Vino takes it all

Alexander Vinokourov impressed a whole cycling world by winning Olympic gold in London 12 years after he was forced to let team mate at that time, Jan Ullrich, take the gold medal in Sydney.

Here are a few pictures of the most important moments in the race:

Rigoberto Uran punctured after a few kilometers.
240 km later he was about to take Olympic gold...

Team GB had control of the race from the very beginning.
But on the last time on Box Hill they let too many attack...

Tony Martin was the only rider helping out GB in the chase.
He withdrew halfway through thinking of the time trial...

Fabian Cancellara was in a perfect position but crashed.
Vino, right behind him, managed to stay up and later won...

Uran made a mistake on the last 150 meters and Vino wasn't
late to take advantage and make sure he couldn't get caught.

12 years after having to "give" Ullrich the win in Sydney
Vino now finally got his Olympic gold medal...

A devastated Cancellara knew he could have won. Instead of
the podium he went to the hospital to get his shoulder checked.

Vino 1st, Uran 2nd, Kristoff 3rd. If you had that combination
right before the start, I salute you! 

It's real! Alexander Vinokourov wins Olympic gold in his last
season as professional! That calls for respect...

Tour Preview - Stage 20

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Champagne time! Or at least until the riders enter the centre of Paris. From here on it’s hardcore racing for the win on Champs-Élysées and most likely it will end up in a mass sprint.

Favorites:

Showing on Stage18 that he is still kicking and ready for the Olympics, Mark Cavendish will be the man to beat in order to win Sunday afternoon. For the first time in this Tour de France, Cavendish will have a whole team able to work for him and personally I’m looking forward to see the yellow jersey working for the World Champion…

Especially the fact that Team Sky now finally will be able to give Cavendish his leadout train will be an interesting factor since it will be the first they will be competing against Lotto-Belisol in order to deliver their sprinter in the perfect position. In the beginning of the race, Andre Greipel got everything like he wanted and finished it off perfectly with one stage win after the other, but I doubt it will be that easy for him on Champs-Élysées.

One of my own jokers for the stage is Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank’s Juan José Haedo. Haedo is a real power sprinter and not many in this sport can match his top speed on the final meters. If Haedo manages to get on the right wheel in the final I think he can do some damage and even though I doubt he can win the stage I think top3 is within his reach.

If you are looking for a super-super joker, try Luisle Sanchez or Alexander Vinokourov. Sanchez was once again (!) denied a stage win due to Team Sky’s superiority in the final time trial and he seems to be going very strong in the end of this Tour. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to attack on the final laps on Champs-Élysées and why not together with Alexander Vinkourov, who desperately tries to put his mark on his final Tour de France. Vino already knows what it takes to cheat the sprinters and win in Paris and I’m sure he will try to repeat that this time.

Winner pick: Mark Cavendish

Top3 pick: Juan José Haedo

Jokers: Luisle Sanchez and Alexander Vinokourov