The Tour de france?

Question

This weekend the tour de frace (thats the big cycle race around france) is starting in London, but not being much of a cycling fan i have no idea who is who. Can anyone give us an idea of who to look out for as the main contenders? and are there any brits? last time i saw it on TV there didn't seem to be any which i thought was odd seeing as how good we are at the indoor cycling velodrome thingummy.

Answer 1

First off I'll explain the basics of the Tour, then I'll copy my answer to a previous question to tell you about some of the contenders.

The tour is starting in London. Many are baffled by this but the Tour frequently leaves France, for a few stages or during a stage. Countries visited are Germany, Belgiuim and Spain. There are 4 big classifications. They are Best Overall, Points, King of the Mountains and Best Young Rider. The Best Overall is the most sought after prize. The leader of this classification wears a Yellow Jersey, Moilot Jaune (sp)(french for yellow jersey). This competition is measured by overall time. Then there is the Points, this classification is considered a sprinters classification. The leader in the competition wears a Green Jersey (dont expect your contenders to worry about this one.) Points are given out at the end of a stage that does not end in a Mountian top finish. (Mainly flat stages.) Next is the King of the Mountains (KoM) The KoM is sought after by good climbers that are not able to win the tour. Points for this award are given out based on who goes over a mountain top first. Points given out vary by the difficulty of the Climb (4,3,2,1,HC are the rankings HC is the hardest) The harder the climb the more points given out. The leader of this classification wears a polka-dot jersey. Finally the Best Young rider is for riders under the age of 25. This goes by overall time for riders under 25. The leader wears a White jersey.

The type of stages, are Flat, Mountian and ITT (individual time trial). Flat stages involve a large pack (peloton) chasing down a breakaway. These stages usually result in the Pelaton catchin the breakaway and a sprint finish. The contendors to win sit back and dont worry about the sprint finish. Also The peloton once arraving gets the same time. However the top three riders get time taken off their overall time (20,12,8 secs). Mountain stages are were you will see the contendors try and win the race. These are the stages were the tour may be won. usually the team for the current leader will do all off the pace setting until the attacks come (riders "sprinting" of the mt to get a head of everyone else). Both of these stages have intermediate sprints. The winners of these get small tme bonuses (8,4,2 i think?) and a few points toward the Points classification. The other stage type is the ITT. This stage each rider, rides by themself, trying to post the best time possible. This is a stage type where riders will try and gain time to win the tour. This stage is also the one in which special bikes and helments are used.

The layout of the race is as follows, 1st day a short 4kmish Time Trial. Then a week of flat stages. Then possibly another ITT. Then into the Moutains for 3 or 4 days. Followed by a few flat tarnsition stages from one Mt range to the other (pyrenees and Alps). Then 3 or 4 more day in the moutains. After the Mts are done there is a few more flat stages. The penultimate (2nd to last) stage is a ITT and often decides the winner of the tour. The final stage is in Paris on the famous Champs-Ellze (sp). The winner is known by now and he usually drinks a glass of Champange to celabrate.

Now for contendors

Morneau. I believe, like he has done in the past he reachs top form during the Dauphine. This is a very presitgous race in France so he feels compelled to win it. I just dont think he will have enough left in him to win the Tour. However I do expect him to finish in the top 10 easily.

Sastre. As he proved last year, he can climb with the best of them. However I do believe that his Time-Trialing will keep him out of yellow. I think he will ride well in the moutains but i do not believe his Time-Trials will allow him to win it.

Perioro (last years potential winner). Casse d'Parge (sp) has a strong team. If they send Karpets, Emfinkin, Perioro and Valverde they have 3 conteders and another solid rider in Emifkin. I do believe that Perioro will not be able to win based on Valverde being on the team. If Valverde seems unable to win look for him and Karpets to compete for the role of team leader. However I still believe that Valverde will lead that team, ensuring that perioro does not repeat last years preformance.

Evans-He is my bet for 3rd. He finished 5th last year and he has been improving his Time-Triailing ability. I dont think he will win it, because of his team. Prdictor Lotto i think is just to weak of a mountains team and by having Robbie on the team they should be focus early on on getting him stage wins.

Liephimer-Rode great in the Tour of CA and in the Tour of GA. He has a strong team to support him, but he will need to show through the first moutain stages that he is the best on the team. Contador could "overthrow" hom of he seems to be riding better. Look for Levi to get a Top 5, unless he has another disaterous ITT in the first week.

Mike Rodgers-He is my forth place pick. He is one of the best ITT's out there (3 time world champ) and he has been improving his climbing ability, to an elite level. He rode poorly last year but expect great things from this Aussie.

Valverde-My second place. I think he is the 2nd best rider in all of cycling. He was unable to beat Vino in the Vuelta last year, and i dont expect him to beat him in the tour this year. Valverde still needs to improve on his ITT if he wants to win the tour. he is still young and should win a tour in the future. Also look for Valverde to win lots of stages in which there is a sprint after a climb and the spriters have been dropped. Also if he is in a pack of 3 or more riders at the top of a climb expect him to win the sprint to the finish. He will be able to pick of valuable time bonuses with his sprints.

Vino-My winner. He was dominate in the Vuelta last year. He toyed with riders during the Dauphine. He is the best rider in the pelaton right now. In last years Vuelta Kashenkin (sp, other guy from KAZ) came in 3rd. Also Kloden joined the team, winning the Terrieno-Adriattico early in the year. Vino is the best rider this year and he is on the best team. Therefore Vino wins the race in commanding fashion

Hope you have a better understanding of the tour. Dont worry if it seems comlicated, it takes years to master all the tiny deatails of tha race.

Answer 2

Here are some notable contenders for the 2007 Tour de France:

Levi Leipheimer
With Ivan Basso out after admitting his involvement in Operacion Puerto, Leipheimer is Discovery's nominal new team leader for the Tour. he's got the talent and has had excellent early season results. But in past Tours, his rides have been merely solid, not spectacular, in part because of a conservative, quiet riding style that rarely sees him attack. Discovery is stronger than either of his previous teams - Gerolsteiner and Rabobank - but against Vinokourov and the deep Astana team, defensive strategy may not deliver.

George Hincapie
Big George got an honest shot at the team leadership in last year's Tour, but there's a mighty gap between being a top lieutenant setting pace over cols for your team leader, and responding to rapid-fire attacks as that leader. This year, Hincapie will likely find himself back in the lieutenant role for Leipheimer. He's strong, experienced, and a capable teammate. But with Disco still seeking a sponsor for 2008, rumors have Georgie moving to T-Mobile.

Dave Zabriskie
After his cruel and fleeting few days in yellow in 2005, Zabriskie would dearly like to have another shot at holding the race lead. Like Julich, CSC's approach to this year's Tour will leave Zabriskie free to be aggressive when he senses the chance for victory. The London parcours suits him well, as does the final contre-le-montre from Cognac to Angouleme. DZ also rode well at the recent Dauphine Libere stage race, considered a major tune-up for the Tour and a forecast of who's on form - and who's not. Dizzy won't be tearing up the cols with the leaders at the Tour, but he's making steady progress as a GC rider while retaining his formidable time-trialing skills.

Alexander Vinokourov
He has a chance to win, a fierce competitor

Andreas Kloden
Another surefire winner.

Thor Hushovd
Vladimir Karpets
Jens Voight


There are some Brits-
Bradley Wiggins
Marc Cavendish
David Millar
Geraint Thomas
Charles Wegelouis

Answer 3

Ivan Basso seems spectacular interior the excursion of Italy. he's executed some clever driving and his team took first interior the time trial. This all provides as much as positives for him maximum advantageous as much as the excursion. Jan Ullrich has shocked me together with his win interior the ITT interior the excursion of Italy. His team finished 2nd interior the TTT. So he too would be a tension interior the excursion. the different individual, who's team member is 2nd interior the GC for the excursion of Italy, is Floyd Landis. He has an marvelous danger in view that triumphing the excursion of Cali, and Georgia. he's an ideas-blowing climber and ITTist. this is going to be a super TdF this 3 hundred and sixty 5 days. lots of contenders. and remember approximately approximately team Discovery and George Hincapie. My money is on Landis.

Answer 4

Well, you've certainly had some nice full answers to your question (well, two at least). If you do get to following the Tour, and I hope you do, because there's no greater sporting event (or tougher one!), it's nice to follow it from the perspective of how a rider or riders that you've picked as your favourite is doing. So decide on one, and watch him. Vinokourov is probably this year's favourite, but be sure to keep an eye out for my favourite: Frenchman Christophe Moreau. He's got the legs this year!

Answer 5

With all of the drug scandals and such, this year the TDF field is wide open. There is no defending champion and there are few riders who really stand out yet. Three people to watch out for are:

Levi Leipheimer - USA
Alexander Vinoukourov - KAZ
Cadel Evans - AUS

Answer 6

Main contender will be the guy in the Yellow Shirt

Answer 7

Thanks for explaining what the Tour de France is!!

Pick up a cycling magazine from a decent newsagent, they will normally have info on who's who!