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Le Tour de Carnage this year! so many stacks...

I Follow cycling pretty religiously all year round, and am not surprised at all by the riding of Sagan.. He has won alot of races this year, and he is just a genuine all around beast.. His nickname from his mountain biking days was The Terminator and the wattage he puts out on a bike is astronomical... Soon the team will shift its focus to Nibali/Basso, so he will have to be creative to get stage wins, but should be able to pick up lots of points when it matters..

Also, i disagree on Sagan's performance in grand tours.. he is not going for the overall YET, but in last seasons vuelta he won 3 stages (came 4th in the points ranking), and already has 2 in the Tour this year.. 5 stage wins in what 26 GT stages competed in? That is phenomenal!(for a 22 year old...) On the flat he wont beat the pure sprinters, but give the finish line just a hint of uphill and he will blow past them..

The biggest concern for Gripel, is can he hold on in the mountains? There is every chance on 1 of the mountain stages he finishes outside the cutoff time and has to abandon.. Hell, even Cav last year finished outside the cutoff twice i think it was, but was in a group of 20 so they were allowed to stay in.(a rule i dont like...) Also, the team is not dedicated to him, once they start climbing, he will be left to his own devices, and the team will be focusing on Van den Broeck and getting him a podium finish if not better.

Cadel and Wiggins are getting all the press, but with the amount of time trialling this year, i wouldnt be surprised if a dark horse got over the line.. My dark horse at the moment : Dennis Menchov. He is already a 3 time GT winner, and has focused this season solely on the TDF and is in great form at the moment.

Cancellara is a guy i would love to see win the overall... With all the TT this year he can make up some serious time, but unfortunately, he will fall out the back as soon as we get into the mountains :D

It was disappointing to see Kittel struggle and have to retire in stage 5 due to illnesss.. i was really looking to see how he would go 1 on 1 after his early season form. Just a damn shame :(

honestly would not be surprised after looking at the profiles, if sagan wins both stages on the weekend..

It wont be until wednesday-thursday next week, until we know who the real contenders are, and the pretenders!

So far, the racing has been great.. hopefully once we get into the business end of things, it will get even better :D

Go Cadel!

more than 1 if the rumors are correct

David Zabriskie -Garmin
George Hincapie- BMC
Levi Leipheimer - omega pharma quickstep
Christian Vandevelde- garmin

Jonathon Vaughters, whilst not racing, manages the Garmin Sharp team is also mentioned

skyhook will know. who is the american garmin rider who is testifying against armstrong?

Far out that is as comprehensive as you can get. Have a ball mate.

holy crap. all 4.

i was wrong... sagan can win in the flat out sprint! That crash really tore the peleton to shreds, and with Griepel injured, Sagan was to strong.

I think Green Edge's tactics are wrong.. They are trying to control the peleton for the sprint from to far out, and by the time they get to start the sprint they are shot and Goss is looking to grab another wheel.

Tonights finish is probably tougher than i first thought, it will be a real test for Sagan to be amongst it at the end, but with his mountain bike back ground, i would expect him to be there or there abouts.

It is the perfect stage for guys like Voeckler, Gilbert, Valverde,, ALbasini to have a crack at a stage win.. There are alot of big names (like those above) who have lost signifigant time up until this point, so i would expect to see a hell of a lot of attacking in this stage, as some of these guys attempt to salvage their tours with a Stage Win!

There should be a new wearer of the Yellow Jersey by the end of todays stage i would think.

If all things were equal, Valverde/Voeckler would be my 2 top tips for tonight, but injuries could hold them back, so my tip goes to Gilbert or Sagan.

Wow just watched the highlights from last night full on carnage! Intersting to see how everyone goes today ffirst day of real climbs especially after a bunch hit the deck last night.

Your tipping Sagan on top of a category 1 climb? As I have said before don't really know what I'm talking about but my tip will be Nibali for tonight.

Remember, Sagan is a former U21 Mountain bike world champ... The kid can climb, and it is not a massive climb to the end... it is steep, but not huge and i think he can hold on :D

I think there are better climbers than Nibali.. Wouldnt be surprised to see 1 of the Movistar/Vacansoleil riders beat out Nibali.

Expect Schleck to attack tonight after losing 2 mins yesterday :D

Wow it is sad to see Danielson and Hejsedal abandon the race. Garmin have very little left now, seeing as Farrar has been involved in heaps of crashes and is feeling the effects of them.

I can't believe they are actually doing the pace-making

Garmin have certainly been in the wars in this 1, but damn so has nearly everyone else!

Sky were unbelievable last night. I can not believe how quickly they dropped so many of their rivals.

Cadel showed how good a rider he is. It was 4 on 1 and he still managed to be in the mix at the end. Not only that, i think if the climb was longer he would have dropped Wiggins. Cadel looked comfy at the end, whilst wiggo looked like he was working hard to try and keep up.

Tonights stage will be a bore. I thought the profile would be perfect for a guy like Edvald Boassen Hagen to have a crack, but with Wiggins in yellow, he will be sitting on the front of the peleton controlling the race for Sky.

Another stage for the puncheur, but the downhill-flat finish opens it up. This could be 1 for Goss.

anyone see wiggo's press conference today??? absolute GOLD! If he was an AFL player he would have released a public apology by now and be suspended for at least 2 weeks :D Google it and have a watch if you havent seen it, PRICELESS :D

Time trials are the 1 thing i hate about cycling.. just find em boring.. However, tonights should be a cracker.. Your uusual suspsets Cancellara, Tony Martin will be going hard for the stage win, but you can guarantee Wiggo and Cadel will be going even harder!

I think there will be less focus on the actual winner tonite, and more focus on what effect it has on the race for overall honors!

Would love to see Boassen Hagen win it, for no other reason than he is my favorite rider in the pack...