posted
Thanks to AJ for posting the current standings.
Jerseys:
Yellow – Lance Armstrong
Green – Robbie McEwen
Polka-Dot – Richard Virenque
White – Thomas Voeckler
Description: A time trial can often be boring to watch, there’s almost no tactics involved with the ride once the riders actually start off on the course. All you can see is one guy cycling, and every once in a while, passing someone who started in front of him. So if the results of the time trial don’t matter, you may find yourself losing interest quickly. Today, the results did matter, but the description of the stage can pretty much be summed up in the results, so I’m going to give a … more personal description. (A semi-serious semi-parody kind of thing I guess…) I’ve been waking up at 6:30 am every day now since July 3rd (including off days) and earlier on a few of the longer stages. Today’s coverage started a half hour earlier than normal, and I was utterly exhausted when I woke up. Normally that feeling disappears after a few minutes, but it just got worse for me.
I managed to keep my eyes open through the end of the pre-race show and into the summation of what had happened in the last few days, but just barely. I began curling up on the couch, and during commercials I would shut my eyes.
As the actual coverage began I was struggling. I saw one of the low-ranked guys come in with an astonishing time, but my brain was barley plodding along and hardly recognized it. Then there was a lot of riders who did not matter much in the overall classification, nor where they finishing high on the leader board, even at this early stage.
My eyes were now shutting during live coverage and I was considering taking a few minutes of sleep! I had to snap out of it, about 50 minutes into the coverage, still with none of the riders breaking out onto the road I made myself some breakfast (two pieces of cinnamon-raisin toast ) and sat down with a tall glass of chilled, skim milk. Mmm, mmm.
With my metabolism now beginning to start up I was feeling more awake and alert. The riders starting off now were turning into climbers, and fast times began to be put in. Very fast times. The race was heating up and the favorites were still yet to take their place on the starting line.
Walking back and forth from the Television to my computer during commercial breaks to check on arrival times was helping and I could feel my form setting in. It was essential that I began to get my blood flowing and possibly break through one of the first walls before the big contenders started. I didn’t want to miss a minute of it!
Ulrich was the first big man to go, and I was getting revved up. His use of aero bars on the mountain time trial was not as surprising as how much climbing he seemed to be doing on them. The aero bars reduce your wind drag but they also make it harder to bring in air to your lungs, and you could see him suffering. He was using a huge gear but he was turning it over and absolutely blistering the mountain side.
I could feel my concentration coming back as Kloden launched his start. Then went Basso, and you could see Armstrong waiting behind him. I was ready to go, my mind was focused and my body was loose and awake. Should I need to sprint forward to watch the Television from centimeters away I was ready!
Armstrong’s off! The first kilometer or so of the course is semi-flat (1.5% gradient) and none of the big contenders except Ulrich took that hard. The big times were to be gained on the mountain. The first time check was right at the end of the flat section, and Ulrich was by far the best placed of the favorites there, but the climb was starting.
I was in good form, moving my position all over as was appropriate for the course. Whenever a fan got too close to the riders, or it looked like one was in undue suffering I was leaning forward out of my seat, but I was taking rest breaks when I needed leaning back. The stage was looking good.
There was only one time check before the finish (besides the very first one right on the flat) and that was 9 kilometers into the race. Ulrich hit first, and he hit it hard, beating out the next closest to go through there by almost a minute. His odd choice of bike, strange climbing style, and massive gear seemed to be paying off. Could anyone else match it? That’s what I though as my head inched ever closer to the glowing screen.
Kloden came through the check behind Ulrich, but close to him, he was looking to be in great form, just like me. Then comes Basso, he’s not known for being a time-trialest, and it was beginning to show. He came in behind both of those riders, but more important, here comes Armstrong!
I was completely out of my seat now, there’s Armstrong not too far Ivan Basso who started 2 minutes in front of him at the beginning. All sleep is erased from my mind which is now filled with “what’s the time check?” Armstrong came through and blew Ulrich out of the water, finishing many seconds ahead of him at the check with 6 kilometers of climbing left to go.
I’m ecstatic, he’s riding one of the greatest time trials ever, and at 12 kilometers in, he passed Basso. My face, once tired and drawn is a mask of delight, and Armstrong is still going strong.
By the end he had put a whopping 1 minute and 1 second on Ulrich who finished second to him. This is huge! Armstrong won the entire Tour last year by that exact margin, and now he’s done all of that in one time trial.
I’m feeling good and enjoying the aftermath of this decisive victory as I listen to the interview with Lance and watch the podium presentation. It was a good day, for Lance and me both.
posted
I saw that "6th now in sight" in the title and thought, but he was 1st in GC just yesterday! Of course you may have just jinxed him by saying that and if he loses, Hobbes, I'm blaming it all on YOU!
Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003
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This article has something about how negative the (mostly German) fans were. I'm very surprised, as I was when I saw it live, normally the Tour fans are incredibly supportive of everyone.
posted
here's a great article explaining Tyler's injury. With pictures which would be juicy to gaze upon if it weren't for the injuries they display...
posted
1. I don't know. Obviously Ivan Basso is in there right now, but of course that proves nothing. He's not a very good time-trialest, and we have a whopper of one coming up. Kloden isn't the best in the world, but he's good, Ulrich very well might be the best in the world, if not, he's probably second to Lance Armstrong in that discipline. I think any of those three can finish second, it depends on if any of them try to make a move in the mountains (the problem is, USPS would cover it instantly, and the copmetitors would just grab onto the wheel of the USPS riders) and most importnatly, how everyone does in the time trial. I'm convinced that Ulrich is physically cpabale of pulling back the time on basso in that time trial, but it will be very tough. The fact that he's never before finished anything lower than second has to be a motivating factor for him
So like I said, I don't know, any of the top 4 right now could be two.
2. Once gain, don't know. The one thing Lance wants to avoid is coming back and finishing 23rd or something, he's going to want to go out on top of his game. The way he's looking this year he may well feel he can win gain in the Tour and come back, but he will not show up if he doesn't think he can get the win. That's just the way Armstrong is. We'll be hearing more about it as the end of the race approaches, but I doubt he'll make his final desicion then. Most likely he'l dissepear for a few months, as most cylcists do after the Tour, then when he start gearing up again he'll see how he feels and how well he reacts and then tell the world if he'll be going for lucky number 7.
posted
From what I've heard, he's definitely going to ride next year, for the Discovery team whether or not he rides Le Tour. I could see him doing a lot more US Tour of Georgia type things. OR attempting a win at the Vuelta or the Giro instead. And I believe we will see him at the olympics this year since that one of the few things he has never gotten is an olympic gold.
posted
Nope, he's not on the olympic team, he declined the invitation (though I've heard rumor that he might reconsider after the Tour).
Absaoltuley, he's comitted to the team even if he doesn't race the Tour next year. he refuses to show up to race he doesn't think he can win though, so I've heard rumbling about trying to take the Giro.
[EDIT: Levi took his place, Bobby Julrich and Hamilton are on it, though it remains to be seen if Hamilton will be able to preform by then]
posted
Today Postal hit hard. This was the worst day for the riders (on paper) and Postal was out front the whole way.
A break started it off, gaining 5 to 7 minutes on the peleton. Surprisingly two Frenchman attacked the break and bridged the gap to it. The break went strong, but with the constant pressure from Postal the time began to come down. One climb away from the final clim of the day and much of the peleton had broken off, as well as most of the breakaway falling back and being ground away by Postal.
As the final climb started there were three men in front by just a few minutes. Floyd Landis began putting in a very high tempo rider and all but 5 guys (including him) were dropped, including passing up everyman in the break. Postal lead it to the top, with only a few breaks trying and failing to get off the front. T-Mobile stayed in the wings, the pace too high to try and put in time gains.
Amrstrong told Floyd, who had put in perhaps the best stage of his life, to take the win. Floyd rocket downhill, but Ulrich deicded he wanted to try for the time bonuses (Floyd is many tens of minutes behind in the GC, so that wasn't the issue) and ended up catching him before the end. All 5 men got back together for the run in to the finish. Floyd tried to attack again, but was immeaditly pulled back by Ulrich. Then Kloden went and gained almost 100 meters with under 1 kilometer to go. he had won the stage. Except Postal was mad that Floyd wassn't allowed the win he so richley deserved. So Landis kicked up the pace, giving it his all. Then, with only a couple hundred meters to go Armstrong exploded off of the group and passed Kloden right on the line, taking hiss third stage win this Tour. The rest finished behind him with no big gaps. A fascinating stage to watch.
posted
Going back to the when will Armstrong retire question. Anytime would be acceptable. winning 5 times in a row is never going to happen again, so hes already made his mark. He could go for more if he really wanted, but it wouldn't matter.
Posts: 1401 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I like Cycling News' live internet reports much better than the plain dry oln live updates. Today's reads like a soap opera.
There is a pending libel lawsuit between Fillipo Simeoni and Lance Armstrong. Simeoni claims that Lance libeled him by calling him a liar. Anyway Lance and he broke away from the peleton jumped across to the breakaway having words the entire time, and then dropped back to the peleton. Now everyone is talking to everyone else about who said what when.
These anouncers also have enjoyable puns.
quote: 16:34 CEST We apologise again for the lack of animal references in today's ungulating stage. There's too many trees to get enough cows near the parcours. The organisers clearly need to adress this next year.
posted
Hobbes when you get a chance I want a 200 word essay on Lance Armstron, El Patron, with regards to Ernesto Simeoni. The soap opera has been cracking me up.
posted
So how many of you guys have purchased any of the liveSTRONG stuff? I myself, wear the wristband all the time. I also have a yellow shirt and a back pack. It makes me feel a lot better aopbut myself seeing as how i haven't gotten to volunteer as much as I'd have liked to recently.
Posts: 1401 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
Heras: Heras entered into the tour with a strong team, not as strong as USPS, T-Mobile or Phonak, but it was strong enough to make sure Heras was properly protected, and kept his time safe in the flat stages.
Heras was under noted a bit early in the Tour, the climbing threat was much more notably personified through Mayo, and Heras was mostly forgotten. However, he managed to limit his losses on the flat, which Mayo didn’t, losing big time over one flat stage due to a crash.
When the Tour hit the Pyrenees it was Heras’s time to shine… only he didn’t. Perhaps it was the pressure of being leader for the first time, perhaps it was crashes, perhaps he just wasn’t ready. Whatever it was, Heras couldn’t keep up at the front, and lost enough time in two stages to put him out of the running. Then, on the same stage Mayo almost a banded, Heras lost just under 30 minutes and he was clearly out of the race. Next year perhaps…
Mayo Mayo had a slight disadvantage entering the Tour. His team, because of it’s national sponsorship, could only take riders that lived in a specific region (the Basque region), which produced the best climbers in the world but wasn’t much on guys for the flat. Then one of his team was disqualified before the race started, and for some unfathomable reason, they opted not to replace him (which they could have done) and raced one rider short.
He spent the first week of the Tour trying to limit his losses on the flat, and failing. A crash right before the Tour went over the cobblestones meant the end for him. The strategy for riding the cobblestones is to go very, very fast, and USPS kept that up even after the cobblestones. Mayo’s team made a valiant effort to keep in contact with the leading group that split on the “pave”, but they just weren’t strong enough. In the team-time trial they rode strong, but they couldn’t compare with the big teams like USPS and Phonak.
The coffin was close, but the nails were shot in when Mayo couldn’t keep up in the mountains, supposedly his specialty. Later in the Tour, completely mentally crushed, and perhaps physically unprepared as he had peaked too early in the season, Mayo first tried to abandon, and then did on a coming stage. Next year perhaps…
Tyler Hamilton Last year Hamilton came into the Tour for the first time as a leader. He proved his will to win, and his overall great physical shape by taking fourth after receiving a double fracture to the collarbone in stage one. This year looked good for him, he had sole command of his Phonak team, which was very strong, and he seemed on good condition.
I personally picked him as Lance’s biggest contender, and he might have been if it weren’t for Hamilton’s biggest weakness. He rides much stiffer than most riders, and as a result, he falls. A lot.
Hamilton was riding a very good race, one second behind Ulrich in the prologue, a good time for anyone. Then his team put in an amazing performance, after falls and an unbelievable number of flat tires they rolled across the finishing line with only five guys and the second fastest time in the team time trial. Hamilton was clearly here to stay and going to be a threat in the Tour. An accident he had been involved in was mostly overlooked.
Until we hit the mountains that is. The problem is that while Hamilton is perhaps the best at dealing with pain as anyone can remember, his injury had nothing to do with pain. He had sever bruising, and some of it was in his “core”, the muscles in his lower back. He could fight through the pain with no problem (note: he could, I’d probably be on the ground crying ) but that didn’t matter. Much of a cyclist’s energy gets transferred through the core, and Hamilton’s was unusable. He was physically incapable of forcing himself to go faster, despite his determination.
The fact that he only lost a few minutes on the first big mountain day is amazing. The next day was more in the realms of reality, when he found that he couldn’t keep up on the mountains even though his hear rate was a mere 120 bpm, he simply couldn’t get his body to work harder. Sadly, Hamilton had to drop out, though his waving to every team car as went out was a true sign of class, something Hamilton has in spades. Next year perhaps…
Andreas Kloden This was a man no one had picked as anything. The national champion of Germany was there to help Ulrich. Period. The thought of him having a Tour in his own right was simply not considered, but he was a good climber and a decent time trialest.
T-Mobile, even after it’s pre-race losses, was a strong team. Kloden kept his time losses down to a minimum early in the Tour, and racing for such a strong team helped. Then the Tour went to the mountains, and all of a sudden Ulrich wasn’t keeping up but Kloden was. Though he didn’t manage to stay with Armstrong in the climbs, he stayed ahead of almost everyone else. As a result he began sharing the team leadership with Ulrich, and stayed strong in the mountains. He never managed his own break-away, in fact, T-Mobile didn’t manage a single stage wine. But Kloden did stay strong though the whole Tour, and his very impressive time trialing performance on Stage 19 was good enough to shot him past Basso into second place. A very fine finish for this man no one had talked about. Next year perhaps…
Ivan Basso Ivan Basso was one of the outside favorites. A man everyone knew could win it, but who was not expected to. He could climb very well, but he was young and didn’t have proper stamina, his time-trialing was his biggest weakness, and it was assumed he just couldn’t challenge on his one and only threat. Well of course they were partially right, since Basso didn’t win, but he sure did surprise a lot of people all the same.
Basso races for a very strong team in CSC, whose manager is perhaps the smarted man in the convoy. CSC had a podium finish and man in just about every break that went from Belgium to Paris, as well as having three big challengers. One of whom, obviously was Basso.
His team rode well in the team-time trial, and his prologue, well nothing spectacular, didn’t hurt him too much. He went into the first mountain stage with a one minute, 30 second difference between himself and Armstrong, and he was the only man this year who gained time on Armstrong in the mountains (not counting stage 10). He was the only one who managed to keep up with the Texan, and proved to be a rising star in the sport of cycling.
Every mountain stage Basso worked hard and stayed on Armstrong’s wheel all the way to the finish (though Armstrong routinely, and almost effortlessly sprinted past for all but the very first stage win). However his weakness did come back to haunt him. In the time trial up the Alpe d’Heuz Basso lost big time to Armstrong, and then even more in the next time trial. Enough time not just to put him (and everyone else) out of contention for Yellow, but to just drop him behind the German Andres Kloden. But a third place finish for this young Italian is something he’ll proud of, and something that will keep him working for yellow. Next year perhaps…
Jan Ulrich Ulrich has always been touted as Armstrong’s main competitor, his weakness is the mountains, and him. He doesn’t keep in good enough shape during the winter, or train hard enough coming into the Tour. But he’s always strong, always fast, and he’s never finished the Tour anything lower than second coming into this year. A very impressive bike rider.
The flat stages should Ulrich losing small times to Armstrong, and even Hamilton both in the prologue and the team time trial. But they were small, small enough no one thought much about them, these time gains could be made up the mountains, which while they weren’t Ulrich’s forte, he could stage a break-away to match anyone else. So as we headed into the mountains, we waited. But Ulrich did not come through as the Germans wished. He fell behind Armstrong, unable to keep his wheel in both of the two Pyrenean stages. He didn’t loose huge time, but enough to put him pretty far out of contention unless he could put in a big break and beat Armstrong in the time trials. He tried the first and failed, and tried the second one twice, failing both times. His mountain climbing team-mate bested him the overall, and though Ulrich became strong later in the Tour, he was never strong enough to beat Lance, just strong enough to hold on. 4th place would be a great ride for most men, but Ulrich will walk away from this year disappointed. Next year perhaps…
Lance Armstrong This was a domination of the Tour as was a sight to see. Armstrong put in a very big time-trial performance on the prologue, gaining time on his rivals that they would never gain back. His team was always there, whenever it was desirable to be in the front of the peleton (like over the narrow pave) they always were. They kept the tempo high, and blew the competition into the water and possibly, deep into the ocean floor in the team time trial. Then comes the mountains and USPS put son another show for us. They hit the mountains (leading of course) and start a blistering pace on. Team-members fall off as is necessary and new ones come to take their place. Working perfectly, and being perfectly times. The last team-mate peels off and by this time it’s just Lance and a few other guys, almost everyone else has fallen off the back. Lance keeps the pace up for a few kilometers to the top, and then most of the time, sprinted for the stage win. Each mountain stage played out this way, and each time it was a clear demonstration of USPS’s unrivaled power, and Armstrong’s consistency as well as strength in the mountains.
The first time trial up Alpe d’Huez came and Armstrong pounded his rivals into submission, finishing over a minute ahead of the second place Ulrich. In the second time-trial, there he is again, one minute and one second ahead of Ulrich. Armstrong rode a brilliant Tour, and was incredibly strong the whole way through. The team rode perfectly, everything happened according to place, which any commander will to tell you, is basically impossible. This was going to be a trying year, he had more competitors than ever before, and six was a curse no one before had been able to break. Instead he stamped down his authority over the race like someone talked about his mother. His training and dedication have paid off. This year, Armstrong became the first person in history to win 6 Tours.
posted
Simeoni is not a beloved rider in the peleton. He has accused a prominent doctor of helping many riders “dope” (take illegal, performance enhancing drugs), and done various other things which are not widely covered, but all the riders seem to hate him for anyways. When he came out in accusation of this Doctor, Armstrong responded a short time later, since this doctor was once, Armstrong’s doctor. Lance called Simeoni a “liar” and said he had no evidence. Simeoni then filled a suit against Armstrong for slander, which is still going on.
On stage 18 a six man break developed early on, it looked strong and there were no big contenders. It was let go, and gained close to a minute on the peleton, and then Simeoni decided to try and bridge the gap to join it.
Sometimes the title of “patron” or “the boss of the peleton” is merely honorary for the man in yellow, but not today, not for Armstrong. None of the riders wanted Simeoni getting a break, and especially Armstrong, so he jumped on his tail and they rode to the break. Armstrong played it absolutely right, he helped out the break, which started gaining time on the peleton. But the break knew they were doomed. So many of the contender’s teams couldn’t let Armstrong develop this gap, they would chase him down.
So they asked Armstrong to leave, they told him that they couldn’t succeed if he was with them. He said fine, he’d leave, but only if Simeoni left too. So they told Simeoni to leave, which he did, and Armstrong stayed true to his word, sat up, and waited for the peleton.
When they re-integrated Armstrong got some smiles and friendly words, Simeoni got shunted and pushed to the back of the pack. I’m not entirely sure what it is that Simeoni has done, but the peleton’s hatred for him seems pretty convincing, he’s reportedly “bad for cycling”, trying to “bring it down from the inside”.
Simeoni tried to break away during the last stage into Paris, and was promptly returned to the peleton with vengance by the Blue (and yellow) Train bearing down rapidly. It was also highly amusing.
posted
My stars. That's a pretty convincing shunning. Is everyone signed up for therapy the day after the race is over?
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
hmmmm...... I can't say as I know the whole story, but, and don't get me wrong, I enjoy punking the Frenchies at their own event and the fact that a Texas boy is doing it makers it sweeter. BUT..... Lance kicked cancer's ass, tkes alot of grief from his peers (Texan beating up on the Frenchies and all) But, and correct me if I am wrong, his wife stood by him when he was down, was by his side when cancer had him on the ropes, "in sickness and in health" ---> so he starts to become famous, ditches the wife in favor of the vapid, dimwitted celebrity chick (Sheryl Crow) and all anyone can say to that is "Isn't it great he found his soul mate? (what a news piece actually said that I saw) It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth to think that.
Posts: 23 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Nope that's not what actually happened with the wife. She left him "in health", though they met while he was sick. I don't think they married until after he was in remission.
I have a witness who will state on the record that as early as 1998 I disliked Lance's (now-ex) wife. The reason why I disliked her way back then was her own online journaling, which was rather vapid, which included her lollygagging around Europe while her husband was out suffering on the road day in and day out, trying to make history. And this was during his first Tour win!
Yes she's a hot blonde. But, she had no idea of the rigors a competitive athlete goes through in prep, and really didn't attempt to try all that hard either. It ticked me off was when she abandoned him several times during the first tour to run around sightseeing in other European countries, because she didn't want to be stuck there because it was boring, and complained about his training schedules. This in contrast to Greg Lemonds wife who was at the end of every stage sweating out every mile with him.
While I'm not a huge fan of hers, though I don't dislike her either, Sheryl Crow was at the end of more stages per Tour (though still not all) to see Lance than the ex-wife ever was. I also think Sheryl probably understands the single minded pursuit of a dream better than the ex-wife does. The consuming nature of art is in a way similar to the consuming nature of athletics.
On the whole though the divorce has been amicable. He still loves his kids and wants to be a good father. I don't think he will be any less of a father than a military father whose employment also takes them away from home for long stretches of time.
posted
Okay, well, If I was wrong, I was corrected. I did not have the complete story, but as a disinterested observer, it looked fishy. I do not particularly care for Sheryl Crow because I saw an interview with her and Dan Rather in which she did not come off sounding remotely like a rocket surgeon. In a failed attempt to play devil's advocate, I revealed that when you say "until death do us part" really means something. So I suppose I am a foolish idealist in that regard.
Posts: 23 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
yes it would be nice for it to mean something and it does to more people than we realize. however as far as celebs go, it really wasn't that messy a divorce.
posted
"Until love tears us apart" seems more appropriate... But don't mind me, I just had a Paul Young flashback.
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I had to snap out of it, about 50 minutes into the coverage, still with none of the riders breaking out onto the road I made myself some breakfast (two pieces of cinnamon-raisin toast 
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Hobbes
