Welcome to the TTP community
Be apart of something great, join today!
Tour de France - 2005
- Thread starter Argyle
- Start date
Check out tomorrow's stage...freaking nuts! This one I'll have to watch live coverage. The climbers and decenders will rule the day! Lots of human crayons tomorrow...
http://www.letour.fr/2005/TDF/LIVE/us/1100/dprofil.html
http://www.letour.fr/2005/TDF/LIVE/us/1100/dprofil.html
Dude said:
The usual Discovery MO.
Sent the Disco boys to the front and push the pace and one by one they (Discovery) drop off until its only Lance and whoever else could hand on - in this case the 3 others.
It was funny when only Lance and Popo were left that Lance tells him something and then Popo hits it till he blows and then Lance takes over the rest of the way.
Rasmussen looks great too.
Tomorrow will be great.
Get the feeling they were just laying in the weeds a bit on stage 8? Afterall, if there would be an ideal time to take it easy, and play a little possum, that was the time. Wouldn't be the first time LA or Postal / Discovery has played head games with the peleton.
Tiner,
Tragic news from Germany.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&h...7-29277,00.html
Cadel Evans seemed inspired yesterday in his attck on the field...had me rooting for him.
RIP.
Tragic news from Germany.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&h...7-29277,00.html
Cadel Evans seemed inspired yesterday in his attck on the field...had me rooting for him.
RIP.
What a great final day of real racing!
The Time Trial (Test of Truth) never disappoints in providing for some drama, especially when held in the last or second to last stages.
Although I don't think that anyone honestly expected to take any time out of Lance Armstrong today (IMO, this tour was probably his most dominant, more in a bit), the general classification was tight enough that it would be realistic for movement anywhere between 2nd and 10th.
Yeah, Armstrong and Jan Ulrich did the expected and dominated the stage. Lance clearly has an advantage over Ulrich- who if he just changed some of his mechanics on the bike, and raced smarter would be a better challenger- on a tight, technical course like this. First off, Lance has probably more true TT experience than anyone in the field, not only because of his record in all TTs, but because of his experience racing as a top pro triathlete between the age of 16-18. He knows how to be aggressive on a TT bike; he familiar with the different angles, and different positioning, and being able to transfer more power while maintaining the aero position. Not to say Ulrich isn't a powerhouse- he is. But, LA showed his technical superiority on the middle 1/3 or the course that demanded fast cornering, descending, and acceleration. By his own admission, he was riding conservative and safe, but his conservative, safe approach was still better than anyone else. This was made all the more apparent when he hit the flats for the final 1/3 of the course and promptly gave back close to a minute of his 90 second lead to Ulrich.
Ulrich is an enigma. He's all power, low cadence, and dumb as a bag of hammers with respect to his pure talents. The guy is clearly a super human athlete, just not smart. Can't adapt. His style does not afford him any quick changes of pace. This killed him earlier in the mountains, when LA could easily cover any attacks, the same attacks that took Ulrich longer to respond to, or dropped him altogether. Today, it killed him on the tight DH switchbacks. He just couldn't accelerate out of them quickly enough to get his speed back...too much mashing, not enough dancing. If he could just adjust his style, he would have been the winner today. Nonetheless, his effort moved him from 4th to 3rd.
Speaking of inexperience and bottling it, how about Michael Rasmussen? Here's a former world champion cross country mountain biker who not only CAN'T time trial, but can't stay on the freaking road! Twice he went off. You would assume that because of his off road experience he'd be able to handle his TT bike...but in fairness to him, the WC cross country circuit rarely offers up a tough technical challenge. But, these two weaknesses are inexcusable for such a great rider. First, he should be able to TT a lot better. Yes, he's a bit small, but the cross country experience should do nothing but help him there. Plus, he lost tons of time being finicky. Four times he switched bikes, once being understandable, the others because he had issues w/ the set-ups. As a mountain biker, he needs to be 100% accustomed to equipment issues, but he did not roll well with the punches today. His effort dropped him from 3rd on the podium to 7th. Shockingly bad.
Ivan Basso was impressive, actually throwing down the fastest split by the first time check. TT isn't his specialty, but his effort was good enough to take 5th today, and limit any damage to Jan Ulrich. This guy is the next great racer, and if he can improve only a little on his TT ability, he'll win next year.
This year has been the easiest of LA's 6 (tomorrow 7) wins. Not one bad day. He did not need to be dominant, because with only a two minute lead, every one of his opponents knew there was nothing they could do. He covered every attack with ease this year. He had a clear physiological advantage with all his main rivals waving the white flag before the mountains even hit. Shame it has to come to an end, but what a way to go out, and what a legacy!
The Time Trial (Test of Truth) never disappoints in providing for some drama, especially when held in the last or second to last stages.
Although I don't think that anyone honestly expected to take any time out of Lance Armstrong today (IMO, this tour was probably his most dominant, more in a bit), the general classification was tight enough that it would be realistic for movement anywhere between 2nd and 10th.
Yeah, Armstrong and Jan Ulrich did the expected and dominated the stage. Lance clearly has an advantage over Ulrich- who if he just changed some of his mechanics on the bike, and raced smarter would be a better challenger- on a tight, technical course like this. First off, Lance has probably more true TT experience than anyone in the field, not only because of his record in all TTs, but because of his experience racing as a top pro triathlete between the age of 16-18. He knows how to be aggressive on a TT bike; he familiar with the different angles, and different positioning, and being able to transfer more power while maintaining the aero position. Not to say Ulrich isn't a powerhouse- he is. But, LA showed his technical superiority on the middle 1/3 or the course that demanded fast cornering, descending, and acceleration. By his own admission, he was riding conservative and safe, but his conservative, safe approach was still better than anyone else. This was made all the more apparent when he hit the flats for the final 1/3 of the course and promptly gave back close to a minute of his 90 second lead to Ulrich.
Ulrich is an enigma. He's all power, low cadence, and dumb as a bag of hammers with respect to his pure talents. The guy is clearly a super human athlete, just not smart. Can't adapt. His style does not afford him any quick changes of pace. This killed him earlier in the mountains, when LA could easily cover any attacks, the same attacks that took Ulrich longer to respond to, or dropped him altogether. Today, it killed him on the tight DH switchbacks. He just couldn't accelerate out of them quickly enough to get his speed back...too much mashing, not enough dancing. If he could just adjust his style, he would have been the winner today. Nonetheless, his effort moved him from 4th to 3rd.
Speaking of inexperience and bottling it, how about Michael Rasmussen? Here's a former world champion cross country mountain biker who not only CAN'T time trial, but can't stay on the freaking road! Twice he went off. You would assume that because of his off road experience he'd be able to handle his TT bike...but in fairness to him, the WC cross country circuit rarely offers up a tough technical challenge. But, these two weaknesses are inexcusable for such a great rider. First, he should be able to TT a lot better. Yes, he's a bit small, but the cross country experience should do nothing but help him there. Plus, he lost tons of time being finicky. Four times he switched bikes, once being understandable, the others because he had issues w/ the set-ups. As a mountain biker, he needs to be 100% accustomed to equipment issues, but he did not roll well with the punches today. His effort dropped him from 3rd on the podium to 7th. Shockingly bad.
Ivan Basso was impressive, actually throwing down the fastest split by the first time check. TT isn't his specialty, but his effort was good enough to take 5th today, and limit any damage to Jan Ulrich. This guy is the next great racer, and if he can improve only a little on his TT ability, he'll win next year.
This year has been the easiest of LA's 6 (tomorrow 7) wins. Not one bad day. He did not need to be dominant, because with only a two minute lead, every one of his opponents knew there was nothing they could do. He covered every attack with ease this year. He had a clear physiological advantage with all his main rivals waving the white flag before the mountains even hit. Shame it has to come to an end, but what a way to go out, and what a legacy!
