Mike Tomalaris

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Menchov at the double? I highly doubt it

01 June 2009 | 0:00 - By Mike Tomalaris

Congratulations to Russia's Denis Menchov, a worthy winner of the Giro d'Italia. Can he go one better and take out the Tour De France? I don't think so!

menchov_337654934

(Getty)

Congratulations to Denis Menchov for taking out the Giro d'Italia's centenary, but can he complete a rare Giro-Tour double?

 
I don't think so!
 
There's no doubt the Russian deserves all the accolades he gets for producing such an inspired performance over the last three weeks.
 
The way he defended the leader's jersey was legendary.
 
From the time he pulled it off the shoulders of Danilo di Luca in the stage 12 time trial will go down as part of Grand Tour folklore.
 
Mind you, his dream almost became a nightmare at the end didn't it?
 
I'm sure Danilo di Luca wouldn't have wanted to win the race had the Rabobank captain not been able to continue after crashing on the cobbles in the final metres.
 
Menchov has never won the Tour and to expect him to back-up and conquer the French roads would be madness.
 
Quite frankly I don't think it's possible for such an achievement in the modern world of professional cycling.
 
The Giro's centenary has been a gruelling test to say the least.
 
The stages over the Dolomites and the Alps in the first week were simply incredible and I'm sure the big mountains would have taken out a lot of those aiming for overall honours.
 
My guess is Michael Rogers may have suffered from such a taxing campaign and whether he can back up in France next month will be most interesting.
 
I'm wondering what Cadel Evans makes of the Giro's wash-up as he viewed the race from his comfort of base in Switzerland?
 
By not appearing in Italy, I now believe Cadel can go close to winning the Tour.
 
While the Giro combatants are licking their wounds, Cadel will prepare for the TdF full of freshness and zest.
 
The three week lay-off will do him the world of good, to the point where I feel he should start as a pre-Tour favourite along with Alberto Contador, who also decided to skip the Giro this year.
 
While all eyes will be on the form of Menchov, Sastre, Armstrong, Leipheimer and co, I'm tipping the battle lines at the Tour could well come down to an Aussie-Spanish showdown.
 
Marco Pantani was the last man to conquer both the Giro and Tour double.
 
But the world of cycling has changed dramatically since 1998.
 
Although there are a select few who might believe otherwise, the sport is very much cleaner in 2009 - to the point where I feel it's virtually impossible for riders to successfully complete back-to-back Grand Tours.
 
There are many who also feel Cadel's hopes of winning the Tour ended last year.
 
And all this talk about not having a strong team is rubbish!
 
Make no mistake, he'll have a very strong presence around him.
 
I'll elaborate on the make-up of the Silence-Lotto team closer to the start of the Tour.
 
It's just too bad serious injury will prevent fellow Aussie Matt Lloyd from supporting him.
 
Cadel versus Alberto: It's got a real heavyweight ring to it - don't you think?

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Comments (47)

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10 Jun 2009 14:28 AEST

Geoff Meers

From: Bondi, Sydney.

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Well done Mike and Trent - the coverage was excellent. It would have been difficult to commentate as the film grabs were a bit short but the style with Mike making an observation and Trent providing expert opinion straight afterwards, worked really well. I just would have liked more graphs and maps and visual aids to help us mugs understand better what was going on.

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10 Jun 2009 12:47 AEST

Chris Balfour

From: Mornington, Victoria

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Congratulations to Mike Tomilaris and Trent Wilson on the commentary for the Giro, great job. You can't please all of the people all of the time but they transformed an unlitenable event into something great, well done.

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10 Jun 2009 12:47 AEST

Chris Balfour

From: Mornington, Victoria

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Congratulations to Mike Tomilaris and Trent Wilson on the commentary for the Giro, great job. You can't please all of the people all of the time but they transformed an unlitenable event into something great, well done.

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10 Jun 2009 10:37 AEST

Stan

From: Newcastle

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I can understand Cadel has to wheel sit for 99.9 % of the tour. But i don't have any confidence he has the climbing ability of Contador or a few others on the crucial few climbs that matter

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09 Jun 2009 12:59 AEST

james rodgers

From: queensland

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Mike tomilaris is full of it menchov is a great rider and can win both if he wants to. But i hope cadel wins dauphione and tour

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09 Jun 2009 9:18 AEST

Peddler McSwifty

From: STK

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Matty Lloyd is on the short list for TDF. He has recovered really well from what was quite a serious accident. His spirits are high and feels confident he can ride himself back into some good form during the Dauphine and it will then up to the team and how the others are riding if he gets in. I know I am cheering for the lil fella as it could quite easily have been quite different for him after that accident! Go Lloydeeee!

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08 Jun 2009 21:35 AEST

Nick

From: Victoria

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Anyone else notice that Matty Lloyd started in the Dauphiné Libéré overnight...? Seems to me he'll be fit, or close to it, for the TdF. What is Mike sprouting??

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08 Jun 2009 21:35 AEST

Nick

From: Victoria

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Anyone else notice that Matty Lloyd started in the Dauphiné Libéré overnight...? Seems to me he'll be fit, or close to it, for the TdF. What is Mike sprouting??

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06 Jun 2009 13:15 AEST

Mark

From: Sydney

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Think back to 10+years ago - to have an Aussie contending for the yellow jersey at the Tour was almost unthinkable! Now Australian cycling looks healthier than ever. Cadel's superb palmares aside; I see his biggest achievement as bringing the sport of cycling into the psyche of the mainstream Australia - something money can't buy. p.s Watch out for Heinrich Haussler this Tour!!

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05 Jun 2009 14:11 AEST

Craig

From: Brisbane

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I'm liking Cadel's chances this year. Astana and Saxo will keep each other occupied, and Cadel will benefit from some lessons learnt from previous tours by the Lotto team. They used too much energy keeping the yellow jersey mid-race last year. Good call not to do a very tough looking Giro this year.

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Stay in touch with the ProTour road cycling season with SBS's cycling blog, featuring race reports, video highlights and blog coverage of every race of 2008, as well as details of SBS's racing coverage

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