Thank you! Does your daughter have the same name as my eldest? Eleanor has a ST and goes to about half the home games, my son uses her ticket for the other ones. (Often when there's a piano concert !!!!)
I rode a bike round a bit of France in June and think the Ile de Re would make a perfect venue for the over-65 TDF...no hills and only 10K from end to end!
Hi Watford fans and TDF fans all. Cav must surely have a wonderful chance of winning the green jersey this year. Now that there is one intermediate sprint, rather than three, with more points for a stage win he must do it surely. HTC could send riders up the road, if he is not in a position to win the intermediate sprint and stop his rivals, Hushvod mainly, from gobbling up points like he used to do. Surely the green jersey should go to the best sprinter and not some guy who can just ride hard in the middle of stages and win meaningless sprints that about 10 people are there to see? ^_^
Welcome to our TDF thread pompey. Clearly you are in the know about the race and some of the riders, so look forward to your contributions. It is designed to help those who don't know so much to understand what is going on, so we are trying to make some of it straight forward and take on any questions that posters might put forward. By the way on football matters, what is the feeling about Ian Woan leaving. Was he respected for his work?
Ian Woan has done a fantastic job for Pompey, considering the squad we had last year and how the lads, far from just clinging on, at one point, went on a run of 7 wins without conceding once. He will serve you well, of that, I have no doubt. As for the TDF I don't think I've been so optimistic (about our two main prospects) for years. The performance Brad put in at the Dauphine bodes well, and it was so exciting, to see a British rider win a classic race, of such high prestige and longstanding.
TDF Basics: The Coloured Jerseys. The yellow jersey is worn by the rider with the lowest aggregate time and can change hands from day to day. The green jersey is worn by the rider with the highest number of points gained in sprints. The polka dot jersey is worn by the rider with the highest number of points gained in hill or mountain climbs. The white jersey is worn by the best young rider.
Sorry, OFH, missed your question. My answer is no, I can't, but 13m people can't be wrong, can they! I do not doubt for one moment the complexity of cycling's tactics & skills and its attraction to those who participate in the sport. I've just never understood the attraction of watching it. When TDF is on TV at 7pm it's just about preferable to a repeat of the Simpsons, but actually travelling to watch it live. Amazing!
The 1st stage: Quite often the TDF starts with a time trial, but for 2011 it will be different, a proper road race. 198 riders will be competing to be the first to pull on the leaders yellow jersey. The stage will follow the coastline of the Vendee (NW France) down to the seaside town of les Sables d'Olonne, before swinging inland to the Mont des Alouettes, a total of 191 km. It has been described as a stage for hard men, and not one for the sprinters to fly down the final straight to the finish line.
As a family, when I was a lad, we used to holiday just around the bay, from Le Passage du Gois and the Ile de Noirmoutier, in a beautiful village near Pornic. Saint-Marie-sur-mer was it's name. It really is a magical place down there, and I can't wait for tomorrow to come! Maybe (hate to say it) Vinokourov, has what it takes for this stage?
So Gilbert cleans up on stage 1. Contador off the pace. Team time trial today so might get a brit in yellow (Wiggins (no not that one - the other one) or Thomas.
Stage 3: Olonne-sur- Mer - Redon: 198 km We are heading out of the Vendée and into Brittany, crossing the Loire via the Saint-Nazaire bridge, which is the high point of this stage. There is no real difficulty and it seems ideal for the sprinters. They will have to take advantage of this opportunity because they are going to realise very quickly that there aren’t a lot of finishes that suit them. They will have to take care, though: if the wind gets up off the sea, echelons could form in the closing kilometres. For both the start and finish towns this is first time that they have hosted the tour. It is quite amazing to see the preparation that goes into it. Roundabouts are spruced up and even a few kilometres of road re-surfaced.
