Road Bike Racing - Stage 13 **Spoiler**

That is one of the greatest races Ive ever seen. What a great stage.

I didn't want to believe it, but Lance is definately having some problems.

I'm getting worried.

This is exciting, much more than last year!!

His recovery at the end of the stage was encouraging though. Ullrich gave him everything he had, and couldnt get away.

WOW!! That was SOME finish, eh...??

Good point.

But Lance still needs to put some time on JU. Can he do it?

If Lance needed all of the resources of his perfectly functioning team to come in 7 seconds behind Ullrich, who is riding essentially solo, then I agree. Lance will have to dig deeper and find something he's not shown us yet if he's to win.

Is that "something" still there? Or does Jan just have more of it this time?

This is drama of th first order.

RichC

Makes you wonder how they dropped Ullrich at L'Alpe d'Huez, eh?

I thought Lance was gonna be a LONG way down when they showed Ullrich finishing, but all of a sudden, there was Lance. I can't WAIT for tomorrow. I'm just glad I can watch this a couple more times today!

Should have had my HRM on, I'm pretty sure I went Anaerobic just watching that!

Awesome, we have a race!!

I hope so. He needs a good stage tomorrow. He cant afford to let Jan challenge him the entire way.

Where did Roberto come in? I missed him dropping back. Did he bonk, or have an equipment failure?

I think Jan just had a bad day on L'Alpe d'Huez. He just didnt seem to have anything that day.

Heras dropped at about 3.5 kilometers, he had spent everything.

What a finish!!

Must've been. Ullrich looked strong today!

Wow....I can't believe Lance lost 15 pounds yesterday. That's very dangerous! Maybe that's why he's been looking "spent" to me...he's dehydrated?! C'mon, Lance...hang in there, Buddy!

Originally posted by Formtight
... I can't WAIT for tomorrow...

Tomorrow's stage has (5) category 1 and (2) category 2 climbs in about the same distance as today's ride which had only (2) category 1 climbs total. It should be very interesting.

Did anyone see the guy running alongside the riders with his shorts falling down? I've never seen a full moon during a stage before. :p

Originally posted by Laggard
Did anyone see the guy running alongside the riders with his shorts falling down? I've never seen a full moon during a stage before. :p

That was classic! :D

The results of today's stage (for those of you that need to know what happened at the end!):

The Top 10 In Stage 13...
The top 10 of the 197.5km stage from Toulouse to Ax-3 Domaines is:
1. Carlos Sastre (Sp) CSC
2. Jan Ullrich (Ger) TBI at 1'01"
3. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp) EUS at 1'01"
4. Lance Armstrong (US) USP at 1'08"
5. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) TEL at 1'18"
6. Ivan Basso (It) FAS at 1'18"
7. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp) BAN at 1'24"
8. Iban Mayo (Sp) EUS at 1'59"
9. Christophe Moreau (Fr) C.A0 at 2'32"
10. Tyler Hamilton (US) CSC at 2'32"

Originally posted by BikerDawg
Wow....I can't believe Lance lost 15 pounds yesterday. That's very dangerous!

Yup - it's amazing that he could still climb with the boys after such an effort the day before. However, we don't know how much weight Jan lost. Perhaps he was in the same boat? Lance seems to be suffering more from the intense heat than others, but who knows?

Regardless, this is going to be one amazing tour that is most probably going to play itself out in the final TT. If Lance doesn't have some time by then, Jan is going to be hard to stop. His placement on the bike is just so aerodynamic. His bars are so low to his front tire.

Ullrich is definetly on the move. Lance had better get going because as we saw in the TT there is no way lance will beat jan in the final tt. Wonder how much jan's performance is going to change postal's strategy? I think if jan had the team that lance does the yellow jersey would be in german hands right now. Saw hamilton a few times today, hes looking rather good, seems he can spend some time out of the saddle now compared to earlier.

Originally posted by Laggard
Did anyone see the guy running alongside the riders with his shorts falling down? I've never seen a full moon during a stage before. :p


Some of the spectators have me shouting at my TV - IDIOTS!

Even a motorbike rider had to resort to forcing one out of the way - they're really getting in the way. Or it seems that way to me anyhow.... it's just going to take one idiot leaning in too much and someones down.

Boy, what a race though.... not great if you're a Lance fan, like me.... good comeback though. Will Ullrich last the distance at his current rate? Wil Lance?

Lance has the jersey, but now Ullrich's in control. All Ullrich has to do is keep even with Lance and he can win in the TT. Lance is great and I am rooting for him, but even the Yankees lose once in a while. At this point Lance's strategy is very much simplified- try to breakkaway from Ullrich on one of the long climbs to a finish, which probably means stage 15 or 16. Tomorrow's stage seems like one calculted to break riders, and Ullrich may have a go at breaking Lance. The opposite may also be true, but Lance doesn't seem ready to attack anyone at this point. Lance seems near to breaking. Lance at any rate no longer has to focus on anyone but Ullrich, and oddly enough, Ullrich, by being in essence in control of the race right now, may become everyone else's target too.

this race is really getting interesting. if jan does win, he still has time to become a 5 time champ. he's 29 now, the same age lance was when he got his second win. but it's gonna be hard to hold off vinokourov for the next few years... that guy has gotten GOOD.

Thoughts:

1) Can you imagine the fatigue these guys are getting to...they are beating the crap outa each other day after day. I won't be surprised to see someone really crack in the next few days.

2) Most of the top guys have had "off days???" Jan sick @ AlpeDuHuez. Armstrong dehydrated and "off". Do we need to say...Tyler....WOW!

3) While this is a truely great Tour...there have been many others...were you around for Lemond and Fignon trading the Yellow Jersey back and forth. How about Lemond and Hinault? Did you see Phil Anderson ride with the cracked sternum?? or Pascal Simon and his collar bone broken...and on and on. What a great sport/event.

4) I don't know who I want to see win it...I always love the underdog...Ulrich and Hamilton...Yet after seeing Lance persevere like this...the guy is a stud....

It's a good thing Ullrich doesn't have much of a team around him...

Originally posted by Formtight
It's a good thing Ullrich doesn't have much of a team around him...

at this point in time Lances does'nt have much of a team around him either.

On ITV" lance said he was stillsuffering from dehydration. It's going to a case of damage control for him in the Pyranees I fear.

This race just wants to swing Ullrich's way. And by Jove I think he's a going to do it. Lance has his back to the wall now.
He'll come out fighting I'm sure. The excitment is getting to me.
What a Tour!!:beer:

What happened to USPS? From what I heard, they dropped like flies, which worries me- they're supposed to be the best climbing team they've had, but they worry me. For all that, I think Heras was great- he stuck it out with Lance up until the very end, when he completely bonked... that's strong riding!

Lance's excuse making is starting to get embarrassing. His brakes were rubbing for 200k? His teammate went up Alpe d'Huez too quickly? He was dehydrated to the tune of 15lbs of water(???)

As far as that last remark goes, let's just put it gently and say, I don't think so.

The kindest way to look at things is that Lance is still desperately trying to maintain a psychological advantage over his rivals. But I doubt Ullrich and Vinokourov are fooled.

Is it possible to lose 15lbs of liquid in 1 hr? I thought that sounded a little suspect also, but I'm not there so it's hard to say.

Did he say that the brakes were rubbing for 200k? I guess I hadn't heard that. I heard that they were rubbing on the climb, but not for the entire stage.

And Beltran did go to hard at the start of Le Alpe. You could see the immediate split when he got on the front, and the subsequent regrouping when his pace was corrected.

Try to remember that the media is all over him for explanations for this and reasons for that. Abject humility and a self-effacing attitude are nice(see Tyler Hamilton), but not everyone is capable of that.

I heard the excuses. While some of them sounded legit, I don't see how that tiny body lost 15 pounds. :eek:

For once, I'd like to hear him say he just had a bad day! Leave it at that and tell everyone he did the best he could do.

To be fair, everyone always asks him to analyze his game- he's gotta come up with something...

I have lost 8 lbs in an hour long time trial loop that I do sometimes and that is after having downed 24oz of fluid during the ride. 15 lbs is almost unbeleivable.

Lance had best get it in gear or he will loose the race. Luckily he has a better team than Jan. If not for the team I think Jan would be in yellow right now.

It is a much more exciting race than just watching Lance ride off without everyone.

I like it! :D

I know it's a better race, but if Lance ends up losing, I will scream myself silly for a week nonstop, and sit in bed for at least a day with tears.... :D

WOW! I just watched that finish again. That was somethin' else. I still can't believe Lance pulled himself up like that. I hope he's got his legs tomorrow. I smell a couple minutes if USPS rides well.

As I said yesterday, I',m exhausted and all I did
was sit on the couch watching.
Unbelievable stage.

Marty

I smell a couple minutes if USPS rides well.

yeah, but even if the team does well, lance just can't finish the job like he used to. and the team really hasn't been too hot this year, heras can't keep up on the final climbs and rubiera is done by then. at least they signed beltran. he's been usps's saving grace this year. had he not sprinted up the initial slopes of l'alpe d'huez, ullrich would almost certainly be in yellow by now.


I know it's a better race, but if Lance ends up losing, I will scream myself silly for a week nonstop, and sit in bed for at least a day with tears....

i feel the exact same way...
but look at it this way. if lance does win, he would have won what was arguably the hardest tour in modern cycling. but i gotta say, i wouldn't mind if ullrich wins. i've had a ton of respect for the guy ever since he offered to shake lance's hand on the final mountain stage of 2001. in fact, i would like to see lance return the gesture this year if he ends up in the same place ullrich was in during 2001.

OMG, go Jan! I was really surprised to see him fly off like that, I didn't think he'd have that much in him after yesterday. I thought he and Lance would just take it a bit easier on this stage, and I thought it would be Virenque again, while the big guns save themselves a bit for the next two days. What's different this year is that everyone is being really aggressive and challenging lance at every turn, unlike last year, when most of those guys weren't there. Vino and jan and Mayo especially are really taking on Lance. But I was also thinking Lance is looking more tired than usual. Let's face it, Jan has one tour victory, he's had a year off. Lance has done and won four tours in a row. Don't think that'll take its toll on you, physically and emotionally, not to mention the pressure cooker he's in. Look what it did to Jan. I knew there would be more pressure on Lance than ever before and its getting to him. But I think the fans like him more now because he's shown he's not Ironman, he's human and has bad days like the rest of us shmucks!

Great stage. We watched it with friends and probably scared the neighbors with our screaming and cheering! THis is the best tour in YEARS!!

This is intense!

Lance is something of a role model for me since I admire him not only for his great riding skills but also because of what he went through...so for me, this is a edge of my seat, nail biting, 'really really hoping Lance gets a fifth win' experience.

Heck, I'm going to skip my usual Sunday morning group ride just to watch this live on OLN.

I thought OLN relenquished Sunday's live coverage to CBS (Crappy Broadcasting Station). Then again, things may be different for Canadian viewers.

Better go on your ride, OLN wont air till tonight 2 hours. 9 et -11. Make sure to skip cbs, you will only get the weeks highlights and maybe 5 minutes on the recap of todays stage - nothing more.

Originally posted by nikos
Make sure to skip cbs, you will only get the weeks highlights and maybe 5 minutes on the recap of todays stage - nothing more.

But you get pretty pictures of sunflower fields and interesting pieces on French wine.

Originally posted by Laggard
But you get pretty pictures of sunflower fields and interesting pieces on French wine.

I have the Travel Channel for that... err... wait... no... they're showing some poker tournament! AUGH!!!

Originally posted by khuon
I have the Travel Channel for that... err... wait... no... they're showing some poker tournament! AUGH!!!

LOL. Yeah, the Travel Channel stopped being the travel channel a long time ago.

Originally posted by Laggard
LOL. Yeah, the Travel Channel stopped being the travel channel a long time ago.

they did have this cool thing on a few tribal cultures last night though
and those damn christian missionaries who try to ruin their way of life...
oh boy. I'm off topic. The travel channel does have good stuff every once in a while though.

Originally posted by nikos
Better go on your ride, OLN wont air till tonight 2 hours. 9 et -11. Make sure to skip cbs, you will only get the weeks highlights and maybe 5 minutes on the recap of todays stage - nothing more.


You guys wanna move to Europe.... we get it all live.... :beer: