Road Bike Racing - Le Tour so far....

Wow, What a great first week of the Tour! I am constantly amazed by every rider in the race and their incredible ability to withstand the agony of riding over the Alps and Pyranees....truly remarkable.

So, Lance is in Yellow after the first wave of mountains. There are varying reports by the pundits on his overall form, with some suggesting he is not that strong this year. If you ask me, he looks pretty darn good. He has covered every attack and has not killed himself to do it. Sure he has only a 20" lead, but does anyone think that Vino is going to put time into Lance during Fridays ITT?

Here's my thoughts on the race: Lance has been putting in about 85% energy to conserve something for the Alps. I think he definitely wanted to hold the Yellow jersey until Friday to have the last slot for the ITT (and therefore will know the finishing times of his competitors). However, I don't think he wanted to see Vino take the stage yesterday, in fact I think the he and Beloki would have caught Vino if not for the crash.

I also think Postal is still the strongest team and has the best climbers to tackle the Alps.

I think Friday will tell Lance's rivals if he is indeed susceptible this year or if the race is over.

With Beloki out (one of the saddest moments I have ever seen in the Tour) I think Lance has to worry about 1 man...Tyler Hamilton.

Tyler has been picking up steam lately. I think his shoulder is feeling fairly OK and he obviously has good legs so far. If he does well in the ITT on Friday, I think he will believe he can win the race. That could be dangerous for Lance! I still expect to see Tyler on the podium in Paris.

I don't think Vino nor Mayo pose a serious threat as neither is a superb TT'er and neither of their teams are dominant. Great climbers they are, but I don't forsee either of them putting so much time into Lance during the Alps.

2 weeks left and it's already been the best Tour I have ever seen.

GO LANCE!

Originally posted by mjolnir2k
Wow, What a great first week of the Tour! I am constantly amazed by every rider in the race and their incredible ability to withstand the agony of riding over the Alps and Pyranees....truly remarkable.

Unless you are a member of the Fasso Bortollo squad. ;)

Originally posted by mjolnir2k
2 weeks left and it's already been the best Tour I have ever seen.

GO LANCE!


It's my first...I picked a good one, huh? :beer:


As an arrogant texan (like yer pres.) I would never normally root for Lance. Until I read his book... as you say, "GO LANCE!"

Originally posted by bac
Unless you are a member of the Fasso Bortollo squad. ;)


hahahahaahhaha aaaaaaachooooooo! :beer:

Originally posted by belfast-biker
It's my first...I picked a good one, huh? :beer:


As an arrogant texan (like yer pres.) I would never normally root for Lance. Until I read his book... as you say, "GO LANCE!"

yeha you definitely picked a good one to watch.. so many attacks this year.. it's outta control... as far as arrogance goes.. if I can steal a line from the great orator of our time, Kid Rock, in his song Cocky...

"You call me Cocky, and I say 'what ?'"
"It ain't braggin' MF'er, if you back it up !"

I'm glad it's a good race... close all over... I'm pullin for Lance.. but I want it to be a race until the end... not some total blowout, like most big sporting events

Jeff

so far, it´s really the most interesting TDF for years. It´s never been so close...
we have seen some surprises, e.g. the performance of Vinokourov, the terrible crash of Beloki, incredible Virenque, Ullrich working on his comeback, good performance of Jaksche etc.
This is the way, I want the "le Tour" to be.
Close and interesting.

Originally posted by Piratello
so far, it´s really the most interesting TDF for years. It´s never been so close...


Except when LeMond won by 8 seconds in 1989 over Laurent Fignon.

Now THAT was exciting!

Originally posted by mjolnir2k
Except when LeMond won by 8 seconds in 1989 over Laurent Fignon.

Now THAT was exciting!

This one isn't over yet! :D

Originally posted by mjolnir2k
Except when LeMond won by 8 seconds in 1989 over Laurent Fignon.

Now THAT was exciting!

I remember watchign that.. i believe it was the 2nd tour I ever watched... I thknk I was 14 at the time... I was on the edge of my seat.. to see Fignon come in and just collapse, knowing he lost by 8 seconds... it was just amazing...

Jeff

ok, that´s right. I didn´t have that in mind.
With "never" I meant the last 10 years... not really an eternity though.

Except when LeMond won by 8 seconds in 1989 over Laurent Fignon.

Now THAT was exciting!

The problem was that nobody thought he could win, he was 50 seconds behind Fignon and only a 15 mile TT into Paris for the final stage, and making up that much time was thought to be impossible. Watching the last stage was amazing, and LeMond still holds the record for that amazing ride. I really think if LeMond wasn't out for 87 and 88 he could have been a serious contender for each of those years, and possibly have been another 5 time winner.

So far I'm not finding this tour all that exciting, maybe a bit better than the last couple of years, but it's still pretty sterile in that it looks like USPS is just controlling everything.

Andrew

I doubt Lance is only going 85%. He has covered the attacks but has had to work very hard to do so. We've seen something new this year in that the competition has had success separating Lance from his "blue train." He's been on his own already more this year than he was the entire Tour last year. If he wins this will b a truly deserving victory.

He NEEDS a good ITT b/c Mayo will be racing in front of his home fans in the Pyrenees and will be very hard to cover. Mayo has done some incredible climbing and I think there's more to come.

I wouldn't underestimate Vino either. As Liggett or Sherwen pointed out Vino has been a different racer since the death of Kivilev. He's won pretty much every race he's wanted to win this season and with Botero in essence a no-show Telekom will ride for him completely.

It's been a great race so far and while it'd be fine to see Lance get #5 I'm hoping Mayo and etc. make him sweat more than he ever has (on a bike at least) to do so.

I am not rooting for Lance, but he'll probably win. However, it's interesting that after the big alpine stages, he has no stage wins. They did go into the alps very early though. The pyrenees are next week and he is probably saving his energy. I doubt he's ailing or suffering, he's just saving himself for the next two weeks. Too bad about Beloki, I was so impressed with how great he was doing. I always root for jan, but he may not up to his old form just yet. Still, he's doing very very well and climbing up the GC.

It's a much more interesting tour than last year. Even with Beloki gone, Armstrong should keep an eye on the spaniards, especially in the mountains.

I am pulling for Lance, but that Ullrich has not had to work very hard so far - I am a bit worried about that guy. As long as Lance can keep Ullrich at bay he will win.

Tyler Hamilton is totally exciting, I wonder how the next mountain stages will effect his collar bone.