Salzberg

DiabloScott said:

Freire is out with neck problems, poor Oscar has the worst luck.

Yeah, real shame.
BTW it's SalzbUrg.

E is not so close to the U..at least not on my keyboard.😄 Nice mistake!🙂

Apparently it is quite a challenging course. Bettini likes it, or so he says. 😉

Powerful Pete said:

Apparently it is quite a challenging course. Bettini likes it, or so he says. 😉

I read last night that once they have completed all the 19 laps its the equivalent of climbing a 2900 meter mountain ! That’s tough.....

DiabloScott said:

Freire is out with neck problems, poor Oscar has the worst luck.

Freire' opportunity to win a fourth world title has slipped by this year.
Unfortunately.

Procycling magazine has a very good feature on the 2006 route.
As WBT suggests the route will be tough going.

Difficult to call a winner at this juncture : it'll be a roadman.

Hincapie, perhaps ?

Boonen ?

I think Valverde might be a good choice : although I haven't checked if he intends to ride this years championship.

limerickman said:

Freire' opportunity to win a fourth world title has slipped by this year.
Unfortunately.

Procycling magazine has a very good feature on the 2006 route.
As WBT suggests the route will be tough going.

Difficult to call a winner at this juncture : it'll be a roadman.

Hincapie, perhaps ?

Boonen ?

I think Valverde might be a good choice : although I haven't checked if he intends to ride this years championship.

How about Landis ? 😄

One million Euros on Boonen .

Hey, if any of you guys are going to the race, say hello to Mozart for me.

lw

Somebody who can win LBL solo and still race in September:

Vinokourov
Bettini
Valverde

Deadline for rider registration is the 12th so we'll have to wait another week to find out for sure who's riding.

I have to agree with Diablo, those would be my top three picks also, not neglecting someone like Boonen, of course.

Powerful Pete said:

I have to agree with Diablo, those would be my top three picks also, not neglecting someone like Boonen, of course.

USA selections:
http://www.velonews.com/pr/prn/articles/10848.0.html
In the elite men's division, the United States qualified the maximum nine riders in the road race and will field a team consisting of six UCI ProTour veterans and three domestic-based pros. ProTour riders Chris Horner (Bend, Ore./Davitamon-Lotto) Fred Rodriguez (Emeryville, Calif./Davitamon-Lotto), Christian VandeVelde (Boulder, Colo./CSC), Tyler Farrar (Wenatchee, Wash./Cofidis), Patrick McCarty (Allen, Texas/Phonak), and Guido Trenti (Framingham, Mass./Quickstep-Innergetic) join U.S.-based riders Jackson Stewart (Los Gatos, Calif.), Danny Pate (Colorado Springs, Colo./TIAA-CREF) and Chris Baldwin (Boulder, Colo./Toyota-United) on the nine-man road race roster.

Well, chances are a little better than zero I guess, but not appreciably so.

lwedge said:

Hey, if any of you guys are going to the race, say hello to Mozart for me.

lw

Shall i only say hello or shall i give him a good bottle of wine?😄

T. Dekker is out, so Boogerd will be second or third...😉

My favourite.... Alexander Vinokourov

Dark horse: Philippe Gilbert

cyclingheroes said:

Shall i only say hello or shall i give him a good bottle of wine?😄

T. Dekker is out, so Boogerd will be second or third...😉

My favourite.... Alexander Vinokourov

Dark horse: Philippe Gilbert

When will the final list of riders be posted ? Today sometime ?

lw

My pick (kiss of death as Lim likes to say) is Boonen.

I'm going with Robbie McQuen. I read something in CN that he's been training and thinks the climbers will be tired from la Vuelta. But, it's impossible to predict a bicycle race, particularly a world championship unless Freire is it. Then it's even money.

In the mix: Vino, Boogerd, Devolder, Boonen, Farrar and Roole.

SALZBERG:

de.wikipedia.orgMassaker von My LaiOpen ↗

portia said:

SALZBERG:

de.wikipedia.orgMassaker von My LaiOpen ↗

Sleeplijn !

helmutRoole2 said:

I'm going with Robbie McQuen. I read something in CN that he's been training and thinks the climbers will be tired from la Vuelta. But, it's impossible to predict a bicycle race, particularly a world championship unless Freire is it. Then it's even money.

In the mix: Vino, Boogerd, Devolder, Boonen, Farrar and Roole.

Back to back World's is pretty rare - four times by my count, three of them were Belgians (nope, not Eddy). It would be an amazing win if Boonen does it again.

limerickman said:

Freire' opportunity to win a fourth world title has slipped by this year.
Unfortunately.

Procycling magazine has a very good feature on the 2006 route.
As WBT suggests the route will be tough going.

Difficult to call a winner at this juncture : it'll be a roadman.

Hincapie, perhaps ?

Boonen ?

I think Valverde might be a good choice : although I haven't checked if he intends to ride this years championship.

Hincappie isn't doing it. I was surprised. He won the US nats pretty easy. Keep an eye on Farrar. I raced with him in the US Northwest. He drilled me in a sprint from a six-man break. Of course, I was 39 back then. But, well, he was 16. Also, watch for Danny Pate to do something early. He was the world u23 TT champ back in, I believe 2001 or 2. A reputed clean rider btw.

lwedge said:

Sleeplijn !

okay, the US is a Killer Nation and you choose to... the US caused every problem around the globe themselves, IGNORAMOSES, I don´t feel any pity because of Sept 9/11 , serves you right, ...

portia said:

okay, the US is a Killer Nation and you choose to... the US caused every problem around the globe themselves, IGNORAMOSES, I don´t feel any pity because of Sept 9/11 , serves you right, ...

Try painting with a much smaller brush.

lw