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The Tour de France

Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,542
20,343
Sleazattle
The only thing I think Lance has going for him is the fact that the TT and the Last climb where he lost time were both relatively short. He may be able to perform better in a longer time trial or longer climb. Age usually means less power but possibly more endurance.
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,658
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
Unless he's playing some kind of game Lance is pretty clearly slower than Contador in the mountains. He's a relatively good time trialer but Contador needs to get a lot more time over the next couple of days to make sure his lead survives.

I couldn't help but wonder if Lance was holding it back a little bit once Contador took off. Looked like he was riding tempo pretty easily and trying to hold back his group. He certainly would have taken a ration of crap if he had tried to chase.

Contador looked pretty unbeatable yesterday, but this race will not be over until they get to the top of Ventoux. After three weeks anyone could have an off day. And a bad day there could mean many minutes, not just seconds. The riders are probably not too stoked but I think it's pretty cool to save such a tough day until the end.
 
Silver

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
Lance is done. He would need Contador and Wiggins to have a bad day, because he's not going to put significant time (if any) into those two on the TT.

Podium, possibly, but no win.
 
James

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
3,559
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Danbury, CT
OGRipper said:
Unless he's playing some kind of game Lance is pretty clearly slower than Contador in the mountains. He's a relatively good time trialer but Contador needs to get a lot more time over the next couple of days to make sure his lead survives.

I couldn't help but wonder if Lance was holding it back a little bit once Contador took off. Looked like he was riding tempo pretty easily and trying to hold back his group. He certainly would have taken a ration of crap if he had tried to chase.

Contador looked pretty unbeatable yesterday, but this race will not be over until they get to the top of Ventoux. After three weeks anyone could have an off day. And a bad day there could mean many minutes, not just seconds. The riders are probably not too stoked but I think it's pretty cool to save such a tough day until the end.
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I think Lance was pretty close to, or at his limit yesterday.

What I find amusing is that people are crowing "LANCE IS OVER, ALL HAIL CONTADOR" when talking about this. For anyone to take 3 years off from racing, then come back to that level is amazing. To do it at 38 years old is beyond phenomenal. Lance was kinda damned if he does/damned if he doesn't with this race.

I'd like to see him keep a podium spot, but I don't think he'll be able to leapfrog Berto. Personally, I'd love to see Wiggo jump up to 2nd, but who knows, Ventoux is huge, though Schleck will lose a bunch of time in the long TT.*

*Probably

Side note: anyone see how much of a huge baby/whiner Sastre is being? What a tool.
 
Silver

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
James said:
What I find amusing is that people are crowing "LANCE IS OVER, ALL HAIL CONTADOR" when talking about this. For anyone to take 3 years off from racing, then come back to that level is amazing. To do it at 38 years old is beyond phenomenal. Lance was kinda damned if he does/damned if he doesn't with this race.
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I was cracking up at the opposite observation from the Paul and Phil yesterday: "He's riding well for such an old fart!"

It's a good observation, but like anything with VS and Lance we don't need to hear it 500,000 times...

(You really have to wonder what would have happened if he hadn't retired...obviously he can still hack it physically even after the layoff.)
 
ire

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
James said:
I think Lance was pretty close to, or at his limit yesterday.

What I find amusing is that people are crowing "LANCE IS OVER, ALL HAIL CONTADOR" when talking about this. For anyone to take 3 years off from racing, then come back to that level is amazing. To do it at 38 years old is beyond phenomenal. Lance was kinda damned if he does/damned if he doesn't with this race.

I'd like to see him keep a podium spot, but I don't think he'll be able to leapfrog Berto. Personally, I'd love to see Wiggo jump up to 2nd, but who knows, Ventoux is huge, though Schleck will lose a bunch of time in the long TT.*

*Probably

Side note: anyone see how much of a huge baby/whiner Sastre is being? What a tool.
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Agree on all counts. The man is an Animal. 3 years is one thing, but then he broke his collarbone, was relatively competitive at the Giro and then comes to the tour and will in all likely hood place in the top 5. I hope he tries again next year and targets the TDF specifically. I still want to see him win #8.
 
James

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
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Danbury, CT
golgiaparatus said:
Agree on all counts. The man is an Animal. 3 years is one thing, but then he broke his collarbone, was relatively competitive at the Giro and then comes to the tour and will in all likely hood place in the top 5. I hope he tries again next year and targets the TDF specifically. I still want to see him win #8.
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Based on his recent statements, I'd be willing to be that the '10 tour features a team built around Lance...
 
J

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
James said:
Levi for sure, Horner, Kloid? Dunno, is he sick of being a lieutenant?
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Well, Kloden isn't exactly young (35 next year), but his riding is pretty impressive. To me, he looked fresher than Lance at the end of the stage Sunday and he was the one doing the pacing at the end. I rarely see anything about Kloden, but he has to be one of the strongest guys out there. He was fourth in the stage 1 TT too.

And Sastre needs to be quiet.
 
BikeMike

BikeMike

Monkey
Feb 24, 2006
784
0
With the exception of the Col de Marie-Blanque (9.3 km climb at average 7.4 %) and Col de la Colombière (16.0 km climb at average 6.8 %) the other climbs listed are often listed as H.C. Verbier (Cat 1) is 8.1% for a good chunk of it, and relatively short at 8.8km. Short and steep climbs produce much higher climbing rates. Just saying.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,542
20,343
Sleazattle
Verbier was windy as **** too. They had a solid tailwind rolling up to the climb. Not sure what the wind direction did once they hit the switchbacks but it certainly could have pushed the riders up the hill.
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,658
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
Man that crash sucked to watch. Velonews is saying he hit a dip but it looked to me like he just washed out his front wheel on the painted traffic line. 50mph right to the face, with a long, apparently unconscious, slide - that's gonna leave a mark. Hope he's ok, he's definitely one of the most exciting riders to watch. Gotta love his attacks even if they are usually suicidal.

Pretty clear that the Shlecks didn't have enough fire power today. Contador never looked isolated or seriously tested. Interesting to see Lance hang back and then jump across. Not clear if he just needed some time to recover or what but he gobbled up that gap in no time.
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
First this: Bruyneel, Astana to part ways over Vino return.

Then this: "Making a very cool announcement on Thursday re: a new American partner for our team in 2010 (and beyond). Stay tuned!"

Wonder who that might be. Nike, Livestrong or both?
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
OGRipper said:
Man that crash sucked to watch. Velonews is saying he hit a dip but it looked to me like he just washed out his front wheel on the painted traffic line. 50mph right to the face, with a long, apparently unconscious, slide - that's gonna leave a mark. Hope he's ok, he's definitely one of the most exciting riders to watch. Gotta love his attacks even if they are usually suicidal.

Pretty clear that the Shlecks didn't have enough fire power today. Contador never looked isolated or seriously tested. Interesting to see Lance hang back and then jump across. Not clear if he just needed some time to recover or what but he gobbled up that gap in no time.
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I know I said it was over for him but...

That move made me wonder if he has something up his sleeve for stage 20. He's not even 2 minutes down. If he can make up some time on the TT and has a great day on Stage 20 he might still be able to get into the jersey.

I dunno... just hoping really. I doubt if anyone can successfully attack Contador.
 
Silver

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
golgiaparatus said:
First this: Bruyneel, Astana to part ways over Vino return.

Then this: "Making a very cool announcement on Thursday re: a new American partner for our team in 2010 (and beyond). Stay tuned!"

Wonder who that might be. Nike, Livestrong or both?
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Trek Test Team? SRAM maybe?

I thought Livestrong had issues with being a non-profit and Nike doesn't make cycling stuff, so why be a title sponsor.
 
-dustin

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
I remember one of my Eco profs had a Phonac watch. I thought it was cool. Then he told me that it was a control center for his hearing aid. It lost some of it's street cred but gained nerd respect.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,542
20,343
Sleazattle
I'm pretty sure Astana is the only Dictatorial Socialist Conglomerate title sponsor, Agritubel the only farming pipe sponsor...

I don't think Columbia makes cycling clothing either.
 
ire

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
Silver said:
Trek Test Team? SRAM maybe?

I thought Livestrong had issues with being a non-profit and Nike doesn't make cycling stuff, so why be a title sponsor.
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Viagra doesn't make cars, but they sponsor a NASCAR
 
Cant Climb

Cant Climb

Turbo Monkey
May 9, 2004
2,683
10
Not Lances' team but a new big team next year is the Sky team.....Sky vodka....?.......supposed to be big budget. Will have half a dozen Brits on it, not Cav or Wiggins.....not the first year anyway.

Seems like the Brits are finally putting themselves closer to the front of the peleton.
 
maddog17

maddog17

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2008
2,817
106
Methuen, Mass. U.S.A.
with the return of Vino, i say Festina becomes the title sponser. why not have a past doper be a rider on a team who's title sponser was associated with doping. win/win!!

and the Columbian cartel can sponser Boonen's team, nice perks for him.
 
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