Originally Posted by RainmanP
I was impressed with Ullrich's ride, but I think it was a mistake for him to have attacked earlier. One of the knocks on him has always been tactical judgment. Did he really think he was strong enough to ride away? If he hadn't wasted that energy, who knows how things might have gone. And Basso! What can you say?
He did what he had to do.. he is 7 mins down. If he doesnt attack he wont catch up, the only way to know if Armstrong is having a bad day is to test him. How about if in 4 year Lance writes a book and says he was feeling weak on this stage and he wouldnt have been able to keep up with an attack. Ullrich is too far behind, he has more to gain than to lose now, still there is a guy better situated than him in the T-Mobile, so its all gain for him really. I read he knows this Alpes really well and that he knows where to attack, so Im pretty sure this attack at that point was talked before hand.
It was a great great stage today! really exciting.. my favorite so far.
Did you guys see the USPS car handing over a letter/note to the CSC car?? What do you think about the stragegy of both teams pulling together to catch up on Ullrich? One of the Spanish commentators was really angry cause Voigt was pulling them, he said that they should let the USPS pull and tired them down. In that way Basso might have a better chance against Armstrong in the future.
The other commentator said that it the USPS at this point in time has no real fear of Ullrich catching up on Lance and that CSC did a smart thing cause Ullrich is a contender to over take Basso for 2nd place. So by doing what they did today they helped USPS not getting so tired but took out Ullrich's possibilities of 2nd place overall. Kinda of conceiding first place but asuring the 2nd.
What do u guys think?