Tour De France 2009

Please clear this airing thingy.
Will Tour De France be aired on Ten Sports or not?(every year Tour De france is aired on TEN Sports)

If only NEO sports, then we don't have NEO Sports from cable TV opertator

@sudarshan : it will be aired on both Ten Sports and Neo Sports

so rejoice and enjoy the sightings / competition / excitement / strategy / rivalary / politics / glamour everythign mixed into one enjoyable bag.

Here is a take from ESPN about this years stages.

Even though there are 2 individual time trials and one team time trial it is heavily loaded in favour of climbers and overall riders.

specially the penultimate stage to mont ventoux

The stages marked in blue are critical but les contributory to over all classification.
The stages marked in red are where the general classification winner will start to assert his authority.

But even if you do not take interest in cycling or dont watch keep spare the date for July 25 for 104 miles of gruelling torture and stamina, it will decide the winner of this years tour de france. look out for penultimate stage marked in violet.

July 4: Stage 1, Monaco (individual time trial), 9.63 miles
A hilly, technical race against the clock long enough to be called a stage rather than a prologue. Overall contenders such as Tour of Italy winner Denis Menchov of Rabobank and Astana's Alberto Contador, Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer could make statements here, along with specialists such as Team Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara and Garmin-Slipstream's Brad Wiggins.



July 5: Stage 2, Monaco to Brignoles, France, 116.2 miles
A course with rolling terrain that should end in a bunch sprint.



July 6: Stage 3, Marseille to La Grande Motte, 121.8 miles
Forecast: flat and hot. Another day for the sprinters.



July 7: Stage 4, Montpellier (team time trial), 24.2 miles
No secret who will be in the mix on this loop course: Astana, Columbia and Garmin, which engaged in spirited verbal and athletic sparring in this event at the Tour of Italy, should be the teams jousting for a win that could put one of their riders in the yellow jersey for a few days.



July 8: Stage 5, Le Cap d'Agde to Perpignan, 122.1 miles
A breakaway group will enjoy spectacular coastal scenery before being caught at the finish.



July 9: Stage 6, Girona, Spain, to Barcelona, 112.8 miles
This day's journey will start sentimentally for many riders, including Leipheimer and nearly the entire Garmin team, who call this beautiful Catalan city home. Some hills punctuate the middle of the course, but teams with speedsters are likely to try for one last field sprint finish.



July 10: Stage 7, Barcelona to Arcalis, Andorra, 139.2 miles
Will the overall contenders lower the hammer on the first mountaintop finish? The longest stage of the Tour distancewise could be particularly crucial for the internal dynamics at Astana, where the "strongest man" duel between Contador and Armstrong could start to play out.



July 11: Stage 8, Andorre-la-Vieille, Andorra to Saint-Girons, France, 109.7 miles
Front-loaded with two Category 1 climbs before a downhill finish, this stage is tailored for a breakaway winner.



July 12: Stage 9, Saint-Gaudens to Tarbes, 99.7 miles
Another tasty stage for a breakaway specialist, although top contenders will be mindful that a successful escape over the twin peaks of the Col d'Aspin and the legendary Tourmalet -- with a rest day looming -- could go a long way toward an eventual race win. Given last year's somewhat tentative racing on critical climbs, a risk-taker could be rewarded today.



July 13
Rest day, Limoges



July 14: Stage 10: Limoges to Issoudun, 120.8 miles
A transitional stage over unchallenging terrain on the French national holiday of Bastille Day that might be unremarkable except it will mark the first half of a notable experiment. Tour organizers have banned the use of car-to-rider race radios in this stage and Stage 13, leaving everyone to figure out time gaps and tactics as they did during the old days.



July 15: Stage 11: Vatan to Saint-Fargeau, 119.3 miles
Another transitional slog that should finish with a sprint.



July 16: Stage 12, Tonnerre to Vittel, 131.4 miles
This is officially listed as a "flat" stage but is relentlessly undulating.



July 17: Stage 13, Vittel to Colmar, 124.3 miles
The second of two stages that will be conducted in radio silence. (See Stage 10.) A tricky middling-mountains ride where the overall contenders will mark each other closely but likely will be content to maintain the status quo in the standings. The peloton will be substantially whittled down by three categorized climbs, and a breakaway group should vie for victory on the downhill finish.



July 18: Stage 14, Colmar to Besancon, 123.6 miles
Last chance for the sprinters to shine until the Champs-Elysees.



July 19: Stage 15, Pontarlier to Verbier (Switzerland), 128.6 miles
The race moves into its final week with a big question -- will top riders go for it on any of these Alpine stages, or save themselves for Thursday's time trial and Saturday's Mont Ventoux climb? This is the only uphill finish in the Alps, but it's not stratospherically difficult, and this stage doesn't shape up as decisive.



July 20
Rest day, Verbier (Switzerland)



July 21: Stage 16, Martigny (Switzerland) to Bourg-Saint-Maurice (France), 99.4 miles
No one will win the Tour today, but it could be lost with even a brief lapse. A stage with similar topography cost Garmin's Christian Vande Velde his podium hopes last year. The peloton will begin by scaling the "beyond classification" 8,110-foot Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard pass. As soon as that descent ends, the climb up the Category 1 "Petit" Saint-Bernard begins. Another descent wraps up this survival-of-the-fittest stage.



July 22: Stage 17, Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand, 105 miles
The stage profile looks like the seismograph of an earthquake, with five categorized climbs and a downhill finish. The climbing could be greater than the sum of its parts, especially if it's hot -- a pitfall day for the overall contenders.



July 23: Stage 18, Annecy (individual time trial), 24.8 miles
In a departure from recent tradition, this test, usually scheduled for the penultimate day, recedes somewhat in importance because of its placement, but still could be a critical setup for the grand finale if time gaps among the leaders are close. The course circumnavigates a picturesque lake and includes one modest hill.



July 24: Stage 19, Bourgoin-Jallieu to Aubenas, 110.6 miles
The least exhausted breakaway specialists will contest this stage while the overall leaders conserve energy.



July 25: Stage 20, Montelimar to Mont Ventoux, 103.8 miles
All the marbles will be at stake on the windswept, barren moonscape of this geologic anomaly, where so many riders have found glory and grief. It's hard to overstate how dramatic this finish could be, as even substantial margins could evaporate.



July 26: Stage 21, Montereau-Fault-Yonne to Paris, 101.9 miles
Almost always entertaining, the parade stage could have a bearing on what is expected to be a fierce battle for the green, or top sprinter's, jersey. That honor is acutely coveted by young Columbia sensation Mark Cavendish, who will be trying to fend off rivals, including Cervelo Test Team's Thor Hushovd and Oscar Freire of Rabobank.

^^Noo I have watched it just once, some people were riding bicycle it was so bhoooring that I changed the channel within a sec

No wonder, It requires a bit of brain, that sports
Aur teri to hamesha batti hee band rehti hai (pardon the Hindi )

Tom Boonen who was caught with traces of cocaine in his body in out of competition tests in april, has successfully fought apeal with French Olympic Committee.

ON the penultimate day of the 2009 tour he is cleared to participate.

this really hots up the race for green jersey.

Boonen gets green light
Tour accepts ruling, hopes for the best
Published: Jul. 3, 2009
Boonen, who won last Sunday's Belgian national championships, will be allowed to ride in the Tour de France.
Photo: Agence France Presse

Tom Boonen was granted an eleventh-hour reprieve, allowing him to compete in the Tour de France when it starts on Saturday, Tour organizers confirmed on Friday.

The reigning Belgian national champion had been barred from the Tour following a positive test for cocaine in April, but the French Olympic Committee's arbitration panel upheld his appeal against the ban.

The Quick Step rider missed last year's Tour after testing positive for cocaine for the first time.

Tour organizers acknowledged the decision in a statement issued soon after the ruling was made.

"After the decision announced by the CAS on Friday, Tom Boonen will be at the start of the 2009 Tour de France," the Tour organization noted in a statement. "The Tour's management believes that, considering the great champion that Tom is, he will relish the oportunity that has been given to him and he will have an exemplary attitude during the event."

By riding the Tour, the former world champion becomes one of the favorites to take the green jersey, the points competition he won in 2007, the last time he competed in the race.

Cocaine, although illegal, is not considered a performance-enhancing drug unless consumed within two days of a sporting event. Boonen's tests were not carried out in connection with a race.

Nonetheless, Boonen's positive test for cocaine on April 25 triggered an uproar in Belgium, where the 2005 world champion and one-day race specialist has rock star status.

Despite the furor, Boonen's Quick Step team soon rallied behind the three-time Paris-Roubaix winner and even threatened to sue Tour organisers if they did not allow him to race. The team's first effort, however, fell flat after a French civil court ruled it lacked jurisdiction to act on the appeal.


Attorneys then sought the expedited handling of an emergency appeal to the French Olympic Committee. The committee's arbitration panel issued its decision on Friday.

"We can confirm the ruling by the French Olympic Committee, and that Tom Boonen will start the Tour de France on Saturday," a team spokesman told AFP.

The last-minute ruling also means there will be no place on the Quick Step roster for Allan Davis, the Australian sprinter whose inclusion this year depended on the Boonen decision.

So basically what was wrong with Vino then
How can the organizers keep having such double standards
This is unacceptable really.

My morning about Vinokourov trying to blackmail Team Astana about his return are turning out to be true.

No president of Kazakhstan has thrown his weight behind that disgraced rider.

Looks like there will be intense politics after the tour is over.

Rumours circulate of a Kazakh coup at Astana
Friday, 3 July 2009
Rumours of a Kazakh coup at Astana began circulating today and they may just have some substance.

Disgraced Kazakh, Alexandre Vinokourov who was disqualified from the 2007 Tour de France after testing positive for an illicit blood transfusion, gave a press conference earlier in the week in which he stated his intention to return to the Astana team, which he helped to create in 2006.

Vinokourov’s ban ends on July 24 and is expecting to negotiate with the team about a possible comeback.

“I have no guarantee yet because I expect to negotiate with Bruyneel in the coming days. But it's not possible that he disagrees. If [he] doesn’t want me, it will be up to him to leave the team,” said the Kazakh.

These comments could be largely dismissed as posturing but a statement from the Kazakh President no less seem to add weight to the rumours of a Kazakh take-over at Astana.

According to L’Equipe, President Nursultan Nazarbaiev proposed re-structuring the team around Alberto Contador without Lance Armstrong and Bruyneel.

“We are going to approach Alberto Contador and propose lengthening his contract,” said Nazarbaiev.

“He will be our sole leader for the years to come, he will have every liberty to choose the riders that he wants to have at his side.

“In our mind, the team will be made up of Spanish and Kazakh riders, amongst those Alexandre Vinokourov”.

Bruyneel has been adamant in the past that Vinokourov would be unwelcome at the re-modelled Astana, but according to the Kazakh President, the new team structure should be in place from September.

If rumours of a Kazakh coup prove to be correct, Bruyneel and Armstrong would have to create their own team, something they were on the verge of doing after the Giro d’Italia as Astana’s backers had failed to pay outstanding sponsorship money.

ooh F****

Ten Sports guys are really a**h****.

It was just 9Kms to end the race. Leading split group had 21 racers including contador, Armstrong,Cancellara, 8og HTC team,etc & suddenly TEN SPORTS started showing INDIA Vs. WEST INDIES highlights. dammn these buggers..............I missed most importance & intresting part.

n now I am seeing Cancellara winning stage, with Armstrong in 3rd....................dammn I have missed very intresting part.

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TEN SPORTS does not deserve to air Tour De France, it should have been ESPN/ STAR SPORTS.
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anyway we can complain to TEN SPORTS about this?
well, How they can cut Live show & suddenly start showing Highlights

OK now after 7th stage Nocentini has Yellow jersey. Contodor trail by 6sec, with Armstrong in 3rd trailing by 8sec.

It was very nice climb as I was tracking it down on Tour de france live. But TEN SPORTS was busy showing some cricket match

Now, suggest me some live TV where i can watch tour de france.