tour2

Mark Cavendish was the winner of the stage from Monaco to Brignoles this last Sunday July 5th.  Cavendish is getting popular for getting the second place in the opening individual time trial the first day of competition. Lance Armstrong, on the other hand, is not getting the first place in the stages, but he still confident that he will win this edition of the tour of France.
“Armstrong’s Astana team was dominant in the time trial through the hills and hairpin turns of Monaco, led by the cyclist who would be his heir as Tour titan”. Alberto Contador said these words to the press after the Monaco to Brignoles Stage of the Tour. Evidently Armstrong is not performing the way everybody was expecting, but we cannot make conclusions just from the first two stages of the tour.

“I didn’t expect to win or to take the jersey. I didn’t expect a super, super performance,” Armstrong said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had that emotion of being on the start ramp at the Tour”. In other words, also I think Armstrong is getting old. During the first day of competition, he admitted that he had his heart rate at 196 beats per minute which is a little  high for such a good performer, and that lead us to think that he is not on his best shape anymore.

Armstrong, who rode 18th among the 180 riders to leave the start ramp, took the provisional lead early — baring his teeth and pedaling up out of the saddle as he neared the finish. Only 15 riders later, Tony Martin of Germany outpaced him. Others also soon bettered Armstrong’s time, including Leipheimer and Liquigas rider Roman Kreuziger. So, we can clearly see that Armstrong is not starting this race as strong as we were thinking he was going to do.

The odds are posted and the favorite ones now are Mark Cavendish, Alberto Contador and Fabian Cancellara. You can go online and get some action on these runners. More information here.

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