Posted on 07/02/2010 11:30:15 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy
Go ahead and start posting your favorite links for live action, previews, reviews, etc, here.
I will make the initial post for the Prologue w/ graphics late tonight or very early tomorrow (Sat, Jul 3) morning.
Looks like it is going to be a GREAT Tour!!!
FReepmail me to get on or off the 2010 TdF Ping List.
Running from Saturday July 3rd to Sunday July 25th 2010, the 97th Tour de France will be made up of 1 prologue and 20 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,642 kilometres.
These stages have the following profiles:
•1 prologue,
•9 flat stages,
•6 mountain stages and 3 summit finishes,
•4 medium mountain stages,
•1 individual time-trial stage (52 km).
Distinctive aspects of the race
•le Tourmalet climbed twice,
•a hint of the Classics and cobblestones,
•2 rest days,
•25 level 1, level 2 and highest level mountain passes.
11 new stage towns
Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, Bourg-de-Péage, Bourg-lès-Valence, Gueugnon, Longjumeau, Pamiers, Pauillac, Sisteron, Station des Rousses, Tournus, Wanze (Belgium).
Sucks that I’m not unemployed like I was last July.
If I’m correct TV starts 8:30am pdt on VERSUS?
Thanks, WS! Versus.com will have live coverage online as well.
Ping for later....
The versus site this year is extremely difficult to navigate - at least to me.It took me a half hour to track down the TdF TV broadcast schedule page.
WHOO HOO! Here we go!
Yes indeed, Mom MD. Really looking forward to it!
thanks for ping & the background material!
should be an interested few weeks
PROLOGUE (ITT) - Rotterdam > > > Rotterdam - 8.9 km
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Mountain Passes & Hills
(None)
PROLOGUE (ITT) - Rotterdam > > > Rotterdam - 8.9 km
Saturday, July 3, 2010
June 25 post:
The 2010 Tour de France like the last Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana starts in the Netherlands. On Saturday July 3rd, a 8.9 km prologue through downtown Rotterdam kicks off the 97th Tour de France.
It will be a relatively easy time trial course with a limited number of turns and just two bumps including the crossing of the Erasmus bridge (Erasmusbrug), a cable stayed bridge linking the north and south halves of Rotterdam. The course starts and finishes on the south half near Zuiderpark.
This is a course for pure power so Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara is the logical choice to win the first day and the first Yellow Jersey as he has done in the past. HTC-Columbia's Tony Martin has beaten Cancellara in two time trials this year and was just three seconds back at the slick, technical prologue at Tour de Suisse early in June.
Levi Leiphemer says, "We are all racing for second place."
(Stage Preview - steephill.tv; All else - letour.com)
PROLOGUE (ITT) - Rotterdam > > > Rotterdam - 8.9 km
Saturday, July 3, 2010
ROTTERDAM
• Once a stage town
• Population: 600,000
• Second most important city in the Netherlands
The Tour Start from Rotterdam marks the comeback of the prologue time-trial, not included in the race programme for the last two years. It first appeared on the itinerary of the 1967 Tour, won by Spanish rider José Maria Errandonea. The fastest short-distance specialists of prologue time-trials were Bernard Hinault (5 wins), Eddy Merckx, Thierry Marie and Chris Boardman (3 wins each). In the 1994 Tour the British rider broke the fastest record with an average speed of 55,152 km/h.
With the Grand Start of the Tour de France, Rotterdam confirms its reputation of sportiest city in The Netherlands. The city’s record is impressive: the yearly international Fortis Marathon, the Bavaria City Racing with Formula 1 cars, the Red Bull Air Race, the final game of the Euro 2000 football championship won by France, the Davis Cup and the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, the Champions Trophy Hockey, to name just a few… With three professional football clubs, including the famous Feyenoord, Rotterdam boasts a great football tradition. And since top-level sports could not exist without mass sports, the people of Rotterdam can choose between more than 400 associations to do sports. Rotterdam has also proved several times that it is the Dutch city of events. Large sports and cultural events such as the Ortel Summer Carnival, the World Port Day, the International Film Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Dunya Ortel Festival and the national celebration of New Year’s Eve on the Boompjes Avenue attract large crowds.
ROTTERDAM
Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe and one of the main ports worldwide. Located in the Province of South Holland, on the banks of the River Meuse, one of the rivers of the Rhine and Meuse delta, the city boasts about 600,000 inhabitants while the greater urban area boasts about 1.2 million people. The name of Rotterdam dates back to the 13th century with the construction of a “dam” on the Rotte River. The construction of the Nieuwe Waterweg (new waterway) in 1875 marked the rapid development of the city. 420 million tons of goods are transported every year through the port, generating 80,000 direct jobs for the inhabitants of Rotterdam and 200,000 jobs for people living outside the city limits. Rotterdam can also pride itself in the cultural diversity of its population with 174 nationalities and is the first large European city that elected a mayor with Moroccan origins, Mr. Ahmed Aboutaleb. The inhabitants have the reputation of working hard, but also of being generous people.
What time would the start be... Seattle time?
By Paul Sherwen
July 2, 2010
The prologue has always been used as a showcase and this year is no exception as it shows off the ultra modern backdrop of downtown Rotterdam -- the fourth largest sea port in the World and the largest in Europe.
Painted against this backdrop will be the best bike riders in the world and some of the greatest specialists at this "race of truth". At just inside of 9km its length will be ideal for the biggest specialist in the world at the discipline, Fabian Cancellara, who will want to continue with his stellar season.
With the difficult first three days of the Tour through Belgium and Holland, the Swiss Olympic champion at the time trial would love to grab the lead and hold on to it for the first week.
The route is mainly flat and straight boulevards, which lends itself to Cancellara as a rider who can use the impressive power that helped him win Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix this year. However, he is not the only specialist at this race against the clock.
If Cancellara is the man to beat, then you have to think about Bradley Wiggins on the new Sky Team as a real challenger. He has been Olympic champion in the individual pursuit and has prepared specifically for this stage.
Personally, I cannot discount Alberto Contador who will be up to show those who wish to challenge him over the first three dangerous stages that he's ready to take them on.
Of the other challengers, the Schleck brothers will want to make sure that they don't lose too much time in their least favorite side of the sport. As always, despite the beauty of the race of the clock it gives a clear indication of who's ready and who isn't.
Roll on tomorrow. Ohh - and don't forget to wish the men in Orange, the Dutch "footie" team good luck tonight in their World Cup tie against Brazil. It'll be a tough one, too.
Oh, wait... I think I have an App for that.
Hi, irishtenor.
Versus’ coverage begins at 11:30 AM EDT tomorrow, ‘bout 8:30 in your ‘hood.
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