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Tour de France 2009

Edogawakikkoman

Edogawakikkoman

Maximum Pace
Jan 14, 2007
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戦後２人目の快挙 自転車の新城幸也、ツール・ド・フランス出場決まる
6月15日19時50分配信 琉球新報
世界最高峰の自転車レース「ツール・ド・フランス」に、新城幸也（八重山高校出身）が出場することが決まった。日本人の出場は戦後２人目。
所属するブイグテレコム（仏）が１５日、出場メンバー６人を発表した。
新城は１９８４年生まれ、石垣市登野城出身。高校時代はハンドボール部に所属した。卒業後、フランスに留学し、自転車競技を本格的に始めた。２００８年の全日本ロードレースで優勝。昨季まで４年連続で世界選手権に出場し、ことし梅丹本舗ＧＤＲからブイグテレコムに移籍した。【琉球新報電子版】

:)
 
They were talking about that possibility last night on J-Sports Tour de Suisse coverage, guess you scooped them...:)
 
Thanks to the Fukushima brothers who fostered him, took him to Europe and introduced him to the Telecom team.
Their goal for years was to get one of their riders in the TDF.
He rode well in Dauphine too.

He's most likely going to be a drink mule but I wouldn't put it past him to surprise if given a chance.

A great inspiration for Japan cycling...

YUKIYA ARASHIRO to ride this years TDF for l'équipe BBox Bouygues Telecom
 
Seems to be more rivalry between Contador, and his team mates.
Talks of him changing teams.
Astana were behind in payment salaries last week which threatened their dismissal form the TDF but apparantly that has been rectified.

Evans showed Contador a bit of form in the Dauphine.

Valverde trumps both Evans and Contador at the Dauphine but has not been cleared to do th TDF.

Shaping up to be an interesting Tour.


Too bad Robbie McEwen is out with a broekn leg... :warau:

The green jersey will be interesting as well... Cavendish should win a lot of the stage sprints but he may struggle with enough overall green points to win the jersey.
Boonen may steal a lot of the intermediate sprints....
 
It looked to me that Contador was sandbagging the Dauphine; he had plenty left in the tank going up those hills, just content to follow Evans. Valverde was motivated because it might well be his last race in 2 years if the UCI extend the ban.

Think Contador has to be the clear favorite. His biggest threat is the mayhem in that team, not just the money woes but the potential clash with Armstrong/Leipheimer. He might feel pressured to go too hard in the first week to establish himself as the clear captain.

Then again, maybe Bruyneel is in full control and everyone will be riding for him from day one... Who knows?

As you say, should be interesting to see how it unfolds.
 
Edogawakikkoman said:
Thanks to the Fukushima brothers who fostered him, took him to Europe and introduced him to the Telecom team.
Their goal for years was to get one of their riders in the TDF.
He rode well in Dauphine too.

He's most likely going to be a drink mule but I wouldn't put it past him to surprise if given a chance.

A great inspiration for Japan cycling...

YUKIYA ARASHIRO to ride this years TDF for l'équipe BBox Bouygues Telecom
Click to expand...

Big article about him in ProCycling which I picked up in the UK. Will scan and post later.

chazzer
 
no radios

Interesting 2 stages will be run without radios. There seems to be a trend in this direction in France, they were banned from the national chamionships too.

Think this might put a whole lot more life into things! An interesting Tour indeed!
 
Ash said:
Interesting 2 stages will be run without radios.
Click to expand...

That's great news--it'll be really interesting to see how that changes the race dynamics. Lot more domestiques yo-yoing back to the team cars, for one thing...
 
What channels will be following the Tour here in Japan?
 
FarEast said:
What channels will be following the Tour here in Japan?
Click to expand...

J-Sports on Sky Perfect (and cable?). The commentary is in Japanese, but the coverage is superb--high def, no commercial breaks, no background interviews, no rider profiles, just wall-to-wall racing...
 
and no tv either!

Tour tries radio silence
By VeloNews.com
Published: Jun. 19, 2009

No radios for two stages at the 2009 Tour.
Photo: Patrick O'GradyOrganizers of the Tour de France said Friday they will conduct "a safety experiment" in next month's race by banning the use of rider radios on two stages.

The measure will affect the Limoges-Issoudun stage on July 14 and the Vittel-Colmar stage on July 17. The steps mean that team managers will have to revert to communicating with racers by relying upon more traditional methods.

The rules may also place greater emphasis on planning and pre-race strategy meetings, once-critical elements that have lost some of their importance since the 1990s when teams began employing lightweight radios to allow in-race communication between team directors and riders.

"This measure is not being imposed by the Tour de France but represents the application of the existing French Highway Code," Tour sporting director Jean-Francois Pescheux told AFP.

"It is aimed at preventing something dramatic happening one day."

In another measure, staff traveling in team support cars will no longer be allowed to watch TV coverage of the race, Tour officials said.

Some advocates of radios and in-car televisions have said the two help warn riders of possible safety issues. Others have suggested radios cause as many problems as they solve. Pescheux said adequate warnings exist with or without radios.

"In the case of an emergency affecting the course, such as a street demonstration or a roadside fire, we have in the past been able to warn the
riders very quickly," Pescheux said.

The French Gendarmerie, said Pescheux, are also trained to signal potential hazards to the cyclists.
 
Race Radios

This is an interesting development. I know there has been a lot of debate about race radios and how they've changed the face of pro racing.

There was a recent Velonews article that pointed out that some cyclists have only known racing w/ radios (Lance Armstrong was given as an example because the Motorola squad was one of the earliest teams to implement the use of radios) and others that may have a better "feel" for a race because they were brought up on low-budget teams.

Since one flat stage, #14, and one mountainous stage, #17, have been picked I expect the break-away specialists (like Jens Voigt--not sure if he is in this years tour...) have a good chance of succeeding on the flat land and a top-20 GC rider making a go of it in the mountains.

However, since only two stages will be ran this way, I'm not sure if it will factor all that much into the overall GC. We will see...
 
I'm guessing teams will just have lots and lots of blackboards lined along the course with people using radios and the smart teams will have some secret way of displaying the messages so other riders in the break away won't be able to read them.

I hope it does make a tactical difference but I have a feeling nobody will notice....
 
Tour De France

Last year we assembled at a Tokyo watering hole to watch on a large screen TV..........:beer:
 
Phil Harris said:
Last year we assembled at a Tokyo watering hole to watch on a large screen TV..........:beer:
Click to expand...

That sounds good! Hey does TCC have any social events where people can meet up?
 
Hey guys, just picking up on your website, I am moving to Japan in August and will be keen to join in with any racing or training, tho will be in France to catch some of the the tour before hand, is anybody from TCC heading over there? I hear french wine goes well with cycling stories.
... or is it red wine stories go well with cycling? one or the other right
 
Allez lance #8 !

Hi guys, still alive but on the mainland alas.

ALL I gotta say is ALLEZ LANCE ! He's got a good training ride in. The Giro.
He rode bitch for the team hauled, bidons etc. and was generally a good little domestique. His team will DIE for him. As usual. I think he finished 24 ? Thats about right. He's not Eddy after all. Most Giro winners are too toasted for the TDF. Of course if he's not top form Levi will go for it. Maybe a Greg and the Badger thing. DOMO TODO


PS> I MISS JAPAN !
 
Has anyone checked out Astana's site? Pretty damn awesome introduction of the Tour Team. So what do I think of the team? I think leaving Chris Horner off the ticket was a mistake, but as he said Politics entered the selection. Cantador feeling a wee bit isolated wanted a close friend in Pualinho and that is what bounced out Horner. I think they could have kept Rast at home sinc ethe tour is won in the mountains not on the flats. I am surprised Kazahkistan didn't require more of their local riders on the team? But that would have doomed the team. Overall, I think they have fielded a friggin' powerhouse team. The question that remains...can they work together. Cantador showed his power taking the Spanish time trail, but Lance said nothing about it? Hmmm. The other question that remains, will Casse back up the Astana boys as Valverde said after his win in the Dauphine? Radios, who needs them when you have an alliance like that.

Did anyone read the news from Jackse, stating this years tour winner will do so as a result of doping? Pretty strong statement but looking a the past he has good reasoning. Lets just hope this tour is not marred by doping scandals.

1 week away and the fun begins.

James
 
Boonen's in:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/boonen-can-start-in-the-tour

This should make the green jersey competition a lot more interesting. Don't think there's any doubt that Cavendish is faster at the finish head-to-head, but can he be in the top five or ten in every stage he needs to be? Being in the mix over the whole three weeks is a better route to success than winning a stage one day, being completely out of the points the next...

And Sastre responds to Armstrong's "(the 2008) tour was a joke" comment:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sastre-respects-his-rivals-armstrong-should-do-the-same

15km TT in Monaco to kick things off tonight...
 
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