Who's Gonna Win 2019 Tour de France?

Who's Gonna Win 2019 Tour de France?

Fuglsang

Nibali

Thomas

Bernal

Bardet

Quintana

Pinot

Uran

Porte

Kelderman

 

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Tyler Hamilton - The Secret Race

I know it's late but I've just read this book and I think it deserves a review.
I read this book ages after Armstrong's confession and everything that followed.
It may sound weird but this book is about truth and guts, that's why I loved it so much.
The book follows with incredible precision the career of Hamilton, a talented American rider.
The beginning is very interesting, pointing out the difference between the European and the American way of conceiving cycling.
Once Hamilton is hired by US Postal the book become a fantastic roller coaster between the feelings
of a human being, the passion of a young talented rider and, in the end, the wisdom of man.
The book could be classified in two different ways: as a scientific treatises, describing meticulously the doping practices, or as a coming-of-age story.
I prefer the second one. I think the meticulous description of the doping practices is an important part of the path of formation described in the book.
The book contains also a very interesting part about the preparation of Armstrong trial and the political decision to dismiss it.
Nevertheless, I think that what makes this book a Great book is the story of the man, of the rider, of a passionate kid that we could have been if we would have been more talented.

Cycling Songs: Adesso Pedala - Marco Pantani

In order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the legendary double of Il Pirata, I want to share this song to remember him as the polyhedric champion he was!
Enjoy your holidays with the soundtrack of your summer:

Le Tour de Merde

"Ce ci n'est pas une pipe", said Magritte.
I say: "This is not a cycling race".
I don't think this grotesque parade with such a shitty organization deserves any further comment.

The Worst Race in the World

It is hard to understand the decision of the organizers to exclude Froom from le Tour de France.
I know that Froome was born in Africa and French people don't want immigrants but this it too much.
I don't even want to believe that this is due to his Salbutamol case.
It is important to clarify that Froome did not use doping, He was just found an excess of a permitted medicine in his blood and everything has still to be proved.
Froome made history at the Giro d'Italia and he was never found doped during the race, what are we talking about?
Loads of French riders have taken part to the Tour the France with worse doping cases pending on them.
The truth is that French organizers are scared of Froome. Nevertheless, for the love of cycling I've found a solution that will satisfy everybody!
The Tour de France should become the new French National Championship.
In this way, there will be just French riders with 21 French stage winners and the final classification will be won by a French too. The end of the Tour de France will be the new French national day and everybody will be happy.
Who cares about the rest of the world? We are French after all!

Il Lombardia

What a race! Nibali won again Il Lombardia and brought Bahrain Merida its first Monument.
The race was incredibly hard and nothing more that the words of Pinot can summarize how it went: "I think Nibali is the most complete rider of the Peloton".
Despite all the critics received during the season, the Squalo came out with an incredible victory.
In the interview after the race he has already set his new objective: Innsbruck world championships.
Seeing how these last Italian classics or para-classics went, with the victory of Uran Uran, Nibali, Visconti, Geniez and with first class riders as Pinot, Quintana and Alaphilippe fighting in the up front, next year's World Champs are going to be memorable.
Nevertheless we have a season to watch and comment in which we will still enjoy Sagan wearing its natural outfit.
Stay tuned.

La Vuelta of the Champions

What a Vuelta!
I am speechless in front of these champions attacking every day in the most spectacular Grand Tour of the last ten years.
Contador attacked every day, looking for a big victory and never giving up. He took a really deserved victory on the hardest climb of Europe.
He has secured his place among the legends of cycling, that will be happy to welcome him in their exclusive club.
Froome has proven to be able to fight and win also in one of the strongest Grand Tour I've ever seen and not just on the boring flat Tour de France.
I really hope that the way Contador rode his last Vuelta will inspire other riders and make them more aggressive. You have to risk to gain the place in the Legends Club and Contador proved it 'til the last day of his brilliant career.
Will Froome be the next? He still needs a Giro! Stay tuned!

La Vuelta 2017 Pt. 2

La Vuelta 2017 has been fantastic so far and, with one week to go, the race is still unpredictable.
Froome is struggling to keep his leader jersey as he never did before.
If he will bring the red jersey to Madrid I think this would be maybe his best victory of a Grand Tour.
He has been fighting since the first day, proving that he is able to ride also far away from the flat Tour de France stages.
In case of win, he would complete his first double and he would definitively enter the legends' club.
He would be remembered as one of the most successful Grand Tour riders.
La Vuelta made us discover also a new talented rider named Lopez that is literally bossing everyone when the road climbs.
Will he continue is incredible growth? Has Astana found  a new captain? Will Aru leave Astana? What is the strategy of the team?
We can still discover a lot, a new unpredictable week of Vuelta is starting.
Stay tuned!

La Vuelta 2017 Pt. 1

My impression after the first week of Vuelta is that we are seeing an incredible Grand Tour, that is growing year by year.
La Vuelta, in the future, could become the best Grand Tour, if the organizers of the Giro and the Tour will not put aside their arrogance and their presumption.
This is happening in a huge way at the Tour de France, while the Giro is still safe, due to the incredible Italian geography that offers everyday nice ideas for clever riders.
In this scenario, la Vuelta, presenting the best riders and a nice route, is able to give the fans back the emotions they did not prove watching le Tour de France.
Talking about what's happening on the road, nothing seems changed: Quick- Step Floors and Froome are bossing the race, but they have to struggle to maintain their leadership and this makes everything more interesting.
Vamos!

August Cycling

May not be the green jersey of le Tour de France but it is always a nice jersey to wear in the land of cycling.
Sagan is dominating another race, proving that he is enjoying his good shape.
I don't understand why the team didn't let Sagan defend his European title.
That is a pity but also the proof that this new race has still a long way ahead to become a "classic" of the cycling calendar.
Kwiatkowski took an incredible victory in San Sebastian, enriching the best year of his career.
It is nice to see that the main characters of the month of August are almost the same of the spring classics, just Van Avermaet is taking a longer break.
The upcoming Vuelta is a show not to miss.
It presents a parterre of contenders better than the one at le Tour de France and with roads full of surprises, perfect for clever riders.
It is gonna be great, stay tuned.

Rider of the Tour de France 2017

Congratulations Froome, you made it!
The Impressionists have elected you as rider of the Tour de France 2017.
You can say what you want but how you can say he is not a champion? In the end he always win and this is what matters.
Poker of Tours and rider of the Tour 2017, what else do you need?

Answer The Survey And Find Out Who Will Be The Rider Of The Tour de France 2017

Who is the rider of the Tour de France 2017?

Kittel

Matthews

Barguil

Bardet

Froome

Uran

Yates

Calmejane

Aru

Landa

 

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How Long Will This Charade Last?

The jurors continue taking shameful decisions trying to help French riders win at the Tour de France.
Bouhanni did something definitely worse than Sagan and he is still in the race, Bardet took a bottle just like Uran Uran, Bennet and Pauwels but the Jury "did not see".
My question is: is this a World Tour race or the aim of the organizers is just to have a ridiculous French parade?
The race, so far, make me leaning towards the second option.

How Many Riders Will Arrive In Paris?

This is the question murmured on the roads of le Tour de France.
One of the most boring Tour de France I can remember is being sadly animated just by bad crashes.
Nevertheless, they are part of cycling, as mechanical problems.
That's why I think that the weeping Froome should not have complained with Aru about his attack.
Following the policy of Froome I don't understand why the Tour is continuing on Tuesday with another stage. We should suspend the Tour and wait 30 days 'til Porte is fully recovered and ready to battle again. Ridiculous.
I don't even understand why the other contenders did not help Aru in the only true attack of the day at the yellow jersey. They preferred to wait for Froome and to be humiliated by him.
Condator is a former champion that is facing his natural decline and Quintana is still recovering from one of the hardest Giro of all time.
They had a chance, they missed it.

Is Still Worth Watching The Tour De France?

The answer is No.
The Tour de France is generally quite a boring race in itself, It is full of flat stages and the climbs are always the same five every year.
What makes the Tour de France a great race is that the most iconic champions are at the start of this Grand Tour and animate it with their talent and their class.
When Valverde is out due to a bad crash and the World Champion is out due to a more than questionable decision of an unprepared jury, why should We still watch this piddling race?

P.S. If organizers are happy just with French victories, they should just decide to turn the Tour de France into the new French national championship.

Tour de France 2017 Pt. 1

The same old Tour is on and nothing seems to have changed.
Froome is again the big favourite and the other teams are already complaining about Team Sky's tactics and materials.
This time under investigation are the skinsuits used by the team during the opening Time Trial that, with their "vortex generator", seem to have provided the riders a notable time gain.
The saddest event is the crash of Valverde in the first stage, the Tour looses one of the most spectacular riders of the peloton. I really hope this won't be the end of the career of one of the last legend of this sport.
One of the most interesting riders to watch out during the first part of this Tour is Phinney, the American seems finally healed and in a good shape. No doubt about his talent, now I'm curious to see what he can do.
Until the stage arrival at la Planche des Belles Filles we can just enjoy watching Sagan that tries to win every stage.
Welcome back to the same old Tour de France.

Rider of the Month : June

Congratulations Jakub, you did it!
Fuglsang is the first Danish rider that triumphs in this special classification.
He dominated the Critérium du Dauphiné and is ready to lead Astana in the upcoming Tour de France.
He is a solid and complete rider and can find in Aru something more than a helper.
The strategy of the multi-captain is one of the best but, so far, there is just one team able to do it tadily and it is Team Quick-Step Floors during the classics campaign.
Nevertheless, it is two years in a row that the rider who won the Criterium du Dauphiné, in late July, won the Tour de France too, will the tradition continue?

Italian National Championships

I've seen so many races during this weekend of National Championships all around the world and the one that impressed me the most was the Italian one.
Aru won like a champion with one of the best attacks I've seen this season.
He attacked on the last climb and never slowed down, always pushing hard on his bike.
Aru's cycling style is particular but fantastic to see in a day like yesterday (extremely hot) and on the hardest climbs.
He is an emotional rider, every stroke of the pedal  is like a step towards his personal redemption.
There is the shadow of Scarponi on Aru's victory, he rode with the jersey that his friend gave him while they were training in Spain. This is cycling.
If Aru maintain this shape during the Tour de France, I'am sure it will be a great show.
It is a long time we don't have a Champion so close to the people, with a so expressive way of pedaling.

Pre - Tour De France Races

 

What a nice final for the Route du Sud 2017! Scully won the last stage after a thrilling sprint on the racetrack of Novaro.
The Route du Sud gave us great signals about the team Cannondale-Drapac, can we finally expect to see something good at le Tour de France from this World Tour team? I really hope so.
Tour of Slovenia and Tour de Suisse proved that the Team Bora-Hansgrohe is ready to lead their first Tour de France.
Nevertheless, I'am worried because I see so many pretenders for a stage to win in good shape, but I don't see a proper parterre of contenders for the victory of the Tour de France general classification.
I really hope it was all tactics so far but with such a great Giro d'Italia, this year, many Grand Tours riders choose the Giro instead of the Tour.
It is going to be a strange Tour de France this year, but we'll be ready to comment everything is going to happen.

Critérium du Dauphiné

One of the most famous pre-Tour races is over, but I don't think we could collect real info about the riders that will battle for the yellow jersey.
Porte fought hard during the last stage to win the race but he did it just due to his position in the General Classification and because a champion in such a position can't do in a different way.
Nevertheless I don't think this is enough to make statements and predictions about the upcoming Tour de France.
In my opinion, at the end of this Critérium du Dauphiné there are three notable events:

1) The great victory of Fuglsang and Team Astana that after really hard days are trying to rebuilt a dramatic (not in terms of results) season. The team fought harder than ever and, in the end, won.
It is really hard to comment a victory like this, so we can just enjoy it and think about it.

2) The birth of two young talent: a sprinter and a climber. Bauhaus and Bouwman took both their first World Tour win and seems to have promised us great shows in the future.
The victory of Bauhaus is the top of a maturation process that passed through a great Giro d'Italia. Will Bauhaus be the next German great sprinter?

3) Valverde is immortal and is one of the best riders of all times. He is one of the few rider (Sagan is another for example) than when takes part to a race you can be sure it will be an exciting one and you won't forget he is in the race. He is 37 and he is never complaining, this is a great example for so many riders that claim to be the best. and pretend so much.

See you soon to see what happened in the Swiss corner of the pre-Tour preparation.