Macca
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Everything posted by Macca
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Early start for 'Le Tour' today . In fact , they've started the 1st climb as I'm posting this . SBS coverage starts at 10pm (as usual) but you can watch it live at SBS online . They've gotta be a bit weary after yesterday's stage ! Stage 12 ... THE VIEW OF JEAN-FRANCOIS PESCHEUX Many will get fidgety "Yet another strategic stage, one which could tip the balance in the points classification on its own. Why? Because we have adorned the first part of this long stage (226 km) with the Col de Grand Cucheron and the Col du Granier. The latter will be climbed on its most difficult side. A high pace will knock out the sprinters, favouring riders who are fast and capable of hanging onto the bunch on climbs. We will insist that time limits be applied strictly, so I bet many riders will get fidgety, and some of them will not forget the finish in Annonay any time soon..." -
Ta mate . Yeah that profile looks damn tough tonight ! Who knows what's going to happen ? 'Spose the beauty of it is we don't know what Cadel or Bradley are thinking . Froome is the red herring in all of this . Just how good is he ? Evans could continue to bide his time but you'd reckon that the BMC team will have at least one prolonged attack in them . Hope SBS show the conclusion of the 1st climb . Should be done by 10.20pm (ish) . I like Gabriel's dish of the day but happy to miss one night ! As an aside , I really like Wiggins anti drugs stance . It's great to see a top sportsperson speaking out in such a way .
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The 40 minute 1st climb to the 'Col de la Madelaine' will commence sometime after 9.40pm . The 40 minute 2nd climb to the 'Col de la Croix de Far will commence sometime after 11.10pm and the 30 minute final climb to 'La Toussuire' starts sometime after 12.40am . Must viewing tonight . THE VIEW OF JEAN-FRANCOIS PESCHEUX A tough one "One of the shortest stages in the 99thedition. But riders beware, it is a tough one! The course is simple: after the first thirteen kilometres from Albertville, the peloton will be hard pressed to find a single inch of flat terrain! The cyclists will tackle La Madeleine, La Croix de Fer and Le Mollard one after the other before the final climb up La Toussuire. Let me tell you, the final podium will start to take shape on the finish line here! Those who falter in this stage will get no second chances. The winner will not be known yet, but the losers certainly will."
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The climb to the 'Col du Grand Colombier' should start sometime after 11.30pm tonight . Stage 10 ... THE VIEW OF JEAN-FRANCOIS PESCHEUX Break away and come together "Back to the mountains. On paper, the Grand Colombier is a monster. In my opinion, it is the toughest mountain in France, with sections at 12%. Nevertheless, its location 43 km from the finish changes the story altogether. Rather than a single devastating attack, I see a group of five or six strong riders break away and then come together before the finish. This is a classical but always exciting scenario, especially if one of the big names is missing from the breakaway. Look out just before the riders reach Bellegarde-sur-Valserine: we found a small bump which could very well make things easier for the finish line judge..."
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It's never over till it's over . A lot can happen in the next 2 weeks , a crash , an injury , 'Hitting the wall on a grueling climb' . I wouldn't wish any of the first 2 things on Wiggins - that wouldn't be right . But those big climbs are a different story . Wiggins and his team have laid down the gauntlet and do look very strong but ... Cadel ain't gonna give up . He's largely had to do things on his own before so that bit isn't a problem . The next 2 stages will tell a story - some big climbs .
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Time trial tonight . Wiggins is away at 12.39am . Evans shortly beforehand . Just a heads up - Rest day tomorrow but the stage's on Wednesday and Thursday have some big big climbs . Stage 9... THE VIEW OF JEAN-FRANCOIS PESCHEUX A clearer picture "How shall I put it? A crucial stage riddled with heritage sites and tourist landmarks. I mention heritage and tourism because it starts from the Royal Salt Works, which date from the time of Louis XV. The stunning pictures will be broadcast in 190 different countries. And I say it is a crucial stage because, after ten days of racing, the time trial will give us a much clearer picture of the state of affairs. The beautiful course is similar to the stage around the Lac de Vassivière a few years ago. We chucked in a climb which will no doubt sap cyclists' legs. We chose this terrain to make it easier for strong riders to prevail."
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Ha ha ! Roger just far too good . He's just an absolute class act . Long may his career continue . Be interesting to see where Andy's career goes to now . He needs a slam and I hope he breaks through sometime soon . I like the idea of a 'Big 4' .
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One set all . We could be in for a long night !
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Jean-Francois' view sums up this stage quite well . Stage 8 ... THE VIEW OF JEAN-FRANCOIS PESCHEUX A terrific launch pad "In my opinion, this could very well end up being the key stage of the Tour! The course is just 157 km long, but it has been designed to promote attacks and comebacks. If a favourite loses three minutes on the previous day's final climb, he will get the chance to make amends on this stage. There is a succession of six climbs, including the Col de la Croix a mere 16 km from the finish. This 3.7 km climb with an average gradient of 9.2% is a terrific launch pad! In short, this course is reminiscent of the one in Les Rousses, where Sylvain Chavanel stole the show two years ago. Back then, Andy Schleck regretted not having scouted the stage beforehand. This time he cannot say no-one has warned him."
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Well done to Serena , Agnieszka was brave and won the 2nd set and hopefully she'll be back to fight another day . That's 5 Wimbledon singles titles each to the Williams Sisters . A mighty effort .
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That was an enthralling finish . The winner , Chris Froome , from the Sky team won the stage but the real drama was watching Evans and Wiggins . Sky having 3 riders in the first 5 must be a little bit of a concern for Cadel and his BMC team . 'Spose we're used to seeing Evans battle on his own . Gee he's a little fighter .
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Here we go . The first of the mountain stages . Stage 7 ... THE VIEW OF JEAN-FRANCOIS PESCHEUX Using 'La Planche' as a launch pad "The first mountain stage of the Tour will be a complete contrast to the opening week and is was always going to be a different sort of rider who excels on the road to La Planche des Belles Filles. The peloton has been ravaged by crashes in recent days, especially the carnage that wiped out so many riders on the road to Metz. Still, some of the big pre-race favorites all survived the chaos and Wiggins, Evans, Menchov and Nibali are all still in contention for the podiumin Paris. Still many may have to accept that a win could now be out of reach. That might be the case for Fränk Schleck, Alejandro Valverde, Robert Gesink and Michele Scarponi – who were all casualties of the crash near the end of stage six. They now only have one solution to put themselves back in contention: attack! Fabian Cancellara recognizes that his time in the yellow jersey is due to come to an end but some of the potential winners of stage seven are loathe to inherit the leader's color too soon. Evans timed his race into yellow perfectly last year, taking the lead with only one day to race. And he'll be satisfied if he manages it that way again this year. This is the stage when we're going to see who is able to keep dreaming of the top step of the Parisian podium."
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This is 'Shinedown's latest hit called 'Bully' . This band , from Jacksonville , Florida formed in 2002 Macca 9.1
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Federer wins in 4 after putting on a Master class in the last 2 sets . Roger completely over-powered Novak . No easy task . Wow ! Just Wow !
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This Federer / Djokovic match is a beauty . Hope we go to 5 !
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Last flat stage before we tackle some tough climbs over the weekend . Stage 6 ... THE VIEW OF JEAN-FRANCOIS PESCHEUX Sprint expected but not certain... "There is another day of flat racing and thus the consensus is that this will be another day for the sprinters but there are some lessons to take home from the early stanza of Le Tour 2012: accidents happen, riders can falter, and some lead-out trains are more organized than others. Peter Sagan missed out on adding points to his tally in stage five because of a crash. Matt Goss has been consistent and appears to be getting closer to his first Tour stage win. André Greipel’s crew has proven to be the most formidable this year. And, on top of everything, there is a week of racing with weary legs and damaged bodies to consider." "We've seen three bunch sprints this year but each has been affected by a crash leading to the finish. Surely what we all want to see in Metz is all the specialists going head-to-head before the Tour arrives in the mountains. A true, pure sprint. That's the likely conclusion for stage six but a glimpse at the finish of stage five reminds us that the escapees are getting closer to pulling off a coup. Perhaps today will be the day that the attackers are the big beneficiaries."
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'Louie' is back ! 1st episode of season 3 started last week .
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Roger , Novak , Andy and Jo-Wilfried all through to the Semi-Finals (to be played Friday) Tonight's Ladies Semi-Finals are Angelique Kerber (8) vs Agnieszka Radwanska (3) followed by Serena Williams (6) vs Victoria Azarenka (2) . 1st match on centre court starts at 10pm . Between the Tennis and the Tour my sleeping patterns have been thrown into total disarray !
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Wow ! That is big news 'pantaloons' . I've been a huge Nash fan ever since I saw him at the Sydney Olympics . And he's the only real reason that I have leant towards Phoenix in the past .It was only a day or so ago that he was possibly Toronto bound . What to do now ? LA ? Spurs ? One thing is for sure , he'll make a big difference at the Lakers .
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Yeah , it's tough going - that early morning alarm is greeted with the same reaction ! Stage 5 ... THE VIEW OF JEAN-FRANCOIS PESCHEUX Every sprint is different Peter Sagan has won two stages but his success has been achieved at the top of hills. He was asked at the finish of stage four if he believes he's able to win a pure bunch sprint and he waivered, before answering that, “every sprint is different”. He was stranded without his key lead-out man in Rouen as Daniel Oss crashed with 2.6km to go. Perhaps the Italian's presence would have altered the result. The consensus is that stage five to St-Quentin will be a bunch sprint but nothing is certain. Should it go to the formula, however, several aspects already need to be considered when thinking about the possible winners: did the crash involving Mark Cavendish cause injuries that will slow him down? After missing out on acquiring any points in Rouen, will ‘Cav' officially end his campaign to defend the green jersey he won in 2011? Other things that may influence the outcomes include the commitment of the chasing parties. Lotto-Belisol was committed today and Orica-GreenEdge has demonstrated that it's willing to work... but Sky still has it's main focus: the yellow jersey for Wiggins. This leaves RadioShack-Nissan in a position to defend Cancellara's yellow jersey... and hope for some cooperation from some sprint teams.
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Yeah , it was a hair-raising finish . Some broken bones in yesterday's stage as well . Hope last nights stage crash doesn't have the same result . Here's a write up of last nights stage that I found ... Greipel finishes off a wonderful team effort Stage summary04.07.2012Stage 4 - Abbeville / Rouen "Once the escape of the day reached an advantage of almost nine minutes the Lotto-Belisol team moved up to the front of the peloton and began to consider the sprint that was expected in Rouen. Although it was the fourth longest stage of the 2012 Tour de France, from Abbeville to Rouen, the real action came in the final three kilometers. That's when the jostling for position started in earnest and the lead-out trains started to form. Up near the head of the peloton, however, a touch of wheels at the speed that's required to hold off any ambitious attack can be treacherous; alas, that's just what happened. Robbie Hunter, slipped and thudded down onto the road and, right beside him, Mark Cavendish couldn't save himself. He too was taken out of the sprint equation. Up ahead, Lotto-Belisol finished off what they started early in the stage. With four from the Belgian team at the head of the peloton leading in to the final kilometer André Greipel was delivered to perfection. Greg Henderson was the last man ahead of him and, once the New Zealander peeled off, the German simply drag raced the others to the line. No one could match is pace and the veteran sprinter earned his second success in the Tour de France...
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Mens Quarter finals on tonight and you'd expect Federer (3) to defeat Youzhny (26) , Djokovic (1) to beat Mayer (31) and Tsonga (5) to take care of Kohlschreiber (27) . The interesting match-up is David Ferrer (7) against Andy Murray (4) . This game is 2nd up on Centre court after the Federer/Youzhny match . The winner of the Ferrer/Murray match will most likely play Tsonga in the Semi-finals . Roger and Novak are in the same half of the draw so are most likely to meet in the other semi-final .
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Fair enough and thanks for that . Just a bit of a heads up - There are 8 stages (starting from Saturday's stage 7) with lots of climbs ranging from medium to high difficulty . Although the medium difficulty climbing stages look rather difficult to me ! Stages 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 14 , 16 and 17 all involve lots of fairly lengthy climbs of various degrees of difficulty .
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'Young Guns' are a British alternative rock band from Buckinghamshire who have been around since 2009 . This song 'Bones' was released from their 2012 album (also called 'Bones') It peaked at no.2 on the UK Rock charts . Macca 9.0 [media=]
