09 TdF course
 

Anybody look at this? It should be pretty cool. It finishes on Ventoux! I have already started to lobby my wife to go over and see it but I am not sure she gives in (she reacts to global economic news like a NYSE trader and has clamped down on our budget).

Also, did you see the TTT is back but with a twist? This time, as I understand it, the actual individual times of each rider will count toward their GC standing. To me, this now makes Contador really happy to have Lance back because even if Lance can't win the whole thing, especially after racing the Giro, he would be a super-domestique in a TTT. Funny how this stuff goes, eh?

I really like the course. the first week along the Cote seems like a nice place to be next year.

I think that the opening tt could be really tough in Monaco. That place is hilly. But what a beautiful backdrop to a TT.

I don't think I've ever seen the tour start in the south. This route looks very new and different.

Here is what I would like to see happen. LA rides the Giro for the first time saying he it out to win it and then ride support for Contador during the tour. He wins the Giro and goes into tour expecting to play first lieutenant. Astana puts Contador in yellow until Mt. Ventoux and then LA does a Hinault and races up the mountain to get his Ventoux win and take over yellow. The Spanish are screaming traitor, the French are screaming drugie and the rest of the world is in awe of a thirty seven year old guy winning the tour.

I've only glanced at it so far, but it looks like a great course. The first week should be much tougher than usual. I'm glad the TTT is back. And I love the finish on Ventoux on the second to last day. I've always wondered why they tend to throw a flat stage in leading up to Paris.