Professional Cycling For the Fans - Disappointing TDF?

OK, am I the only one a bit disappointed in this years tour? Here are T-mobile and CSC's greatest opportunity to put some time into Lance on the mountain stages and they are unable to do it. Sure there have been some great breakaways and stage wins, but no clear domination by any rider. Sweet Jesus, Lance has yet to win a stage, it's almost as if he knows his team is weaker this year.

Disco is not as strong as Posties in the past, but yet these other teams cannot capitalize, Lance is just too damn strong and smart. If Lance wins this tour, it will be the most individual of his wins since '03 for sure and maybe '99. I find it hard to believe all these teams are waiting for the penultimate stage Sunday to attack. Anybody agree w/ me that Lance could dominate the tour as many years as he wants (as long as his body could recover).

No

No

You're gay. None of those Eurotrash are stepping up to the plate and you know it. Geezus, The Man won 6 TDFs in a row by just getting lucky? Get off of the bad crack man... :rolleyes:

Record speeds, long breakaways actually succeeding, Robbie relegated but still in 3rd in the green jersey, 16,000 feet of climbing today. I'm not too dissapointed.

You're gay.

:roflmao:

One word and he's gay?

You're gay. None of those Eurotrash are stepping up to the plate and you know it. Geezus, The Man won 6 TDFs in a row by just getting lucky? Get off of the bad crack man... :rolleyes:

A HighSchool comment to make... Lance in all likelihood could dominate the next year or two maybe... But he himself has been quoted that his body is not quite the way it was last year...

OK, am I the only one a bit disappointed in this years tour?

Maybe your team will make it next year to spice things up........ ;)

The only way to be disapointed is to have expectations. I think this is a great tour so far. Super fast pace has put the hurts on everyone, lance is having to use tactics and fend for himself, basso nipping at his heals looking for a crack, 5 americans in the top 20!

Look at the dirt on the ground or the birds in the blue sky, its all up to you.

... a bunch of sophomoric BS ...

Don't be too hard on this kid - Elvis was probably waiting in his living room.

:roflmao:

One word and he's gay?
If you read it again, you can clearly see the lisp.

Record speeds, long breakaways actually succeeding, Robbie relegated but still in 3rd in the green jersey, 16,000 feet of climbing today. I'm not too dissapointed.

Agreed. It's not just one man makeing unprecedented leaps and bounds. 7, yea, but look at the improvements across the board. And the Americans are kicking a$$. How'd that happen?!

DC_Em

i'm dissappointed that armstrong isn't beating them even worse than he is. but, it's still pretty dominant. hopefully he can put 2 min on basso in the TT to make it a real thrashing.

This year is far more exciting to me. I'd like to Lance win 7, but I also like the fact the field has evened out some. Unlike last year when the Posties just came out and thrashed everyone. If T-Mobile could play nice together they'd be dangerous, the Yanks are kicking serious butt, Robbie McEwen is always good for a sound bite, and Lance has shown why he is the greastest Tour de France rider ever. I couldn't be happier.

This year is far more exciting to me. I'd like to Lance win 7, but I also like the fact the field has evened out some. Unlike last year when the Posties just came out and thrashed everyone. If T-Mobile could play nice together they'd be dangerous, the Yanks are kicking serious butt, Robbie McEwen is always good for a sound bite, and Lance has shown why he is the greastest Tour de France rider ever. I couldn't be happier.

You know, I couldn't add anything to this -- perfect answer.

You know, I couldn't add anything to this -- perfect answer.

Me, either. It's a great tour. I cringe every time I see Kloden, Vino, and Jan around Armstrong on the climbs, but Armstrong handles it. Throw in Basso and Rassmussen and you have some pretty severe heart-thumping drama. How can you not love it?!?

The only thing dissapointing to me about this years TDF is that my local cable station refuses to add OLN.. Between not having OLN and the Golf Channel Im bumbed sometimes..Luckily my parents who live 10 minutes south of me but are in another county get OLN so I can go down there when I have a chance and watch the TDF..

Its hard to complain or get too excited about a race that you cant watch very much.. I get many reports here and with all the bickering going on its hard to tell one stage from another....Lance is playing it close to the vest in this TDF.. Sort of like Tiger in the British Open.. By next Sunday Id be very surprised if he doesnt pick up a few more minutes on his rivals..

its on cbs on sundays, they had a pretty good show today. Phil and Paul doing some narrations over charged up motivational music,

I was getting a little bored, but seeing George win the stage today was just awesome. Now I'm just hoping that Jan can pull off a 3rd place finish... I would like to see him attack.. and try for 2nd..but I doubt that will happen. He should easily destroy rasmussen in the TT...

The only thing dissapointing to me about this years TDF is that my local cable station refuses to add OLN.. Between not having OLN and the Golf Channel Im bumbed sometimes..Luckily my parents who live 10 minutes south of me but are in another county get OLN so I can go down there when I have a chance and watch the TDF..
your lucky! I have to drive 15 minutes each way to watch it in the ymca locker room

A "disappointing" 2005 Tour de France this is. I can't wait until next year!

This past Saturday & Sunday were two of the most exciting stages I've ever seen. Yeah, the overall outcome is looking kind of predictable, but it was great watching Pants defend against all comers this weekend.

A "disappointing" 2005 Tour de France this is. I can't wait until next year!
Is this the difference between watching for the suspense, and watching for the love of everything that is happening?

I have to admit that I am a little let down. Don't get me wrong, still the best sporting event in the world, and I've TIVO'ed and watched every stage (I needed the rest day too!), but I was hoping to see Ullrich really challenge Lance more on his last attempt to beat him. I still am rooting for Lance, but I think that Ullrich is a fantastic rider, and because of Lance's dominance gets somewhat marginialized, and would have liked him to have seen him at the top of his form and make a run of it.

That being said, that's the only reason I'm disappointed. I thought the first week was fantastic, loved the longer prologue/ ITT, thought the Team TT was fantastic, and really liked watching some of the aggressive riding out there (Kloden, Rasmussen, Boonen/ McEwen sprints, ValVerde, etc.).

Disappointing? For Ullrich, maybe. :D

This has been a very exciting Tour. It still is. Lance is not likely to crack in the next week so yeah, #1 is decided, but so what? In how many Tours has it not been decided after the last mountaintop finish? Not every Tour can be like '87 or '89.

This year's Tour was just so predictable--Armstrong and Basso at the top. Not enough of anything happened--not enough attacks, not enough smart tactics within teams and between teams. Too many good riders going down early: Zabriskie, Voigt, Boonen, Valverde. And I miss Cipo in the early flat stages and Virenque in the mountains. I think next year will be a better Tour. Everyone will be more aggressive. Too many riders this year and the last were just sitting back and watching Armstrong.

I was getting a little bored, but seeing George win the stage today was just awesome. Now I'm just hoping that Jan can pull off a 3rd place finish... I would like to see him attack.. and try for 2nd..but I doubt that will happen. He should easily destroy rasmussen in the TT...
Ah but then again Rasmussen does not have enough history behind him to say weather or not he can TT. I predict he will kick azz.

Very exciting tour! The average speeds have been so high it's hard for anyone to attack! And it's been the Disco Boys responsbile for most of that. Two stages in a row with Lance, Basso, and Jan riding together up the hardest hills - great stuff. Yeah, it would've been cool to see Lance just take off and drop Basso 5 miles from the finish and take 10 minutes of time from him and Ullrich. Lance doesn't do that because his eyes are on the prize in Paris. He will do only what he needs to do to win the tour - anything more and he is risking using up his energy stores. He needs to have reserve to respond to the unknown - that makes good tactical sense.

I'm loving this Tour. I mean come on ... George wins his first Tour stage after 10 YEARS, and it was perhaps the hardest mountain stage this year; Lance is not crazy killing the competition so there's still a chance for other contenders to make a come back; but, Lance is still awesome and everyday he shows why he is the best pro cyclist; USA all the way is great excitment; Jan's hanging in there despite his rough and tumble with a freaking car; Zabriskie rose and fell like the Roman empire; the Chicken clucked in out of nowhere (at least I had never heard of him); yesterday we finally saw the tripple threat ride against each other (Basso - Armstrong - Ulrich); and there's still a whole week left. I think the only dissapointing thing is that someone in these forums had to stoop to calling someone else "gay" b/c he had a differing opinion.

Pete
http://www.viovio.com/anthropete

Yesterday's stage at the summit with the chase cam was incredible energy, watching the sea of people part for the riders and the constant spray of water from the fans, Basso and Armstrong side-by-side, the pain and determination of Ullrich and the win from Hincapie -fantastic.

If you don't undertstand and enjoy these intricacies of the TDF, you don't understand bike racing.

But, "USA all the way" is not accurate, _team_ Discovery is as much, or more, responsible for LA's yellow as he is. This is the big advantage LA has over Basso, Ullrich and Rasmussen.

Boring or not, I get a charge out of just seeing them continuing to punish their body for 20 days, and 1800+ miles ... I watch in awe of all of them ... no matter if they wind up 1st or 100th

I would like them to ditch radio communications that would make it interesting! Everything seems coordinated through the earpiece thesedays, its tedious; riders know where there nearest rivals are and when to or not to attack due to the info the squad cars are giving out. Oh, and if they crash the bike and its behond repair then they should'nt be allowed to get on a new from the roof - if it was rider error; game over! Hehe, also doing your own punctures with a patch kit and that spare wrapped round your torso just like the old days...the real days of racing IMO.

Ok maybe allowances for a wheel change cause, like, you could have an mad Ullrich fan who sees Lance coming up the mountain and lays some pins down.

I'm a bit disappointed in it- not much suspense, the spaniards are having a terrible time, even lance isn't as much of a presence as he was. I think the only reason he's doing the tour aside from money is so he can set a record that can't be broken. I'mtalking in terms of sports, and what I expect from it, not so much because of Lance or one person. Good stage wins, but it's not as exciting.

The only thing I am disappointed in is David Z's exit from the race. Too bad, he started off very well. Otherwise its a pretty good race.

I would like them to ditch radio communications that would make it interesting! Everything seems coordinated through the earpiece thesedays, its tedious; riders know where there nearest rivals are and when to or not to attack due to the info the squad cars are giving out. Oh, and if they crash the bike and its behond repair then they should'nt be allowed to get on a new from the roof - if it was rider error; game over! Hehe, also doing your own punctures with a patch kit and that spare wrapped round your torso just like the old days...the real days of racing IMO.

I like your thinking. I would add that all riders should be using the same equipment to even the playing field. On every stage, time trials included.