Columbia - HTC (Page 3)

Hey Wes, 2 races on the same day?  You do that often?  You must be SOME SERIOUS cyclist, even the pros don't attempt that!

Hope weather clears up for your ride, Bryan.  Your 21 stage goal doesn't give you much cushion to make it up another day.  You think Cav needs to contend for intermediate points and mtn sprints to get overall green jersey?  I had always thought the sprinters just try to hang in the mtns, and as long as they do well / win in the mass sprints, they'll get the green jersey at the end.  Will you be doing any races in Ont later in the yr?

I think I just found the answer to my question - found the following on wiki.  I guess Cav needs some points in the mtns too.  That's going to be tough! 

Points classification

The maillot vert (green jersey) is awarded for sprint points. At the end of each stage, points are earned by the riders who finish first, second, etc. Points are higher for flat stages, as sprints are more likely, and less for mountain stages, where climbers usually win. In the current rules, there are five types of stages: flat stages, intermediates stages, mountain stages, individual time trial stages and team time trial stages. The number of points awarded at the end of each stage are:

Flat stages

35, 30, 26, 24, 22, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points are awarded to the first 25 riders across the finish.

Medium-mountain stages

25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the first 20 riders across the finish.

High-mountain stages

20, 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the first 15 riders across the finish.

Time-trials

15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the top 10 finishers of the stage.

The overall winner has the best overall time, but theoratically, does not need to win any stages, since everyone in the peloton (the largest gp of riders) gets the same time unless there's a gap of more than ??sec.  Contenders get time on others usually in the mtns and individual time trials, and rarely in sprint stages.

OK, can I post pics again?

Stage Three - Marseilles to La Grand Motte, 196km, July 6^th

Columbia-HTC's Mark Cavendish soared to his second straight win in the TdF on Monday, strengthening his overall hold on the green jersey.  Team-mate Tony Martin moved into the lead of the Best Young Rider's classification. Lance Armstrong also latched on to the break initiated by Columbia-HTC, and the seven-time winner vaulted from 10th to third place in the general classification as a result.

George Hincapie called Monday’s amazing collective performance by his Columbia-HTC team as the greatest he’d been associated with. And that’s saying something when you consider that the American veteran was on all seven of Lance Armstrong’s winning Tour de France campaigns. What the Discovery Channel and U.S. Postal Service teams never did was put all nine of its riders on the front of the peloton during a flat stage and split the race apart. Columbia did just that on Monday afternoon, taking 16 other riders with them, absorbing a four-man break and then driving the move all the way to the finish line in La Grande Motte.

Here’s the peloton heading out of the tunnel with Columbia in front.  

Stage winner Mark Cavendish of Great Britain and Team Columbia HTC eats as he rides in his green jersey on his way to victory during stage three of the 2009 TdF.  Notice many Columbia's riders are wearing green sunglasses to match Cavendish's green jersery.  

Columbia-HTC's Mark Cavendish crosses the finish line at 40mph miming a phone call with one hand while pointing to the logo of his team’s new co-sponsor, HTC Corporation, a mobile phone company,

Can you tell I'm trying to get my post count up?

Good morning! I got in another 35k (22 miles) this morning. They're predicting rain for the next few days so I probably won't be able to ride again until the weekend.

X 2 LOL, its like a challenge within a challenge

I might have to change my goals, I already have 101 mile done

Yep, I got my stage 2 of 7 done!

I did the team list based on names provided by Cat in post#1, and I believe everyone has checked in.   

Bryan, since you're also in Canada, I assume you're watching OLN coverage.  Do you watch live or tape?  I'm taping but not sure which one to tape, they have one in the morning, 2 in the aft, and 1 at night.  Any ideas what the differences are between the various versions?

Great job, everyone.  Keep it up. 

Stage 4 picture time...

Stage 4 - Montpellier to Montpellier, Team Time Trial, 39 km, July 7th

Astana won the 39km lap of Montpellier but ended two tenths of a second shy of wiping out Fabian Cancellara's lead and putting Armstrong top of the podium. Columbia-HTC's Mark Cavendish keeps the green jersey and team-mate Tony Martin retains his white jersey as best young rider.

The Columbia Team, riding Scott Plasma 3 TTbikes, in action during the Team Time Trial