I dont think the tmobile triple threat (now known as the TTT) cant win BUT what if they've unified and given each person a day to try to make the top 2 or 3 spots and said 'once your on top' then the strongest person takes it?Westy said:The problem with T-Mobile is they have 3 GC candidates that will each try to do well on their own instead of all working towards the victory for one person. Didn't Jan chase down one of Vino's attacks on stage 8 with Lance in tow? Lance has been using the same tactics for the last 6 years, focus only on Le Tour and have the whole team work behind you for a Tour win. It seems that T-Mobile hasn't figured out that this could be the winning equation.
indieboy said:phewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww @ all the discovery slams
i'm doubled over at this moment
That Lance and the Discovery boys are kicking his a$$ just like always.... oh wait we all knew that.DBR X6 RIDER said:Jan's been awfully quite thus far. Hopefully he knows something the rest of us don't .....
Hahaha - poor Jan. He's always fared better in the Pyrenees, but he may be too far back by the time they get there to make a difference. If the TTT pre-tour "strategy" wasn't a bunch of hot air, I'd guess that they are currently discussing a strategy revolving around Vino. He's obviously been the strongest of the three up to this point.DRB said:That Lance and the Discovery boys are kicking his a$$ just like always.... oh wait we all knew that.
How you figure? Jan is still ahead of Vino in the GC. I think the difference is that they might let Vino go on a break, but they will do everything they can to keep Jan from getting away.DBR X6 RIDER said:If the TTT pre-tour "strategy" wasn't a bunch of hot air, I'd guess that they are currently discussing a strategy revolving around Vino. He's obviously been the strongest of the three up to this point.
The Toninator said:jan is washed up, his race is over (for first at least)
Until the time trial.Pau11y said:I'm really surprised at Rassmunsen ...... I think Discovery needs to pay a bit more attention his way...
PsychO!1 said:Until the time trial.
what with the whatwhat now?Westy said:That dude is so scrawny. I bet he has a great power to weight ratio but not much on the power side of things.
I think that Rasmussen might try an attack. If he could snag a stage win he would only need 19 sec (plus whatever bonuses Lance collected) to take the yellow jersey. He made a pretty decent attack on the Galibier to get KOM points. Hard to say if he could have been covered or not. Lance had no trouble covering is attack to Courcheval, getting over the top of him in about 10 feet.DBR X6 RIDER said:I'm hoping Rasmussen can thrive in the Pyrenees and come away from the final TT in a top-5 placing. I can see him holding on for the KOM jersey for sure.
Bummer that Beltran had to abandon today - I wonder how much impact that will have on Team Discovery in the long run. If anything, I think it will help ensure that Lance won't win by a huge margin...just a big one.
I sense a great deal of confidence in this statement. Almost like he is saying "I know something that you don't know.""Regardless of what happens tomorrow or on the next day, we still have the advantage of knowing that there's a long time trial in the end," he said post-race. "But if somebody is having a great day and I can't follow the explosive riders and their accelerations...who knows what will happen? But, I might be able to follow," he added.
Of course, stage 15 will be a special day of remembrance for Armstrong, too, as it marks the 10th anniversary of his former Motorola teammate Fabio Casartelli's death. "It feels almost like yesterday when we were descending the Portet d'Aspet and I saw him there, which just goes to show how time flies...," a touched Armstrong said. "It's always a tough moment to pass that point, also in training. His wife, his son and his parents will be here, and it's added motivation for me. When he died, his son was just born, and to see him now as a ten year-old boy, and a carbon copy of Fabio is a pretty special sight. He was a great guy, and he left a little baby so it's a tough situation. I'll ride with his memory on Sunday for sure," he concluded, also explaining that his visits to the Casartelli family on his trips to Italy were very private. Armstrong plans to attend a small remembrance ceremony on rest day in Pau.
Yeah, so true. I saw several close-calls in the stage today - the one guy running ahead of them with the Columbian flag was awfully dicey. Tomorrow's stage is going to be as sketch from that standpoint.DRB said:The thing that worries me most about the next two days is the fans..... its only a matter of time before an accident happens.
Right before that it looked like a fan reached out and shoved Jan almost causing him to take out Basso.DBR X6 RIDER said:Yeah, so true. I saw several close-calls in the stage today - the one guy running ahead of them with the Columbian flag was awfully dicey. Tomorrow's stage is going to be as sketch from that standpoint.
Towards the end of the stage today, the fans were doing the samething to Ullrich. Not pushing him up but trying to push him over and slapping at him. It wasn't good. I didn't notice them going after the others that way.Wumpus said:Right before that it looked like a fan reached out and shoved Jan almost causing him to take out Basso.
Vinokourov has been courted by several big teams, and there is speculation that he may end up at Cofidis or Ag2r next year. Discovery Channel director Johan Bruyneel denied that his team was interested in signing the attacking T-Mobile rider. "We want someone who can win the Tour. Vinokourov isn't one of them," he said.bikeguy100k said:I think he's going to the Very Disco team, even though Johan says he think Vino will never be a tour winner...