Le Tour 2008

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Nothing all that clear-cut from the Tour of Switzerland TT yesterday. Kreuziger won it and goes into yellow. Kloeden was third ahead of Cunego in fourth and Frank Schleck in fifth. Andy Schleck was ninth but a good minute behind the others.

I suppose Cunego has come out best out of that result. He might not be a prolific timetrialler but that’s not a bad effort. It was in the mountains though so it’s not pure timetrialling and he may struggle on the flat.

Cunego and A Schleck have gone out to 11 to 1, Sastre is out to 14 to 1, Pereiro is 50 to 1. Big change the other way is Valverde into 4 to 1.

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Some of the teams have been announced for the team. First up is Gerolsteiner. Think they have had a poor season. Clena team from what I remember. Would like to see them do well in the tour.

Robert Foerster (Ger), Markus Fothen (Ger), Bernhard Kohl (Aut), Sven Krauss (Ger), Sebastian Lang (Ger), Ronny Scholz (Ger), Stefan Schumacher (Ger), Fabian Wegmann (Ger), Oliver Zaugg (SwI).

CSC looked incredibly strong individually though as a team I am not sure how they will function. They have three possible GT contenders in the Schlecks and Sastre. Hard to know who will work for who. Remind me a bit of Astana last year or Saunier Duval in the 2007 Giro where some riders will have to forego their own GC chances to help a rider who isn’t necessarily as strong as them. They might have their tactics right though and could wait to see how things pan out before deciding on definite tactics.
Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor), Fabian Cancellara (Swi), Volodymyr Gustov (Ukr), Stuart O’Grady (Aus), Carlos Sastre (Spa), Andy Schleck (Lux), Frank Schleck (Lux), Nicki Sorensen (Den), Jens Voigt (Ger)

Euskatel have had a very good year and are a more balanced team than in previous years. Sanchez doesn’t cut it from what I can remember. Rider named Igor Anton who was third in Tour of Switzerland isn’t riding.
Haimar Zubeldia, Samuel Sanchez, Mikel Astarloza, Rubn Prez, Gorka Verdugo, Inaki Isasi, Egoi Martinez, Amets Txurruka and Juanjo Oro

Big surprise is in the Saunier Duval team where Ricco is included at the expense of the injured Merchante. Huge call for him to ride the tour. The route could suit him with less time trial km’s and a few medium and severe mountain stages. Very hard to call what sort of condition he will be in though. Pipeoli should be fairly energetic after crashing out of Giro early.
uan Jose Cobo (Spa), Jesus Del Nero (Spa), Alberto Fernandez De La Puebla (Spa), David De La Fuente (Spa), Angel Litu Gomez (Spa), Josep Jufre (Spa), Leonardo Piepoli (Ita), Riccardo Ricc (Ita). Rubens Bertogliati (Swi), Ruben Lobato (Spa) or Aurlien Passeron (Fra) depending on results from national championships

All in all Ricco’s inclusion makes things even more interesting. Saunier Duval look like they have a team that could really have a good prescence in the ascents. Have send Paddypower an email asking for odds for him. Could be the sort of thing they get totally wrong and offer odds too high.
Had a look at an article or two on the tour yesterday and there are two time trials with the first time trial being a good bit shorter than usual. There is no prologue. There are four or five medium ascent stages, with three or four severe stages. Two stages have mountain top finishes. Its the Pyrennes first this year and then the Alps. Riders have applauded the lack of travelling between stages which is something the Giro was criticised heavily for.

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Backed that Ricco lad Larry - cheers for the info. 29/1 on Betfair to win and 11.5/1 for top 3

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Yeah I backed him at 30’s on Betfair. I then checked Skybet where he is 50/1! While he is certainly unproven and is unlikely to win there is no way he should be at 50’s

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Doesn’t appear definite from below that Ricco will ride.
Ricc for nationals and possibly Tour
Riccardo Ricc, 24, considers Tour de France participation

Saunier Duval’s Riccardo Ricc could possibly line up for the Tour de France, July 5 to 27, if all goes well this Sunday at the Italian National Championships. The 24 year-old Italian, winner of two stages in the Giro d’Italia, will test his legs on the Bergamo course before deciding if he will form part of the Spain-based team at the World’s largest cycling race.

“I will be at the Italian Championships Sunday, and, if it goes well, I will also do the Tour,” confirmed Ricc to La Gazzetta dello Sport. He last rode the Tour de France in 2006 with then team-mate, Gilberto Simoni.

Ricc faced his home Grand Tour hoping to win the overall, but when the Giro d’Italia concluded on June 1 he was one place behind overall winner Alberto Contador. Instead of taking a vacation he competed in post-Giro d’Italia criteriums. “I did not go to Sardegna for vacation like I had planned,” he continued. “I remained at home in Modena and at different points along the Adriatico. I rode because for me to go on bike rides is like a vacation. I did ‘a Contador,’” he joked, regarding the Spaniard’s pre-Giro d’Italia training.

“Then I did about ten days of serious training and the sensations were good. I am not bad physically. Moreover, I have not fattened up one gram because when it is hot I don’t have hunger, I have only ice cream and cold drinks.”

He is not yet secure of his Tour de France participation. “I will see. If I am competitive at nationals then I will go to France. I want to do the Tour. … The Giro was good training in itself and I have intensified my training and lengthened the rides. I went and rode San Pellegrino in Alpe on Saturday, but it was not the first long ride, I have already done three in these days…”

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Did we mention Daniel Martin, Stephen Roche’s nephew, who won the Route de Sud a couple of days ago. Cracking performance. Jonathon Vaughters reckons he’ll be one of the main mountain men in years to come.
Christophe Moreau came second I think (remember him?).

I stopped watching cycling for years, disillusioned with it. Just getting back in to it now.

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Hope Ricco does ride in Le Tour - think the course will suit him as you say. Did you ever find out why he pulled out of the Tour of Switzerland? If it was because of an injury I’d be worried, if it was to save himself for the big race then that would be very encouraging. He didn’t need the practice as much as the others.

That’s an incredibly strong team CSC have. Cancellera, Voigt and O’Grady for stage wins and Sastre and the Schlecks for the overall win. Hard to know who will work for whom alright (subtle grammar correction there Larry) but you’d imagine that the Schlecks will have some loyalty to eachother. I like Sastre as a rider too, just not sure he has the overall class to win the whole thing.

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[quote=“Thrawneen”]Did we mention Daniel Martin, Stephen Roche’s nephew, who won the Route de Sud a couple of days ago. Cracking performance. Jonathon Vaughters reckons he’ll be one of the main mountain men in years to come.
Christophe Moreau came second I think (remember him?).

I stopped watching cycling for years, disillusioned with it. Just getting back in to it now.[/quote]

Yeah that was a cracking result. Irish Times called it the best result by an Irish cyclist since Earley won a stage in the Tour or something which may be overstating it a bit - think Deignan’s performances in the Vuelta and the Giro have been excellent.

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[quote=“therock67”]Hope Ricco does ride in Le Tour - think the course will suit him as you say. Did you ever find out why he pulled out of the Tour of Switzerland? If it was because of an injury I’d be worried, if it was to save himself for the big race then that would be very encouraging. He didn’t need the practice as much as the others.

That’s an incredibly strong team CSC have. Cancellera, Voigt and O’Grady for stage wins and Sastre and the Schlecks for the overall win. Hard to know who will work for whom alright (subtle grammar correction there Larry) but you’d imagine that the Schlecks will have some loyalty to eachother. I like Sastre as a rider too, just not sure he has the overall class to win the whole thing.[/quote]

Pretty sure Ricco didn’t withdraw because of injury. Seems strange that he would come in as a replacement for Merchante though I have just read his quotes straight after the Giro where he said that he wasn’t sure whether or not he would be riding in the tour. I’d say Ricco decided he wanted to ride and that is it.

Below is the Rabobank team for Tour de France
Laurens ten Dam (Nl)
Pieter Weening (Nl)
Sebastian Langeveld (Nl)
Koos Moerenhout (Nl)
Bram Tankink (Nl)
Joost Posthuma (Nl)
Denis Menchov (RUS)
Oscar Freire (Sp)
Juan Antonio Flecha (Sp)

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[quote=“larryduff”]I saw a clip on Setanta Sports News of that Shleck fall and it looked very bad. He just misjudged the width of a corner and toppled over a barrier going head first down into a ditch that fell downwards. His bike just lay there as other riders rode past.
[/quote]

Here is that fall
YouTube - Tour de Suisse 2008 - Stage 5 - Frank Schleck crash

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Saunier Duval-Scott swaps Tour captain with Ricc

Due to health problems that have hampered Jos Angel Gomez Marchante preparations and a strong racing desire by a refreshed Riccardo Ricc, Saunier Duval-Scott has decided to reshape its nine-man Tour de France team. Italy’s Ricc, winner of two stages and second overall at last month’s Giro d’Italia, will captain the team for the three-week race where he will have climbing ace Leonardo Piepoli along side for support.

“He asked if he could race the Italian Championships [June 29] and then, if [DS Joxean Fernndez] Matxin agreed, if he could do the Tour,” Saunier Duval-Scott directeur sportif Pietro Algeri said.

Instead of waiting until after his country’s nationals this weekend, the 24 year-old told his team that he wants to race the Tour on Tuesday morning, prompting the Spanish squad’s announcement.

Ricc has not officially raced since finishing second overall in the Giro d’Italia, where he also claimed the young rider classification and won the Agrigento and Tivoli stages. The Italian was slated to race the Tour de Suisse, June 14 to 22, but decided to stay home at the last minute.

“When the moment came to depart for the Tour de Suisse he said, ‘I don’t feel it; I really just want to sleep,’ and so on,” Algeri said. "I reassured him that he won’t lose his form, not in just a week’s time, and that if he is tired in the head, after two or three days rest, the desire to race will return.

“He told me that I was right, ‘I had two or three days of only sleeping and the desire came back. Everyday [after], I trained just a little bit more and just a little bit better,’” added Algeri.

Ricc reportedly performed a mountain test near his home in Formigine (Modena) and recorded more or less the same time that he had set going into the Giro d’Italia. Algeri stated that Ricc will evaluate his form after the first mountain stages and decide if he will ride for the classification or not.

“He said that he does not have a lot of big adversaries, maybe more at the Giro,” said Algeri.

The last and only time he raced the French Grand Tour was in 2006, when he finished 97th overall riding at the side of then team leader Gilberto Simoni. This time around it will be Ricc captaining the squad and will have the help of compatriot Piepoli, who crashed out of the Giro d’Italia.

“Piepoli is going well and has not really raced a lot race this season,” said Algeri. “‘It was a shame to leave the Giro and not do anything, and I want to do something at the Tour,’ Piepoli said.”

Juan Jos Cobo, David De La Fuente, Josep Jufr, Alberto Fernndez De La Puebla, Jess Del Nero and ngel Gmez Gmez will help fill out the team’s roaster, with the ninth spot going to Rubn Lobato, Aurlien Passeron or Rubens Bertogliati.

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Is Martin irish or french?

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Martin Earley is Irish.

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So is Daniel Martin, which is what Dan meant I presume.

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Oh right. Both Skybet and Ladbrokes have Ricco at 50/1. Do you think those odds are exceptional rock? He is 30/1 with Betfair and 5 or 6’s to come in the top three.

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50 to 1 with Ladbrokes is a smashing bet. If it’s 1/4 odds for a place and you have to place two bets to get him each way then you’re looking at 1/8th of 50/1 as the place bet only which is around 13/2. Plus you have your bet on him winning as well and he’s well capable of doing that.

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Explain that to me please again. Is it better I back him each way at 50/1 or place him? Does it make a difference if he finished second or third in each way/place? Each way basically means you have backed him to win and to place?

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Same odds for second and third - just check that they pay the same amount of places - i.e. is it top 3 or top 4.

Say you have a tenner to bet with.

Back him on Betfair at 6 to 1 with 10 euro (or is it 5 to 1 but say 6 for this example).

or back him on Ladbrokes at 50 to 1 with a fiver each way.

Three scenarios:

a) Ricco finishes nowhere - you lose your tenner

:cool: Ricco finishes second or third

With Betfair you get 10*6 = 60 Euro plus your tenner back so you end with €70

With Ladbrokes you get 5*50/4 = 62.50 plus your fiver back so you end with €67.50

c) Ricco wins

With Betfair you get zero

With Labrokes you get 550 = 250 and 550/4 = 62.50. So €322.50 incl. your money back.

In summary the returns are roughly the same if Ricco finishes second or third. But you effectively get a free bet on him winning the overall race by putting your bet on with Ladbrokes/Skybet.

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Right thanks. But if you have backed Ricco to come in top three in Tour and he wins with betfair surely you get 6/1 and get 70 back. Does place mean only second or third or does it include first also? Finally is each way basically backing someone to win and to place?

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Thanks Larry :cool:

can you confimr Roche and kelly are also Irish? What about Roy Keane? :cool: