Professional Cycling For the Fans - Stage 16: Mourenx - Pau

Stage 16: Mourenx- Pau, 180.5 km

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2005//tour05/graphics/profile16.gif

For the first time in the last two Tours, I'm actually going to pull for Ullrich to have a great stage. I think he's suffered through this Tour - maybe because of the accidents, maybe because of an undisciplined team, maybe because of the advancing new cadre of riders, maybe because Lance and Basso just outwork him. Last year, I felt he was not in top condition for the Tour, but this year, he seems rededicated. I'd like to see him get a win.

Perfect finish for Stage 16: Ullrich, Armstrong, Basso - same time!

Dean

Last chance... Bassos has been the only rider whose tempo is up there with LA... Can he reach for something deep down and gap LA??.. can ulle pull off a miracle.. Even then there is a long flat which might not be ideal for a solo breakaway... Should be interesting...

Ullrich can't descend though, and riders need to descend well on this stage. About 80km from the final climb down to the finish.

Rogers
Merckx
Jaksche

This could be a sleeper stage. Coming after the rest day. Some may get dropped so hard that even the long downhill wont save them.

I actually look for some serious fireworks here.

Good point about the rest day legs... Some one is going to plumment down the GC.... but who?

Last chance... Bassos has been the only rider whose tempo is up there with LA... Can he reach for something deep down and gap LA??.. can ulle pull off a miracle.. Even then there is a long flat which might not be ideal for a solo breakaway... Should be interesting...

Yup. This stage is Basso's best (only??) opportunity to take the yellow jersey from Lance. A Pantani type personality would "bet the farm". Go all out, and try to win this stage by four or five minutes...a plan that sometimes resulted in a Pantani victory, and sometimes resulted in a disaster that left him struggling to finish the stage.

This stage will define Basso's character: will he ride to win, or will he just ride cautiously to protect his shot at second place in Paris?

If Basso rides to win, this stage will be VERY fun to watch.

Yup. This stage is Basso's best (only??) opportunity to take the yellow jersey from Lance. A Pantani type personality would "bet the farm". Go all out, and try to win this stage by four or five minutes...a plan that sometimes resulted in a Pantani victory, and sometimes resulted in a disaster that left him struggling to finish the stage.

This stage will define Basso's character: will he ride to win, or will he just ride cautiously to protect his shot at second place in Paris?

If Basso rides to win, this stage will be VERY fun to watch.

I think he will ride to put time on Jan but not for the win.

Horner stage win? http://forums.offtopic.com/images/smilies/fingersx.gif

Yup. This stage is Basso's best (only??) opportunity to take the yellow jersey from Lance. A Pantani type personality would "bet the farm". Go all out, and try to win this stage by four or five minutes...a plan that sometimes resulted in a Pantani victory, and sometimes resulted in a disaster that left him struggling to finish the stage.

This stage will define Basso's character: will he ride to win, or will he just ride cautiously to protect his shot at second place in Paris?

If Basso rides to win, this stage will be VERY fun to watch.

I think Basso has a better shot at winning due Lance bopping, crashing, or suffering mechanicals over the next week rather than gapping him enough at this stage.

I'd still hold and hope to inherit the lead rather than whittle it down, and take the second otherwise.

Let's face it: the only unpredictability to this year's Tour was who would take third. I hope it's going to be Ullrich.

Yup. This stage is Basso's best (only??) opportunity to take the yellow jersey from Lance. A Pantani type personality would "bet the farm". Go all out, and try to win this stage by four or five minutes...a plan that sometimes resulted in a Pantani victory, and sometimes resulted in a disaster that left him struggling to finish the stage.

This stage will define Basso's character: will he ride to win, or will he just ride cautiously to protect his shot at second place in Paris?

If Basso rides to win, this stage will be VERY fun to watch.

I just read Basso's post race interview and he seems pretty resigned to the fact that he cant ride LA off his wheel.. I think he is racing for the podium but we wont know that till tomorrow ;).. Ulle has been quoted saing it aint over but as said before, he needs to pull of a miracle.. All said LA will probably not take off to counter an attack as the sprinter teams and Disco should be able to reel in an attack in the mtns... Lets see...

Ullrich is undisiplined and unmotivated. He is paying the piper now. He's never been a good descender so after he looses contact on the big cols, he will loose more on th descent into Pau.

Basso is being aggressive, I think he can stay w/ Lance if yesterday's effort didn't wear him too much. I wish it were a closer race for overall... but no GC rider can even keep the pace much less attack. There is no time to be made on Lance.

T-mobile wasted it's efforts on Ullrich. I bet they are kicking themselves for bumping Zabel now... they had a better shot at some stage victories & green jersey w/ him

I think this stage is going to be won by a breakaway from some riders low in the GC looking for a stage win. But I think LA and Basso will be working together on the last climb (assuming LA looses his team). Basso will, in effect, be hepling LA keep ahead of the of any possible attacks from other GC contenders and I think LA will be helping Basso secure 2nd.

At this point Basso is content with second, but I think he wnats to put as much time on 3rd as possible. He would like to show HE IS THE MAN in 06. If I'm not mistaken I heard LA in the post stage 15 interview that he was working with Basso in the last climb because he knew Basso wanted to put time on Ullrich.

Bill

The distance from the top of the climb to the finish is like 100km. This is not a GC day. Except maybe a rider outside the top 5 could get some time from a breakaway.

I like lance and all but jeez, this riding for second is just not that fun to watch. Those attacks were exciting last week because you actually felt for a moment like there were some guys who thought they could win. Personally I would love to see Basso forget about 2nd place, and at least pop trying for first place, this will be his last chance, bar a mishap, but how much of a victory would that be???

Hrmm.....

This'll be interesting. Last big hill stage......90 odd kms from the Col du Soulor to the finish.....

If something has to happen in the GC, it probably has to happen today, but that 90kms to the finish might make it tough for any GC contenders to break away.

It would be awesome to see Vino pull something out of the hat though, wouldn't it?

It would be awesome to see Vino pull something out of the hat though, wouldn't it?
Kick A...+1..

That's a stage for a long escape. I wouldn't be surprised to see Horner tempting something.

Vino attacking again!!! It seems that he was already dropped earlier too.

13:54 - Vinokourov Attack
Vinokourov has attacked the peloton on the 2nd climb of the stage.


12:35 - Hushovd & Vinokourov Dropped
Hushovd and Vinokourov have been dropped early today. They are currently in the convoy at the rear of the peloton.

It'll be interesting to see if the sprinters can pull it back together after an HC climb. This could really be a day for a breakaway, even with that length after the climb, if a GROUP gets away, they can do it.

I'm a little dissapointed that Basso didn't take off with one of the breaks. They have some big leads going.

Vino never says die!

Hooray, they're actually racing again today!! I really thought they had given up, but here they go.

Vino never says die!

I praised Vino for his emotional courage which is great to watch, having said that, if he really want to become a real, serious contender (TDF) he needs to become more cool headed and more proficient at pacing his efforts and tactics for the sake of the GC.

Corsaire :D

I praised Vino for his emotional courage which is great to watch, having said that, if he really want to become a real, serious contender (TDF) he needs to become more cool headed and more proficient at pacing his efforts and tactics for the sake of the GC.

Corsaire :D

Agreed.. he does pretty much kill his overall chances with constant attacks like that.

I would like to see Cadel win this stage, as he already said he would dedicate it to Amy Gillett and the Australian National team. Looks like he's got a good chance of doing so. Good for him!

Props to Pereiro too! He's been a monster this tour, and is a very strong rider!

I'm a little dissapointed that Basso didn't take off with one of the breaks. They have some big leads going.

Me too. Basso needs to decide whether he is a Pantani or an Armstrong, fellas who NEVER ride for second place, or an Ullrich. A guy who thinks riding for second is just as good as winning.

Today, Basso is riding like an Ullrich. The Tour de France is about to say farewell to its only Armstrong. The 2006 Tour does not need two Ullrichs.

Basso didn't go because there was no reason to waste his legs on something that had absolutely no chance of working. He's not stupid. And he has attacked on every occasion that he had good reason to. He is a fighter.

Does anyone think for a second that Armstrong would have let Basso go in a break?

That's what he didn't try.

Basso didn't go because there was no reason to waste his legs on something that had absolutely no chance of working....

If Basso would look up the road, he might notice that Cadel Evans is six minutes ahead of Lance today. I guess when Cadel got out of bed today, someone forgot to tell him it was impossible to get over the Aubisque six minutes ahead of Lance.

Probably, back in 1998, someone told Pantani "Don't attack Ullrich on the Galibier. Ullrich is leading the Tour by three minutes. He is the strongest rider in the Tour. He won't let you out of his sight. Don't waste your legs...play it safe...ride for second place"

Pantani spoke three languages, but did not know the word for "loser" in any of them. He attacked Ullrich on the Galibier, broke him, and went on to win the Tour.

And yes. Pantani MIGHT have been broken by Ullrich. Might have lost his shot at finishing number two. Pantani had no interest in being "First among the losers". He rode to win. He won.

Today, Basso is riding to lose, the reincarnation of Jan Ullrich. Hard to imagine how this will work in 2006. One year from today. Basso and Ullrich are neck and neck for the yellow jersey. Both riding to lose...but, one will be forced to win, even while he is thinking: "I have no chance to win..."

Does anyone think for a second that Armstrong would have let Basso go in a break?

That's what he didn't try.

Yea, I agree, trying is for losers :p

Good ride by Evans and there is the stage win for Pereiro

Really was hoping for Cadel on this one. It would have been good for the girl's families for him to win. So sad. :(

Stage:

1 068 PEREIRO SIO Oscar PHO ESP
2 039 ZANDIO Xabier IBA ESP 00' 00"
3 151 MAZZOLENI Eddy LAM ITA 00' 00"
4 044 EVANS Cadel DVL AUS 00' 00"
5 176 GILBERT Philippe FDJ BEL 02' 25"
6 145 GESLIN Anthony BTL FRA 02' 25"
7 187 LUDEWIG Jorg DOM GER 02' 25"
8 075 FLECHA Juan Antonio FAS ESP 02' 25"
9 209 TURPIN Ludovic A2R FRA 02' 25"
10 128 VASSEUR Cédric COF FRA 02' 25"

Overall:

1 001 ARMSTRONG Lance DSC USA
2 021 BASSO Ivan CSC ITA 02' 46"
3 057 RASMUSSEN Mickael RAB DEN 03' 09"
4 011 ULLRICH Jan TMO GER 05' 58"
5 031 MANCEBO Francisco IBA ESP 06' 31"
6 164 LEIPHEIMER Levi GST USA 07' 35"
7 044 EVANS Cadel DVL AUS 09' 29"
8 066 LANDIS Floyd PHO USA 09' 33"

Cadel up to 7th! Great ride!

Okay, Pereiro and his fans can stop whining now. The devious plots of the "wheel suckers" have been foiled. Pereriro has won a stage, and did not need Hincapie to carry him over the finish line.

Basso certainly did not "waste his legs" today. Basso was quoted as saying, before today's stage, "it is not possible" to beat Lance. Then, he spent the day proving he was right.

Basso might be the "best" of the young Tour riders, but he must drop his "loser" attitude, if he aspires to ever rank alongside Bartali and Coppi in Tour history.

Pereiro almost pulled a Zabel, did you see how close Zandio came to pipping him at the line when he started celbrating?!?

5 031 MANCEBO Francisco IBA ESP 06' 31"
6 164 LEIPHEIMER Levi GST USA 07' 35"


It looks like Levi is well positioned for a top 5 this year. Go Levi!

Cadel up to 7th! Great ride!another good Melbourne boy

If I may state the bleeding obvious......again.....
if he loses a few seconds he'll shoot back down to 10th

another good Melbourne boy

If I may state the bleeding obvious......again.....
if he loses a few seconds he'll shoot back down to 10th

Landis will prolly get by him in the tt; not sure about Moreau.

Yea, I agree, trying is for losers :p
You don’t understand.
Basso is like ~1:30 behind Armstrong
he would have been able to roll off about 50 feet and then the entire discovery team would be on him. it would have been futile.

Sure looked like Pereiro raced like Hincapie today - sitting to the back most of the last 5-10 km, while Cadel Evans did all the pacemaking and pulling.

I'm NOT criticizing Pereiro, but pointing out the riders had different objectives and goals today - Evans needed time on the peloton to climb in the GC, and sacrificed a stage win to make sure he was in the top 10 of the GC by maintaining the time gap for the breakaway. Pereiro went for the win; so he stayed back until he could sprint clear (though he did almost celebrate too soon - how sad would THAT have been??).

I'm glad Oscar got a stage win, given how hard he worked Sunday. Maybe this will put to rest some of the GH criticism, too.

Cadel was keeping the pace high on his own accord, he never moved over or asked anyone to help him, He was worried about the GC, and he knew if he pulled off the front that the cat and mouse games would begin, and he would lose precious seconds in the GC. Thats why he time trialed it to the finish.

It would have been funny if Pereiro had got nipped at the line by the Illes rider, hahahaaa!!

You don’t understand.
Basso is like ~1:30 behind Armstrong
he would have been able to roll off about 50 feet and then the entire discovery team would be on him. it would have been futile.


When has Basso ever been like 1:30 behind Armstrong? Try 2:46!!! After the TT it will be atleast 3:46. Enjoy.

When has Basso ever been like 1:30 behind Armstrong? Try 2:46!!! After the TT it will be atleast 3:46. Enjoy.

After 16 stages, Basso's total time for Basso's best 13 stages beats Armstrong's total time in those 13 stages by 60 seconds.

Armstrong beat Basso by 1.26 in the opening time trial. Basso then stays with Lance until Stage 9, not giving up anymore time. Then came Discovery's expected great performance in the team time trial. Other than the time trials, Basso's times are as good or better than Lance's times, up to Stage 9.

Stage 9 featured an unexplained collapse for Basso. Rasmussen easily wins the stage. Armstrong relaxes, and has an easy day. Armstrong comes in 6.04 behind Rasmussen.

The wierd part: on a day that Armstrong was merely cruising, and not racing, Basso finished 2.18 behind Armstrong and 8.22 behind Rasmussen. THAT was the day Basso lost the Tour. If there is a reason Basso did so poorly (such as, he over-slept, and missed the start of the stage) I've not seen it reported. And, on one routine stage, Basso lost the Tour.

Through the toughest mountain stages, Basso has proven he can stay with Lance (and beat Rasmussen). So, 13 days out of 16, Basso is as strong or stronger than Lance. Yet, before Stage 16, Basso announces that the Tour is over, and that NO rider can beat Lance. And then, Basso kept his word, and raced to lose today. Sad. He has too much talent to simply quit the race.

When sports psychologist look at why some athletes win, year after year, (Michael Jordon, Lance Armstrong, Whitey Ford) and some talented athletes are happy to lose (Jan Ullrich, Barry Bonds, John Daly), they always come to the one conclusion: winners think losing is unacceptable. They ONLY play to win. Losers expect to lose, and make it a habit.

If Basso is the future of the Tour de France...

Landis will prolly get by him in the tt; not sure about Moreau.

what about "Veeeno"?

Dude,
We get it, Basso is a stud and could have dropped Lance, Ullrich, and the rest of the Peloton today, but he decided that since he is such a loser he did not want to do it.

Give it a rest...

Cadel was keeping the pace high on his own accord, he never moved over or asked anyone to help him, He was worried about the GC, and he knew if he pulled off the front that the cat and mouse games would begin, and he would lose precious seconds in the GC. Thats why he time trialed it to the finish.

It would have been funny if Pereiro had got nipped at the line by the Illes rider, hahahaaa!!

So what you're saying is that Cadel was the "moral" winner of this stage and I'm sure no one can take that away from him :D

Nice to see he wasn't whining about getting fourth!