Just back from a week away without tv or a decent mobile signal so spend yesterday having a full on Tdf catch up day.

Great race - made even better by the fact that the favourites appear to be very close together in form - although I'll wait for the first proper mountain stage before I decide for sure if that is the case.

So what do I think so far?

Proper sprint stages - Cav should have 3 wins by now. But congratulations should go to the organisers for putting in some great 'classic' style stages in place.

Crashes - I think this is yet another example of riders not being able to think for themselves. It's all well and good DS's insisting their guys get to the front.....but sometimes there isn't enough room to do so. Is it not better to wait for the parcours to improve before making a move rather than trying to thread a hole in a needle that does not exist? Obviously I'm not putting the Flecha/Hoogerland or Vino/Dabriske and VDB crashes into this category.

Wiggins - Such a shame for him to go out - we'll never know exactly how well he was going to do here but with others crashing out he had a chance to equal or even better 2009. But his crash is yet another example of riders not having the race craft to find a space where they can't get into trouble.

Predictions

GC - Too early to say, Evans looks like he might get nearby, Contador isn't as sharp as he was at the Giro and the Schlecks are sending me to sleep. I'm hoping Voeckler can do the impossible and hold on although I know that is highly unlikely.

Team Sky to win at least one other stage - hopefully Thomas who is looking awesome.

Oh dear Cav - allowing a winner of sh@t races to beat you in a sprint.

Don't think he'll make the same mistake today but Greipel has looked very good in two sprints now.

His intentions originally were to concentrate on the Olympics in 2012. I remember reading this in Cycling Weekly at the beginning of this year. That's why the rumours of Cav signing made more sense as the team could ride for him in 2012 with Wiggo off doing his thing.

This year may have changed things for Wiggo though. He's come out and said that he might do the Olympics TT instead of track citing 'tickets' as the problem.

Actually what I think has happened is that he has found he is a pretty good road rider and a decent team leader.

He came into this Tour saying that 'The Tdf is unfinished business for him'. Well surely it's even more 'unfinished business' now?

On twitter this morning/last night he has confirmed he will be riding the Vuelta to prepare for the Worlds TT. This does mean however that the Wiggo friendly route Tour of Britain will now be without Wiggo.

What Haggis said, this article also seems to suggest Wiggins may opt to stick with the road rather than a return to the track: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/ju ... h-olympics

What Haggis said, this article also seems to suggest Wiggins may opt to stick with the road rather than a return to the track: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/ju ... h-olympics

Haggis Fax wrote:Crashes - I think this is yet another example of riders not being able to think for themselves. It's all well and good DS's insisting their guys get to the front.....but sometimes there isn't enough room to do so. Is it not better to wait for the parcours to improve before making a move rather than trying to thread a hole in a needle that does not exist? Obviously I'm not putting the Flecha/Hoogerland or Vino/Dabriske and VDB crashes into this category. Couple of interesting tweets over the last few days: http://twitter.com/#!/GeraintThomas86 All this talk of rider safety... It comes down to us riders!! There are some right muppets in the peloton, even some GC riders!! http://twitter.com/#!/millarmind Following yesterday's stage: About 10km into race we had first big crash. Big wide straight road, smooth surface, DRY, and UPHILL. Still we crash. Embarrassing now. Haggis Fax wrote:Team Sky to win at least one other stage - hopefully Thomas who is looking awesome. He is. Maybe Uran on one of the mountain stages? Not a threat on GC so they'll let him go with a break and he's capable of climbing.

Haggis Fax wrote:Crashes - I think this is yet another example of riders not being able to think for themselves. It's all well and good DS's insisting their guys get to the front.....but sometimes there isn't enough room to do so. Is it not better to wait for the parcours to improve before making a move rather than trying to thread a hole in a needle that does not exist? Obviously I'm not putting the Flecha/Hoogerland or Vino/Dabriske and VDB crashes into this category. Couple of interesting tweets over the last few days: http://twitter.com/#!/GeraintThomas86 All this talk of rider safety... It comes down to us riders!! There are some right muppets in the peloton, even some GC riders!! http://twitter.com/#!/millarmind Following yesterday's stage: About 10km into race we had first big crash. Big wide straight road, smooth surface, DRY, and UPHILL. Still we crash. Embarrassing now. Haggis Fax wrote:Team Sky to win at least one other stage - hopefully Thomas who is looking awesome. He is. Maybe Uran on one of the mountain stages? Not a threat on GC so they'll let him go with a break and he's capable of climbing.

Thats why I've stuck £2 on him to win today. Mind you - I've also got £2 on Chavanel and Cunego.

I know todays stage is meant to be all about the GC guys but I just can't see them sticking their necks out.......too much just yet. My prediction is a move by Contador which will be marked by Schleck jnr & snr/ Cadel will make a move and then they'll just mark each other. Breakaway by someone (hopefully by one of the above) to win.

Great ride by Thomas, shame he couldn't hold on.
More time lost by Contador.
Anyone watch "Chasing Legends" last night? I've recorded it.

Well - that was £6 lost.......similar bets today on Chavanel, Moncoutie and Uran.

Great ride by Geraint Thomas yesterday. He's looking like a proper road rider on this tour. Still think he has a stage win in him. Maybe today would have been a better day for him on a breakaway? Maybe he still has enough in the tank to go for it?

I still don't think the big faves stuck their necks out too much yesterday. Predictable attacks from the Schlecks but unpredictably being Frank who gained the most time.

I'm not entirely certain whether Contador is playing things up a bit and is waiting for a more decisive day to launch a proper attack. I think he knows that the Schlecks are not going to do a 'proper attack' (maybe they don't need to). Perhaps all he needs is a few days easy racing (he's calling today a transitional stage!!) and a change of blood and he'll be back and ready to go.

Saw Chasing Legends last night. Really enjoyed it - best cycling film I've seen so far (but then the only other cycling films I've only seen are Road to Roubaix and American Flyers).

So the 2nd and final rest day is here and I still don't know who is going to win.

Hoping and praying that Tommy Voeckler can do it as I think it would be th best thing to happen to the Tdf in years.

Cadel winning would be great for my bank balance as I had a small wager on him (and Basso) before the race started. He will win if they all keep marking each other as he is the best time trialler of the top 4-5.

Is Contador bluffing? Looks to me like he can mark just about every move Andy Schleck makes. Wednesday/Thursday/Friday in the Alps will tell us what is happening. I've a funny feeling that the top guys are just going to keep looking at each other until Thursday/Friday.

Andy Shleck. He needs to make a move to show he deserves to win the race. I'm getting rather bored of his pretend attacks whilst looking back.

Bradley Wiggins. If Cadel Evans wins this thing how sick is he going to be? In all seriousness if Cadel takes over yellow in Grenoble then I'm 100% certain that with Brad there he would have won the whole thing.

So - what do we think today? Don't think any of the GC guys are going to do anything today so a day for the breakaway? Not seen if one has formed yet but I think Geraint Thomas will get into it today and win.