Astral's view of the Tour 2009 - in reverse !

Coming up to the end...

El Cid has sown it up now, leaving the rest to scrap over the placings. Time to lay down.

End of the first 2 weeks...

So Alberto drew first and it looks like it's all over for Tex - or is it ?
There's a long way to go yet and although Alberto has 'Shut the door', it is still left ajar..
Lance says he will now work for El Cid, but you can bet your bottom Yankee dollar he will be off like a shot if the Spaniard shows any sign of weakness.

I can see it in the stars... Tex goes all out in the time trial, gains some time back on El Cid and it's all out war on the Ventoux, with the baby Schleck brothers snapping at their heels.

But wait, who's the tall, stranger in town ? Brad Wiggins, pardner, angling to be the quickest draw in them there hills.

Seriously, though - I did predict Wiggins for the top 20, but the prospect of a podium finish is too good to be true !

Go Wiggins !

Gunfight Starts...

Could the gunfight I predicted have broken out already ? Reports of Freire and Julian Deane being shot at with air rifles !

Could it escalate on entering the Alps ?

I remember well the early days of the Tour, when riders had been known to pack heat - no reference to performance enhancement. In fact Henri always carried a Colt 45 with him in the organiser's car, which he had to use on angry protesters one year !
And one football match I saw where an Italian player pulled out a gun and shot dead the ref for disallowing his goal - but we digress.

Cav is on track, with 4 stage wins, for the green jersey in Paris. Still winning stages and upsetting everyone who is not British !
Has anyone noticed how invisible Boonen has been ? All that effort that he and his team went to to get him back in the Tour, instead of being banged up for cocaine abuse. Why did he bother ?

Getting closer to the real contest in the Alps, where we will have our own reporter - Tony Tickle - by the road side as they speed past.
Expect some unique views...

The rest day - sleep at last...

Well, what a week that was.

Is it all shaping up for an all-Astana podium ? Maybe not quite, but I think Tex and El Cid could be heading for one hootin', shootin' slingin' of guns at the Ventoux Coral.

This will be an all-Earp affair, with the Clantons all picked off on the first slopes.

But seriously, El Cid showed he can sneak off in the last 2K of a climb, under cover of darkness. Could Tex have followed, or was he just playing the loyal team-mate ?
He and Bruyneel were obviously taken by suprise by El Cid's break - this was not the plan.

This brings me back to my prediction before the Tour, that if they do not watch out they will spoil it for each other and someone else will slip in and steal the jersey.

But, if it is a battle of nerves, Tex may just have it, as no one plays Texas 'hold-em' like him. So he could be leaving El Cid a bit 'Ga-Ga'.

The next few days - Cav shows signs of wilting in the heat of those hills, but let's hope he can still make it into green in Paris.

The revelation of the Tour though - Wiggo on those climbs! Doesn't he know his place ? Obviously not and good for him.

Can't wait for the next stages...

Stage 4 - the team time trial ( and yes, Astral is back, with that look again )

Back again and Cancellara, the jammy Suisse rolls on...

Well you couldn't dream this one up if you had had half a dozen of my 'special' performance enhancing cakes.

What a great team time trial by Astana. Been in some myself and know the thrill of being caught for 3 mins by the Keith Butler family. I think they were out for a picnic with Keith, Gethin, Allison& grandma, back in the 80.s when Gethin was a schoolboy.

My team was in fact one Andy (SEAN KELLY), Tony (Tickle) and Steve Madman, amongst others.

We'd trained hard, in the cafe all the previous day, but had an off day when the team failed to ride to my instructions, which were, 'on no account to let go of granny's wheel'.
Andy(Sean kelly) to be fair was just a mere whipper-snapper then and thought that using a granny gear would enable him to keep up. Alas not ! Still, we won first prize for the fastest composite team - we were the only composite team !

But back to the Tour...

Lance only just missed getting the yellow jersey back after 4 years ! Bit careless of him to mis-lay it really. I'll bet there were some stoney looks across the dinner table in the Astana camp that evening, between a certain Texan and El Cid. And we all know what happened to Charlton Heston in that film...

It will be really interesting to see what happens when Astana hit the first mountain - will they work for Lance, or Albert ? Loyaltties will be stretched, but I don't personally see much towards El Cid. They are Lance's team.

Cav to win tomorrow...

Stage 3 of the Tour ( Mr Astral has been unavoidably 'beamed up' back into space, so The Crank has filled in for him )

Cav does it again, as we thought he would. Columbia were as slick as the Amoco Cadiz, delivering Cav just right. But he should watch out, using your phone whilst riding is a criminal offence in some parts !

What about Astana though ? Their two main riders caught either side of a 40 second split after an acute attack of the wind along the coast, just 40Km from the finish. Armstrong the old dog, in the front bunch, doesn't need any new tricks - the old ones are good enough - whilst Contador must be sick as a parrot, Jim. If you ask me, Lance has no intention of being anything other than Astana team leader and winner of the Tour.

OR, is this all a very cunning ploy by Bruyneel ?

Either way, I hope they're paying Alberto lots to make up for playing second fiddle...

This Tour is already the most interesting since Armstrong last won...

( Has anyone seen that little boy riding amongst the Tour this year ? Dumoulin - must be all of 12.
Either that or some substance has stunted his growth )

The Crank

Stage 2 of the Tour

What can I say ? Cav has started his pitch for the green jersey with a vengeance. I was glad to be wrong with my prediction.
I need to go lay down now...

And his thoughts on the prologue opening...

Well the prologue...

Astana were obviously very successful in their campaign. What a team! I was particularly impressed with the young man Armstrong – never heard of him before, but he showed potential, obviously has courage of convictions. Has set out his stall and will be very interesting to see how he does. Perhaps one day he might win a Grand Tour ?

Menchov ‘the terrible’ – just did terribly - what else would you expect ?

Wiggins – fantastic ride , but Cancellara was just too powerful. The Suisse rolls on.

With today's performance in mind, the TTT on Tuesday may just show Wiggins winning the yellow jersey. 38K distance will suit Garmin. Astana may not have the appetite for holding the yellow jersey so early on.

After this, Friday’s mountain stage will be the first big test.

Sunday’s stage – Tyler Farrar could win, if he can stay well placed towards the end aided by Wiggo.

By the way, rumour is that Garmin team’s electronic gear change mechs have tiny motors built in to the jockey wheels, which give a 1% improvement in power, which could tip the scales and is totally undetectable by the UCI doping tests. However, certain Astana riders, with steel plates over collarbones, were said to be getting electric shocks – good job the weather stayed dry. Armstrong was complaining of a pain in the neck - or was he referring to Contador ?

Click here to 'Ask Astral' or send in your predictions for his Tour competition

Previous rants from Barry...

Did Cav give away his opening gambit ? Barry's thoughts on the first few days of the Giro.
Continuing on with Barry's take on the Giro... I was going to predict an attack by the Columbian Barloworld rider Soler, who's a real old style Pantani/Coppi type of climber,
The Milan Crit in the Giro...

And Barry's pre-Tour summation for those that missed it.

Yes, I’m back from outer space with that look upon my face and my personal predictions for the TdF.

Just thinking it over in my mind, in between day dreaming about me and Ingrid Pitt, back in the 60’s …

Schleck is on good form and has proven himself before with a 2nd place in the Giro,
Van de Velde was having a very good Tour de France until he had a crash, coupled with recurring back problems, which scuppered his chances,
Contador has been solid, if unexciting and a bit whingy, but has a track record of stage race victories,
Evans, Mr consistent – consistently second and lacks a decent team,
Lance getting better as we speak,
Sastre did well in the Dauphine, but is getting too old – his powers are weak,
And Menchov - a good Giro, obviously, but I think his team will let him down…

OK then, let’s start with the first man in yellow. Well, it has to be Cancellara, after his stunning win in the Tour de Suisse. I can see it now - the Suisse rolls along at 56KPH to pull that jersey on. This will not be a jammy win, he deserves it !

Overall, has to be Andy – no not Kelly, but Schleck. Those evening 10 mile time trials on a 72 inch gear may just do it, as he has such a natural telent.

So, my overall prediction then is as follows :

( First a quick note on Lance vs Contador - this will just not work out and after a week of Lance half working for Contador, he will get the hump and have a late storming assault on the GC, but too late by then for both of them. )

1st Schleck,
2nd Van de Velde,
3rd Contador,
4th Evans,
5th Armstrong.

Bradley Wiggins and Millar in the top 20.

KOM – Soler , or an outside bet, Chris Froome.

Green jersey – Yes, it's Cav. He has to finish to prove to himself he is a genuine big race rider and I think he will do it.

and finally, Astral's Tour de France Competition...

With all this in mind, I'm suggesting a competition for all you Cyclecrank fans !

Before each day's stage, you might like to predict the stage results ( 10 points for a win/ 987654321 for placings ). These points will be added up and the overall winner will recieve 1 hour's free recumbent riding lesson in Brockwell park from yours truly ( yes a chance to meet Mr Astral )

So start sending in your predictions now !!!! ( Please enter them in the forum section on this site )

That's all for now

PS : Armstrong’s latest Twitter ( allegedly ) – his new main aim this year, is to prevent any Frenchman finishing in the top 50, after Hinault’s blast at him earlier this year.