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OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,735
1,247
NORCAL is the hizzle
ire

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
I was thinking about it today...I was happy when Lance retired because the Tour had become too predictable. Now that he is back, I hope he wins! I think it would be an epic comeback story (not that he doesn't already have one). I'm looking forward to the fireworks in the days ahead. Here is an article that was posted on msnbc.com:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/31909157/ns/sports-tour_de_france/
 
moff_quigley

moff_quigley

Why don't you have a seat over there?
Jan 27, 2005
4,402
2
Poseurville
I think it would be in Lance's best interest not to win this year and help Contador win as much as is possible...unless this is a "one year come out of retirement" type deal or Contador cracks. Could you imagine what it would be like for Lance if he won this year? There would be a Frenchman with a sample cup waiting for him at every and all possible pisser that Lance could use in a 100km radius.
 
Squeak

Squeak

Get your pork here.
Sep 26, 2001
1,546
0
COlo style
I know that the tour is a long hard race, but the GC contenders have had an easy ride so far. This one is going to come down to the end.

That article claims that Contador will fade in the Alps. Fade from what? There has been no pressure at all on the GC contenders minus the TT's and the one uphill finish where attacks were made.

I want Lance to win (call me a fanboy all you want) but I don't see AC fading. It is going to be a terrific last week of the race. Too bad they wussified the entire middle of this years version of the race (from a fan's point of view, still hard as hell riding the Tour).
 
James

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
3,559
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Danbury, CT
Squeak said:
I know that the tour is a long hard race, but the GC contenders have had an easy ride so far. This one is going to come down to the end.

That article claims that Contador will fade in the Alps. Fade from what? There has been no pressure at all on the GC contenders minus the TT's and the one uphill finish where attacks were made.

I want Lance to win (call me a fanboy all you want) but I don't see AC fading. It is going to be a terrific last week of the race. Too bad they wussified the entire middle of this years version of the race (from a fan's point of view, still hard as hell riding the Tour).
Click to expand...
HELL YES! I agree 100% on that. Sure, you have some badass climbs, but when they're 150k from the finish? So what? Even Cav can catch back up after that...
 
ire

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
Squeak said:
I want Lance to win (call me a fanboy all you want) but I don't see AC fading. It is going to be a terrific last week of the race. Too bad they wussified the entire middle of this years version of the race (from a fan's point of view, still hard as hell riding the Tour).
Click to expand...
Not everyone can hold a peak for three weeks, and thats the guys argument. It took Levi a while to figure that out and thats why he comes in a little down on form, and gets faster as the race progresses. He may not fade a huge amount, but I bet he fades some....the big question is what Armstrong's form will look like. I'm interested to see if the other GC contenders work together and tag team Astana to take away their advantage. I could see the Schleck brothers and Sastre working together.
 
Squeak

Squeak

Get your pork here.
Sep 26, 2001
1,546
0
COlo style
Well if some riders were smart, they would have timed their "peak" to the last week. :)

I wish I knew what a peak is, I seem to spend all my races in the valleys. :(
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
ire said:
I was thinking about it today...I was happy when Lance retired because the Tour had become too predictable. Now that he is back, I hope he wins! I think it would be an epic comeback story (not that he doesn't already have one). I'm looking forward to the fireworks in the days ahead. Here is an article that was posted on msnbc.com:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/31909157/ns/sports-tour_de_france/
Click to expand...
I was going to argue against it, but Strickland makes a very good argument about Contrador fading towards the end.

I think winning the Tour is not just about who is first on the GC, but also winning in dominating style. The most revered winners, like Merckx and Indurain crushed the competition.

In comparison, Fignon won twice but was not a dominating rider, and is less revered than his counterpart, Hinault.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
55,953
21,996
Sleazattle
Squeak said:
Well if some riders were smart, they would have timed their "peak" to the last week. :)

I wish I knew what a peak is, I seem to spend all my races in the valleys. :(
Click to expand...

I did one 24 hour race solo where I had worked towards peaking months in advance. I never felt so strong, it was awesome.
 
maddog17

maddog17

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2008
2,818
106
Methuen, Mass. U.S.A.
sanjuro said:
I was going to argue against it, but Strickland makes a very good argument about Contrador fading towards the end.

I think winning the Tour is not just about who is first on the GC, but also winning in dominating style. The most revered winners, like Merckx and Indurain crushed the competition.

In comparison, Fignon won twice but was not a dominating rider, and is less revered than his counterpart, Hinault.
Click to expand...
do you think that racers today are better than those in Merckx and Indurain's time? maybe in Merckx's in hindsite. i think Indurain was a great TdF racer and probably had the doping thing working against him. not that he doped, but others in the pack. Merckx was a freak of his time. LA could have been too but he only concentrated on the TdF. Merckx was a much better all around racer, he raced everything and i have more respect for him than LA. and i think Fignon fell into that doping era too. so while he didn't dominate as Indurain did in the TdF, you gotta give him some credit for doing it clean (at least we assume he was). i feel if you win the tour then you've accomplished something pretty damn hard regardless of how much you win by. i would like to see a close race, like Lemond in 89. to come back from that time gap was amazing and to do it on the final stage was even more spectacular. i think if you have a guy that just destroys the field makes for a boring race. a closer race makes for more fun and team tactics, marking guys close to you in GC, it becomes a chess game. how much fun will the tour be if, for example, LA gets into the Alps and puts say 10 min plus on everyone? so exiting the Alps, he has the tour won. you'll have a week of guys so far down on GC breaking away that no one will care for the most part. so you would want to watch a week of racing when the winner is already picked? not me. i wish they would make the last stage a TT like in 89. maybe not every year, but include it once in awhile. hopefully one year it's included you'll have a 1989 type situation and that would be great!
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
55,953
21,996
Sleazattle
I'd love to see someone destroy the field but we will likely never see it again. What sucks is someone getting a minute in the first week then just protecting the lead. I want to see someone like Eddie Merckx ride again, get that minute lead then keep attacking just to show everyone that they are the fastest mother ****er out there. I think Contador could be that guy.
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
maddog17 said:
do you think that racers today are better than those in Merckx and Indurain's time? maybe in Merckx's in hindsite. i think Indurain was a great TdF racer and probably had the doping thing working against him. not that he doped, but others in the pack. Merckx was a freak of his time. LA could have been too but he only concentrated on the TdF. Merckx was a much better all around racer, he raced everything and i have more respect for him than LA. and i think Fignon fell into that doping era too. so while he didn't dominate as Indurain did in the TdF, you gotta give him some credit for doing it clean (at least we assume he was). i feel if you win the tour then you've accomplished something pretty damn hard regardless of how much you win by. i would like to see a close race, like Lemond in 89. to come back from that time gap was amazing and to do it on the final stage was even more spectacular. i think if you have a guy that just destroys the field makes for a boring race. a closer race makes for more fun and team tactics, marking guys close to you in GC, it becomes a chess game. how much fun will the tour be if, for example, LA gets into the Alps and puts say 10 min plus on everyone? so exiting the Alps, he has the tour won. you'll have a week of guys so far down on GC breaking away that no one will care for the most part. so you would want to watch a week of racing when the winner is already picked? not me. i wish they would make the last stage a TT like in 89. maybe not every year, but include it once in awhile. hopefully one year it's included you'll have a 1989 type situation and that would be great!
Click to expand...
Of course the racers are better today, but so are the bikes, the training, the nutrition, the drugs, etc.

I'm sure Merckx was doing at least amphetamines, but my attitude about doping is all the top riders were doing it, so even if one guy had an advantage, having the best doctors is part of the program.

It seemed to apply to Bjarne Riis and it definitely applied to the greatest era of Home Run hitters, the 90's.

Beyond the cheating, cycling is a great sport because of the innovations and their competitive advantage. The number one is the Scott Tri-bars used by Lemond. Number two is Armstrong's periodization training, i.e., skipping the Classics and the Giro. Number three is the small front wheel in TT's.

As for an exciting race, I think you will see it because the top 3 riders are all on the same team. There will be a dynamic that you haven't seen since La Vie Claire.
 
ZoRo

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
Westy said:
I want to see someone like Eddie Merckx ride again, get that minute lead then keep attacking just to show everyone that they are the fastest mother ****er out there. I think Contador could be that guy.
Click to expand...
F**ck yeah! Merckx was the greatest road cyclist of all time! He even raced track and did the hour records too :eek:

 
ire

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
Westy said:
I'd love to see someone destroy the field but we will likely never see it again. What sucks is someone getting a minute in the first week then just protecting the lead. I want to see someone like Eddie Merckx ride again, get that minute lead then keep attacking just to show everyone that they are the fastest mother ****er out there. I think Contador could be that guy.
Click to expand...
He only won the Tour once, but I love Pantani for this reason. He would attack and not many, if any, could go with him....it was always dramatic. I liked the way Ricco attacked, but his attitude sucked. I'm hoping he comes back with a better attitude and still has the amazing attack.
 
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