2015 Tour de France

GAV!N · Postby **GAV!N** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 7:31 pm

Not long to go now.

How's everyone feeling about it?

On face value, it should be a good GC battle, but let's see if it comes to fruition. Froome, Quintana, Contador will hopefully be in similar form. Who knows though, haven't seen anything from Quintana, Contador could be fatigued, Froome looked strong at Dauphine, but not untouchable. Then there's a Nibali, Tejay etc. And, let's see how many actually make it to the mountains this year!

Battle for a green a two man race again? Cav v Sagan?

RonK · Postby **RonK** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 7:57 pm

The gc contenders have all tested their legs, but I think there has been a fair bit of sandbagging going on.
Of more concern for some would be the team performances, with perhaps Astana looking the strongest on their Giro performance.
Cavendish and Sagan as the only sprint contenders I doubt. Kristoff has been the form sprinter and will be the better for last year's experience. Then there is Degenkolb and perhaps Kittel if selected can resurrect some form.

Strydz · Postby **Strydz** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:48 am

Well the big four GC guys are here but as we all know it would be a surprise if all four finish the race, Froome looked to have improvement in him at the Dauphine and Nibali looks to be riding the exact same plan as last year, with the Tour having a tough 3rd week it could really pay off for him. Quintana is at the Route du Sud this week so will be interesting to see how he goes on stage 3 there but not racing much has worked for him in the past. I don't see Contador winning this even if he didn't go all out at the Giro I still think he will pay for that effort but in saying that if the others fall then he wins. Purito put in a good performance at the Dauphine and with the amount of uphill finishes in this year race he is a fair bet for the top 5 and Pinot has been looking good at Suisse. Looking forward to seeing the Yates boys in action and I say one of them bags a stage. Not the greatest race route this year but that shouldn't stop an exciting race.

GAV!N · Postby **GAV!N** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 8:37 am

RonK wrote:The gc contenders have all tested their legs, but I think there has been a fair bit of sandbagging going on.
Of more concern for some would be the team performances, with perhaps Astana looking the strongest on their Giro performance.
Cavendish and Sagan as the only sprint contenders I doubt. Kristoff has been the form sprinter and will be the better for last year's experience. Then there is Degenkolb and perhaps Kittel if selected can resurrect some form.

I never said Sagan & Cav were the only sprint contenders, but Sagan certainly seems the most consistent capable of getting up climbs that other sprinters can't, and therefore snavelling more points for the jersey. But yeah I agree it should interesting with Kristoff and Johnny-small-mow. They certainly have legs to get up climbs that people like kittel and Greipel struggle with. I think Kittel has been given the go ahead.

macca33 · Postby **macca33** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:37 am

I'd like to see Matthews contest the Green Jersey over the course of the three weeks - of course, he's not a 'sprinter' per se, but can go quick, particularly on the ascending finishes.

As for GC, I reckon it is entirely open, but Quintana has to be a top prospect.

Cannot wait for the fun to begin.

cheers

find_bruce · Postby **find_bruce** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 2:59 pm

The contenders are pretty clear - Froome, Contador, Quintana & Nibali. I like Quintana's chances, but any of them could win.

Every year around there are a bunch of names thrown up as possible chances, or as I like to refer to them, the pretenders. This year they include familiar names, Thibaut Pinot, Tejay Van Garderen, Romain Bardet, & Andrew Talansky. I am never quite sure if these are just managers trying to get a better deal for their cyclists or if it is just jingoism. Sadly not even the most one eyed of supporters will be suggesting that Riche Porte does anything except play the role of super domestique.

toolonglegs · Postby **toolonglegs** » Sun Jun 21, 2015 6:21 pm

Looks like Galibier is out... no way they will be re-opening the tunnel on the way down to Bourg D'Oisans in a hurry. My money is on them going over the Col de la Croix de Fer ( maybe with the Mollard thrown in before ) as they are going to have already gone over the Glandon the previous day. No other roads go towards Alpe D'huez. Went up Croix de Fer for the first time this week after descending it many times ... what a pig of a climb!.

find_bruce · Postby **find_bruce** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 10:39 pm

Shame about having to drop the Galibier & toolonglegs was right about the new route via Col de la Croix de Fer

GAV!N · Postby **GAV!N** » Fri Jun 26, 2015 8:34 am

Teams are starting to be released. Feel free to add...

Shame to see Kittel left out. Gilbert as well.

GIANT-ALPECIN
John Degenkolb,
Simon Geschke,
Roy Curvers,
Albert Timmer,
Ramon Sinkledam,
Tom Dumoulin,
Koen de Kort,
Georg Priedler
Warren Barguil

TREK
Julian Arredondo,
Fabian Cancellara,
Stijn Devolder,
Laurent Didier,
Markel Irizar,
Bob Jungels,
Bauke Mollema,
Gregory Rast
Haimar Zubeldia.

BMC
Tejay van Garderen (USA)
Damiano Caruso (I)
Rohan Dennis (Aus)
Daniel Oss (I)
Manuel Quinziato (I)
Samuel Sanchez (Sp)
Michael Schar (Swi)
Greg Van Avermaet (B)
Danilo Wyss (Swi)

Bora Argon
Bora-Argon 18*
Jan Barta (Cz)
Sam Bennett (Irl)
Emanuel Buchmann (G)
Zakkari Dempster (Aus)
Bartosz Huzarski (Pl)
Jose Mendes (P)
Dominik Nerz (G),
Andreas Schillinger (G)
Paul Voss (G)

FDJ
Thibaut Pinot (F)
William Bonnet (F)
Sébastien Chavanel (F)
Arnaud Démare (F)
Alexandre Geniez (F)
Matthieu Ladagnous (F)
Steve Morabito (Swi)
Jérémy Roy (F)
Benoît Vaugrenard (F)

IAM
Matthias Brandle (A)
Sylvain Chavanel (F)
Stef Clement (Nl)
Jerome Coppel (F)
Martin Elmiger (Swi)
Mathias Frank (Swi)
Reto Hollenstein (Swi)
Jarlinson Pantano (Col)
Marcel Wyss (Swi)

LOTTO SUDAL
Lars Bak (Dk)
Thomas De Gendt (B)
Jens Debusschere (B)
Tony Gallopin (F)
Andre Greipel (G)
Adam Hansen (Aus)
Greg Henderson (NZ)
Marcel Sieberg (G)
Tim Wellens (B)

LOTTONL-JUMBO
Robert Gesink, (Nl)
Wilco Kelderman (Nl)
Laurens ten Dam (Nl)
Steven Kruijswijk (Nl)
Sep Vanmarcke (B)
Bram Tankink (Nl)
Tom Leezer (Nl)
Jos van Emden (Nl)
Paul Martens (G)

MTN-QHUBEKA
Edvald Boasson Hagen (N)
Steve Cummings (GB)
Tyler Farrar (USA)
Jacques Janse van Rensburg (SA)
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (SA)
Merhawi Kudus (Eri)
Louis Meintjes (SA)
Serge Pauwels (B)
Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri)

Sharkey · Postby **Sharkey** » Fri Jun 26, 2015 11:14 am

Also a shame not to see Heinrich Haussler and the Aussie jersey in the IAM cycling team. I thought he was showing some form.

GAV!N · Postby **GAV!N** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:22 am

Team rosters now all confirmed.

TINKOFF-SAXO
Alberto Contador (Sp)
Peter Sagan (Slv)
Michael Rogers (Aus)
Rafal Majka (Pl)
Robert Kiserlovski (Cro)
Daniele Bennati (I)
Ivan Basso (I)
Roman Kreuziger (Cz)
Michael Velgren (Dk)
Matteo Tosatto (I)

SKY
Chris Froome (GB)
Peter Kennaugh (GB)
Ian Stannard (GB)
Geraint Thomas (GB)
Luke Rowe (GB)
Mikel Nieve (Sp)
Richie Porte (Aus)
Nicolas Roche (Irl)
Wout Poels (Nl)
Leopold Konig (Cz)

ORICA GREENEDGE
Michael Albasini (Swi)
Luke Durbrudge (Aus
Simon Gerrans (Aus)
Daryl Impey (SA
Michael Matthews (Aus)
Svein Tuft (Can)
Pieter Weening (Nl)
Adam Yates (GB)
Simon Yates (GB)

MOVISTAR
Nairo Quintana (Col)
Alejandro Valverde (SP)
Jose Herrada (SP)
Adriano Malori (I)
Gorka Izagirre (SP)
Winner Anacona (Col)
Jonathan Castroviejo (SP)
Imano Erviti (SP)
Alex Dowsett (GB)

LAMPRE-MERIDA
Rui Costa (P)
Nelson Oliveira (P)
Kristijan Durasek (Cro)
Ruben Plaza (Sp)
Filippo Pozzato (I)
Jose Rodolfo Serpa (Col)
Rafael Valls (Sp)
Matteo Bono (I)
Davide Cimolai (I)

KATUSHA
Joaquim Rodriguez (Sp)
Alexander Kristoff (N)
Tiago Machado (P)
Albert Losada (Sp)
Giampaolo Caruso (I)
Luca Paolini (I)
Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus)
Jacopo Guarnieri (I)
Marco Haller (A)

EUROPCAR
bryan Coquard (F)
Pierre Rolland (F)
Thomas Voeckler (F)
Romain Sicard (F)
Yohann Gene (F)
Angelo Tulik (F)
Bryan Nauleau (F)
Perrig Quemeneur (F)

ETIXX-QUICKSTEP
Mark Cavendish (GB)
Michal Kwiatkowski (Pl)
Tony Martin (G)
Rigoberto Uran (Col)
Zdenek Stybar (Cz)
Mark Renshaw (Aus)
Julien Vermonte (B)
Matteo Trentin (I)
Michal Golas (Pl)

COFIDIS
Nacer Bouhanni (F)
Nicolas Edet (F)
Christophe Laporte (F)
Luis Angel Mate (Sp)
Dani Navarro (Sp)
Florian Sénéchal (F)
Geoffrey Soupe (F)
Julien Simon (F)
Kenneth Vanbilsen (B)

CANNONDALE-GARMIN
Andrew Talansky (USA)
Daniel Martin (Irl)
Ryder Hesjedal (Can)
Jack Bauer (NZ)
Dylan van Baarle (Nl)
Sebastian Langeveld (Nl)
Ramunas Navardauskas (Lit)
Kristijan Koren (Slo)
Nathan Haas (Aus)

BRETAGNE-SECHE
Frédéric Brun (F)
Anthony Delaplace (F)
Pierrick Fédrigo (F)
Brice Feillu (F)
Armindo Fonseca (F)
Arnaud Gérard (F)
Pierre-Luc Périchon (F)
Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg)
Florian Vachon (F)

ASTANA
Vincenzo Nibali (I)
Jakob Fuglsang (Dk)
Lars Boom (Nl)
Andriy Grivko (Kaz)
Michele Scarponi (I)
Lieuwe Westra (Nl)
Rein Taaramae (Est)
Tanel Kangert (Est)

AG2R
Jan Bakelants (B)
Romain Bardet (F)
Mikaël Chérel (F)
Ben Gastauer (Lux)
Patrick Gretsch (G)
Jean-Christophe Péraud (F)
Christophe Riblon (F)
Johan Vansummeren (B)
Alexis Vuillermoz (F)

GIANT-ALPECIN
John Degenkolb,
Simon Geschke,
Roy Curvers,
Albert Timmer,
Ramon Sinkledam,
Tom Dumoulin,
Koen de Kort,
Georg Priedler
Warren Barguil

TREK
Julian Arredondo,
Fabian Cancellara,
Stijn Devolder,
Laurent Didier,
Markel Irizar,
Bob Jungels,
Bauke Mollema,
Gregory Rast
Haimar Zubeldia.

BMC
Tejay van Garderen (USA)
Damiano Caruso (I)
Rohan Dennis (Aus)
Daniel Oss (I)
Manuel Quinziato (I)
Samuel Sanchez (Sp)
Michael Schar (Swi)
Greg Van Avermaet (B)
Danilo Wyss (Swi)

Bora Argon
Bora-Argon 18*
Jan Barta (Cz)
Sam Bennett (Irl)
Emanuel Buchmann (G)
Zakkari Dempster (Aus)
Bartosz Huzarski (Pl)
Jose Mendes (P)
Dominik Nerz (G),
Andreas Schillinger (G)
Paul Voss (G)

FDJ
Thibaut Pinot (F)
William Bonnet (F)
Sébastien Chavanel (F)
Arnaud Démare (F)
Alexandre Geniez (F)
Matthieu Ladagnous (F)
Steve Morabito (Swi)
Jérémy Roy (F)
Benoît Vaugrenard (F)

IAM
Matthias Brandle (A)
Sylvain Chavanel (F)
Stef Clement (Nl)
Jerome Coppel (F)
Martin Elmiger (Swi)
Mathias Frank (Swi)
Reto Hollenstein (Swi)
Jarlinson Pantano (Col)
Marcel Wyss (Swi)

LOTTO SUDAL
Lars Bak (Dk)
Thomas De Gendt (B)
Jens Debusschere (B)
Tony Gallopin (F)
Andre Greipel (G)
Adam Hansen (Aus)
Greg Henderson (NZ)
Marcel Sieberg (G)
Tim Wellens (B)

LOTTONL-JUMBO
Robert Gesink, (Nl)
Wilco Kelderman (Nl)
Laurens ten Dam (Nl)
Steven Kruijswijk (Nl)
Sep Vanmarcke (B)
Bram Tankink (Nl)
Tom Leezer (Nl)
Jos van Emden (Nl)
Paul Martens (G)

MTN-QHUBEKA
Edvald Boasson Hagen (N)
Steve Cummings (GB)
Tyler Farrar (USA)
Jacques Janse van Rensburg (SA)
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (SA)
Merhawi Kudus (Eri)
Louis Meintjes (SA)
Serge Pauwels (B)
Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri)

JohnJoyner · Postby **JohnJoyner** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 2:45 pm

My hard earned is on Quintana. If they all stay upright & healthy, then I think he is by far & away the best climber. I can't see anyone outside of the big 4 winning.
I am really looking forward to the battle of these 4.

RonK · Postby **RonK** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 2:48 pm

JohnJoyner wrote:My hard earned is on Quintana. If they all stay upright & healthy, then I think he is by far & away the best climber. I can't see anyone outside of the big 4 winning.

No matter how good a climber, he cannot win by himself.
But does he the best team in support?
I think perhaps not.

GAV!N · Postby **GAV!N** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 8:43 pm

Yeah I agree Astana, Sky and Saxo all seem to have stronger teams to support their leaders, but Quintana seems to have a way to be with them nevertheless.

In a way it's a shame he's still eligible for the white jersey, because excluding him, I think that's going to be quite competitive too. Pinot, Barguil, Bardet etc. Should be good.

toolonglegs · Postby **toolonglegs** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:15 pm

I like Nibali and Contador getting through the first 8 or 9 stages in better shape than Froome or Quintana. Might not be many hills for the first week or more but there will be some chaos ... add to that the canicule we have at the moment which looks like it's going to be a long one.
If Froome get's through to Pau unscathed my moneys on him.

RonK · Postby **RonK** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:28 pm

So what is the temp? I heard on the news it was 36c in the UK.
For Froome to reach Pau unscathed he'll want to start looking where he's going.

toolonglegs · Postby **toolonglegs** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:55 pm

Here it is around 40 ... up north around 35 I think. I expect as they are following the coast a fair bit it may be more pleasant. Looks like it is staying pretty warm for a while though. Nothing for you guys ... but people are suffering here.

Sharkey · Postby **Sharkey** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 8:55 am

Apparently every rider will be carrying a GPS transponder and live data including speed and exact location, as well as the composition of groups and exact distance between riders will be available.

ASO to deliver real-time data from tour riders

Calvin27 · Postby **Calvin27** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:11 am

No Dayer Quintana? I have no idea about his performance, but I'd imagine if I was the top 4 (minus Nario) I'd be constantly freaking out which rider is which. Would have been interesting to see how they used that as a weapon.

Bluejay87 · Postby **Bluejay87** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:14 pm

Sharkey wrote:Apparently every rider will be carrying a GPS transponder and live data including speed and exact location, as well as the composition of groups and exact distance between riders will be available.

ASO to deliver real-time data from tour riders

Awesome. Just need on bike cameras

jasonc · Postby **jasonc** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:39 pm

is there a fantasy league for the tdf this year?

JohnJoyner · Postby **JohnJoyner** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 2:37 pm

RonK wrote:
JohnJoyner wrote:My hard earned is on Quintana. If they all stay upright & healthy, then I think he is by far & away the best climber. I can't see anyone outside of the big 4 winning.
No matter how good a climber, he cannot win by himself.
But does he the best team in support?
I think perhaps not.

Good point RonK. Not the strongest of the 4, that's for sure. I'm hoping he's smart enough/lucky enough to stay out of trouble through the early stages, just follow wheels & not be too far behind come the final week.

Sharkey · Postby **Sharkey** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 2:51 pm

Bluejay87 wrote:
Sharkey wrote:Apparently every rider will be carrying a GPS transponder and live data including speed and exact location, as well as the composition of groups and exact distance between riders will be available.

ASO to deliver real-time data from tour riders
Awesome. Just need on bike cameras

There will be at least 8 bikes per stage with cameras mounted, but the footage will not be live. At the moment it can only be downloaded after the stage has finished.

GoPro is about to forever change how we watch the Tour de France

JohnJoyner · Postby **JohnJoyner** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:58 pm

On another note altogether & I think I ask this every year....
Does Eurosport cover the TDF?
I can't record SBS, free to air can't run through Foxtel in my apartment building. I haven't the stamina to stay up watching stages through the night for 3 weeks.

RonK · Postby **RonK** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 4:06 pm

I checked the Eurosport schedule last night. No TDF even though they have been promoting their coverage.
I think because SBS has the rights it's not shown here.