This is a guide for the General Classification (GC) contenders of the 2011 Tour de France. For most of the riders on this list, the GC battle at the Tour is the primary goal for the season. These riders have made tremendous sacrifices in an effort for a high finish at the Tour.  In addition to the riders, results at the Tour play a large part in determine the success or failure of a team’s season.

While there are two big favorites, it is likely to be more than just a two person race this year. Contador is coming off of a strenuous Giro and Andy Schleck has displayed less than stellar form in his warm up races for the Tour. Cadel Evans, Robert Gesink, Alexander Vinokourov, Sammy Sanchez and others should make for a great race.

The Tour route this year only has 41 km of individual time trials which may favor the climbers. Teams chasing the points classification will have to put more emphasis on the intermediate sprints this year as they have increased in points.  This might make it difficult for GC riders on teams such as Garmin and HTC to get much support.  Saxo Bank, Leopard-Trek, Astana, Rabobank, Sky, and others will likely make their GC riders the primary focus of the Tour.

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Cyclingnews has a short article on the 2010 Tour and how it will be difficult to get an invitation to the tour.  The article quotes Christian Prudhomme stating new teams like Radio Shack, Sky, and the new line-up at BMC making it a difficult decision to choose among qualified teams.

What confused me was the discussion of the ProTour.  The article says that there are 16 teams guaranteed an entry into the tour because of the ProTour.  It then says:

Squads not given an automatic berth include Radio Shack, Team Sky, BMC Racing, Vacansoleil, Saur Sojasun, Katyusha, Garmin-Transitions, Cervélo and Skil-Shimano.

I don't understand why Radio Shack, Sky, Katyusha, and Garmin are not guaranteed entry into the Tour if they are in the ProTour.  Even if only the top 16 teams from the previous year are guaranteed entry into the Tour, Katyusha ended the year 10th and Garmin 11th in the team rankings.

In the article Prudhomme indicates they will invite 20 to 22 teams.  If anyone can shed some light on the automatic entries that would be helpful - of course, helpful to begin the speculation of who will get invited to the Tour and who  will not.

I love this time of year in cycling - it is taken so seriously.  Does any other sport have this kind of yearly devotion?

Cyclingnews is reporting that the velodrome for Paris-Roubaix is double booked!? Oh my!

Enjoy

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Can someone explain how Basso is getting around the 4 year Pro-tour team ban.  Is Liquigas planning to drop from the Pro-tour or did the ban not apply since he was not proven to have taken drugs just to have planned to take drugs?

I would think that the four your pro-tour team ban would also prevent Vinokourov from joining Astana.  Isn't the ban from riding for a Pro-tour team different from the ban applied by the cycling federation of the rider's country?

Who is Going to Win?

So who will win this thing? There are six riders within a minute of the lead. There are three big stages left: a mountain stage with two HC climbs and a down hill finish, a stage with three HC climbs and an up hill finish, and a 53 km time trial. It is possible that time could be gained on Thursday with category 2 and 4 climbs right before the finish, but I think its unlikely.

So that's what we have: three stages and six contenders. Here's my take of the favorites:

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This is a short article with some great photos.  With this kind of help, maybe I could be a pro cyclists.

I need several more words to finish this post, so here is a link to some cool wheels I bought about a week ago.  I've only ridden them 3 times so far, but they are an improvement over the stock shimano wheels that came with my bike.  At 1370 grams, they are lights for the money and the hubs seems to spin well.

Normally this time of year, I can't wait for the tour to start.  This year, I'm much less interested.

I read this site, cyclingnews, velownews and other regularly. I watch all the races I can and ride regularly. It might sound like I'm a fan of cycling, but I don't have much interest in the upcoming Tour. I'm sure at least some of my lack of interest is because there are only four US riders in the race.  No Levi and no Horner.

I should explain that I did follow the Giro this year even though no US riders were likely to win. To me the Giro is more interesting because they have a wider variety of stages. In addition to mountain top finishes and sprint finishes, they also have small hills near the finish so classic riders like Bettini can contest the stage.

At the Tour this year, there will be a small number of riders who can win. Evans, the consensus favorite and second place rider from last year, is not an attacking rider. He'll ride tempo or follow wheels to the end. There is no team time trial. There's no US rider that will challenge either in the sprints nor in the mountain stages. After all this, the best stage rider in the world right now, Contador, won't be at the Tour.

I might watch the Tour to see how much Valverde has improved as a grand tour rider, see how well the Schlecks do, or to watch the Rico show. While these might seem like good reasons, they are not overly compelling.

As a fan, I'd rather have another Giro and skip the tour this year or maybe cycling.tv will broadcast the Cascade Classic.

Felt has a new AR bike that incorporates some of the aero traits of time trial and track bikes for a road bike.  I think Cervelo has used some aero designs in ttheir bikes as well.

I'm curious as to why this hasn't been done before.  Aero wheels can be heavier, but faster - why not the bike?

Velonews has a picture of the new Felt AR here. It appears to me that the bike is pictured with Mavic wheels even though Slipstream/Garmin is sponsored by Zipp.

How much sympathy must I show for a rider's illness or injury before I complain about the effect it will have on my VDS team?

It looks like Michael Rogers has the Epstein Barr virus and will be out for 8 weeks (four weeks of no training).  I'm sure it is rather frustrating to be constantly tired and unable to train, but at least he now knows the problem.  Hang in there Mick!

On the VDS note, I thought Rogers was going to do really well this season.  Last year he was looking on really good form until his crash at the Tour.  I had some hopes pinned on him for the grand tours.

Due to various influences (including reading this site) I have begun commuting to work on my bike several times a week.  I am commuting on my only bike which is a 2007 Lemond Versailles bought to keep up with my cycling friends on group rides.

I am considering buying a less expensive bike to avoid punishing my Lemond too much and as a general excuse to get another bike.  Some people on this site seem to like the aluminum Cannondale bikes and I wouldn't mind getting an aluminum bike.

In looking at the bikes, I noticed that Cannondale still has a level top tube while most of the other bikes now have a sloping top tube.  Can someone explain the difference?  Also, I saw a specialized Allez at the bike shop that looked extremely intriguing.

Slipstream's schedule is posted.  If this is an accurate schedule (which I assume they have invites to most of these races), why would a team pay the money to join the Pro Tour?

It looks like they are going to miss Amstel Gold, Romandie, and Tour of Switzerland, but that is about it.  They will be in all the other big races the first half of the season including the Giro (and maybe the Tour).  The will be in Milano-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix, LBL, Paris-Nice, etc.

If I were running a team, I would consider saving my Pro Tour dues and the other obligations that go with it and staying as a pro continental team.

If Slipstream is able to race almost all of the high profile races without joining the Pro Tour, I wonder if others will follow the same format.

I read this interview yesterday and I keep thinking about it.

Michael Ball is the owner of Rock & Republic clothing.  In Chris Horner's interview on Pez he says that he nearly signed with Rock and liked what Michael Ball was doing.  They have some big names coming next year such as Victor Hugo Pena, Freddy Rodrigues, and Santiago Botero. He has Frankie Andreu as a director.

I have a few questions?  Is it me, or does he sound like a jerk in the interview to others as well?  

Is this an accurate portrayal of Ball?  Maybe it was a bad day for him?

How did he get such good riders to sign?  Why would riders like Horner considering riding for him?  What is he doing that is innovative?  Throwing money at a team is not innovative?

I'd really like to know what others think.  I want to cheer for upcoming teams that are building the sport of cycling, but I'm finding it hard to wish this team success.

Pez has the first part of a two part interview with Chris Horner.

They discuss what team options he had for 2008, what races he wants to do, the state of the domestic cycling scene...

Chris Horner Interview

The race next year sounds great!

Tybee Island to Savannah.
Washginton to Gainesville.
Team TT at Road Atlanta!
Brasstown Bald finish on Saturday so I don't have to miss work to see it! (I will of course miss work to see the Team Time Trial).

They still need a title sponsor, but hopefully someone will realize what a great oppotunity this is.

http://www.velonews.com/race/dom/articles/13764.0.html

It looks like Horner signed with Rock Racing.  That's the old rumor that has shown up again.

http://www.bicyclenorthwest.com/

A previous Velonews article on cross quoted Horner as saying he was done with Predictor.  Slipstream just announced that they finalized their roster.

While I'm sure Horner will be a terror in the US next year, I'd rather see him breaking legs in Europe.  I still don't think he has reached his full potential on that side of the pond.

I ride with a friend who is a big guy.  He is about 6'5" 265lbs.  While being a large person, he is a phenomenal rider.  In addition to logging a bunch of miles (over 140 miles/week), he encourages others to ride and is generally a really good person.

The problem is he keeps breaking spokes on his wheels.  It seems like he breaks one spoke a month or every other month.  Does anyone have a suggestion on what type of wheel should be used by an avid, but large cyclist?  I've already offered to give him money toward lead wheels so I can keep up with him.

I don't know why I am watching the transfer season with such interest this year, but I am.

Disco is gone and know where many of their riders are going.  It appears that Levi is going to Astana along with several other Disco riders.

Chris Horner does not have an announced ride yet.

Navigators is going away while Rock Racing looks to dominate the domestic scene next year.

Here are my thoughts on a few riders:

Levi:
Is Astana going to let him come back to the United States to do California and/or Georgia and/or Missouri?  I'm not sure why the capital of Kazakhstan would need/want publicity in the United States, but I don't understand the business model.

Horner:
I hope he signs with Slipstream.  I don't know if the money is what he is looking for, but it should allow him more time in the states while still riding a mostly European calendar.  If he doesn't go with Slipstream, I hope he stays with Predictor-Lotto.  While he could dominate the domestic scene with Rock Racing, he's already done that.

McCartney:
I'm glad many teams want to sign him and maybe he is sticking with Johan at Astana, but I think CSC would be a good fit for him.  I think CSC wants some American riders since the headquarters is in the US and Riis likes strong time trialers.  He is a tireless worker and might fit in well.  Of course, CSC could hire Horner as well, but their penchant for time trialers seems to fit McCartney.

Brajkovic:
I thought he was going to T-Mobile.  He seems like a super talented rider with a huge upside.  He might not have had the season he did a year ago, but he still looks like he could be a future grand tour winner.  I thought T-Mobile was a good fit.  Any team with a proven grand tour rider he could learn from would be a good fit I think (CSC, Predictor, Astana, etc).

Contador:
It's hard to believe the Tour winner doesn't have a ride yet, but maybe all these riders are going to the same team.  I would think a Spanish team would want him badly.  I would think he would want to be on a team that can give him support, but good support riders cost money.  If a Spanish team offers him a large amount of money, it might be hard to turn down.

Feel free to throw in others...

I've only been following the results, but tomorrow is supposed to be the big up hill finish.  This is a U23 race with National teams instead of trade teams.

A Tunisian rider won the ITT and there is some question about how much he will race/eat due to the upcoming start of Ramadan (I don't know the dates).  Also, Craig Lewis of the USA (also Slipstream/Chiplote) is in 5th place.

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[editor's note, by chris] Now here's something worth speculating about...

Cyclingnews has an interesting story on the number of entrants into the World Championship. It looks like the US will have 9 spots for the road race and 2 for the time trial.  Looking at the USA cycling rules it looks like there will be a good bit of discretion on whom to select.  My question is who would you select for the US world's team?

USA Cycling Selection rules can be found here and the course information can be found here. I will go ahead and apologize for making this US centered, but that's where I live.

My Team:
Chris Horner
George Hincapie
Christian Vande Velde
Tyler Farrar
Jason McCartney
Fred Rodriguez
Ben Jaques-Maynes
Bobby Julich
Danny Pate

Time Trial (not riding road race so they can rest)
Levi Leipheimer
Dave Zabriskie

Not Making the Cut:
Tom Danielson
Anthony Colby
Andrew Bajadali
Tom Peterson
Chris Baldwin

I could easily see Danielson on the team, but the course didn't look hilly enough for him.  He could be in awesome form after the Vuelta.  The race just doesn't look like it suits him.  There is a slight uphill climb at the end.  I would think that Farrar, Hincapie, Rodriguez, and Horner would be your main riders for the race.

Ben Jaques-Maynes leads the NRC standings and has had an outstanding year, so I included him.  This may not be a race for him, but I'd like to throw some respect toward the domestic scene.

Here are my thought about the GC race at the Tour. Your feedback and thoughts would be appreciated - this is just my two cents.

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I did not see this coming.  According to the article, Basso decided to leave Discovery to help Disco find a new sponsor.  Here are the links:

Velonews Article
Press Release

I'm sure people will draw inferences from this, but I hope it turns out that he is clean (I hope).  Supposedly, this was 100% Basso's idea.

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