::Dauphine-Libre thread::

[ks_rider]

Lance is 5th. Hincapie is winner of the prologue.

What new gear will we see tested for the tour?

[Adrien]

Isn't it "Dauphiné Liberé"? Your title is wrong then

[lancejohnson]

It looked like Lance was on a different TT frame... Not sure what the changes are, but the downtube looks different and the paint is different for sure. What ever are those guys at Trek up to?

Other than that Maggie's Bianchi looked fairly odd, sort of like a mid- to late-80s pointlessly curvaceous steel bike...

I imagine if anyone is bringing out a new toy they will wait a month for the Tour at this point - maybe some testing in the labs and open roads, but not much in races. No one wants to tip their hand...

Looking at David Rebellin and Floyd Landis on the TT bikes was painful (http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/ ... ery-stage0). Neither of those guys looks very comfortable to me. More than the gear (and both have some of the nicest stuff around) the position is what makes a great time trial...

[Mr.Gib]

Never seen Lance's legs look quite so big - serious muscle mass. Hope he hasn't gone too far in that regard. Massive legs are good, just not in the mountains.

[drjones96]

I thought Lance looked pretty muscled up last year also but it didn't seem to hurt him any then. He pretty much ran away from the competition....if you want to call them that.

[Sleg8]

I reckon the Discovery boys are on a new TT bike. Look how far back along the top tube that the top-tube and down-tube are connected. That must be close to 15cm. That's more than last years:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/ ... libere--74

[splat]

From: Latest Cycling News for June 7, 2005 (www.cyclingnews.com)

'In Sunday's prologue, both he and George Hincapie were riding new a time trial bike, badged the TTX, featuring an integrated headtube, reshaped downtube and a new one-piece aero bar and stem, and no doubt this bike will make a reappearance on Wednesday.'

[Sleg8]

'In Sunday's prologue, both he and George Hincapie were riding new a time trial bike, badged the TTX, featuring an integrated headtube, reshaped downtube and a new one-piece aero bar and stem, and no doubt this bike will make a reappearance on Wednesday.'

A ha. It's good to see that my old 'tech' eyes haven't failed me yet. I like to try and spot all the new tech coming out round Tour time.

[alain]

You'll find everyday a live coverage of the race here:

http://criterium.ledauphine.com/criterium05/direct.php

It's in French.

[ks_rider]

Alain,

Thanks for live coverage link.

Adrian,

Sorry about the misspelling, I am not fluent in French and Italian. So, that makes me a bilingually illiterate. Just a product of American education system.

[ks_rider]

Cyclingnews' interview

[rico]

So nice to see Santi going well again after that terrible year with Telekom....

rico

[divve]

I noticed on some Quick Step bikes the Time Monolink stems are back. Is it perhaps a new reinforced version?