"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - I don't care what you say - LANCE IS BACK

He's gonna win the 2003 Tour de France!
Don't be a Lance hater, have faith.

Lost 15 lbs but he keeps on truckin. Had cancer but Look at him now. He's been through it all, how can you doubt him in his moment of glory. What is Lance known for, beating the odds. And the odds seem to have been stacked against hime once again haven't they? Well perhaps Mr. Lance has just been saving himself for the stage which will make the tour...the 15th. Remeber he has an awsome team and Johan Bruyneel as a director so I'm sure something will go down tomorrow. He wouldn't let this thing slip away so easily. So get those VCR's ready and be prepared to see the race of a lifetime, man vs. man, who can take the pain, who wants it more, epic! Vino is not a contender for yellow, he's been doing good but the tt will prevent him from getting it. Ulrich will be close to Lance but not close enough. Come on guys! This is Lance armstrong we are talking about! He does not give up easily and he could have one leg and still atempt to win the tour. He's not one to make excuses so tomorow is his day to prove himself. So have a lil faith.

:D :D :D :D

Say a prayer...

:D

Love Lance, but if it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be...

Remember Michelle Kwan at the 1998 Olympics?

One step ahead of ya hehe.

Yeah but it's meant to be ;)

I hope so... I really want a US citizen riding for a US company to set a record and tie another one's....

Originally posted by kewlrunningz
He's gonna win the 2003 Tour de France!
Don't be a Lance hater, have faith.

Lost 15 lbs but he keeps on truckin. Had cancer but Look at him now. He's been through it all, how can you doubt him in his moment of glory. What is Lance known for, beating the odds. And the odds seem to have been stacked against hime once again haven't they? Well perhaps Mr. Lance has just been saving himself for the stage which will make the tour...the 15th. Remeber he has an awsome team and Johan Bruyneel as a director so I'm sure something will go down tomorrow. He wouldn't let this thing slip away so easily. So get those VCR's ready and be prepared to see the race of a lifetime, man vs. man, who can take the pain, who wants it more, epic! Vino is not a contender for yellow, he's been doing good but the tt will prevent him from getting it. Ulrich will be close to Lance but not close enough. Come on guys! This is Lance armstrong we are talking about! He does not give up easily and he could have one leg and still atempt to win the tour. He's not one to make excuses so tomorow is his day to prove himself. So have a lil faith.

:D :D :D :D

Go Lance. I can't wait for tonight.

He lost 8% of his body weight, and still was right behind Ullrich. This guy is a true American class act.

Goooooooooooooooooooo Ullrich!

What about Vino?
Nobody on his wagon?
Right now it looks like any one of the three,

What happened to Tyler? Did his collar finally get to him, or did his body just quit?

Ba-Dg-Er - everyone is entitled to their own opinion ;)

ljbike - yeah it looks as if the collar bone has finally gotten to tyler but he made it this far and that's plenty to be said. It would have been great to see him make the podium though.

Ba-Dg-er predicted Ulrich from the beginning. He's sticking to his guns. Good for him.

Besides, he has a good chance, at the end of saying, "I told you so!"

I wonder if this will come down to the TT. Lance seemed to indicate that he wasn't afraid of that when interviewed. If I'm not mistaken this was the first time in the TDF that Jan beat Lance in a TT??? Lance let Vino go this time but how much more is he willing to give him? Vino has indicated that he and Jan will team up to attack Lance but will it work? Remember...Lance only took :30 out of Vino in the previous TT and this one is pancake flat...but Lance had a bad day...how bad?

I think people put the expecations on lance way way too high.
The media and everything made it sound like there was a %99 chance lance would win this year, before the tour started.

He seems to be nearing the end of his career.
He won so much early in his career... then he came back from cancer and won the TDF 4 times in a row (im not saying he wont win this year).

This is pro cycling. He could be one of the greatest in the world, with the greatest team, and greatest trainers, and still not win. You don't have to always win to prove yourself though.

If he gets beaten this year... the beating won't have come easily. He is putting up a big fight, and everyone is throwing everything at him.

My point is, lance may not win this year. If he doesn't, I don't see it as something to really be disapointed about. The man has rode amazing for years. Look at past stages of past years... time and time again, blowing away the competition. Great memories.

Remember Sestriere ;)

I am happy with Lance whether it is 5 or 4 tours. He has done a wonderful job for us and we can only hope another US racer as strong will come along again soon.

I hope he wins but will not be surprised if he gets squeezed out by a few seconds by Ulrich or Vino.

It will be a great tour. I do beleive he is getting past his physical problems. Hopefully in time to attack on tomorrows stage and gain a good time gap.

Originally posted by brent_dube
My point is, lance may not win this year. If he doesn't, I don't see it as something to really be disapointed about. The man has rode amazing for years. Look at past stages of past years... time and time again, blowing away the competition. Great memories.

I agree. Lance's accomplishment's are Herculean(5 cent word alert). He doesn't have anything more to prove. I really don't care who wins this since I was routing for Tyler. The tactical nuances of the race are what intrique me.

If Lance is "back" I don't know what he's waiting for. For Vinokourov to win another forty seconds tomorrow and take yellow? For the final time trial, to try and hold off Jan with a scant fourteen seconds advantage?

If Lance were "back" he would have gone with Vinokourov and dropped Ullrich.

Originally posted by ljbike
Ba-Dg-er predicted Ulrich from the beginning. He's sticking to his guns. Good for him.

Besides, he has a good chance, at the end of saying, "I told you so!"

Just a matter of me liking Ullrich since 1996. I am as big an Ullrich fan, if not more, as some of you are Armstrong fans. It was never really a prediction, just a hope that he would do well and be able to make a respectable comeback after a difficult year.

And I will be the last to say I told you so, it was as surprising for me as it was for everyone else to see him stand atop the TT podium ... I just hope it comes down to a good tour and no one gets involved in a crash or illness eliminating them, the best man should win.

I'm rooting for Ullrich too. I like the fact that he's not perfect, puts on weight and then has to struggle for fitness. His cycling style is smooth and he pushes huge gears.

From what I've seen so far, Lance seems to be using much more energy in keeping with him (out of the saddle a lot- but that may be his style), but he may have been picking up a few acting tips from Arnie and really be comfortable..

My take is that if Vino tries to escape to gain time today (which I think he must) and Ullrich and Lance follow, then this could blow the whole thing apart. Whoever survives wins.

if Vino doesn't escape today then, barring accidents,it all comes down to the final Race of Truth, the TT, and I would have to fancy Ullrich to clean that one up on present form.

Mental = Advantage Armstrong

Will this be enough for him to win? We'll all know soon. :D

If Lance is playing mind games with the rest of the field right now... I'll say he's doing a great acting job....

But taken at face value... he doesn't seem to be doing as well as all had hoped...

Yes, Lance is back!

Umm... FREAKING A!!!! haha

How bout that, Lance is back.
:D :D :D :D

When did lance leave?

CoolrunningZ,
You called that one perfectly. My hats off to you. Way to keep the faith. :beer: Saturday's time trial will be a thrilling.

kewlrunningz:beer: :thumbup:

I think win or lose Lance has won some more fans for not giving up and fighting like he has this year. Cycling in general will be the big winner as this has been so exciting and more and more people are talking about it here at work and they don't have the first clue about cycling. I hope he does it but as long as it stays a good race it doesn't really matter.

Originally posted by Merriwether
If Lance were "back" he would have gone with Vinokourov and dropped Ullrich.


Mmmm.

From CRASH...to CRUSH!

http://www.velonews.com/images/gallery/4630.5690.f.jpg

As Bobke would say..."Lance Armstrong now sharpening his teethe on the bones of the great Eur...Euro...German champion, Jan Ulrich."
:lol:

Lance may be back (as if he left) but
remember so is Jan.
Remember Lemond by 8 seconds? Fignon had
a 58 second lead (is that right? I don't remember)
that everyone thought was insurmountable?

it will come down to the ITT. If lance blows like he did
on the first TT then its game,set,maillot Jaune to Jan.

Marty

Absolutley lotek.

I think the lesson we take from this stage is that the race is not won by one or two stages alone.

Many people had Lance dead and buried days ago and yet he's 'back'.

At the same time, there are still a number of stages to go and we'd all be just as foolish to say 'he's won his 5th' right now.

Totally. This thing isn't over yet. This was just a turning point in the race, not the deciding factor. This does give Lance a mental edge over his competitors and I'm thinking with proper hydration he will own the TT to come. Just think, he lost 15 lbs in the last one and placed 2nd... I'd like to see him finish this off with a bang to cap this tour off as one of the best ever. But of course that's up to him ;) :D

Lance was never gone, let alone being back.

It's funny...all race long people have been saying Lance does not look good. That his form is off. That he is struggling, that Vino and Jan are in much better shape Yada-Yada-Yada etc..

Yet when you look back, Lance has been is yellow for a long time during this years TDF (Probably took it sooner than he wanted to in fact) and I have yet to see Vino or Jan wearing that particular shade of jersey.

Lance has defended the yellow jersey at every turn. Fending off multiple attacks, crashes and battling various physical ailments and has retained the yellow jersey throughout.

Sure, Vino got close and Jan got closer...but there is a saying that goes something like this:

"Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades!"

Still a VERY tough ITT coming up, but until they wrest the yellow jersey from his cold, dead fingers, my money is still on Lance!

There is no doubt that Jan is a great racer and an even better sportsman. I am certain that Jan will again win the TDF..Just not this year!

yeah, it is funny how all the pundits pronounced
Lance's reign over, and now are singing other tunes.

All this years tour has shown (so far) is that Lance is
human, and the blue train is not infaillable.

Marty

Originally posted by lotek
All this years tour has shown (so far) is that Lance is
human, and the blue train is not infaillable.

Marty

And that the heart of a champion should NEVER be disregarded.

yes, Lance seems to be back and off for good to win his #5. That attack was really impressing, though he even crashed 1 1/2 times.
1:07 min is not the world, but it will be very hard for Jan to get this done.
I don´t like it, but Lance will most probably win the tour.
It would have been asked too much for Jan to win.
So, I´m quite sure that Jan will be back next year even stronger.

After seeing Jan in this years tour, there is no doubt that he will be a favorite for '04!

And as long as Lance isn't racing against him, I will be pulling for Jan to do well. He has definitely shown his true championship character in what has to be one of the most hotly contested tours in recent memory!