[cycling] tour de suisse

i just watched the start of the tour de suisse. it should be a nice tour, especially for those who look at the tour de france. jan ullrich, alex vinokourov take part. t-mobile has also botero and guerini on board.

is someone following it? maybe BF? :)

Of course I'll be following it :) I just turned the TV on. Unfortunately the coverage of the Tour de Suisse will have to split broadcast time with the Tennis (Halle and Queens) because the fact that the Flemish Public Broadcastin company has come up with a new 'all sports channel' solely intended for this summer. While I like the fact that we now have an all sports channel, I don't like the fact that it will mean less cycling.
But I'm sure the important stages will be on live so I should see most of it (as much as my studying allows me)
Looking forward to seeing what Vino can do this week. And of course the progress of Ullrich is also interesting to follow up!


In fact, they just switched over to Federer vs. Novak in Halle :(

Well, Ullrich does look impressive!

He has been mending the pack following the two escaped for a long time and now he just breached the gap himself along with Camenzind. I haven't seen Ullrich this active in a long time!!

DSF is showing every stage live, i guess. it's a good thing as it's a nice warm-up for the EC-games. ;)

and yes, ullrich looks impressive. he said before the tour that he will help vino to win again, but i think ullrich could win it for himself. he seems to be in a good shape. stage 6 is the king-stage, i heard. then we should know more.

actually, bobby julich is attending there, too. he could also be a candidate for the tour de france top10. i heard he improved a lot and loves to cycle for bjarne riis' team.

holy cow, ullrich wins the stage with an impressive finish. he looked damn strong. vino made 6th or 7th place with 16 seconds behind or so.

Thank God there's Eurosport...with the Tour the Catalunya..

Yes Ullrich was *extremely* impressive. Incredible how such a talent can improve his form more quickly than 'normal' cyclists...

I also watched some Dauphiné (it's on France 2, the good thing of living in Beligum is that we get all those channels)
Former Mountainbiker Michael Rasmussen won the stage (with a couple of climbs) a couple of minutes ahead of the pack. Basso was also ahead of the pack, interesting to see how he will do with CSC in the Tour. Mayo, Armstrong and Hamilton finished in the pack...


Cool, if Frolov can watch Catalunya, we've got everything covered, hehe :)

who's participating at the tour de catalunya?

who's participating at the tour de catalunya?

I believe Heras, Beloki, Van den Broeck, Simoni, Sastre, Millar, Virenque, Mancebo, Mercado, Mentsjov and many more.

I believe Heras, Beloki, Van den Broeck, Simoni, Sastre, Millar, Virenque, Mancebo, Mercado, Mentsjov and many more.

wow, that sounds interesting. i'd like to know if i could watch it on eurosport, too. hmm...should check it tomorrow.

Basso was also ahead of the pack, interesting to see how he will do with CSC in the Tour.So Sastra won't be leading CSC? :confused:

So Sastra won't be leading CSC? :confused:

Not sure, Jaksche, Sastre and Basso are three guys that could make a good finish. I think CSC will take the same tactic as they had in the beginning of the year, give free roles to everyone involved and see where they end up...

Note though that I didn't tell the whole story, Basso finished ahead of the pack but he was ahead together with Rasmussen and had to let him go. So maybe he's not in good shape yet.

alex vinokourov had a crash today. he's in a hospital right now. has a concussion and some bruises.
looks like his tour-plans are over. :cry:

ullrich still in yellow, while there was a sprint today. mcewen won the stage.

alex vinokourov had a crash today. he's in a hospital right now. has a concussion and some bruises.
looks like his tour-plans are over. :cry:

ullrich still in yellow, while there was a sprint today. mcewen won the stage.

That's disappointing to hear.

That's disappointing to hear.

unfortunately i didn't watch the stage today. i just read it a few minutes ago. very disappointing.

alex vinokourov had a crash today. he's in a hospital right now. has a concussion and some bruises.
looks like his tour-plans are over. :cry:

There are still a couple of weeks left before the start of the Tour, so I don't think his tour-plans are over.

There are still a couple of weeks left before the start of the Tour, so I don't think his tour-plans are over.

yes, maybe he can participate, but after a concussion and lost days where he wanted to train, it's very doubtful that he will be in a good shape. that's what i meant.

vinokourov won't participate at the tour de france. i don't know how his injuries are called in english, but he has something like a broken shoulder and other stuff.

robert hunter won the 3rd stage. it was a little mountain stage. ullrich is still in yellow. bobby julich is 6th btw. and the german patrik sinkewitz is good 14th.

vinokourov won't participate at the tour de france. i don't know how his injuries are called in english, but he has something like a broken shoulder and other stuff.

robert hunter won the 3rd stage. it was a little mountain stage. ullrich is still in yellow. bobby julich is 6th btw. and the german patrik sinkewitz is good 14th.

Sinkewitz has looked good in the last weeks. Lefevre already said that everyone should watch out for this kid last season, and this season he's starting to show why Lefevere has so much faith in him.
If they can keep him and Rogers for a few more years they (Quickstep Davitamon)can finally do something serious in the Tour
Oh and by the way, the chances are increasing that Peter Van Petegem will join Quickstep next season, apparently because he doesn't want to stay with Lotto because they would be in trouble in the new proposed 'Pro Tour' circuit.


Another guy who's been unbelievable: Dario Cioni!! Doing miles of work for Petacchi every day in the Giro, while still finishing in the top 10! And he's not done yet, still in decent form in Switzerland too.

Hehe, another classic finish with a member of the Fassa Bortolo team involved, this time youngster Chicchi thought he had the stage win secured and put his hands in the air, only to be surpassed by Robbie McEwen...

What was more interesting, Walter Godefroot was co commentating today, he had a lot of interesting stuff to say:
_Vino was indeed scheduled to focus only on the Tour
_Ullrich is already in the form they would have hoped he would be in at the start of the Tour, in other words, watch out!!!
_With Vino out there are still a few places up for grabs in the Tour team of Team Telekom, I heard the names of Ullrich, Zabel, Guerini, Ivanov, Botero as certainties. Probably Klöden is another certainty (I didn't catch the beginning of the comments). So basically the team is mostly set.
_Ullrich will try to win this Tour, but not at all costs, the team is trimmed down because of the injuries so they don't want the team or Jan going a bloc to save the jersey for this tour.
_The Pro Tour is a go for next year, but it will be re-evaluated during the year, it's going to be a test case next year.