Predictions anyone? I’m fairly confident in Sagan, though admittedly Cav is more than an outside shot. Going to be a super interesting race…
Much ado about nothing. The Brits are trying to make their parcours sound like it’s not boring. Cav wins after a Millar-Froome-Wiggins UK Postal delivery to the line.
It’ll only be good if there’s hurricane winds or biblical rain.
That said I’m on the “Anyone but Cav” side because as some dude once said “If anyone wins a race it’s glorious and an amazing achievement, if Cav wins it’s a Sunday”.
edit: I would LOVE it if Sagan won the Olympics & Worlds.
CAV is the only logical choice.
Team GB will ride themselves to the dirt for cav…
But wouldn’t a FAB attack be brilliant.
Yeah I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a “super interesting race.” David is right, barring flat/crash it will be a US Postal win.
Clearly Voeckler in a breakaway.
Ryder
duh
Any thoughts on the TT? Is Spartacus strong enough to beat what appears to be a perpetually in-form Wiggo? Will finishing the Tour have taken its toll on the Brit? Can Tony Martin get back on the waggon after breaking his hand? Where the hell did Froome come from and is he good enough for a podium? Do Chava, LL Sanchez, Richie Porte, or other B-list world-class time trialers have a shot at the podium?
STAY TUNED.
I think Spartacus is going to need to put the engine back onto his bike, or do whatever he was doing 3 years ago, because unless he reaches that level of shape he’s not going to beat wiggins. I suggest a change of doctor.
Swim coaches are the new team doctors
I think it’s more certain for Wiggins to win the TT than for Cav to win the RR. I can easily imagine a big break forming on the circuits with Cav being on the wrong side. Sure, he might make it back on thanks to the insane horsepower of Team GB, but at that point… Sagan’s not a shoddy sprinter: he did come in second just a few days ago in the mother of all sprint stages (Champs Elysees). From a much reduced group, my bet’s on Sagan.
Also, to the negative frenchmen who think it won’t be interesting: It is by far the most watched race of the year. Teams are much smaller. Many smaller nations have super small teams with really strong riders. It’s pretty much the exact opposite of a formulaic flat stage in the TdF - everybody will be going for it. Sagan, Voeckler, Spartacus, Boonen… Cav might win, but I doubt it’s going to be “boring.”
We’ll see. They said the same thing last year at Worlds, and we saw what happened. The problem is Cav is not the only sprinter, and other nations with good hopes in a final sprint will want the breakaway to be caught too.
I do agree that the TT is more clear cut than the RR, but the odds are still overwhelmingly in the favor of the host nation.
Which by the way, you can’t really blame them for, since there isn’t anything resembling a mountain within 500km of London…
For the record everyone, Voeckler isn’t on the startlist for team FR
http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjM0Nzc=
Damn. I change my bet to Chris Horner then. His TDF was extraordinary!
I agree that it’s pretty easy to see that Twiggo will do extremely well in the TT. I think my real question is what will the podium look like?
I’m going to commit to some picks… for a 44k (not very technical) flat TT I’m calling it
1 - Cancellara (rationale: Because Wiggins is a little cooked from the Tour)
2 - Wiggins (rationale: Because he is Bradley Wiggins)
3 - Ryder (rationale: Because Canada)
The road race is a little harder to predict the podium since the top 5 placing is a little more random…
1 - Mark Cavendish
2 - Peter Sagan (because this is what dreams are made of)
3 - Tom Boonen (see #2) Greipel
…
34 - Tyler Farrar
I think a neat (outside) pick for a guy who can actually win both events would be Cancellara. Wouldn’t that be sublime?
Relevant:
(They don’t call him “The Fofanator” for nothing.)
As for how the race will play out, I expect he will win in a solo breakaway, since Fofonov is best alone.[/quote]
I’ll say TT:
- Wiggins because his “training” will allow him to recuperate for the the Olympics
- Cancellara
- Martin / Chavanel
Road Race:
- Cavendish
- Greipel
- Sagan
Why is everybody forgetting about Froome in the TT?
I feel like Martin can make his comeback, at least I hope so. Having both Froome and Wiggins on the podium would be extremely disappointing.
I think the obvious question here is… Where are we going to get smashed together and watch the cycling events?
I’m sorry to disappoint you Neal, but the race is at 10. Countin roughly 5-6 hours to finish, I’m not sure everyone likes to get smashed at 9-10 in the morning. I’m down though.
Look, of we’re going to pick the podium with our brains then it’ll likely look like
Wiggo
Fabu
Get-a-froome-you-two
But if we did that we’d be no better than Sky and their love of marginal gains over panache and soul. That’s why Ryder will get bronze and Chris Horner will win Superbowl XLVII.