What did Hushovd say to the guy in the sprint?­
"You shouldn`t push so @#$% the pedals old chap -­ no one else is pressing @#$% their pedals!"

I`ve­ seen more exciting cricket matches!

Stomping ride Heinrich!! Fantastic victory, well done­ mate!!! At least the stage hunters and other jersey­ wearers/challengers are racing, has all to do with the­ route profiles and one intimidating squad. I've­ always wished the Giro was the biggest race on the­ calender, always puts on a better course and has a vast­ array of options open to it due to Italy's­ geography . The racing in this years Giro was fantastic­ day in, day out.The organisers will learn from this­ year's mistakes, personally i reckon a summit­ finish each week, a mountain time trial (a real one,­ not one up and over a Cat 2 climb), the TTT not­ counting on GC, but of course its not always so easy as­ that to organise a Tour route.

My sense is that the Tour was set up this way to create­ an open race in the climactic stages. By waiting until­ stage 18 to do an individual time trial and stage 20 to­ have the climb to Mount Ventoux, they have essentially­ kept the race wide open.
This has been exacerbated by­ dominant control of the race and its tempo by two or­ three teams.
The result has been that their is no­ impetus for anyone to attempt anything spectacular to­ this point. Astana with Contador, Armstrong and Kloden­ are right where they want to be. They don't have to­ control the peloton and the lead is easily in reach. ­ On rare occasions when high profile riders have tried­ to join breakaways, they have been turned away by the­ other riders. Frierre isn't even a GC contender and­ he wasn't allowed in the break in Stage 12.
Right­ now eleven riders are within two and a half minutes of­ the lead. The planning for this tour is partly to blame­ in that the Pyrenees were not set up to sort out the­ field and there were no time trials. This has left the­ door open for Astana to not only control the direction­ of the race but also to sit back and not overly exert­ themselves prior to the last week. More to blame is the­ depth of Astana and its positioning in the opening­ prologue which made it unnecessary for them to take any­ big chances to get someone in contention.
The race will­ get rolling at some point.

I agree with comments that this tour has been a big­ snooze so far. Paul Sherwin and Phil Liggett must be­ eating their microphones in frustration at the lack of­ action, whilst still trying to re-assure viewers that­ the big attacks will come soon. I had to laugh when­ Phil suggested that the high pace on the cat 2 climb­ had split the field into a "select" group,­ when the pictures showed about 30 riders riding tempo­ to the top of the climb.!
Mont Ventoux may be great­ climatic stage but that won't make up for the 2 1/2­ weeks of tedium that preceded it.

I agree the TDF has been tedious this year. The Giro­ was much better at this point.

But, I would argue­ that the 'tempo tactics' don't make for­ very interesting riding either. Essentially, there are­ hours of grinding tempo and riders cracking out the­ back with just a few minutes fireworks at the end.

In­ a way, regardless of what the organizers did in terms­ of route selection, it doesn't take away the mostly­ negative racing tactics. My crazy ideas would be to­ get rid of race radios for riders, smaller teams and­ more of them to keep the field size intact.

Am I alone in thinking this is one of the dullest Tours­ de France in years? It is all very well the organisers­ trying to manipulate the parcours so that it is all­ decided on the Ventoux, but it has so far resulted in­ the most boring of non-events. No doubt if we do get a­ ding-@#$% finale on Ventoux people (the ASO) will claim­ it has been a fantastic race, but that would be like­ saying a poor game of football was good just because­ someone scored a great goal in stoppage time. By trying­ to avoid big and potnetially decisive time gaps in the­ Pyrenees and Alps they have turned what are usually the­ most exciting parts of the tour into a procession. It­ seems to me Prudhomme has deprived us of a great deal­ and there is no guarantee that his ploy will even­ succeded, becuase the TTT ruled out so many of the­ riders who might have been in with a shout. Awful race­ planning. And the riders don't seem hell bent on­ doing much about it either; the Pyrenean stages were­ almost totally without incedent and no disrespect to­ Noccentini, but the major riders seem to have made no­ attempt to dislodge him from the lead. A race with the­ great tradition and status of the tour deserves better.­ At least in this year's Giro riders actually­ attacked one another.

cav looked a bit green around the gills at the finish,­ at least he will have something green tomorrow!

this course not greatest but this tour isnt that­ dofferent to the last 20, most mountain top finishes­ are won by a breakaway rider and the best team sets a­ high tempo on the climb to stop attacks. it takes the­ gc riders to crack or atleast get distanced and loose­ time rather than anyone attacking and gaining time.­ good teams control the race so we could have smaller­ teams of 5/7 riders and allow more teams to enter to­ keep numbers up!

Wake me up when the TdF starts please

"What did Tor Hosovd say to the other rider when­ he­ crossed the finish today???"

What the ****­ are you doing you ****** I'm riding for the *******­ green jersey and you've taken points I ******* need­ and you ******* don't you **** pot. All said in­ Norweigen of course

Unbelievable what happened on the stage today from­ Cadel Evan's Twitter:
"Oscar F & Julien D­ were 'targets' at the #tdf today. Seriously,­ they were both shot -slug gun- at 165k. There are many­ imbeciles here..."

I mean, WTF!!!

So when the Tour de France start? So far I've­ watched a bunch of dudes out on group rides. Maybe if­ we could hear what they are talking about it would be­ interesting. But so far this tour has SUCKED! ­ Terrible, and these guys are doing a great disservice­ to the race. I blame the organizers also. They are­ hell bent on making this race "competetive",­ but instead they've made it completely boring! ­ Where are the mountain finishes? Long ITT? Those­ stupid people are getting what they deserve, and I as­ the viewer, am the one who suffers. What a waste of­ time this has been so far.

I guess I'm relagated­ to watching Contador attack with 3-5 K left tomorrow,­ and that's the extent of th 3-week race. Man, the­ Giro was SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS GARBAGE! Those­ riders do not deserve the pay they are making.

@ 28 ...TdF route is decided 1,5-2 years before its­ start so it is not done for armstrong...or maybe­ directuer has crystal ball?

Why did the organisers create such a boring Tour? There­ should be at least 5 mountain top finishes. That's­ the interesting stuff, not the tedious breakaways.

What did Tor Hosovd say to the other rider when he­ crossed the finish today???

If they keep their powder any drier it will be just a­ fart at the end. Saddest tour ever

Of course it's harder to break away from the­ peloton after the climb has been completed that's­ why it never happens - the race doesn't end­ literally at the bottom of the mountain - there is­ still usually a distance to ride.

For instance, if­ Evans tried to make a break today, the Astana and Saxo­ Bank teams would have formed a train and hauled him­ back within a few minutes at the bottom of the last­ climb and before the finish - just like the Columbia­ train hauls in breakaways. And Evans would have wasted­ a lot of energy for nothing.

That is why the Tour has­ mountain top finishes - it's the only way for the­ top riders to put distance between themselves.­ Something this rubbish tour is reluctant to allow.

Liam, the usual Lancelovers on here may not agree with­ you, but I think you're not far wrong with your­ views about the way the Tour has been set up to suit­ the likes of Armstrong on his return. (what is it with­ this site, is there a US contingent who come here to­ ensure anyone daring to criticise Armstrong gets their­ comments flamed? After all, Armstrong is a complete­ angel when it comes to criticising others..... Simeoni,­ Vande Velde, Sastre, Contador to name a few).

Another boring days racing..........Lance and Astana­ have totally dominated both with the legs and with the­ head..............The opposition seem paralysed and­ it`s they who have to attack.........The longer they­ leave it the harder it`s going to be. Mind you the­ course setting has been lousy. About time C:P: threw in­ the towel.