California 22:00

[deuseburger]

moin miteinander...

been quite disappointed to see that no such thread existed, so i just had to open it myself. the sheer amount of teams participating makes this edition earn its own fred, not to mention we witness the comeback of schappy, a team that was one of the big ones already way back when i first came here years ago...

will edit this post to give my idea of a favo check if i only find some time today, meanwhile feel free to post everything related to this race weather you participate or just saw something remarkable while hanging out in spectators chat...
with the 1st stage already been done i encourage everyone to give us his or her view of that stage and maybe of those to come too...

cheers deuse...

[Team Saller]

Very good first stage for me!! Stage win and i make lots of money yesterday...
Today think i don´t ride because my team must work yesterday very hard by 33 grad celsius and some
stages for my team came on the next days

[deuseburger]

young rider
***
Miguel Goncalves (Team Alentejo)

**
-
*
Artur Agostinho (S L Benfica)
Tit Dupont (flo teamX)

everyone else seems to be out already after the first stage, though a lucky escape may change that of course...

sprint jersey:
***
Leonis Hamdidis (Eifelriders)
Sven Kjaer (TEAM FAJITAS)

**
Frankk Schleck (EQfriends)
Abdoulaya Seye (Fegefeuer)
Karl Anton (cassablanca)
Ilian Belakov (VeloClubDouchy)

*
Kili Suarez (sunshine reagge)
Victor Lidums (Luna Team Bike)
Luthando Kaka (Deuseburger)




mountain rider

hard to give any prediction here, might as well be an escaper with some reg as a mountain rider...
out of the blue i´d say i wouldnt be surprised to see riders of the following teams involved in the fight for the jersey:
almavivaitalia - infosports.be - EQfriends - Hotmail VC - floteamX

yellow:
since a rider of mine is involved here i will restrain from the *** - ** - * thing and just drop some names, along with a few remarks bout the pros and cons from my subjective point of view...

Simone Ciuffardi (infosports.be)
imho the man to beat here, though from what i get out of the race chat yesterday his manager isnt that confident and already looking for sidegoals. this my well be his biggest disadvantage (manager not being totaly focused) while his mountain skill should give him a decent advantage over the stronger timetrialists to outplay on stage nr7. the team - preasuming its not wasting energy for the mentioned sidegoals - should be strong enough to keep its leader out of the kind of trouble Emilien LeMonier experiencend yesterday...


Stanley Namanyna (Deuseburger)
with Emilien LeMonier being out of the competition on paper the best itt man of the remaining favorites. though he has a decent team with him, there is unfortunatly no one with a way better mountain skill, able to pull him up the last ascent on stage 7. beside his manager being well known for messing things up his flat skill might be a problem here. guess he has to make some time on those middle mountain stages to stand a chance against Simone, Miguel and Hachim but how to achieve that...

Mona Loseth (VeloClubDouchy)
nearly the exact same values as Stanley, so everything being said for him has its validity here too. he also has a decent team, also lacking a rider to keep the expected time loss on stage 7 small, and aditionaly his reg may become a problem after the itt for the all deciding stage 7...

Miguel Goncalves (Team Alentejo)
my favo nr1 for the young riders jersey may as well show the older ones how to win the tour. having a slight disadvantage concerning the sheer values compared to simone one smart move or a lucky moment may be enough to make the difference. in mass not the best team around but with jose and luis two guys that can be quite helpful when needed...

Hachim Ndiaje (Fegefeuer)
not quite as strong as Simone in the mountains and riders like Stanley and Mona in the itt the advantage imho is his consistency, along with a decent team. beeing able to follow any attack in the flat is what distinguishes him from the already mentioned riders and can make a big difference if played out right...


Victor Lidums (Luna Team Bike)
belonging to the group of riders similar to Mona and Stanley, missing a mountain and tt point or to may be compensated through his consistancy, having a decent team and being able not only to follow any attacks in the flat but going by himself in the final of those middle mountain stages may come in handy. with rasmussen there even is a puller for the already mentioned ascent on stage 7...

summary:
everything will come down to the last kms of stage 7... weather its between Simone, Miguel and Hachim or Stanley Mona and Victor with
Victor and Hachim having their possibilities in the end of the middle mountain stages too...
other riders worth mentioning:
Giorgo Marra, Mikka Laukkaannen, Eltore Salimbene...

feel free to comment and even throw some stones in case you disagree or find severe errors...
cheers deuse

[Team Saller]

Todays TT no chains for the Eifelriders
Sorry for beeing of yesterday! I had some problems and could no get online so it gives yesterday a new stage winner
Today its interresting and would shown the tour favos. Maybe tomorrow last chance for me to get a stage because
of that todays regenaration day.