Why was he messing around with his seat height? I didn't see him snag a spare, I assumed that was his original bike. That thing should be up to spec well before he starts. It didn't make sense.

Why was he messing around with his seat height? I didn't see him snag a spare, I assumed that was his original bike. That thing should be up to spec well before he starts. It didn't make sense.

Phil and Paul were suggesting that his knee may have been acting up enough to warrant a slight change in saddle position.

I agree with you that the "thing should be up to spec" which makes the reasoning that discomfort caused the change all the more sound.

Thanks, that makes more sense than the bike not being up to spec.

Here's Ullrich's diary entry regarding the event:

It always creates a stir, when a team captain holds out his hand and calls for assistance from the team car - as I did today after 75 kilometres. But it wasn't a time for nervous panic! After all, I only stopped to adjust my saddle position.

I had already tested the saddle position on my new bike and it felt comfortable and efficient. But when you actually experience a new bike and saddle in a race situation, you often get a different impression: I wasn't sitting perfectly on the bike.

When that happens you start to pedal less efficiently and waste valuable energy, so I informed Mario Kummer about this over the radio. I stopped at an opportune moment and the team car quickly stopped beside me.

Dirk Tyteca, one of our mechanics, jumped out of the car. He knows my bike back to front and quickly got to work with his wrench. The end result was that he adjusted the saddle so that I could enjoy a more comfortable riding position.

Here's Ullrich's diary entry regarding the event:

Thanks AZ. Where can I read those diary entries?

"I had already tested the saddle position on my new bike and it felt comfortable and efficient. But when you actually experience a new bike and saddle in a race situation, you often get a different impression: I wasn't sitting perfectly on the bike. "

That statement alone speaks volumes as the the differences in preparation between Lance and Jan. I cannot imagine Lance changing something and then not race testing it (well, the ITT handlebars for Alp d'Huez not withstanding) prior to using it in the TdF. Or perhaps Jan does that too, but he just didn't race enough this spring. ;)

Pretty clearly shows the difference between being the most talented (Ullrich) and being the most prepared (Armstrong).

Thanks AZ. Where can I read those diary entries?

T-Mobile's Site: http://www.t-mobile-team.com/cms/tmoteam/en/

Or in German at Jan's site: http://www.janullrich.de/

Livngood is right - I got it off of the T-Mobile-Team site.

Here's today's diary entry, with links at the bottom to other recent entries.
http://www.t-mobile-team.com/cms/tmoteam/en/templateId=renderInternalPage/contentID=28390/id=9158.html