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View Full Version : So, should we start talking about number 7?




ChezJfrey
07-22-04, 03:56 PM
Just causing trouble :)

But seriously, judging from the competition this year - the presumed contenders are nowhere to be found (literally in many cases) and the younger, up and coming riders are not quite able...it makes sense for Lance to give it another go again next year, eh?

ed073
07-22-04, 05:57 PM
#7 is a distinct possibility. Clearly head and shoulders above everyone this year......again.

Raiyn
07-22-04, 06:22 PM
If I heard correctly Lance will have to race a full season next year and not just specialize in Le Tour

ed073
07-22-04, 06:28 PM
Pro Tour......it sucks.

Hitchy
07-22-04, 07:03 PM
G'day,

I would love to see Lance & the 'disco's' broaden their horizons beyond TDF next year....naybe some one day "classics" for george, have a real dig at the Giro, etc. Lance has nothing left to prove in TDF & will likely win it as long as it remains his only focus.....the guy is a freak, I don't ebven think its the drugs anymore...I mean why wouldn't the rest of 'em be saying "I'll have what he's having, thanks"!.....c'mon lance, show us a new trick...how bout the giro,

cheers,

Hitchy

gpelpel
07-22-04, 07:03 PM
Lance mentioned his interest in the Giro for next year. Why not a double win in the two greatest Tours? And may be a Grand Chelem (Giro, TdF, Vuelta)?

Devil
07-22-04, 07:13 PM
Lance has nothing left to prove in TDF & will likely win it as long as it remains his only focus.....the guy is a freak, I don't ebven think its the drugs anymore...I mean why wouldn't the rest of 'em be saying "I'll have what he's having, thanks"!.....c'mon lance, show us a new trick...how bout the giro

I am in total agreement with you on that.

Walter
07-22-04, 07:22 PM
Me too. I've posted before that 6 is the magic number, 7 is just gravy. Do the Giro and shut up "old schoolers" (like me) who aren't completely comfortable with a racing "season" of 1 month. Win both and seriously enter the "greatest ever" debates.

Not that my opinion will have much influence on the man however.

:beer:

ed073
07-22-04, 07:26 PM
Not that my opinion will have much influence on the man however.

:beer:



true.....As Lance has often said, "We have a template, and we just keep running it over and over again."

CarlJStoneham
07-22-04, 07:54 PM
Hmmmm. I'd LOVE to see him bring some "exposure" to one of the other grand tours, but if it's keep him from getting #7, I'm not sure it'd be worth it. Personally, I think I'd like to see him get #7, THEN enter the other races the following season. I know this would be tough since he's moving on in years, but I imagine that, given his amazing genes, he could be a serious contender well into his later years. OTOH, #6 pretty much cements his place in the TdF and #7 would just be gravy, so the other tours might be a good change. If he does that though, I think he should basically swear off the TdF unless he (oddly enough) decides to support some other rider. I'd hate for him to win the Giro and lose the Tour. Somehow that just wouldn't do. I think he probably feels the same way. If he decides to ride next year's Tour, I think it's safe to say he won't go to the Giro to win (if he goes at all). He doesn't go to place 2nd and the Giro just might take it out of him. Then again, he's so far beyond the field, who knows what he can do? :)

youngrider08
07-22-04, 07:57 PM
Yea i would think so. Maybe 8.

CarlJStoneham
07-22-04, 08:23 PM
Man. 8. Hmmmm. I seriously thought he'd have no chance at 6 because I was thinking: "Riders have known for a good 2-3 years that Lance is for real. SURELY someone's been training with the sole purpose of beating him." One would think this would be the case next year, but so far, it seems like everyone, Jan included, is content to just let him run with it. maybe 8 ain't that far-fetched after all :D Then again, who would want to ride the Tour that many times? :p

brent_dube
07-22-04, 10:16 PM
G'day,

I would love to see Lance & the 'disco's' broaden their horizons beyond TDF next year....naybe some one day "classics" for george, have a real dig at the Giro, etc. Lance has nothing left to prove in TDF & will likely win it as long as it remains his only focus.....the guy is a freak, I don't ebven think its the drugs anymore...I mean why wouldn't the rest of 'em be saying "I'll have what he's having, thanks"!.....c'mon lance, show us a new trick...how bout the giro,

cheers,

Hitchy

You are not easily pleased, are you?
"You won the last six tours in a row... boring... show us something new"

Devil
07-22-04, 10:19 PM
It's not necessarily boring, but I would like to see Lance add the Giro to his palmares as well as some classics. It would move him up in the "best of all time" category a couple of places.

Hitchy
07-22-04, 10:33 PM
You are not easily pleased, are you?
"You won the last six tours in a row... boring... show us something new"


G'day brent,

LOL...s'pose it could come across like that...but its not how i mean't it!. As 'devil' suggests, I'd like to see Lance expand the career to include something other than TDF, (which as I said, he can probably win for the next 10 years as well!).......given the lack of challengers, (well real ones, anyway), surely Lance could do with another goal...the problem is, he's made it all look too easy (yeah, I know its not)....woulda liked to see him do the Olympic T/T....don't think he could win the RR though,

cheers,

Hitchy

flat tire
07-22-04, 11:35 PM
I would love to see Lance win another big race other than the TDF. It would be great to see him win elsewhere. Maybe take a year off TDF, win some other big races (I don't even know what they are, but he could bring attention to other races for idiots like me), and maybe do the tour a year or 2 later. Look at Bjorn Borg (I like tennis too). He won Wimbledon 5 straight times and the French open something like 6 straight times. These are 2 different surfaces and no one is likely to ever repeat that feat in tennis. Lets see Lance do something like that!

ChezJfrey
07-26-04, 01:19 PM
Other races? Why does he have to win a different race? To prove himself? Gimme a break! I like the 8 idea -- I say 8 TdF wins oughtta shut a few people up! And if it doesn't, then they're just whinin' to hear themselves whine :)

But yeah, a Giro or Vuelta would be cool... I guess... but people would still probably find something to whine about.

Ajay213
07-26-04, 01:51 PM
If Lance wants to be "respected" as an equal to Merckx, he's going to need to win the other two Grand tours, and he's going to have to start running more classics. And even then I doubt he'll ever win over the naysayers.

But I think Lance can carve himself a pretty nice spot in modern cycling by doing the above, the other grand tours will be fairly "easy" for him, hell I bet he can win both in the same year (they are spaced far enough apart that he can peak twice in the year for them). Winning the 1-day classics will be a bit tougher for sure, but he can probably still get a few of them under his belt, and I'm sure he can come back and win the TdF again one more time.

Andrew

Gustaf
07-26-04, 01:54 PM
I would really like to see lance go for Liège-Bastogne-Liège and maybe Amstel Gold.

allgoo19
07-27-04, 03:01 AM
Lance made his career winning TDF. People will remember him most by "only 6, 7, 8...times winner of the TDF." but not how many other races he won. After he retires from the race, everytime new rising star show up in the scene, start winning two, three times in a row, first thing people will look up to is how may wins earned by the past greats. Not surprisingly, it always end up in "Lance Armstrong 6, 7, 8...times winner" It's fun to talk about who was the greatest by looking into how they won, but when it comes to how long the name will live, the number speaks loudest.

orguasch
07-27-04, 03:08 AM
If I am Lance, I will go out in style, I would quit, don't want to be branded later on as a loser....

CarlJStoneham
07-27-04, 12:46 PM
I can hear it now:

Lance: "I've decided to compete in the Giro."
Everyone else: "Crap. Well, who wants 2nd?" :D

lotek
07-27-04, 07:24 PM
The interesting thing for me is look at where Mr. Tour Day France Armstrong started
out, as an one day rider, strong as a bull (and just as headstrong). I think that we
tend to forget the pre cancer Lance.
Should he go for 7? I don't know. I'd like to see him do more
classics, go mix it up with the Bettinis and Boonens of the world. Let him
slog it out in Flanders for a while, then do the Giro.
Who knows, maybe a remake of Sunday in Hell staring Lance Armstrong and David Rebellin.

Yah, I'd like to see him get more one days and some of the other grand tours,
I think his tdf record will stand for a while.

Marty