Having spent some time in Belgium in April, it is­ pretty funny watching the skinny climbers from the­ likes of Euskaltel shivering at the start line. They­ don't want to be there and have only one thing on­ their minds - climbing off at the first feed station! ­ Contador seems a pretty handy bike handler, but a­ strong team is a big advantage on this terrain and­ Astana's stage racers have all gone to The Shack. ­ I'd be more worried for the likes of Menchov - his­ bike handling is awful on normal terrain, so God help­ him (and those around him!) if it's raining when­ they go over the sections of pave in the first week!

Once again Pedro, gotta agree with you man, Wiggo­ doesn't have much of a hope, It's a shame­ there's only one TT - top climbers almost always­ win over a few days in the mountains, but TT's are­ more unpredictable, things can go wrong very quickly­ with no time to pick them back up, unlike the­ mountains.

Still, going to be an awesome Tour,­ Tourmalet twice and the duel with Conty & Lance -­ fantastic! Do you think Conty will try the Paris -­ Roubaix next year to get some cobbles practice, or do­ you think he wont risk it? If he falls and breaks a­ collarbone or whatever it'll heal before the Tour,­ but his training might be affected. Thoughts?

Having looked at last year's TTT, this wouldn't­ work, you'd have to award time bonuses on 5 second­ intervals! For eg, Silence Lotto, finished in 13th­ place last year. Under my suggested rules, this would­ mean losing 2'10" on Astana. They were only­ 2'35" in any event!!!

They could've left the TT in there and simply­ awared bonus tranches to the teams, according to the­ final finishing positions, rather than the actual time­ between the teams. They've done it before. It­ still gives the race/fans the spectacle of a TTT and­ motivates the riders to ride, but the impact on the GC­ is managed, as the team, who are first over the line­ remain neutral and the other teams lose 10 seconds on­ the winner for every placing lost. For example, if­ Silence Lotto finished 6th, the maximum Cadel Evans­ would lose to the winner (likely LA at RadioShack!)­ would be 60 seconds. Likewise if Saxo Bank finished­ second, irrespective of the actual margin, Andy Schleck­ would only lose 10 seconds on GC. Geddit? Would still­ panalise the weaker teams, but would mitigate massive­ impact on strong GC riders in weaker teams and vice­ versa.

Fotodelicto - very astute comments. Can't help but­ agree with almost everything you say.
Vitor - you­ still letting LA go all the way with you? What would­ his girlfriend think?
AC-AS-CA-LA top 4 book it.

Armstrong minus 12 minutes upon arrival in Pauillac!!!!­ Book it early, Book it often.

Wow, this makes it a bit tougher on Armstrong. His team­ of lackeys would have cleaned up in the TTT what with­ Kloden, Leipheimer, Horner, Zubeldia and various other­ riders with no ambition putting the hammer down.

Its­ good news that there is no TTT for a change - why­ should the TTT affect the GC? Amrstrong always made­ good (perhapos unfair) use of the TTT with his team of­ domestiques caning the TTT and leaving the likes of­ Ullrich, Beloki and the likes trailing after the first­ week.

At least next year's tour won't have­ that joker of a stage to screw things up unfairly for­ the likes of Evans, Sastre and any other rider on a­ smaller budget team.

Even if Contador doesn't go­ to a powerhouse team as he had with Astana, I still­ think he'll prove strong enough to win. Armstrong­ will no doubt do well though - his intimidation of the­ peloton and powerful team will see him up near the top­ as usual.

The cobbles will make the flater stages much more­ interesting.I find the first week boring and this year­ it makes it much more interesting.Next years tour will­ be very interesting cant wait.

NO MATTER THE ROUTE I SAY
ALL THE WAY WITH LA!!

i have to say, removing one of the time trials­ (typically we have a prologue and two TT) seems odd to­ me.
people like levi, contador, evans must all be­ somewhat disappointed there...not to mention what­ Cancellara must be thinking!

Another win for Contador

Read all your comments - I'm sure you all know much­ more about the tour than me. Personally, I think it­ will be a fantastic, capitivating drama-filled­ spectacle for 21 days ! Bring it on !

Sadly, not a great route for Wiggo next year. Less­ than 60 km of TT and a number of monster mountain­ stages - the Pyranees look much tougher this year. ­ Looks well suited to the climbers again.........I just­ don't know whether Wiggo has what it takes to stay­ with the likes of Shleck, Contador, Sastre, Gessink,­ Evans over all those climbs for 3 weeks. I hope so! ­ At least the cobbles might motivate Boonen to at least­ try next year?!!

Unbelievable... stage 16! Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet­ and the Aubisque.... wow.... and than 58 km. of­ descent! How can you *** a stage up. And only 2 time­ trials! One of them a prologue, 59 km. total. They­ really not want Contador to win it, or at least let­ Schleck have a chance. Disappointing... the mountain­ top finishes are not difficult enough (except­ Tourmalet). Good thing the TTT is out, so we don't­ have 5 minutes time difference before we have seen a­ mountain (altough with the cobblestones, you never­ know! good thing they are in)

Taking the race north for the start is a great idea, a­ chance to see tour favourites riding on the cobbles­ will be priceless on the stumping ground of Boonen,­ Cancellara and hopefully Hamond if he is picked to race­ ( a mistake if he is not ). And the wind in the North­ will kill all the climbers Contador better sign for­ Quick Step or Rabobank and learn to ride in crosswinds,­ cause the Spanish teams will lose ground and you can be­ sure Lance will be at the front all of these days with­ his bike handling skills. Andy will be smiling too as­ he loves this type of racing roll on July.

I just hope he gives the Pyranees some teeth next year.­ This year's route was very dull and just allowed­ the main contenders to watch one another, apart from­ AC's attack towards the end of the Arcalis­ stage.............presumably he just got bored too?!

Given you're factoring in famous parts of Classics­ races, the argument is entirely misleading. They’re of­ Classics status they are for a reason, because that’s­ their unique pull, a one-off race. We're talking­ of a Tour, not a 21 Days Classic. How far could a­ Classic deviate from its traditional routes to include­ new historic climb? For that matter, why has the Tour­ always changed? Because they're two completely­ different races that give the season its­ variation.

What’s more, you’re pretty much arguing­ against the tradition of the race. How many years have­ they left out climbs when they didn’t “have to”? ­ Plenty. In that case, take up your weak argument with­ the organizers.