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The Official 102nd Tour de France, thread.



Stat Brother

Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,643
West west west Sussex
Roll the theme music



tdf15_carte_670.jpg

The route

• 3,360km across 21 stages, from July 4-26
• Nine flat stages, three hilly stages, seven mountain stages with five summit finishes
• Race starts with a 13.8km individual time trial in Utrecht
• A 28km team time trial in Brittany on stage nine

Stage 1 July 04, 2015 Utrecht (ITT) 13.8 km
Stage 2 July 05, 2015 Utrecht - Zelande 166 km
Stage 3 July 06, 2015 Anvers - Huy 159.5 km
Stage 4 July 07, 2015 Seraing - Cambrai 223.5 km
Stage 5 July 08, 2015 Arras - Amiens Metropole 189.5 km
Stage 6 July 09, 2015 Abbeville - Le Harve 191.5 km
Stage 7 July 10, 2015 Livarot - Fougeres 190.5 km
Stage 8 July 11, 2015 Rennes - Mur de Bretagne 181.5 km
Stage 9 July 12, 2015 Vannes - Plumelec (TTT) 28 km
Rest Day 1 July 13, 2015 Pau - Pau
Stage 10 July 14, 2015 Tarbes - La Pierre-Saint-Martin 167 km
Stage 11 July 15, 2015 Pau - Cauterets Vallee de Saint-Savin 188 km
Stage 12 July 16, 2015 Lannemezan - Plateau de Beille 195 km
Stage 13 July 17, 2015 Muret - Rodez 198.5 km
Stage 14 July 18, 2015 Rodez - Mende 178.5 km
Stage 15 July 19, 2015 Mende - Valence 183 km
Stage 16 July 20, 2015 Bourg-de-Peage - Gap 201 km
Rest Day 2 July 21, 2015
Stage 17 July 22, 2015 Digne-les-Bains - Pra-Loup 161 km
Stage 18 July 23, 2015 Gap - Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne 186.5 km
Stage 19 July 24, 2015 Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - La Toussuire - Les Sybelles 138 km
Stage 20 July 25, 2015 Modane Valfrejus - Alpe d'Huez 110.5 km
Stage 21 July 26, 2015 Sevres - Grand Paris Seine Ouest - Paris Champs-Elysees 109.5 km
 




P

Pogue Mahone

Well-known member
Apr 30, 2011
10,732
So, give me some tips so I can win a bet at work. Who, who has never been in the top ten, is likely to finish best?
 






pb21

pb21

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2010
6,282
Bit out of the loop wrt professional cycling, what's the consensus for the yellow Jersey? Is it Froome's to lose, is Nibali a threat, is Contador cooked from the Giro or is there enough climbing for Quintana to nip off with it?
 






P

Pogue Mahone

Well-known member
Apr 30, 2011
10,732
pb21 said:
Bit out of the loop wrt professional cycling, what's the consensus for the yellow Jersey? Is it Froome's to lose, is Nibali a threat, is Contador cooked from the Giro or is there enough climbing for Quintana to nip off with it?
Click to expand...

The fact that those four all start means that this could be a classic TdF.

Froome or Contador for me.
 


Stat Brother

Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,643
West west west Sussex
Pogue Mahone said:
So, give me some tips so I can win a bet at work. Who, who has never been in the top ten, is likely to finish best?
Click to expand...

The boy Schleck could surprise a few people.
 




Indurain's Lungs

Indurain's Lungs

Legend of Garry Nelson
Jun 22, 2010
2,260
Dorset
pb21 said:
Bit out of the loop wrt professional cycling, what's the consensus for the yellow Jersey? Is it Froome's to lose, is Nibali a threat, is Contador cooked from the Giro or is there enough climbing for Quintana to nip off with it?
Click to expand...
Froome favourite but could be undone by the cobbles. Contador biggest threat with quintana a bit unknown at the moment. Nibali probably not in their class at the moment.
pb21 said:
Geraint Thomas?
Click to expand...
Will be cooked by the domestique duties so unlikely to be in the top 10.
 








Saladpack Seagull

Saladpack Seagull

Just Shut Up and Paddle
Oct 19, 2014
1,908
Halfway Up Virginia Is Where I Wanna Be.
Well, I'll give it another go this year, and hope that all the hours of following it are not wasted, as in so many other years, by later ( or more immediate) revelations of cheating. Love the Tour, but for many years I've not been able to feel confident that what I watch each day is genuine; I wish it were otherwise, but hope I'll feel differently this time.
 


Stat Brother

Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,643
West west west Sussex
pb21 said:
Geraint Thomas?
Click to expand...
The general rule of thumb when betting on Team Sky is pick the outlying climber, this year that's:-

Leopold Konig

You'll be reliant on Froome crashing out early - possible.
Porte blowing out his arse for 1 stage - probable.
And probably 2 other favourites having a bad race - unlikely.

But at 150/1 Konig is still considerably better value than Froome.
 


Stat Brother

Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,643
West west west Sussex
Pogue Mahone said:
What about Fugelsang, Talansky, Landa? Have they been in the top ten?
Click to expand...
To be jingoistic a Yates brother might do well, although they are still very young.
 




S

Seagull over Canaryland

Well-known member
Feb 8, 2011
3,549
Norfolk
Well worth reading 'A Race for Madmen' by Chris Sidwells, just to set the scene ahead of the TdF.

If anyone wonders what all the fuss is about then this is a very readable history, even if cycling isn't your thing. A hundred years ago the TdF was nearly twice the distance it is today, and not unusual to have 470Km in a single stage. Gravel mountain tracks, primitive bikes, blacksmiths for mechanics, plus cheating and sabotage was such a dark art and makes Armstrong look like an amateur!

The current teams are so pampered......

I know it could do with an update to reflect the last couple of TdFs but then that's a good excuse to read more contemporary books like 'Etape' or some of the riders own biogs etc.
 


Stat Brother

Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,643
West west west Sussex
Saladpack Seagull said:
Well, I'll give it another go this year, and hope that all the hours of following it are not wasted, as in so many other years, by later ( or more immediate) revelations of cheating. Love the Tour, but for many years I've not been able to feel confident that what I watch each day is genuine; I wish it were otherwise, but hope I'll feel differently this time.
Click to expand...
A perfectly reasonable reaction.

Although there's considerably more evidence available pointing towards the cleanliness of cycling when compared to, athletics, tennis, football, swimming, basically every other sport, as cycling has done it's bloodletting.

But at the end of the day, a cheaters gonna cheat.
 




Gregory2Smith1

Gregory2Smith1

J'les aurai!
Sep 21, 2011
5,476
Auch
the Dutch police look like they might win one stage :lol:

poping over the channel then SB,not far from Dieppe?
 








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