Road Bike Racing - Hamilton on Podium?

Right now, I think #1 and #2 podium finishers in Paris might be #1 and #2 in the race, Armstrong and Beloki. Hamilton is in 6th, with two weak TT'rs, Mancebo and Mayo, and 1 above average TT'r, Vinokourov, between him and the 3rd spot. Ullrich, a strong TT'r, is in 8th, with Heras, a weak TT'r in 7th. Mayo, Mancebo, and Heras will probably lose time in the TT's and fall back, leaving the battle for 3rd between Hamilton, Vinokourov, and Ullrich.

If things continue in this pattern, and Hamilton can stay with the leaders in the mountains like he did today, and match Ullrich and Vino in the TT's(not unreasonable to expect), I think he has a realistic chance to be on the podium in France.

The big battle now looks to be for third.

I have been hoping to see Hamilton shine since way before the tour. Then to see what he has done now...WOW! I hope he doesn't suffer the fate of Virenque after having given so much...even if it does hes proven himself. Similar to Phil Anderson riding with a cracked sternum in the 80's that wouldn't allow him to stand when climbing the Alps. Goooo Tyler!

Mayo may well gain time on climbing stages. At 25 he has an excellent shot at making the podium this year.

Whether LA is more vulnerable or not there will be, b/c of what Mayo and Vinokourov did today, a perception that he's vulnerable and there's going to be attacks on every mountain.

This is a good thing, even a great thing b/c it means the TdF should be truly competitive this year. For me, as a spectator, that's more important than whether LA wins 5 or not.

Regardless of whether he reaches the podium this year or not when you look at Mayo you're looking at the future of the post-Lance TdF. The only question is: How far away is the future?

Following on from his Giro epic last year and his great spring performances, Hamilton's courageous showing this week- attacking the Armstrong group on the Alpe- is the story of the race for me.

Walter is spot-on with his analysis; when guys smell blood in the water, the character of the racing changes...

Question remains- Is Armstrong still bluffing or just riding conservatively? Whatever it is, it worked today.

Oh- and great to see Beloki heeding the Spanish press and chancing his arm. I thought the colour contrast on my TV had gone funny for a while...

Dunno...

I get the opinion that Armstrong is conserving his strength- I think there are a few more pretty bad mountains coming up- I wouldn't waste my legs on a couple of mountains knowing I got almost 2 weeks to go. I'd do a good job of keeping up, but I'd be saving my strength for later and letting the contenders waste their legs with early attacks.

If he's doing this, he's absolutely brilliant... :)

If he's not, I'm gonna get worried in about 5 days.... :(

Good show either way! This year's Tour is nothing like last year's. The excitement is definitely there!

Koffee

What a wonderful, exciting and event packed stage (not to mention the scenery). I've never seen a stage with so many attacks before - fantastic stuff. I couldn't work out why USPS went so hard so early on the final climb - turns out neither can they, new kid on the block got a little excited.
Armstrong may or may not be foxing - we'll know soon enough. For me this tour will be memorable for today's stage and that man Tyler Hamilton - truly heroic what he did out there today.
Apparently there was half a million on the final climb - what a party.

I had to laugh when I saw the highlights and those guys were running alongside the riders.... one guy had lost his shoes and was still running. What a trooper!

It was good, entertaining drama- viva le Tour!

Yeah, they said 600,000 on the mountainside. Made me teary-eyed thinking I'm missing out on that up close and personal... :cry:

;)

Originally posted by Jaimie65
... I couldn't work out why USPS went so hard so early on the final climb - turns out neither can they, new kid on the block got a little excited...
I think Paul and Phil described it pretty well. They wanted to keep Ullrich from making up time. I think they did a pretty good job of that. I think LA IS conserving a bit. Chasing down Mayo at this point would have been pretty pointless and maybe, impossible. Mayo was ON FIRE, scorching the road. I think LA was much more concerned with Beloki, and did a very nice job of reeling him in every time he tried to get away. Also, did you hear what he said to Frankie? He said on the Galibier climb, he noticed his rear brake was dragging a bit. 200km with the brakes on. It could have been a bit of a psychological jab. "Hey, I rode all this way with my BRAKES on, and you guys STILL couldn't drop me... Wait till I get REALLY going!!" But I don't know.

The real story yesterday was definitely, Tyler. What an incredible rider. They definitely need to make a new jersey. The "Ironman Jersey". It was a little nerve wracking watching HIM attack Lance, but I understand why he would, I just REALLY want to see Lance get #5, and I'd HATE to think that it was another American rider that laid on the attack that finally sapped Mr. Armstrong.

Originally posted by ChipRGW
They definitely need to make a new jersey. The "Ironman Jersey"

Yup, yup and YUP!!!!

Though I'm rooting hard for Tyler, I don't think he can get by Vino and Mayo in his condition. Those guys are riding hard and looking good. Tyler in the top 5? Probably. Podium? It pains me, but I doubt it.

I agree with Koffee. LA knows the race has 2 more weeks left and he probably wants to be fresh for the Pyrenees and TTs. We'll know much more after the first TT.

yes, absolutely !
Hamilton is a real warpig. Absolutely awsome how he climbed L´alpe d´Huez while his shoulder is injured that way.

They need a new jersey, maybe named for Hamilton, for the most courageous rider on the tour.

Originally posted by FOG
They need a new jersey, maybe named for Hamilton, for the most courageous rider on the tour.

Instead of pokadots, it could have little pictures of fractured collar bones!