fantasy TdF' online game.

Registered myself as now fed up of supporting wrong teams players in footy versions - similar principles and maybe we can get our own mini league going.

Oh and if you're really good (or lucky) top prize overall is Trek Madone 5.2

Link - http://www.rcukfantasytourdefrance.com/default.aspx


Offline arthur sarnoff

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #34 on: June 15, 2011, 11:26:08 pm »
Wouldn't say no to winning that!  I'm up for a bit of fantasy tdf, definitely.

Offline Musketeer Gripweed

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #35 on: June 15, 2011, 11:28:36 pm »

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov!!!!

Love the guy. My username on another forum as well.

Offline kaz1983

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #36 on: June 16, 2011, 06:21:11 am »
16 days till the Tour starts.

Offline gramck24

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #37 on: June 18, 2011, 03:33:34 pm »
Getting excited for the TdF... only two weeks to go!!!

Does anyone think it can be won by anyone other than Contador or maybe even Baby Schleck.

Cadel perhaps?
Wiggins after his Dauphine success?
Basso even though he looks well out of sorts following his fall in training last month?
Sanchez, Van den Broeck or Gessink being the best of the rest?

I'm also a little disappointed that we won't see Joaquin Rodriguez.

If the Giro hasn't taken too much out of AC, i don't think he will beaten. He looks on better form compared to last year imo.

Offline kaz1983

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #38 on: June 19, 2011, 07:30:53 am »
I agree regarding Rodriguez, he was great on the climbs in the Giro and Dauphine.


Offline McSquared

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Re: The Pro Cycling Thread - Giro/Tour de France/Vuelta
« Reply #39 on: June 19, 2011, 03:43:08 pm »
Think sastre is missing too as his team weren't invited