card

I don't know how to post a poll.

Do you think he will win?
Do you think he will get a podium finish?
Do you think he will be top ten?
Top 25?
Drop out?
Crash out?
How much will he miss George H.? (sorry "over 50 George"--not you)
How about Chechu in the mountains?

Wish I knew how to post a poll, but, this will be an interesting TDF, especially if Landis somehow winds up there

Tom Bombadil

I tried clicking on all of your options / sentences, but nothing happened.

card

that's because I don't know how to post a poll

i haven't found a book called POSTING A POLL FOR DUMMIES

tebeguache

Paris

BluesDawg

It is not difficult. Whenever you post a new thread, look below the are where you write the new thread and you'll see the "Additional Options" area. The last option is "post a poll". Check the box and when you submit the thread it will let you set up the poll.

oilman_15106

Good one. And if he rides like he did this week that may not even happen.

makr

I don't think he'll be the lead guy on his team. I think there'll be one or two guys stronger on his team.

Artkansas 

I think he will finish up in the announcer's booth.

Louis

Drop out.

Iowegian

I think he'll end up in the bottom of the top 10. The big question is what his team will do for him. Hard to imagine too many guys going all out to help him have a chance to re-live his glory days...but who knows...if he makes a good showing in an early TT or mountain stage, he could finish high.

BluesDawg

He'll finish outside the top ten with some big days setting pace for team Astana early on some key climbs in support of their GC contender (Contador?). Kind of like a George Hincapie role in Lance's winning teams. I'd bet on a serious attempt at one stage win.

Robert Foster

I don't think he will finish in the top ten but I wish he would. However if by some miracle he did win we might see a second French Revolution.

Hermes

That is a big depends......

If I believe that his return to racing is to promote his foundation etc etc versus just winning the TdF then top 10.

However, if he is preparing as he did for the other 7 wins then he will win. I do not see a GC contender that will be able to match him in the mountains and time trials if he hits the magic 6.7 watts/Kgm power to weight ratio.

europa

Stop being helpful, it ruins the whole tone of this thread

Richard

seenoweevil

+1. I think the Dawg's right on the money.

NOS88

I have no idea at all. It is way too early in the season to predict where someone with his experience and abilities we be in five months, or what could happen to "top contenders". One of the things that I've always liked about this particular race is that so many things can happen during the race itself, that "top contenders" often finish in positions no one could have predicted.

Pat

This is the way I see it.

Lance Armstrong has been out of competitive cycling for 4 years.

Age is a problem. I remember Miguel Indurain's last tour. He had won 5 straight. He came into the last tour a bit over weight and got hammered. There is not much of a difference seperating the top riders and even a small decrease is decisive. Bad sign for Armstrong.

Lance Armstrong in his prime looked gaunt. Being really really skinny is a big plus on climbs. He does not look gaunt right now. Losing an edge on climbs can be decisive. Bad sign for Armstrong.

Armstrong had the best team on the tour by far. Now he is going to have a team that is mediocre at best. I do not think people understand how big of a contribution having a great team can be. Really, really bad sign for Armstrong.

From personal experience, I know what it is like to be the dominant rider in a group. When people push, you can crush them. That hurts mentally and physically. People start responding to your lead. They recover when you recover and they go when you go. You call the shots. During his peak, Lance Armstrong could usually dictate the tempo of the peloton. Also other riders expected Lance to beat them. I am not saying that Armstrong did not ride against great riders, he did. But he did impose his will on them or so I think. Well new guys have come up. I am sure they don't expect Armstrong to beat them. They will fight him every bit of the way.

Armstrong has age, team, conditioning and competition working against him. He has to over come all of these. If Armstrong can finish in the top 10, I would find that as impressive as any of his tour wins. But I don't think Armstrong will finish in the top 10.

BluesDawg

This is your idea of a "mediocre at best" team? With General Manager Johan Bruyneel?

The 2009 Astana Cycling Team:

Lance Armstrong, Assan Bazayev, Jani Brajkovic, Alberto Contador, Valeriy Dmitriyev, Aleksandr Dyachenko, Jesús Hernández, Chris Horner, Maxim Iglinskiy, Roman Kireyev, Andreas Klöden, Berik Kupeshov, Levi Leipheimer, Steve Morabito, Dmitriy Muravyev, Daniel Navarro, Benjamín Noval, Sérgio Paulinho, Yaroslav Popovych, Bolat Raimbekov, Gregory Rast, Sergey Renev, José Luis Rubiera, Michael Schär, Tomas Vaitkus, Andrey Zeits, Haimar Zubeldia.

Hermes

+1 I read Bruyneel's book "You might as well win" that chronicles his years with Lance. Bruyneel is a master at the game and Lance the perfect partner. Bruyneel's point is that if you plan to do something like race the TdF, you might as well do what is necessary to win and put in the extra effort. That extra effort was very significant and reading what they did to prepare seemed not humanly possible from a logistic, travel, training and recovery point of view. They were consumed and driven by the one event to the detriment of everything else in their life - no compromises no excuses. And Bruyneel held Lance BACK so that he did not win too many stages to control the media and take focus off of Discovery.

Lance stopped racing because he was not prepared to do what was necessary yet again for the 8th win. Let's see if he decided to put in the required effort for this year.

BTW, Lance is exactly where he should be for weight and power. It is too early in the season to be a full power and skinny. He would not be able to maintain that until July. It is only possible for a pro cyclist to hit a peak for about two weeks once per year which is exactly how he won 7 races in a row.

spoke50

I hope he does well just so I'll have a reason to watch the thing this year.

George

I predict, Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer will make the podium in some of the stages, but not all. I think Lance will do better with a little more riding time and be in the top 10. I would like to see George H there as well. He is a real work horse and deserves more credit than he gets.

PlatyPius

I think Lance will see some new skank on the side of the road, abandon the TdF, and shack up with her for a while before tiring of her and dumping her for Miley Cyrus.

Jet Travis

I hope Lance does well. As an old, washed-up warhorse, I'll be cheering for the guy people think is an old, washed-up warhorse.

plodderslusk

I tried the other day to recall the name of the guy who won TdF 2008. It might be a sign of impending dementia but I it took me quite some time to get who won. I think it will be great for this years TdF to have him back. Part of the fun for me is that how he will end up in Paris none of us can really tell. What he does is against all odds, but he has been fighting against worse odds before.

snaproll

I believe it is a mistake to count Armstrong out of anything he sets his mind to.

He said in one interview that he actually started his training this year 10 pounds lighter than he did for most seasons. He normall started at about 180 but this year he started at 170. He says he'll be 163 for the tour. I don't think weight will be any issue.

I don't expect him to win the tour, but I'll be shocked if he doesn't finish and I can see him finishing in the top 10 if he gets a good injury free training season in.

No matter where he finishes, it will be fun to see the heart burn he'll create for Jean-Etienne Amaury and the rest of the French elitists just by riding again.

GO LANCE!!