Originally Posted by
TOLOCOMan
Ok, so I just threw out 2 minutes as a round number. I didn't have the time to research that thoroughly. I'll take your numbers as gospel, but I distinctly remember the year he was riding with Bianchi that the gap was less than the TTT difference.
Didn't need to research it. I was there. And you're wrong. Armstrong's team got 43 seconds on Bianchi in the 2003 TTT. Amstrong won the 2003 tour by 1'01". And it would likely have been a bigger gap if Armstrong hadn't of soft pedaled the last half of the final ITT,after Ulrich fell.
Originally Posted by
TOLOCOMan
How do you figure they designed it to help his competition. If they weren't setting it up for Lance, why did they did they bring in the TTT, after an absence, when they knew he would gain time there, only to remove it from the race as soon as he retired. The ITT where also some of the hilliest and longest during the Armstrong years. Hmmmm...wonder who that favours?
Most obvious example is they changed the scoring system of the TTT, to limit Discovery's potential advantage. Also, over the 7 year run, they decreased the number of mountain top finishes. And adding a pure uphill TT up L'Alpe de Huez argualby was an advantage for the pure clmbers (guys like Iban Mayo) moreso than Armstrong.
Originally Posted by
TOLOCOMan
And don't even get me started on the year Armstrong didn't finish the designated course but somehow still won. No, no favourtism there.
Now your really stretching, going through a field to avoid a crash,and he should be disqualified? The Referee clearly was right that he got no advantage. And if they would have chosen to penalize him, the typical manner of handling such thngs is a time penalty, which would have been 10 seconds or so.
Originally Posted by
TOLOCOMan
Anyways, it was kind of tongue in cheek, but if you want to keep walking about with blinders on.....
Problem was that it was so far from reality it can't possibly be funny.
Armstrong won most of the 7 by dominant margins, as much as 6 minutes and change. Only 2003 was even close. It's simply absurd to suggest Ulrich would have beaten him but for the TTT.