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Who will win Tour de France 2008?

July 25, 2008

The question of who will win the Tour de France for 2008 continues to be a cause of great speculation.

Most experts are stilling seeing Cadel Evans as the favourite and even some of the riders consider him to be almost unbeatable.

In the ABC News article, Only disaster can deny Evans Tour victory: Millar, British time-trial specialist David Millar is tipping Evans to overhaul his 1 minute 34 second deficit to his Spanish rival Carlos Sastre.

In the race’s first time trial, held over 29.5km, Evans finished fourth at 27secs behind winner Stefan Schumacher. Sastre finished 1:43 behind the German.

Some are wondering whether having the yellow jersey and starting last from the field will drive Sastre, more known for his climbing skills, on towards a maiden triumph on the race.

But Millar believes Evans would have to have a disastrous day not to overhaul the Spaniard.

“Carlos will do a better time trial than he would normally do, just because he’s going so well,” Millar said.

“But he’s a climber, so he’s going to lose time to Cadel and Denis (Menchov) and Christian (Vande Velde).”

So can we expect an Evans triumph on Saturday? “No worries,” added Millar.

All the big contenders enjoyed a relaxing day last night, and tonight’s 19th stage is likely to be dominated by a bunch sprint at the finish.

I’m not celebrating yet but it’s good to know that the general feeling is still that we’ll see an Australian in Yellow in Paris this Sunday.

One of the other early favourites, Christian Vande Velde also rates Evans as the likely winner.

American Christian Vande Velde, who dropped out of yellow jersey contention on the second of three days in the Alps, is aiming for the race of his life in a bid to secure a podium place.

The 32-year-old Garmin team leader is sixth place at 4:41 behind Sastre and is hoping to jump up to third.

“I think Cadel has a great chance of winning the Tour,” Vande Velde, who finished 10secs behind Evans in the first time trial.

My nine year old son, James, will be in Paris to see the final stage. I’m not at all jealous. All I can say is that he’d better get some good photos.

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Can Cadel still win the Tour de France?

July 24, 2008

by Rodney Olsen

7 Comments

James from Disciple of the Way left a comment on my previous Tour de France post, Tour de France Jerseys.

Hey Rodney

Just curious on how well placed you feel Cadel is after last nights ripper of a stage? The commentators seemed to jump back and forth from Sastre having enough time to Cadel staying just close enough.

As I do only watch the Tour de France I don’t really know how good a time trialist Cadel is, having to trust the commentators saying ‘he’s good’.

Do you think he has done enough? It def looks like it will be pretty tight!

For those who missed yesterday’s stage which finished on the punishing L’Alpe-d’Huez, Spain’s Carlos Sastre attacked on the climb and finished over two minutes ahead of the other tour leaders. His amazing effort meant that he took the Yellow Jersey from the shoulders of CSC team mate, Frank Schleck.

Cadel Evans, who started the race as favourite, is now in fourth place, 1:34 behind the leader, Sastre.

So can Evans come back from such a big loss of time? I think so.

Cadel is well and truly still in it.

On the first time trial of this year’s race Sastre lost 1:16 to Cadel. That ride was over a distance of 29.5 km.

Saturday’s time trial is much tougher and longer with a distance of 53 km. I’ve heard that Cadel rode the second time trial course four times before the tour to make sure that he knows every turn and every piece of road.

In normal circumstances I reckon he’d be able to pull back the 1:35 he needs over that distance but when Sastre has the yellow jersey on his back he’s likely to ride the time trial of his life.

Cadel Evans has always said that he sees Denis Menchov as his main rival for the Yellow Jersey in Paris.

Menchov was 7 seconds behind Evans in the first time trial so he would be a danger if he wasn’t just already over a minute behind Cadel in the overall standings. Of course anything can happen and if Menchov rides a brilliant time trial he could be a danger.

It’s quite amazing to see a Tour de France still so wide open at this point of the event. If Cadel manages to take the race it’ll be a stunning recomendation of his abilities considering his team has been missing in action most of the time when it’s counted. They say that it takes a team to win the Tour de France, and his team has supported him as well as their abilities have allowed, but if Cadel wins it will be a remarkable solo effort.

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Tour de France Jerseys

July 20, 2008

by Rodney Olsen

21 Comments

If you have only started following the Tour de France this year and you’ve heard the commentators talking about different coloured jerseys, you might be wondering what all the different colours represent and why it’s so important to be wearing a jersey other than your team jersey.

Each team wears their own uniform but there are a number of special shirts or jerseys awarded each day. While it’s considered very prestigious to wear any of these jerseys throughout the race, it’s obviously even more so to be wearing one of these jerseys after the final sprint down the Champs-Élysées in Paris on the last day of the tour.

Here in Australia a lot of people are thrilled to know that Cadel Evans is wearing the Yellow Jersey but many aren’t quite sure what that means. All they know is that those who follow cycling think it’s the best thing since sliced bread so it must be good.

Many other people know that the Yellow Jersey or Maillot Jaune is the most coveted of all the jerseys but here’s a quick rundown of what it’s all about.

Yellow Jersey

The Yellow Jersey is worn by the leader in the general classification. That means that whoever has the lowest overall time at the end of each stage of the event will be awarded with the Yellow Jersey. It was first awarded in 1919 and its colour was chosen to match the yellow paper of l’Auto magazine, founder of the Tour de France in 1903.

Green Jersey

The Green Jersey is given to the leader in the points classification, rewarding the best sprinter. It’s sometimes called the points jersey or sprinters’ jersey. During each stage, points are allocated for several intermediary sprints and for the finish. The jersey was introduced in 1953.

Polka Dot Jersey

The Polka Dot or King of the Mountains Jersey is awarded to the rider who earns most of the points at each summit. The winner is known as the King of the Mountains. Although the award was introduced in 1933, the red and white spotted jersey was not introduced until 1975.

White Jersey

The White Jersey is given to the best rider in the general classification under 25. The jersey was abandoned in 1989 but reintroduced in 1999.

So now you know a little more than you did a short while ago. I hope this brief explanation helps in your enjoyment of this year’s tour.

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There is only one Jeep

July 17, 2008

by Rodney Olsen

4 Comments

I had a close call on the way to work this morning.

I was cycling up to a set of red lights and noticed a Jeep with a sticker on the back saying “There is only one Jeep”.

Well, I’ve seen lots of Jeeps so I knew right away that this vehicle was clearly delusional. I went past it as quickly as possible.

Then as I was stopped at the lights I saw another Jeep going through the intersection and I thought, “Hurry up. You don’t want this vehicle behind me to see you. There’s no telling what it might do if you shatter its illusions. It thinks it’s the only one.”

Thankfully it got through the intersection without incident. I don’t think the first Jeep saw it and if it did it certainly didn’t recognise it.

If you’re out on the roads today, take care. There’s no telling what some vehicles might be thinking.

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It was all yellow

July 15, 2008

by Rodney Olsen

2 Comments

Cadel Evans has gone into the first rest day of the 2008 Tour de France wearing yellow … by just one second.

The Australian rode an amazing stage in the mountains on a day when both the previous yellow jersey, Kim Kirchen, and the second favourite for the tour, Alejandro Valverde, cracked in the mountains and lost time to the Australian. Valverde has now slipped back to 14th place.

Of course the race is a long way from over and with eleven stages still to come, Cadel will have a big job ahead of him defending the yellow jersey.

One of the biggest stories to come out of the tenth stage was the strength of Team CSC who controlled the mountains and put many riders into trouble with their pace. CSC rider Frank Shleck was only a second away from wearing yellow with a tremendous ride up Hautacam.

Out of the eleven remaining stages there are five flat stages, five mountain stages and an individual time trial.

The race is a long way from over but it’s great to see Cadel in yellow.

Below are the top ten places overall from the official Tour De France website.

1.	EVANS Cadel	1	SILENCE – LOTTO	42h 29′ 09″
2.	SCHLECK Frank	17	TEAM CSC SAXO BANK	42h 29′ 10″	+ 00′ 01″
3.	VANDEVELDE Christian	191	GARMIN CHIPOTLE	42h 29′ 47″	+ 00′ 38″
4.	KOHL Bernhard	115	GEROLSTEINER	42h 29′ 55″	+ 00′ 46″
5.	MENCHOV Denis	131	RABOBANK	42h 30′ 06″	+ 00′ 57″
6.	SASTRE Carlos	11	TEAM CSC SAXO BANK	42h 30′ 37″	+ 01′ 28″
7.	KIRCHEN Kim	41	TEAM COLUMBIA	42h 31′ 05″	+ 01′ 56″
8.	COBO ACEBO Juan Jose	173	SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT	42h 31′ 19″	+ 02′ 10″
9.	RICCO Riccardo	171	SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT	42h 31′ 38″	+ 02′ 29″
10.	EFIMKIN Vladimir	104	AG2R-LA MONDIALE	42h 31′ 41″	+ 02′ 32″

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cadel lose the winner’s jersey for a few days at some stage but if that hapopens, his time trialling skills should see him return to the number one position on the day before Paris in the 53 km time trial.

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Tag - Cycling