Le Tour de Pharmaceutical

That was the first time that Cadel had crossed the line as the winner of a stage of the Tour. His previous stage win was the result of a disqualification. It was outstanding effort too as he had mechanical problems & had to work hard to get back into the peleton.

Bugger - I went to bed with about 80km left.

Great result. Cadel now gets to wear the polka dot jersey too!

JGK wrote:Bugger - I went to bed with about 80km left.

Freak

Todays stage:

Contador has a fall with 90km left. Looks like he'll get back to the peleton though.

Hehehe! The $3.50 with the field against Contador is looking good. He's just thrown his bike into a ditch.

Snap!

Cavendish gets his first win of the year. They're making it tough for him this year but he managed to make it through despite losing his lead-out train and the other recognised sprinters being off the pace.

Contador not having the luck so far, but I remember Lance Armstrong had a year like that at the height of his domination where he was getting caught up in various falls and mishaps (such as the infamous bit of cyclo-cross when Beloki crashed in front of him) and still made it to yellow in Paris.

and still made it to yellow in Paris.

With help. Contador look thoroughly pissed off with the world. Though to be fair he wasn't alone.

Interesting stage today. Looks like the climbers might claw some ground back.

Do you have the little graphic which shows a cross section of the hills on the stage?

"Bourg d'Willy". Heh.

skully wrote:"Bourg d'Willy". Heh.

Yes...there's a few slopes there....but lets not get racist.

Bob Brown will be chuffed. Vassy comes before Bourg D'Willy.

Mount Joy Slope - could be the story of tac's life.

And what happens on Avranches?

"Pontorson 7" Looks like an Aus scorecard.

Pontorsout 7 would be more appropriate.

Heh. These graphics could be hours of fun over the coming days.

I wonder if we'll see a Contyhigh in future slope profiles?

...in the meantime, i think Cadel's team will need to look after him today. He needs to stay in touch, particularly with Schleck breathing down his neck.

JGK wrote:Mount Joy Slope - could be the story of tac's life.

That part of it could be must see viewing tonight. Cycling 10 or so k almost perpendicular to the Earth's surface.

That's when the EPO really kicks in.

Actually, what is the dope of choice these days? I suppose it's some unheard of synthetic concoction that gives the red blood cells muscles on their muscles.

Could be that dog food recipe that Chinese swim coach was feeding his girls twenty years ago. They might have sysnthesised it by now. Either that or their raiding Marion Jones medicine cabinet,