Professional Cycling For the Fans - Stage 13 Lannemezan - Plateau de Beille

Does anyone have a video clip of Hamilton's drop-out? I missed it.

There is a link to it on the official english language site
That was sad to see (and hear what he had to say)

Basso let him take it, Voelker is a Hero, Everyone is Doped.

What's wrong with anti-Lance lately? Basson won stage 12 and everybody said he school Lance, and he smoked Lance. And when Lance won today people said Basson let Lance win.

wtf is Basso really? Has he won any tdf? Why people trying to degrade and take away Lance's credit?

Where will Voeckler crack? The first cat 1? The second cat 1? Or will he survive until the last HC? I don't know if he'll be able to hold onto yellow after this one...

Good questiong ive been wondering that ever since he got it. Hopefully in the Alps! Lance must win!

Did Tyler Hamilton crash? I watched the interview and he was talking about his lower back and such?

Did Tyler Hamilton crash? I watched the interview and he was talking about his lower back and such?

He fell and hurt his back on Stage 4, IIRC - one of the early stages. The climbing apparently aggravated his back badly, and that's why he did so poorly in these mountain stages.

Six riders finished within one minute of Lance today in spite of his attacking. He couldn't break them. That is huge.[/i]

Andrew

Attack? When has anyone attacked in this Tour? It's all been Tempo driven devestation. No one's had the legs left to attack, not even Lance. It's the weirdest Tour I've ever seen.

I have to admit that, despite being a huge Lance fan, this Tour has become somewhat dissapointing. Where are the fireworks we expected, the showdowns, the spectacle. I must admit that Armstrong and Basso have been impressive the last two days, but this isn't going to win over any new fans to the sport I can tell you that.

What I have seen the last two days, was a team tempo the legs off of the entire field, and that teams captain do as he does best ... work just hard enough to keep the race in check. With another week to go, tomorrows flat stage, and a rest day ... it's business as usual.

Yes, the old dogs have blown up and young guns are on the prowl, but barring any mishaps, the master is teaching the young guns what they need to learn if they have hopes of being TdF champions of the future.

Why be dramatic ? ... it's about winning #6, that is all.

Attack? When has anyone attacked in this Tour? It's all been Tempo driven devestation.

Armstrong was in a group of 5 or so on La Mongie when he attacked and only Basso could hold his wheel.
When it happened it was a clear 'attack' rather than a gradual tempo increase.

That whole comment about Armstrong unable to break the riders and that he was dropped is stupid as none of that actually happened. (nowone dropped him and he was able to break everyone except Basso... and the author must not have known anything about cycling if he thought Armstrong was supposed to gain 2 minutes on the La Mongie stage)


Anyone notice how, all year, Armstrong kept saying over and over that the Alps are going to be hard, and that stage 17 is going to be the hardest stage of the Tour, completely ignoring the Pyrennes? Then within the last few days, USPS and Armstrong began to say that stage 13 would be the hardest. Mind games again, played out through the whole spring.

Click here to listen. (http://ww2.olntv.com/tdf04/listenlive.html) Anyone else listening to OLN's live audio feed? I guess its better than nothing.

It's super 'cuz I can't sit through each stage. Just listening to segments is better than hearing scores.

"Anyone notice how, all year, Armstrong kept saying over and over that the Alps are going to be hard, and that stage 17 is going to be the hardest stage of the Tour, completely ignoring the Pyrennes? Then within the last few days, USPS and Armstrong began to say that stage 13 would be the hardest. Mind games again, played out through the whole spring."


True.... and who says to a reporter and video camera "Between you and me..." in reference to when "its going to go down"..?

About a month before the TdF people were saying that Ulrich was fat and unmotivated... then in the TdS he was in his best shape ever and real competition...

Basso looks great, and he gave Lance this stage victory as much as Lance gave him the one yesterday by not answering the final attack. I think anyway you look at it, it's ultimately going to come down to the individual TT up L'Alpe D'Huez and I'll take Lance with or without EPO any day in a mountain time trial against legitimate contenders, especially when you consider that he's had multiple practice runs while the others were trying to grind out a living.

does anyone know what Jan was drinking today?? Paul made a big to do about it.. being popular and all... didn't mention the name though..

does anyone know what Jan was drinking today?? Paul made a big to do about it.. being popular and all... didn't mention the name though..


Dunno, but he probably trusted the instinct to drink alone after the previous days stage to manage the pain.

The tour has become less exciting that's for sure. And think of us, the viewers, for whom the race is all wrapped up with over a week to go. NOt much excitement there.

I wish I'd seen the giro this year! I wish OLN canada would show other races. THe giro is my favorite grand tour. It's so much more fun, and it's not all focused on one person, and you really can't predict who is going to win. IN this race, even the riders are acting like, why bother I may as well lie down and die in the alps.

I think the Tour is still exciting. The Tour is not wrapped up for Lance yet, he could still have a bad day. The battle for the green jersey is exciting. Seeing whether or not Virenque will be able to take home a record 7th maillot pois is exciting.

What's not to like?

I would agree that it isn't over. Basso is a legitimate threat I think. Not to mention that with all the Mountains in the last week, it is possible for Armstrong to have a bad day.

By the way, I know that Armstrong turned on the screws a little harder and dropped those other guys. But it was not an attack. An attack is a guy sitting back a bit in a group and then launching like wildfire to see if he can get free. That has not happened once on the mountain stages.

I guess an "attack" (by which, I guess one would mean a sprint away) on a climb makes for exciting viewing and highlights, but I am at least as awed and impressed by a continuous, miserable, destroying pace that leaves others begging for it to stop, at least in their minds.

The goo that Jam was drinking from a green foil container looked to me like it said Gatoraid on the side. Does Gatoraid make a goo?

The goo that Jam was drinking from a green foil container looked to me like it said Gatoraid on the side. Does Gatoraid make a goo?

I'm pretty sure it was Extran.

http://www.extranusa.com/homefcpu.asp

I had to laugh. Paul Sherwen said something to the effect that it is vile tasting. The Colorado Cyclist describes it as delicious.

Rainman's comments:

TYLER: Tyler crashed on, I believe, stage 6, slamming his lower back right down on the pedal of a downed bike. Think for a second about that. Your back is slammed down on, essentially, a point, with the entire weight of your body behind it, increased by the inertia of the fall. Your back is arched backwards, perhaps hyperextended. Your core, ie, torso, especially back, is the platform for much of the action of pedalling, which is exagerated when you head uphill. Several times during Sunday's programming they showed different shots of Tyler getting into the van, giving some comments, then later more comments. They showed his back with bruises all over it, not big bruises, little bruises where he hit the pedal and apparently bounced across it, hitting, and bruising, several ribs along the way. He basically said he probably could have finished the tour, but he has already finished 8 so has nothing to prove in that regard. Finishing far back would have accomplished nothing, may have aggravated the injuries, and would have been a distraction for the team. This way others may have some chances in breakaways, etc.. This is the first time he has abandoned.

LANCE - Make no mistake:
1. Lance let Basso have the stage to La Mongie out of respect, friendship, honoring IB's mother, etc.

2. After 1. above, Lance had done the chivalrous thing and needed to do his job and get the extra padding of the bonus seconds at Plateau de Beille.

3. On neither day did Lance attack. He did not need to, and it would have been a waste of energy. He was picking up 2-3 minutes on his rivals without it. Why burn matches unnecessarily. I think both stages worked out beautifully for him. Put several minutes into JU, et al, while barely breaking a sweat (figuratively speaking; I know he had to work for it.).

We haven't yet seen LA turn the screws. Wednesday and Thursday should be breathtaking. Then again, if he doesn't need to, we may not see him do one of his signature "crushings". Again, why waste the energy? You never know when a crash might hurt enough to lose him some time trying to recover. Flats or mechanicals should never be a big problem, but minor injuries that just hurt a lot or need medical attention could put him behind, and you can bet the peloton would take off. It's one thing for the group to ease up for the maillot jaune for a simple crash, wheel change, etc., but I don't think that applies to prolonged delays.

I think we're splitting hairs over the word "attack" here... perhaps because the tour doesn't seem to be as exciting as we had hoped. When I wrote that Lance gave Basso the Stage 12 victory by not answering the final attack, I meant that he didn't answer the last burst of speed, perhaps less than a sprint, as they neared the finish line.


My buddy and I were discussing all of the doping allegations that seem to be bringing this sport down lately. We've decided that we really don't care if athletes decide to ruin thier bodies by taking steroids/EPO or any other enhancements as long as it's all disclosed. Perhaps they can treat cycling like Body Building with different classes (Natural or Juiced).

Any thoughts?

I think the Tour is still exciting. The Tour is not wrapped up for Lance yet, he could still have a bad day. The battle for the green jersey is exciting. Seeing whether or not Virenque will be able to take home a record 7th maillot pois is exciting.

What's not to like?

What Devil said.