Tour de France 2008: Pre-race Talk

Rolfrae

and Sastre at 14/1? Fair enough he didn't show great form at the Dauphine but he's been around long enough to know what he's doing. 4th last year, 3rd the year before, he could be worth a punt.

Wayne666

I agree about Devolder, he looked good on the mountain top finish yesterday. Only guy who could go with Schleck. He could be the revelation of the Tour, not that there haven't been indications he could go well in a GT.

Wayne666

A long history of not winning grand tours, shockingly disappointing form at the moment, I'd say that would pretty much be throwing your money away. Remember it is to win the thing, not just be a protagonist. If I were going for a long shot, I'd go for Devolder.

Andrija

I'm not sure if they've put odds on Schlecks properly. IMO Franck has better chances than Andy. Everything else looks O.K., except for Gesink, who won't be even riding.
Also, that 40/1 trio could surprise, not with overall victory, but with better placing than expected (in comparison to riders with better odds).

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Cobblestones

Funny thing: Big George is less likely to win than Tommy D. according to the odds checker site.

jhuskey

" right now there is nobody left, who could have won the TdF 2 years ago. Bettini for instance has a "Turbo" which he can use ever so often but in order to win the Tour, it takes a good "Diesel", able to bring good power every day for almost a month"!

The is a quote from a professional cyclist.

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Malkmus

I didn't see Dauphine. However, if I were a betting man, I'd put money on Cunego and Popo. Popo is a steal at 50 to 1. The guy really has talent.

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hoggy

The only wat Popo can win is if Evans blows up and Popo gets the nod. the whole team except McEwen is there for Cadel.

phillop

i cant wait to see what euskatel - easkadi are going to throw into the tour this year, sanchez, zubeldia, and anton. anton and zubeldia both have great form, i just hope sanchez was holding back in the dauphine. its a great route for him. if he has good form he could win it. but im my pick is sastre, and for csc to isolate evans early in the race, as hell have to chase the frank and andy, and ive never seen popo do any thing but set a rhythm or armstrong/contador, could he close a full blown attack or will evans have to do that for himself?

Runitout

Rogers is clearly coming into decent form - but he'd need to be at his absolute best to make a dent in this Tour. Still, he's raced at Catalunya, maybe one other race, and into the top dozen at the Dauphine. It's an impressive progression back from illness.

His biggest threat is his own teammate in Kirchen. Kirchen won't want to relinquish his assumed leadership, and he's riding fabulously well in Suisse.

If Kirchen rides in the top few, Rogers may well find himself in his usual role as super domestique. Poor bugger.

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Crankyfeet

Okay...I'm not great at studying the stage profiles and working out who they suit... but I realise that there is about 30 km less TT'ing this year... so that favors the climbers relatively speaking. Normally Evans would be trying to make back time in the TT's... however there is no one in the field who put time on him in the mountains from last year, barring Soler. You'd expect Valverde and Menchov to perform better however. Cunego and Gesink perhaps could add some fresh pressure on the climbs.

Can anyone who has studied the route give a rundown perhaps on some of the key stages... and characteristics that might favour a particular rider?

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thunder

I would still say Rogers is the leader.

thunder

I think Evans team can limit the damages. It is pretty strong in the mtns.

Popo is the strongest helper, then there are Cioni (has a 5th GC in the Giro), Vansummeren, who will be like Hincapie.

Plus Aerts and Brandt. If they have to defend, they can finally.

lucybears

I would love to see some of you put your opinions to the test !

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