Road Bike Racing - Lance or Tyler?

If Lance or Tyler were going to win the 2004 Tdf, which one would you prefer?

I'd like to see Lance set the new record and Tyler win in '05.

i go with regular guy.

Im gonna go with Lance because he rocks...although tyler has a good shot, but i would prefer lance.....6X

gotta get the record...but it would be funny if an American rider beat out an American rider for the sixth record setting TdF win... :beer:

How about a tie. If they both won the same number of stages, both had the same Green and KoM points and then crossed the line in Paris in a dead heat photo finish, it'd be the perfect tie.

But I'm inclined to agree with Regular Guy.

operative word is prefer. I think Lance will win. After watching him suffer last year I would prefer to see Tyler win.

Should the poll not read "If Lance or Tyler was to be second to Jan in the 2004 TdF, which would you prefer"?

I shall don my flamesuit and adopt the defensive position :D

Lance out of those two.

chewa, you got it.
;)

What about Bobby Julich?

Tyler isn't going to win.He crashes all the time.It wasn't just last year,every year he hits the ground a few times.

Tyler....I hope!

Ulrich ;)

I want Lance to win it, but I think Tyler has a good shot at a podium finish.

I'd like to see Lance take the record and have an American own the TDF. It would really cheese off the french! If not Lance, let see Jan Ullrich take it. he's been right there year after year. That would at least be fitting.

Jim

Ulrich! or Mayo :/

LA will dominate! Tyler will finish 2nd. T-mobile will fight among themselves for 3rd.

Why does everyone think Hamilton will do so well?

I'd like to see Lance set the new record and Tyler win in '05.


ditto

I think everyone thinks Hamilton will do well becuae he did so well last year all messed up. I think he did well because of the pain.

Why does everyone think Hamilton will do so well?

I'm guessing because he won a stage, and finished just off the podium (all with a broken collar bone) in the 2003 TdF:

I think everyone thinks Hamilton will do well becuae he did so well last year all messed up. I think he did well because of the pain.

Damn, if Hamilton would have broken his back, he could have won! Maybe next year! ;)

Well if Lance wins Trek has got to do something special for their 2005 OCLV bikes.Giant has a new carbon frame coming out next year so if Jan wins I expect alot of people to want that bike.I already want one!

oh and Tyler will crash at least once in the Tour.Just like every other year.

I'm guessing because he won a stage, and finished just off the podium (all with a broken collar bone) in the 2003 TdF:

Well isn't 33 supposedly too old? (I've been hearing that a lot too...)

33 is getting up there for a potential tour winner. Zoetemelk won it when he was almost 34. Then again, Tyler is no Zoetemelk.

Should the poll not read "If Lance or Tyler was to be second to Jan in the 2004 TdF, which would you prefer"?

I shall don my flamesuit and adopt the defensive position :D

Lance out of those two.


I think Jan has a good enough team that he has a real good shot at it. I don't know if LA still has the focus.

Dave

PS my very inconsiderate niece scheduled here wedding for the 10th of July in California, so now we have to do a whole vacation thing, to California no less, during the tour. Nobody we're staying with has cable either. I dread monitoring the progress on my cell phone browser.

Can I vote for both?

I would prefer Tyler Hamilton to win this years Tour. A five Tour winning streak should be just that. There has been a mystique about that particular record - it should remain that way.

By the by, Ullrich will dominate this year. :beer:

I'm guessing because he won a stage, and finished just off the podium (all with a broken collar bone) in the 2003 TdF:

Of course we can't forget his molar-destroying second place in the 2002 Giro. I'd prefer him above Lance, but as far as my actual prediction: Jan all the way.

I'll admit to being a Lance and USPS fan but honestly, I would prefer Tyler to win. I think his determination to do well and perservere even while injured exemplifies and to some extent even exagerates the struggles involved with enduring the TdF. And as another poster pointed out. It's not like the 2003 TdF was the first race in which Tyler did so well after having suffered serious injury in early stages.

LA will dominate! Tyler will finish 2nd. T-mobile will fight among themselves for 3rd.

Bingo!!

LA will dominate! Tyler will finish 2nd. T-mobile will fight among themselves for 3rd.

That is a real posibility if there is not a clear leader on T-Mobile. With Vinokourov already making statments like The best rider will be the leader, and I'm ready to assume that role (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/jan04/jan20news), it doesn't look like they have a clear leader yet. Then add into the mix potential GC contenders like Santiago Botero, Paola Savoldelli and Cadel Evans, and there is the potential for a serious struggle for leadership. If Jan has one bad day, these other riders are going to make a power move for his position as leader.

Then, throw Zabel into the mix. He will surely want some help for his sprints and green jersey competition. I can't wait to see how it all spills out!

Like Lance or not, I think one has to agree that the 5-time win battle of last year and the 6-time record-attempt this year has certainly acted as a catalyst to heighten the drama and excitement of the TdF both for those who have enjoyed the sport all along as well as for newcomers and those who have never followed the sport until now. I also agree that the drama playout within the teams will be as exciting as the ones between them... especially in T-Mobile. I wonder if some or one of those riders will eventually write a book a few years down the line revealing some "interesting details".

If you think Tyler can win it all, go to www.mrbookmaker.com

Odds right now are 14 to 1, thats good money if you win The odds will shorten up as the season progresses.

If you think Tyler can win it all, go to www.mrbookmaker.com

Odds right now are 14 to 1, thats good money if you win The odds will shorten up as the season progresses.

It's nice to know who people really think is going to win. Here are the top odds:

Armstrong = 1.66:1
Ullrich = 2.25:1
Beloki = 14:1
Hamilton = 14:1
Heras = 16:1
Mayo = 20:1
Sevilla = 20:1
Bettini = 26:1

The two obvious favorites are Armstrong and Ullrich - no suprise there. It's interesting to note that Sevilla is racing for Hamilton on Phonak, but still rates relatively high in terms of the odds of winning. I guess with Tyler's record of crashing, it makes sense.

ThanX for the link! :)

Forza Tyler!

Lance should be good for another victory. I will wear my USPS jersey this summer, so he has my support.

That is a real posibility if there is not a clear leader on T-Mobile. With Vinokourov already making statments like The best rider will be the leader, and I'm ready to assume that role (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/jan04/jan20news), it doesn't look like they have a clear leader yet. Then add into the mix potential GC contenders like Santiago Botero, Paola Savoldelli and Cadel Evans, and there is the potential for a serious struggle for leadership. If Jan has one bad day, these other riders are going to make a power move for his position as leader.

Then, throw Zabel into the mix. He will surely want some help for his sprints and green jersey competition. I can't wait to see how it all spills out!

Hmmm, Lance seems to think so also. :D

Lance's Take on T-Mobile (http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=5627)

Lance Armstrong “You have to go to the Tour de France with one leader and eight workers. That’s the way it works. In order to win the Tour, you need every guy riding for you. On a team like that, say Botero comes back and he’s in great form or Vinokourov is in great form. Do you think those guys are going to go to the front during the first week of the Tour de France?

Maybe this is wishful thinking on my part, but the system doesn’t always work like that. The way things appear on paper don’t always work the best. You have to have people who can do it all. We’ve been lucky enough to have that. Jan is good. He’s the best one out there. Will the other guys work for him? That’s the question?”

I would rather Tyler win. I dont like the idea of the record being beaten, might be silly, but I like the record at 5.

Also Lance has a point with T-Mobile being so strong on paper, but may not win it all. Look at the New York Yankees the last few years, by far the best team on paper, but they have not won the World Series in 3 years. But then again, the Yankees won a like 4 of them in the 1990's with the strongest team on paper.

I want Lance to win this year, then let Ulrich and Tyler battle it out for the next few...

I would love to see Jan win followed by Lance and then Tyler. This way they would be forever remembered as arch enemies. I agree that 5 tours is a good record, after all if Lance takes it up to 6 then it makes the acheivements of Merckx look worse

I will admit to being a fan of Lance Armstrong and a USPS fan but I'm also not an exclusive fan. I'd be happy to see Lance or Jan or Tyler win. I am also more of a fan of cycling in general. With LAs wins, cycling has experienced a popularity that although not as high as it could be, has been the highest I've and most people in this country have ever witnessed in modern times which IMHO is generally a good thing. This is probably selfish attitude but my primary concern is that the interest and popularity will wane. Unfortunately, the average US citizens is really only interested in winners. I think this is probably why cycling isn't more popular. As a sport, most real cycling fans regard the sport in terms of the struggles as much if not more than the victories. By and large, the sportsfans of this country [USA] only seem to concentrate on the latter.

This is probably selfish attitude but my primary concern is that the interest and popularity will wane.

As soon as Lance retires, half of the people expressing interest will disappear. The other half will only show interest when the TDF rolls around. Hell, that's what they do now. I don't see many people discussing the Amstel Gold Race. One day races are almost completely ignored by the public and cycling "fans."

I agree that 5 tours is a good record, after all if Lance takes it up to 6 then it makes the acheivements of Merckx look worse

Not sure how you can say it makes Merckx look worse? what about
Idurain, Anquetil or Hinault? do they look worse if Lance wins 6?
All it shows is that LA has the record for most wins, nothing more
nothing less. In no way does LA's (or anyone elses) record
detract from previous records.

Marty

But to those who do not know about the past and know nothing about the other 5 time winners, they will think Lance is better than them. He isn't better just very different.

Just before I wrote that I was reading about Merckx having attacked and won a stage by a large margin even though he was already in Yellow.

Just before I wrote that I was reading about Merckx having attacked and won a stage by a large margin even though he was already in Yellow.

Well at that point they were all thinking 'screw this' and let him win by 8 minutes. :D

http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1964_1973/tdf1969_17.php

If one can't win the Tour I hope the other one will. Is that diplomatic or what? :D