~LongRider~

That is one of the greatest races Ive ever seen. What a great stage.

Laggard

I didn't want to believe it, but Lance is definately having some problems.

I'm getting worried.

Resident

This is exciting, much more than last year!!

~LongRider~

His recovery at the end of the stage was encouraging though. Ullrich gave him everything he had, and couldnt get away.

Formtight

WOW!! That was SOME finish, eh...??

Laggard

Good point.

But Lance still needs to put some time on JU. Can he do it?

Rich Clark

If Lance needed all of the resources of his perfectly functioning team to come in 7 seconds behind Ullrich, who is riding essentially solo, then I agree. Lance will have to dig deeper and find something he's not shown us yet if he's to win.

Is that "something" still there? Or does Jan just have more of it this time?

This is drama of th first order.

RichC

Formtight

Makes you wonder how they dropped Ullrich at L'Alpe d'Huez, eh?

I thought Lance was gonna be a LONG way down when they showed Ullrich finishing, but all of a sudden, there was Lance. I can't WAIT for tomorrow. I'm just glad I can watch this a couple more times today!

threadend

Should have had my HRM on, I'm pretty sure I went Anaerobic just watching that!

Awesome, we have a race!!

~LongRider~

I hope so. He needs a good stage tomorrow. He cant afford to let Jan challenge him the entire way.

Where did Roberto come in? I missed him dropping back. Did he bonk, or have an equipment failure?

~LongRider~

I think Jan just had a bad day on L'Alpe d'Huez. He just didnt seem to have anything that day.

threadend

Heras dropped at about 3.5 kilometers, he had spent everything.

What a finish!!

Formtight

Must've been. Ullrich looked strong today!

BikerDawg

Wow....I can't believe Lance lost 15 pounds yesterday. That's very dangerous! Maybe that's why he's been looking "spent" to me...he's dehydrated?! C'mon, Lance...hang in there, Buddy!

threadend

Tomorrow's stage has (5) category 1 and (2) category 2 climbs in about the same distance as today's ride which had only (2) category 1 climbs total. It should be very interesting.

Laggard

Did anyone see the guy running alongside the riders with his shorts falling down? I've never seen a full moon during a stage before.

BikerDawg

That was classic!

Guest

The results of today's stage (for those of you that need to know what happened at the end!):

The Top 10 In Stage 13...
The top 10 of the 197.5km stage from Toulouse to Ax-3 Domaines is:
1. Carlos Sastre (Sp) CSC
2. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TBI at 1'01"
3. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp) EUS at 1'01"
4. Lance Armstrong (US) USP at 1'08"
5. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) TEL at 1'18"
6. Ivan Basso (It) FAS at 1'18"
7. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp) BAN at 1'24"
8. Iban Mayo (Sp) EUS at 1'59"
9. Christophe Moreau (Fr) C.A0 at 2'32"
10. Tyler Hamilton (US) CSC at 2'32"

bac

Yup - it's amazing that he could still climb with the boys after such an effort the day before. However, we don't know how much weight Jan lost. Perhaps he was in the same boat? Lance seems to be suffering more from the intense heat than others, but who knows?

Regardless, this is going to be one amazing tour that is most probably going to play itself out in the final TT. If Lance doesn't have some time by then, Jan is going to be hard to stop. His placement on the bike is just so aerodynamic. His bars are so low to his front tire.

TriDevil

Ullrich is definetly on the move. Lance had better get going because as we saw in the TT there is no way lance will beat jan in the final tt. Wonder how much jan's performance is going to change postal's strategy? I think if jan had the team that lance does the yellow jersey would be in german hands right now. Saw hamilton a few times today, hes looking rather good, seems he can spend some time out of the saddle now compared to earlier.

belfast-biker

Some of the spectators have me shouting at my TV - IDIOTS!

Even a motorbike rider had to resort to forcing one out of the way - they're really getting in the way. Or it seems that way to me anyhow.... it's just going to take one idiot leaning in too much and someones down.

Boy, what a race though.... not great if you're a Lance fan, like me.... good comeback though. Will Ullrich last the distance at his current rate? Wil Lance?

FOG

Lance has the jersey, but now Ullrich's in control. All Ullrich has to do is keep even with Lance and he can win in the TT. Lance is great and I am rooting for him, but even the Yankees lose once in a while. At this point Lance's strategy is very much simplified- try to breakkaway from Ullrich on one of the long climbs to a finish, which probably means stage 15 or 16. Tomorrow's stage seems like one calculted to break riders, and Ullrich may have a go at breaking Lance. The opposite may also be true, but Lance doesn't seem ready to attack anyone at this point. Lance seems near to breaking. Lance at any rate no longer has to focus on anyone but Ullrich, and oddly enough, Ullrich, by being in essence in control of the race right now, may become everyone else's target too.

djgustashaw

this race is really getting interesting. if jan does win, he still has time to become a 5 time champ. he's 29 now, the same age lance was when he got his second win. but it's gonna be hard to hold off vinokourov for the next few years... that guy has gotten GOOD.

jkoman

Thoughts:

1) Can you imagine the fatigue these guys are getting to...they are beating the crap outa each other day after day. I won't be surprised to see someone really crack in the next few days.

2) Most of the top guys have had "off days???" Jan sick @ AlpeDuHuez. Armstrong dehydrated and "off". Do we need to say...Tyler....WOW!

3) While this is a truely great Tour...there have been many others...were you around for Lemond and Fignon trading the Yellow Jersey back and forth. How about Lemond and Hinault? Did you see Phil Anderson ride with the cracked sternum?? or Pascal Simon and his collar bone broken...and on and on. What a great sport/event.

4) I don't know who I want to see win it...I always love the underdog...Ulrich and Hamilton...Yet after seeing Lance persevere like this...the guy is a stud....

Formtight

It's a good thing Ullrich doesn't have much of a team around him...