Tour de France

[Cory]

Would have thought someone started this thread already, but apparently not...

After the fourth stage today, Lance overtook Zabriskie (who took a nasty spill 1.5km from the finish line) for the lead.

Interesting fact: had he crashed .5 km farther into the race, he would have received his team's time, leaving him 2 seconds behind Armstrong, rather than 1:26 back.

Post news here, as you hear it

[Wetzel]

I watched it at my Uncles house. He has Tivo and made it really easy to watch the race at a convenient time and speed.

Wetzel

[Ben Lauer]

If you want to follow the race as it happens....
http://www.letour.fr/2005/TDF/LIVE/us/500/depeches.html
That will give you a 2-3 sentance summary of what is happening at that moment. You can read through it and see how it panned out.

Because it is happening in France, The race is being riden right now.

[xzvrw2]

So is lance going to win this one this year? I don't follow bike races but I do know that he has won a lot of Tour de Frances' in the past.

[Ben Lauer]

Summary of Stage 5: Chambord to Montargis - 183km
Conditions: Dry in the beginning, some rain and wet roads in the second half.

The Stage began at 1:21 pm.
- Lance didn't want to wear the Yellow Jersey because he felt he didn't deserve the honor, but after the 5 preliminary kilometers, the pelaton was stopped at the start line (it usually does a rolling start) so that the race officials could have Lance put on the Yellow.
- 30 minutes in Juan Antonio Flecha broke away and About 20km later Carlstrom decided to chase. He was joined by Commesso and Bodrogi. The three chasers caught Flecha at the 87km mark.
- The Lead group of 4 was caught by the pelaton with just 11km to go.
- Robbie McEwen came to the front in the final 100m and has won the stage ahead of Tom Boonen.
- Lance sat in the Pelaton today as expected. Because he is a climber, he will just stay on the pace and wait until the mountain stages to try and gain time on his opponents.

Originally Posted by xzvrw2

So is lance going to win this one this year?

The winner of "le tour de France" is never a given. Lance has a very good chance, but he is past his prime physically in my opinion, but he is a very strong rider and has and even stronger mentality. As you may know, he has a record of 6 straight tour wins, more than any previous riders in this 102 year old race.

Interesting fact: The USPS team no longer exists. Lance now rides for the new "Discovery Channel team."

[Conor Ryan]

Originally Posted by Ben Lauer

Interesting fact: The USPS team no longer exists. Lance now rides for the new "Discovery Channel team."

Yeah they stopped being the primary sponsor last year. When they announced it there was a lot of talk of No Lance this year, but he couldn't resist and entered again.
Their New Jersey Apparently the CEO of Discovery got the idea on a flight one day.

Some more intresting facts I found

Calories burned by a Tour rider, per day: 5,900 average; 9,000 max.
Calories burned by an average 28-year-old male, per day: 2,200 average.
Most stages won by a single rider, career: 34 (Eddy Merckx)
Year that the yellow jersey was introduced: 1919
Most riders to wear yellow jersey on one Tour: 8 (1987)
Smallest margin of victory: 8 seconds (Greg LeMond over Laurent Fignon in 1989)
Fastest individual time trial: 54.545 kph (Greg LeMond in 1989 over 24.5 km)
Rest days in the 2005 Tour: 2 (July 11 and July 18)
Riders in each team: 9
Spectators expected to line the route: 15 million
Riders who will start this year: 198 (split over 22 teams)
Shortest flat stage on the course: 19 km (Stage 1)
Longest stage in the tour: 239.5 km (Stage 17)
Number of water bottles used in the race, per team: approx. 42,000

[Cory]

Fastest individual time trial: 54.545 kph (Greg LeMond in 1989 over 24.5 km)

I thought I heard the announcers saying something about Zabriskie beating this mark before his crash yesterday, or maybe it was someone else on team CSC.

[mathking]

I thought I heard the announcers saying something about Zabriskie beating this mark before his crash yesterday, or maybe it was someone else on team CSC.

Yesterday was a team time trial, so there wouldn't have been an individual time trial record. If my memory is correct, wasn't LeMond's record set on the last stage as he staged an epic comeback to score that 8 second victory of Fignon?

[Ben Lauer]

Yes, you are correct. That was one of the years that the tour organizers decided to have an individual time trial on the final day of the tour instead of the preliminary. Personally I like having the time trial at the beginning and the stage ending in laps around the Champs-Élysées as a final stage.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Cory

I thought I heard the announcers saying something about Zabriskie beating this mark before his crash yesterday, or maybe it was someone else on team CSC.

Tyler Hamilton, maybe? I seem to remember that CSC was his team last year.

[Conor Ryan]

Originally Posted by EricH

Tyler Hamilton, maybe? I seem to remember that CSC was his team last year.

Tyler Hamilton isn't competiting in the Tour De France this year even so he's on Team Phonak, he got caught up in an unusual "doping" case. He and a Team mate used blood transfusions to get more oxygen in their body and after a bunch of stuff, the International Cycling Union declared them cheaters and they said he couldn't compete in this years tour.


Early off it looks like its going to come down to the Discovery Channel Team (DSC) and CSC. But here are some intresting numbers, in the top 20 15 cyclists are on either DSC or CSC. But the Discovery Channel is known for the speed in which they can go through the mountains, and so far its all flat. So it'll be very intresting in the upcoming stages. But its too early to say anything at this point.

[Ben Lauer]

1. Lance Armstrong (USA/DIS) 9h59min 12sec
2. George Hincapie (USA/DIS) at 0:55
3. Jens Voigt (GER/CSC) 1:04
4. Bobby Julich (USA/CSC) 1:07
5. José Luis Rubiera (SPA/DIS) 1:14
Sprint Leader: Tom Boonen (BEL/QST)
King of the Mountains: Erik Dekker (NED/RAB)
Top Young Rider: Yaroslav Popovych (UKR/DIS)

Stage 5 Results:
The radar clocked McEwen at 63km/h as he crossed the line. The top seven in the stage is:
1. Robbie McEwen (AUS - DVL)
2. Tom Boonen (BEL - QST)
3. Thor Hushovd (NOR - C.A)
4. Stuart O’Grady (AUS - COF)
5. Angelo Furlan (ITA - DOM)
6. Allan Davis (AUS - LWT)
7. Bernard Eisel (AUT - FDJ)

[Ben Lauer]

Stage 6: Troyes to Nancy - 199km
This stage had 4 climbs and 3 general sprints.
Weather: Rain, again
- There were a few breakaways that were unsuccessful today. One of these included George Hincapie, Lance's Teammate.
- As they continued to happen the Discovery Channel team continued to lead the peloton at a very high pace.
- One of the breakaway groups was formed after a move was instigated by Christophe Mengin at the 23km mark. He was chased down first by Mauro Gerosa. Then by Karsten Kroon, Stephane Auge and Jaan Kirsipuu. The junction was at the 38km mark. The obtained a biggest lead of any escapee group in the tour 2005, previously it was 5:30.
- At about halfway through this stage, the 5 escapees were 8:30 from the peloton. Two other teams (Quickstep and Davitamon-Lotto) stepped up and started trying to reel these five in.
- With 30km to go, the lead was under 3 minutes.
- During the last 15km, the lead groups splits up and 4 of the riders get sucked back in to the peloton. Mengin still had a 23 second lead with only 5km left to ride.
- With just 1km to ride, Mengin went down in a corner, and when the peloton came around the corner 10 seconds later, they trampled him, and multiple riders went down.
- Lorenzo Bernucci won the stage. He was the Fassa Bortolo rider who chased down another riders counter attack.
The crash on the final turn has caused total chaos. All the usual winning candidates were taken out of the picture but nothing can be taken away from Lorenzo Bernucci who was in the right place at the right time.
The top 10 in the stage is:
1. Lorenzo Bernucci (FAS)
2. Alexandre Vinokourov (TMO)
3. Robert Forster (GST)
4. Angelo Furlan (DOM)
5. Thor Hushovd (C.A)
6. Kim Kirchen (FAS)
7. Gianluca Bortolami (LAM)
8. Egoi Martinez (EUS)
9. Gerrit Glomser (LAM)
10. Kurt Atle Arvesen (CSC)

Yellow Jersey (overall time leader): Lance Armstrong (USA/DIS)
Green Jersey (Most Sprint Points): Tom Boonen (BEL/QST)
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountian): Karsten Kroon (NED/RAB)
White Jersey (Top Young Rider): Yaroslav Popovych (UKR/DIS)
Sorry for the length of this one, but it was pretty exciting.

[wilshire]

this stage of the race was quite exciting. I was rooting for mengin to win and if he wouldn't have hit the brakes like that at the end turn there he could have won it. Then again he was probably tired beyond all belief and afterall many more riders in the pelaton went down because of the same reason. Exciting last 10km though.

[Ben Lauer]

Stage 7: Luneville to Karlsruhe 228.5 km

- Again there was a trend of early escape attempts. Six riders broke free, but were caught with no extreme effort by the peloton.
- Groups of 2-6 kept attacking and the peloton kept reeling them back in.
- Another Attempt to break away was made by two different riders, McEwen (DVL) and Wegmann (GST).
- McEwen is caught quickly, but Wegmann get out ahead of the peloton, He gained a maximum lead of 8:35.
- After the Second Intermediate sprint, the sprinters teams decide it is time to bring Wegmann back to the peloton.
- This stage looked very much like a repeat of yesterday, with intermittent rain and early break away staying ahead for a majority of the race.
- Wegmann was caught with 23km to go.
- Just like yesterday, there was a crash inside 1000m, this one at 200m. It cause a few riders to go down.
- Robbie McEwen sprints across the line for the stage win.

The Top 5 for the stage are:
1) Robbie McEwen (DVL/AUS)
2) Magnus Backstedt (LIQ/SWE)
3) Bernhard Eisel (FDJ/AUT)
4) Gerrit Glomser (LAM/AUT)
5) Baden Cooke (FDJ/AUS)
There was no change in the General Classification. Lance still wears Yellow.
The only change in the Positions was the Climbing Jersey, The Red and White Polka-dot jersey now is worn by Wegmann because he was alone for all the point receiving climbs today.