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Le Tour 2011

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Peter Fenwicke (45)
Contador will be twice as hard to beat next year, Andy knows it too. All credit to Cadel, rode a measured race and kept himself in the right place at the right times. Single handedly won himself the tour two days ago chasing down the Schlecks, the TT was a foregone conclusion. Nevertheless, one of the best tours I've ever seen. Voeckler the most impressive for me, the man has a heart of a lion, Sanchez deserves his praise for attacking and Cavendish was never in doubt for the sprints.

Can't wait to watch Cadel ride into Paris tonight :D

Agree whole-hartedly with tigerland, this has set a new benchmark for individual sporting achievements. An Australian has won the tour de france!!!
 
sevenpointdropgoal

sevenpointdropgoal

Larry Dwyer (12)
Well, I got was completely wrong. Brilliant ride by Cadel. In the make or break attack by Schleck on the race to the Galibier he proved he was the only contender amongst the Peleton. Brilliant work, great form, and a drive that we'd not seen in previous outings. I like Andy Schleck, and I think it's almost certain to win a tour in the future, but I think this race showed that he's still got some deficiencies in his approach, strengths and preparation. Never the less, in the end he was the only other genuine contender.

Congtratulations Cadel. Possibly the greatest individual triumph by an Australian in memory.
 
ChargerWA

ChargerWA

Mark Loane (55)
Brilliant, he is a worthy winner. Also shows what an all round rider Cadel is, he finished 4th in the points and 4th in King of the mountain standings.
 
Nusadan

Nusadan

Chilla Wilson (44)
From Cadel's Twitter:

scaled.php


Flying to Paris with the YJ...Eddie Merckx on lower left of pic...
 
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Peter Fenwicke (45)
What happens if he crashes on the final stage and can't catch back up to the pelaton, is there any way he can lose from here?
 
Bruwheresmycar

Bruwheresmycar

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
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What happens if he crashes on the final stage and can't catch back up to the pelaton, is there any way he can lose from here?
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As said above, hopefully the peleton would wait for him. There is no pride in winning the tour de france on stage 21, you would be hated for life if you didn't stop. If he crashed out and couldn't finish, then yes Andy would take the win. I doubt he would be over the moon winning like that though.

Also remember, that if there are any crashes in the last 3km's, the fallen riders still get the same time as the peleton (assuming they can get up and cross the finish line eventually). So technically, once Cadel has reached the 3km to go banner, he effectively can't lose.
 
Scotty

Scotty

David Codey (61)
I'm not sure that Andy Schleck will win a tour until he becomes a better all round rider. His acceleration up the mountain is amazing, but it is matched by the likes of Sanchez and Contador who are much better in the TT. Sanchez is certainly one to watch out for in the next few years, he is an all round rider like Cadel - great down hill, up the mountains and in the TT, but also has the added acceleration to make a break up the slope.
 
tigerland12

tigerland12

John Thornett (49)
Big fan of Sammy Sanchez, I also think he is a good chance in the coming years.

You are right Scotty, the Schleck brothers are not all round bikers yet. Their time trial efforts were pretty pathetic, and untill they fix it up, I can't see either one of them winning over the likes of Evans (if he keeps going),Contador, Sanchez ect.

I've also found a new favourite in Voeckler, what a tough bastard.
 
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daz

Guest
tigerland12 said:
I've also found a new favourite in Voeckler, what a tough bastard.
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Yeah, agree with this. Once he got the yellow, every man and his dog said he would lose it the next day, and the next and the next. He held it for 10 days including the mountains until he finally cracked on the last day in the Alps. Rode his guts out and never quit trying. In the process he gained my unconditional admiration.

Sanchez may be a big chance for yellow in coming tours as he has awesome pedal power. He just needs to even his all-round game out.

As for the Schlecks, well, they had a great team based race and they probably had the superior strategy, but the TT really showed them up. You can't have a 2 minute turnaround during the first half of the TT and expect to win the tour. Having said that, Andy's breakway up the mountain in stage 19 was unbelievable, but may have drained the tank.

Still, all hail Cadel. How good was that BMC group hug on the finishing line?

You know you have witnessed something special when well after the event, you still get a bit emotional thinking about it. For mine, the closest feeling I can get to compare is the Perkins 1500m defense in Atlanta when he was written off by everyone, and was violently ill the week leading into the race. Not a dry eye in the daz household when he staggered out of the pool and hugged his wife. Cadel managed to top that!
 
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Peter Fenwicke (45)
Voeckler was very good, but fair to say if he had finished with the rest of the boys on the final stage of the alps, he still probably wouldn't have held Cadel off the yellow jersey in the TT. Did very well to finish in the TT where he did, may see more from him next year.

On that note, I have a feeling that Cadel won't be riding next year. This has been the one race he has chased and mentally prepared so hard for victory in. Now he's done that there isn't a whole lot more to achieve in cycling, he's already been world champion, commonwealth champion and numerous mountain bike titles, walk out on top Cadel, something Lance Armstrong can't even claim to have done.
 
Scarfman

Scarfman

Knitter of the Scarf
Something that's not been mentioned is that he might be the only clean athlete to win the tour in about twenty years. Or at least, there is less suspicion around him than any other tour champion that I can remember. And some of the previous winners have even confessed.
 
Rob42

Rob42

John Solomon (38)
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Voeckler was very good, but fair to say if he had finished with the rest of the boys on the final stage of the alps, he still probably wouldn't have held Cadel off the yellow jersey in the TT. Did very well to finish in the TT where he did, may see more from him next year.

On that note, I have a feeling that Cadel won't be riding next year. This has been the one race he has chased and mentally prepared so hard for victory in. Now he's done that there isn't a whole lot more to achieve in cycling, he's already been world champion, commonwealth champion and numerous mountain bike titles, walk out on top Cadel, something Lance Armstrong can't even claim to have done.
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Yes, I heard some talk he might focus on the Olympics next year - I assume a road race/time trial of some sort.
 
Blue

Blue

Andrew Slack (58)
Heard a radio interview where he was implying that he will ride the TDF and possibly Olympic Time Trial.

Next stup up from winning this little bike race is to defend it. That's huge.
 
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