With the first individual time trial behind us and a dominant showing by the favorite Chris Froome, I think its safe to say he is going to fight for the yellow all the way to Paris. Finishing 2nd by only 12 seconds to Tony Martin (World Time Trial Champion) and putting at least 2min extra into the time gap to his closest rivals has sent out a clear message, Chris Froome is on form.
Today's stage 12 is a flat one, and once again the sprinter's teams will most likely be at the head of affairs controlling the race to set it up for their sprinters. Marcel Kittel has taken 2 stage victories in the tour thus far, while Cavendish, Greipel, and Sagan each only have one stage. One thing is certain, they all want more stages. Hopefully today we will see a good clean and super fast race to the line so that the fastest guy wins!!
Favorite for today - Cavendish
Outside favorites - Kittel, Greipel, Sagan
Here's a link to today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-12
Henry Uys @met_uys
Wednesday 10 July 2013
Monday 8 July 2013
Tour de France comments/predicitons - Stage 10
Wow, what an exciting and unpredictable tour it has been up until now. Some of the favorites are way down on General Classification (GC), others have shifted their focus from GC to King of the Mountains.
All I can say is: Bring on the next 2 weeks! Today's stage is for the sprinters, for the GC riders its like an "active rest day" to get the legs firing. With so few days that have been available for the sprinters, you can be sure that the sprinter's teams are going to take control of the stage and try to set it up for the fast men.
If the peloton is still tired from the efforts of Stage 8 and Stage 9, then we could see a scenario where a select group of riders go on the attack and the peloton let them go without any effort to chase. The peloton might just cruise through the stage. Chances are slim that this would happen though, but it has happened before.
Okay so my favorite for today's stage is - Mark Cavendish
Outside favorites - Matt Goss, Andre Greipel, Roberto Ferarri
Here's the link to today's profile - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-10
Henry Uys @met_uys
All I can say is: Bring on the next 2 weeks! Today's stage is for the sprinters, for the GC riders its like an "active rest day" to get the legs firing. With so few days that have been available for the sprinters, you can be sure that the sprinter's teams are going to take control of the stage and try to set it up for the fast men.
If the peloton is still tired from the efforts of Stage 8 and Stage 9, then we could see a scenario where a select group of riders go on the attack and the peloton let them go without any effort to chase. The peloton might just cruise through the stage. Chances are slim that this would happen though, but it has happened before.
Okay so my favorite for today's stage is - Mark Cavendish
Outside favorites - Matt Goss, Andre Greipel, Roberto Ferarri
Here's the link to today's profile - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-10
Henry Uys @met_uys
Saturday 6 July 2013
Tour de France comments/predictions - Stage 8
Let me start by saying Cannondale were on a mission yesterday! Deliver Peter Sagan to the finish with as little sprinters around to contest the sprint - I'd say mission accomplished! What a show of commitment from Peter Sagan's team yesterday. He'd come close a couple of times, and it seems like the team took it upon themselves to do as much damage as they could over the climbs -get the field down to a manageable size with little or no sprinters in the mix and let Sagan Fly!
Today the race for the General Classification (GC) truly starts, the mountains have arrived and its time for the GC contenders to step up and show themselves. Although not a very difficult stage in terms of mountains to be climbed, it will set the tone for what is to come over the remaining 2 weeks of the Tour.
Today's stage reveals a different breed of cyclist, one that loves a road tilting upwards to the peaks of the Pyrenees and the Alps. these guys are built slim and as lightweight as possible to help them fly up the mountain side in pursuit of Glory.
Once again there's at least two dozen names that come to mind, but because this a prediction blog I have to try pick the few I think will come out on top.
So I think the winner for today's stage could be - Chris Froome
Outside favorites - Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde
Let's see what surprises the mountains have in store for the Tour.
Profile of today's stage 8 - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-8
Henry Uys @met_uys
Today the race for the General Classification (GC) truly starts, the mountains have arrived and its time for the GC contenders to step up and show themselves. Although not a very difficult stage in terms of mountains to be climbed, it will set the tone for what is to come over the remaining 2 weeks of the Tour.
Today's stage reveals a different breed of cyclist, one that loves a road tilting upwards to the peaks of the Pyrenees and the Alps. these guys are built slim and as lightweight as possible to help them fly up the mountain side in pursuit of Glory.
Once again there's at least two dozen names that come to mind, but because this a prediction blog I have to try pick the few I think will come out on top.
So I think the winner for today's stage could be - Chris Froome
Outside favorites - Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde
Let's see what surprises the mountains have in store for the Tour.
Profile of today's stage 8 - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-8
Henry Uys @met_uys
Thursday 4 July 2013
Tour de France comments/predicitons - Stage 7
"You Beauty!" is all I can say to fellow South African Daryl Impey, making history yesterday as the first African rider to wear the yellow jersey. South Africa and Africa, in general, is making quite a noise in the international cycling world this year: Team MTN Qhubeka becoming the first African Pro continental team, MTN Qhubeka winning the Milan San Remo and other races this year and now a South African in the Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France. The Chinese calender should add 'the year of the African' to their calender.
Daryl is surely capable of holding onto the yellow jersey, and I'm sure the team will want to hold onto that jersey for as long as possible - until the 8th stage which will have the first mountain summit finish.
Today's stage once again has a bit of everything. If a breakaway has the right mix of riders, riders that are way behind on General Classification (GC), then it's possible that the peloton will let go. However, I'm pretty sure Cavendish wants to try and take this stage as well. So, I expect it to come to a bunch sprint for the fast guns.
My prediction for today is - Cavendish (It seems like I only tip him to win in a sprint, the reason for this is, he is FAST!!!)
Outside favorites - Andre Greipel, Matt Goss, Peter Sagan
Here's a profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-7
Henry Uys@met_uys
Daryl is surely capable of holding onto the yellow jersey, and I'm sure the team will want to hold onto that jersey for as long as possible - until the 8th stage which will have the first mountain summit finish.
Today's stage once again has a bit of everything. If a breakaway has the right mix of riders, riders that are way behind on General Classification (GC), then it's possible that the peloton will let go. However, I'm pretty sure Cavendish wants to try and take this stage as well. So, I expect it to come to a bunch sprint for the fast guns.
My prediction for today is - Cavendish (It seems like I only tip him to win in a sprint, the reason for this is, he is FAST!!!)
Outside favorites - Andre Greipel, Matt Goss, Peter Sagan
Here's a profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-7
Henry Uys
Tour de France comments/predictions - Stage - 6
I missed my comments and predictions
for yesterdays stage 5 and man am I glad I didn't make any
predictions. Mark Cavendish opens his stage win account on stage 5
which I honestly thought would go to a punchy rider that could get
away on the last few climbs before the finish.
Well that's the tour for you,
unpredictable and exciting, always surprising and colourful.
Today's stage is flat and fast and
surely another day for Cavendish to win. All his team needs to do is
to keep him out of trouble and deliver him with 200m to go. If
Daryl Impey can deliver Matt Goss like he delivered Simon Gerrans on
stage 3, then Orica-GreenEdge's have a shot at getting their 3rd win
for the tour so far.
Predictions for today: Cavendish to
win.
Map and profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-6
Henry ICEman Uys @met_uys
Tuesday 2 July 2013
Tour de France comments/predictions - Stage 4
Its the team time trial today at the tour and its going to be FAST, nine riders combining to maximize their speed and put their team leaders in a position to win the tour.
This is an insanely difficult stage, not because of the profile or the distance, but because in a time trial you go at 110% effort from start to finish. The effort for the stage today is maximum, this is where you get an edge over your rivals, this shows where a team is in terms of unity. If a team does well in this stage it means they are united in their effort and goals for the tour.
Luckily there's only 22 possible winners from today's stage so I might get my prediction right. Team SKY would have been my outright favorite for today, but with the crash injuring a couple of them, it's highly unlikely they'll win today. I have no doubt they will be in the top 5 though... I hope.
So my Winning team for today - BMC
Outside favorites - SKY, Quickstep, Garmin Sharp.
Map and profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-4
Henry ICEman Uys @met_uys
This is an insanely difficult stage, not because of the profile or the distance, but because in a time trial you go at 110% effort from start to finish. The effort for the stage today is maximum, this is where you get an edge over your rivals, this shows where a team is in terms of unity. If a team does well in this stage it means they are united in their effort and goals for the tour.
Luckily there's only 22 possible winners from today's stage so I might get my prediction right. Team SKY would have been my outright favorite for today, but with the crash injuring a couple of them, it's highly unlikely they'll win today. I have no doubt they will be in the top 5 though... I hope.
So my Winning team for today - BMC
Outside favorites - SKY, Quickstep, Garmin Sharp.
Map and profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-4
Henry ICEman Uys @met_uys
Monday 1 July 2013
Tour de France comments/predictions - Stage 3
Well it seems the last 1km climb in yesterdays stage saw some action, surprisingly no one staying away over the top, but the small group of riders caught the peloton napping and Jan Bakelants doing what all riders love to do and that's get one up on the chasing peloton.
The General Classification (GC) contenders all showed they have some sort of form. Though its too early to tell how good the form is, 2 days in and the third day is even hillier than day 2. Its not a brutal stage in term of serious climbing, but all these little climbs will weaken the contenders that are not on form, come the High Mountain days we are most likely to see one or two of the contenders crack.
So with some time gaps on the GC, there's opportunity for a break to go clear and stay clear. There will be opportunists looking to slip up the road and be left alone to fight it out, only problem is there's most likely some GC riders who fancy a chance at a stage and possibly taking the yellow jersey for a couple of days. The problem with this is, if one of the GC riders want the stage, the team has to take the responsibility of chasing down the break away, this could work or it could weaken the team and isolate the GC rider later on in the tour. I guess the big question is how confident the GC contender is in achieving a good overall position at the end of the tour. If he isn't that confident he'll most likely put the team on the front to try for, at least, a stage win. The other side of the coin is the team SKY factor, by far the most calculated team out there, and if they feel they can win the stage without using too much effort, they will. My bet is SKY won't chase today, they have 2 riders which are injured and nursing the wounds of stage 1, the team will want to get them back to strength so they have the fire power in the High Mountains to put Chris Froome in a perfect position at winning the tour.
This is such an open stage for anything to happen, like almost every other hilly or High Mountain stage to come. Basically, if the GC contenders want to race, the winner will be decided between them. If they don't want to spend too much energy, then the winner will most likely be from a break away.
My favorites for today - Sylvain Chavanel, Thomas Voeckler, Aljandro Valvercde, Chris Froome
Outside favorites - Pierre Rolland, Dan Martin, Nairo Quintana, Thibaut Pinot, Joaquim Rodriguez.
Last day on the island of Corsica and then it's off to the mainland for the team time trial.
Map and profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-3
Henry ICEman Uys @met_uys
The General Classification (GC) contenders all showed they have some sort of form. Though its too early to tell how good the form is, 2 days in and the third day is even hillier than day 2. Its not a brutal stage in term of serious climbing, but all these little climbs will weaken the contenders that are not on form, come the High Mountain days we are most likely to see one or two of the contenders crack.
So with some time gaps on the GC, there's opportunity for a break to go clear and stay clear. There will be opportunists looking to slip up the road and be left alone to fight it out, only problem is there's most likely some GC riders who fancy a chance at a stage and possibly taking the yellow jersey for a couple of days. The problem with this is, if one of the GC riders want the stage, the team has to take the responsibility of chasing down the break away, this could work or it could weaken the team and isolate the GC rider later on in the tour. I guess the big question is how confident the GC contender is in achieving a good overall position at the end of the tour. If he isn't that confident he'll most likely put the team on the front to try for, at least, a stage win. The other side of the coin is the team SKY factor, by far the most calculated team out there, and if they feel they can win the stage without using too much effort, they will. My bet is SKY won't chase today, they have 2 riders which are injured and nursing the wounds of stage 1, the team will want to get them back to strength so they have the fire power in the High Mountains to put Chris Froome in a perfect position at winning the tour.
This is such an open stage for anything to happen, like almost every other hilly or High Mountain stage to come. Basically, if the GC contenders want to race, the winner will be decided between them. If they don't want to spend too much energy, then the winner will most likely be from a break away.
My favorites for today - Sylvain Chavanel, Thomas Voeckler, Aljandro Valvercde, Chris Froome
Outside favorites - Pierre Rolland, Dan Martin, Nairo Quintana, Thibaut Pinot, Joaquim Rodriguez.
Last day on the island of Corsica and then it's off to the mainland for the team time trial.
Map and profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-3
Henry ICEman Uys @met_uys
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