Tour De France

[Dude]

I don't think he has the time trialing ability or experience to pull it off. Talented he may be, but USPS won't let him steal the show in the mountains. That is, unless he works with Hamilton, then all bets are off.

BTW- how stupid is USPS for letting this guy go?

 

[Dude]

At the end of the 15th stage, Armstrong has increased his lead over Ullrich. The American is now 1'07" ahead of the German in the general classification. Vinokourov began the day within 18" of the overall lead; he finished it with a deficit of 2'45".

The Top 10 Overall Places...
The top 10 after stage 15 is:
1. Lance Armstrong
2. Jan Ullrich at 1'07"
3. Alexandre Vinokourov at 2'45"
4. Haimar Zubeldia at 5'16"
5. Iban Mayo at 5'35"
6. Ivan Basso at 8'08"
7. Tyler Hamilton at 9'02"
8. Christophe Moreau at 11'09"
9. Francisco Mancebo at 16'05"
10. Carlos Sastre at 16'12"

17 H 05 - The Top Eight In Stage 15
The top eight in stage 15 is:
1. Lance Armstrong 159.5km in 4h29'26" (35.518kph)
2. Iban Mayo at 40"
3. Jan Ullrich at 40"
4. Haimar Zubeldia at 40"
5. Christophe Morea at 40"
6. Ivan Basso at 47"
7. Tyler Hamilton at 1'10"
8. Alexandre Vinokourov at 2'07"

Sandman- don’t know if you followed this today, but it was an epic stage for Armstrong. This was hugely anticipated, as it was the final mountain stage before the second to last stage 49 KM time trial.

Armstrong apparently crashed at the based of the climb, too, and his assent was described as “running on pure adrenaline”. At one point, he had built up a 51 second lead, only to let it fall back to 40 seconds by the end. He must have won a time bonus to get him a 1.07 minute lead.

This is huge for Armstrong. Over the past few days, he’s been keeping a calm demeanor by saying he’s confident in his ability to time trial with Ulrich, and to maintain a 15 second lead into the last day if needed. He also stated that he needed to make a move. Clearly, he has now stamped his mark on this tour.

I don’t know what to predict for the final TT, because with this year’s tour, it seems that anything can happen. One thing that does scare me a little…Ulrich didn’t attack LA when he crashed. He held the pace of the group- a gentlemanly move for fair play. Not long after than, LA attacked, and Ulrich couldn’t keep pace. This gives Ulrich the perfect excuse to attack LA in one of the final flat stages if, say, something becomes of LA…like another crash. That’s two crashes in this tour now, BTW, and once bad one narrowly averted when Belocki went down.

My take is this: I think, barring any mechanicals, that Ulrich and LA will be within a minute of each other on the final TT. The next three stages SHOULD be uneventful for those two, and they’ll both be well rested, and well hydrated. You can bet LA will take an IV drip the morning of the TT, just to prevent making the same mistake that cost him the last TT. Judging on his past performances, I predict either a win in that TT, or a close second to Ulrich. Nobody else in this year’s tour can TT at the same pace as these two. Vinokourov rode heroically today, but he’s done now. He needed to win today, and add a huge gap to give himself a chance.

Can’t wait to see how this week unfolds! This one is turning out to be a classic!

 

[Sandman]

Dude,

Caught the end of the race this morning...WOW! I think once the leaders got wind that Armstrong crashed, they slowed down....quite an example of sportsmanship. I also believe Armstrong did that a few years back when Ulrich crashed and he slowed down and waited for Ulrich to get back in to his pre-crash postion.

Should be an awesome finish

Sandman

 

[BlazeArmy]

Armstrong crashed when he clipped a spectators bag and went down hard, Mayo went down as he collided with Armstrong. He got back up and was on his way in 15 seconds. Ullrich slowed to wait for them and on the ride back Armstrong barely managed to stay on the bike when his pedal clipped off. When the group was back togethor Mayo put a move on and Armstong was right behind and Ullrich was alittle slow in answering. Armstrong saw somw weakness and then attacked and noone was able to match him. Great race and am looking forward to the dfinal few days of the tour.


Armywhowaslatetoworkbecausehewatchedthefullendofthestagetoday.

 

[Dude]

It's common curtosey...sort of an unwritten rule of the tour is to hold off on attacks when someone is down.

I remember a scene in 1990 or 1991 (can't recal), late in the Tour, with Greg LeMond leading Claudio Ciapucci by about 90 seconds. The real mountains were over, and LeMond had pulled back about a 20 minute lead Ciapucci had gained on a solo break-away on a flat stage in the first week. LeMond gets a flat, and the Wop attacked! LeMond's team pulled him back in. The footage of LeMond pulling up to Ciapucci and giving him an earfull is classic stuff! Don't mess with the boss...

 

[Dapotayto]

Must be some great footage. So would the clip of Dave Watson gapping the peleton. I guess we'll have to use our imaginations and picture the events in our mind Btw, your hair may be good but mine has been declared a national treasure. I am also expecting it to be classified as the ninth wonder of the world soon.

 

[Dude]

"Look Mom! I'm hucking Lance Amstrong!"

Anyhow, it is 100% confirmed now that:

1. Watson did it.
2. That my hair is marginally better than yours.

The filmers for NWD4 have the footage, so I'm guessing we'll have to wait for that to come out. I'm also guessing that sales for Sombrio wear will now go through the ceiling.

 

[lean]

Ullrich is done

That defeat crushed him and Lance will put an exclamation on it with the time trial. The outcome of the race was determined on that climb - Lance was utterly determined and Ullrich was hanging on for dear life.

You have to respect a sport that shows that much sportsmanship and honour for your competitors. Play hard but play fair.

LeanamazedatthedeterminationofLanceArmstrong

 

[Dude]

I'm confident that the two will be within a minute of each other.

That said, Ulrich has always been a great Time Trialist as well. As long as Lance is hydrated and healthy, they'll be close. Don't know about predicting the stage win, but they'll be within one minute.

Even more interesting, if Jan manages to pull back close to a minute, that will set up for a potentially very nervous and competitive final day of racing. That said, Lance was a great classics racer (single day rider) before he was a great Tour racer. He has the big engine to allow himself to keep at the front of a pack and control it all race long, if need be. The problem is, that puts him in the way of danger.

If Lance wins the TT, by any margin, it's all over.

 

[ParkHead]

Big Jan is done. I think Lance crushed his spirits yesterday with that performance. BTW both of them are simply amazing athletes. To push their bodies to those limits after everything they went through is truly something to behold.


Parkheadcouldn'tevenwalkupthosehillsletaloneraceabikeupthere

 

[zenga]

Its amazing to watch these athletes isnt it?

 

[Dude]

Tyler Hamilton- Stud

Tyler Hamilton won his first TDF stage today in a tre-men-dous solo effort through some tough hills.

Lance may be the boss, but Hamilton is the toughest man in the tour this year. Again- the guy is racing with a broken fcuking collarbone. I haven't done my collarbone, but I've had some bad separated shoulders. Climbing and racing full throttle do require a lot up upper body strength. What this guy has accomplished this year is nothing short of amazing.

Speaking of amazing, it has been revealed by Trek Bicycles that LA raced up the mountain two days ago with a broken chainstay. This is the section of tubing that connects the derailleur hanger to the bottom bracket.

More than anything, this speaks to the quality of a Trek OCLV frame to stay stiff enough to hold up for a 9 KM climb. LA more than likely would have had to adjust his style on the bike to prevent shifting slippage to. The damage on Jan could have been worse with a stiff frame, no doubt.

When Lance kicked his foot out I thought (as did Chris, I later learned) that the fall had damaged his pedal or shoe or cleat. Not so. When Mayo fell he landed on Lance’s right chainstay breaking it half way through. Once back on the broken bike, it would have felt flexy but the broken part was not flapping in the wind. But when Lance put some power to the pedals to get back up with the others, the chainstay flexed and yanked on the rear derailleur cable. That made the chain jump up and down the cogset and nearly put Lance back on the deck.

For whatever reason, the sporadic shifting settled down during Lance’s next surge and most of the rest of the remaining 9kms up to the finish. Perhaps Lance adjusted to the bike condition or he just got lucky and the problem was less pronounced. I don’t know how to explain why the bike would have settled down, but it did.

Either way, the chainstay is broken. Johan and Lance were proud to announce that the bike was damaged yet Lance still not only finished, but he won and put time into the chasing riders. Once again, a heroic effort.

 

[Dude]

The official press release on Watson's Jump: Freeride Entertainment.

Love it Dave! Balls to the wall!

I'll post pix and footage as soon as it is available.

 

[Dude]

Today was uneventful, but very fast, and interesting. There was one time bonus today. To nobody’s surprise, sprinter Robbie McEwen took it to draw even in the race for the Green Jersey. The next two riders across the bonus line? Jan Ulrich & Lance Armstrong. Apparently, Ulrich started his sprint about 600 meters out.

Anyhow, McEwen winning the bonus made Ulrich & LA's efforts moot.

The pace was apparently smoking fast. The stage was something like 200 KM long, and the average was just under 50 KPM. Just goes to show how nervous the peleton was...USPS was probably instrumental in pushing the pace to keep everyone honest.

I'll be riding in Whistler tomorrow, so I won't be able to catch the TT. Weather forecast is for low 20s, possibly some drizzles. Advantage LA.

 

[Dude]

Predictable finish.

Actually, this has been the best race since ’89. This time, no drama at the end…LA took control of the race when he won his stage in the Pyrenease. Saturday’s time trial was made interesting because of the danger factor of crashing, but up until Ulrich crashed, he and LA were posting the fastest times of the day, going balls-out in the rain. As soon as Ulrich biffed, that gave LA the pad he needed to ease off in the corners, and just motor on home. Besides, as the last rider, he has the advantage of getting split time updates through his earpiece, and just needed to hold pace.

That’s one of the most understated abilities of LA…when he’s healthy (99% of the time), he can ride at as fast of faster clip than anyone in the world, in any conditions. His style assumers he’s fresh for long distances. While other “mash” it out during the TT, riding the big gears at relatively lower cadences, LA rides the same cadence all day long, in all conditions. His RPMs stay high (up around 125-130) weather he’s climbing or time trailing. This helps keeps his legs fresh. Basically, he gets up to his RPM, then lets his heart rate dictate the gear. Baffling that others haven’t adopted the same style.

Anyhow, yesterday was a non-event, as expected. LA has already said he’ll be back to try for 6, which (in this day and age) would pretty much assure his spot in the record books as one of the, if not the greatest, cyclists of all time.

 

[Dapotayto]

Not sure he'd be considered the greatest even with a sixth win. Seems more people consider Mr. myxylplyx the best (you know that guy that used to piss off Superman). Or am I thinking of Eddy Mercyk? Anyway, one of them also won five tours albeit not consecutively. I have read that he burned himself out by riding too many competitive races instead of taking time off to rest his body for the big ones such as the TDF. I really don't know myself. Those are just regurgitated facts/opinions from the all-knowing internet.

 

[Dude]

Fcuk you're dumb...you really have no idea.

Lex Luther (the most evil of all the evil villains) and Lois Lane (sexual tensions) pissed off Superman more than anyone. So there.

The thing is, people can argue about who's 5 were tougher (Mercyk, Hinault, Indurain on and on...) but nobody else can claim 6 Tour victories; certainly not 6 in a row.

Besides that, Armstrong’s training regime is considered so tortuous that many believe it is tougher than spending the Spring racing the classics. Most guys used to just race the classics, then use the Tour of Italy to get in TDF shape.

In an age where athletes have no excuses for not being as fit as they can be, for not taking advantage of medical (read: "safe" drugs) enhancements, and not using the best technology, Armstrong has risen above all by pushing himself harder than anyone lese can push him.

Now, if you will please help me remove his balls from my mouth...

 

[Dapotayto]

Oh shite, I totally forgot that Armstrong has already won six in a row. My bad.

Good call on Lois Lane. Superman obviously never figured out that nice guys finish last. I'm sure Lex was probably drilling her on the side much like you and Lance.

 

[Dude]

Anyhow, yesterday was a non-event, as expected. LA has already said he’ll be back to try for 6, which (in this day and age) would pretty much assure his spot in the record books as one of the, if not the greatest, cyclists of all time.

Think of how many chicks Superman could have nailed if he was in the NBA? The numbers would be staggering. Really, with his powers, he could have done it all. Save the world, score 50 points, and then bang three blonds, a brunette, and a Japanese girl at the Ice Palace after the game.

Dumb Superman. Almost as dumb as you.

 

[Dapotayto]

Dude, I have reread your earlier post citing the reasons Lance Armstrong has been so dominant over the last five years. It occured to me that something seemed to be missing so I had a fellow super-genius, Lex Luthor himself, analyze the situation closely. He has used his abnormally large brain to deduce that there is a different reason, other than the ones you have listed, for Lance Armstrong beating Jan Ullrich. It turns out that it has little to do with training regimens or equipment. In fact, the true reason Armstrong won is, generally, due to aerodynamics and, specifically, the type of razor he is using to shave his body. Ullrich, being German and patriotic, is compelled to use the Braun PT-28 while Armstrong is using the American and unequivocally superior Phillishave T-562. Over such a large distance the small increments of time saved by Armstrong have added up to over a minute in total. This being the margin of which LA won the race. So you bastard, it is obvious that you are going to have to start thinking outside the box. Unlike me, who tonight will attempting to think inside the box after the Blue Rodeo concert with a certain secretary from a certain downtown office building. Who's the dummy now?