Tour de France *** 2010 *** [LIVE THREAD]

Various incl letour.com / versus.com / steepjill.tv ^ | July 3, 2010 | Numerous - ongoing LIVE thread

[luv2ski]

Just watched the coverage on DVR- I'm in Vail with a houseful of college kids. Lots of fun but I waited until they all left to watch the prologue- too many interruptions. haha! Gotta hand it to Cancellara- he was masterful today. Nice ride by Lance, though. He looks strong and determined. Boy would I like to see him put Contador in his place this year!

[luv2ski]

Also, thanks so much for posting the LIVE threads, R4F!! It’s time consuming for you but we all really appreciate having the opportunity to share!

[Ready4Freddy]

Hey luvvy, good to see you! Cancellara was mighty strong, but so were Lance and Contador. And Levi had a good ride!

Not that the Team stats mean anything, at this point anyway, but it is good to have 3 RSH riders do well. They came ready to ride!

And yw in re: the thread, lots of fun to do it, hopefully have more participation now that we're past the 10-min hors d'œuvre!

[Ready4Freddy]

AP 7/3/10 - Armstrong sends message on first day of Tour 38-year-old finishes fourth in time trial, and ahead of arch-rival Contador

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - Lance Armstrong could hardly have imagined a better start to what he’s calling his last Tour de France.

The Texan placed an impressive fourth in the short opening time trial, shrugging off renewed doping allegations to dust several other likely podium contenders as well as edge rival Alberto Contador, the defending champion and prerace favorite.

Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara, the world and Olympic time trial champion, collected a fourth Tour prologue win and second in a row, clocking 10 minutes even for the 5.5-mile ride on rain-dampened roads in Rotterdam.

Armstrong trailed 22 seconds back in fourth. Perhaps most impressively, the American bested Contador by 5 seconds.

The American’s solid performance was almost certain to brighten spirits within the RadioShack team on a day that started with new claims by former teammate Floyd Landis that the seven-time Tour champ was once involved in doping.

The 38-year-old sought to focus on the racing.

“In my heart, that was a surprise,” Armstrong said. “I wanted to have a decent day in the time trial, and I was not the best out there today.”

“But among the (general classification) rivals, I have to say it was the best one I’ve done since the comeback,” Armstrong said, referring to his Tour return last year after a 3-year hiatus.

more...

[concentric circles]

photo-Laurent Rebours
Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland strains to win the prologue of the Tour de France.

Laurent Rebours
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong strains to take a fourth place during the prologue of the Tour de France.

Laurent Rebours
Manuel Cardoso of Spain crosses the finish line after crashing in the prologue of the Tour de France, an individual time trial over 5.5 miles in the port city of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Saturday July 3, 2010.

Laurent Rebours
Mathias Frank of Switzerland crosses the finish line after crashing.

[leilani]

OMG, it’s a good thing red will blend right in with the team uniforms of the last two riders. YIKES!

[leilani]

Also from that link:

The victory was another vindication for Cancellara, who has been at the center of speculation that he benefited from a small motor hidden in his bike frame during the Paris-Roubaix race he won this year.

Cancellara has called the claims ridiculous, and they have not been proven true.

Video detailing the speculation has been a viral hit on the Internet, and partly to dampen the speculation, the International Cycling Union is scanning competitors’ bikes at this Tour to check for hidden motors.

“After they checked my bike, I said, ’You should also check the motor: Me!”’ Cancellara quipped.

I don't know if you or anyone else here followed that controversy - most of the cycling forums examined the 'motorized doping' evidence against FC in excruciating detail.

From what I was able to gather at the time, the general expert consensus tended to the conclusion that the video which first raised the possibility Cancellara had used a hidden motor for Paris-Roubaix & Tour of Flanders was probably just an idiotic viral marketing scheme promoted by Gruber, a European manufacturer of a bike motor, to generate interest in their product.

And yet, because of that single video of questionable provenance, ICU officials had to scan the bikes for hidden motors this year! lol. Which means Gruber's scam worked like a charm & viral marketing stunts which generate free buzz by hyping bogus controversies will just get more outrageous & more numerous.Yuck.

[leilani]

Gosh, the older Bob Roll gets, the more he becomes a dead ringer for this guy:

[Ready4Freddy]

Thanks for the pics, cc! Good to see you.

[luv2ski]

Seriously! That was such a tease!
See you tomorrow!
:-)

[Ready4Freddy]

Tour de France 2010

Stage 1 - Rotterdam > > > Bruxelles - 223.5 km

Sunday, July 4, 2010

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Route

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Profile of the Stage

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Profile of Last Kilometers

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Mountain Passes & Hills

(None)

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(Graphics - letour.com)

[Ready4Freddy]

Tour de France 2010

Stage 1 - Rotterdam > > > Bruxelles - 223.5 km

Sunday, July 4, 2010

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Stage Previews

Plain - A sporting perspective

Mind the gaps

The finish of the first stage of this Tour is in Brussels. Why Brussels? To celebrate the 65th birthday of Eddy Merckx and everything he has given to cycling. We will be crossing the Flanders region and will enter Belgium via Antwerp. The finish of this completely flat stage will take place in front of the Roi Baudouin stadium. It is difficult to envisage anything else than a sprint finish. However, it should be noted that there could be side winds, which could cause breaks in the pack, leading to gaps. The riders will have to be watchful.

(letour.com)

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June 27 post:

The first road stage begins where the prologue left off in Rotterdam with a second crossing of the Erasmus bridge (Erasmusbrug).

From Rotterdam, the stage heads south for a brief tour of the Dutch coastline -- the same windswept coastline that shattered the field during stage 3 of this year's Giro d'Italia. Stage 1 of the Tour de France heads inland where as the Giro continued down the coast to Middleburg so strong winds along the coast will not affect this stage as much. The inland portion of the route will head through Flanders, home to one of the monuments of cycling, Tour of Flanders. Tom Boonen says the roads inland towards Bussels will be "narrow and hectic" and that this stage will be important to the Belgian guys.

After a very flat 224 km stage with no KOMs, there is a bump before the race finishes in front of the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels to celebrate Eddy Merckx's 65th birthday. Merckx, considered the greatest cyclist of all-time, was born east of Brussels in the small Belgian town of Meensel-Kiezegem on June 17, 1945 just one month after the end of World War II. The route will pass through Meise, 10 km before the finish, where he currently lives.

The first sprint finish of the Tour is always a chaotic, nervous affair for the overzealous peloton. — Steve

The Stage 1 profile looks like it sets up for sprint finish, but the route will pass the same stretch of windswept Holland coastline that shattered the field during Stage 3 of this past Giro d'Italia.

(steephill.tv)

[Ready4Freddy]

Tour de France 2010

Stage 1 - Rotterdam > > > Bruxelles - 223.5 km

Sunday, July 4, 2010

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Départ

ROTTERDAM

• Once a stage town
• Population: 600,000
• Second most important city in the Netherlands

It’s the first Tour Start from Rotterdam but the Tour’s second visit to the city. In 1973 Belgian rider Willy Teirlinck won there at the finish of the first stage. The day before, on the prologue in Scheveningen, Joop Zoetemelk swept across the finish line just 80 hundredths of a second ahead of Raymond Poulidor. The Netherlands rejoiced and Poupou, as Poulidor was called, had never come so close to winning the Yellow Jersey.

Renowned for its architecture, the Dutch city of Rotterdam has earned an international reputation for its striking, modern constructions. The devastating aerial bombardment of 14 May 1940 reduced the town centre to ruins, leaving architects and town planners free to set a more modern stamp on the reconstructed city. In 1953, Rotterdam became the first European city to introduce a completely pedestrianised street, called the Lijnbaan. The ultra-modern Groothandelsgebouw building was constructed that same year, followed by the inauguration of the Euromast in 1960. The city has been transformed, with unparalleled daring and amazing technical genius, into an impressive, cosmopolitan metropolis. The Erasmus bridge by the architect Ben van Berkel, which has quickly become a symbol of the city, the Kunsthal by Rem Koolhaas and the KPN building by the Italian architect Renzo Piano are just a few examples of the architectural works which have, over recent decades, created the resolutely dynamic and inspired face of Rotterdam.

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Arrivée

BRUXELLES

• 11 times a stage town
• Population: 154,000
• Région Bruxelles-Capitale: 1,000,000
• Capital of Belgium
• Capital of the European Union

Brussels is the most frequently visited international city on the Tour, which has called on its Belgian neighbour eleven times in the past. The calibre of the city’s prize winners is on a par with its status as a capital city: René Vietto in 1947, Laurent Jalabert in 1992, along with Bernard Hinault and Freddy Maertens… The Tour had the pleasure of starting from Brussels in 1958, the year of the Universal Exhibition, but has not been back for the last eighteen years. A most welcome return.

Brussels, a city with a rich history dating back thousands of years, has been the capital of Europe since 1992. The “European district” is home to all the European institutions and the main EU buildings. The most well known, and the most emblematic, is the European Parliament, known as the “Caprice des Dieux” by locals due to its oval shape, reminiscent of the packaging of Caprice des Dieux cheese. This district is the hub of European life. 40,000 people work here and a mix of languages can be heard from Place du Luxembourg to the market on Place du Châtelain. However, as well as being a European city, Brussels holds an international role. It has highest number of diplomats and journalists in the world, 1,400 international organisations and NGOs are based in the Belgian capital, as well as 2,000 foreign companies. In 2010, Brussels’ position as the heart of Europe will be emphasised when it takes over the Presidency of the European Union from Spain on 1 July for six months.

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(letour.com)

[Ready4Freddy]

TdF 2010 Stage 1 graphics and previews are up! Click the 'To' option to go to the start of the Stage 1 posts.

The Stage starts at 11:20 AM local time (Rotterdam is 6 hrs ahead of US EDT).

FReepmail me to get on or off the 2010 TdF Ping List.

[Ready4Freddy]

Millar & Basso got caught up in a crash early, caused by dog running in front of peleton.

They’re OK, no word on dog per letour.com.

[Ready4Freddy]

RSH and LIQ up at the front of the peleton.

[Ready4Freddy]

90 km down, ~133 to go.

[Mom MD]

We need to make it over 1000 posts this year. lets roll!

[Ready4Freddy]

Hi Mom! I have no doubt that we’ll see well over 1,000!

Been up since crack o’ dawn watching live feed.

[Mom MD]

You’ve got it bad. I have to run to the airport, so I’ll catch the wrap today, but the first day is always boring - til the sprint!