Dr. Bill

Well, it appears that the German's legendary lack of discipline has finally caught up with him big time. If he's ever had the motivation to lay off the strudel und bier, this was the year, and yet he appears to be 5 - 10 kilos heavier than he should be for an event like the TdF. The difference between the bloated Ulrich and the fit Armstrong yesterday was stunning! He's gone from being the Kaiser to the Graf Zeppelin!

I was actually hoping for a competitive Tour this year, but unless Armstrong gets sick or crashes, I think we're in for #7. Yawn.

Dr. Bill

jbhowat

Ullrich is right on race weight this year. Even the German cycling press, who always says he's fat (and for him "fat" means MAYBE 5-8 pounds of excess) is saying his right as the right weight. He's built differently that Lance. I doubt anyone on a serious team is 10 KILOS above their race weight and is actually selected for the TdF. Someone can correct me with some fat dudes out there, but seriously 10kg is freakin 22 POUNDS! I doubt anyone in the tour is OVER TWENTY POUNDS over their race weight.

It looks like maybe Vino might be the man this year but honestly its too early to tell. Ullrich is only what, 1:08 back? Lance had a GREAT TT, but look at Ulle compared to the other contenders or the whole field. Basso is behind him, Botero is behind him. He's right there with Landis and Levi. People are writing him off too quickly.

Jakey

Ullrich will be on the podium.

Bikeophile

TOTALLY. Jan looks great and although he is down by over a minute (after crashing hard the day before)..Its ONLY a minute...and everyone is down close to a minute. Compared to EVERYONE except Zabriskie and Armstrong Jan had a great race.

People you should surprised at is guys like Rogers..who people thought would win yesterday. Ivan Basso even beat Rogers..

All these Jan sucks posts are going to get boring pretty quick. Focus on some other stuff, you'll enjoy the tour a lot more.

Dr. Bill

OK, the 5 - 10 kilos is a bit of an exaggeration, but judging from the race footage yesterday he looks to me to be around 8 - 10 pounds heavier than he should be. Sure he's built differently from Lance, but Armstrong looked fit and ready, and Jan clearly didn't.

Does Jan have a shot at the podium? Sure--if the T-Mobile squad continues to ride in support of him. But does anybody really think he's going to make up any time on Armstrong in the mountains, . . . or the next ITT, . . . or the TTT, . . . or the flats? I'll be looking for indications that T-Mobile management is shifting their emphasis to Vino for the GC.

Dr. Bill

ChAnMaN

PWNED

alanbikehouston

His crash Friday was a serious deal. Yet, his time for the time trial was just about at his normal pace. What made Ullrich look "slow" was that Lance ran the time trial of his life. Lance had trouble clipping in at the beginning of the trial, and clearly eased up after he passed Ullrich. He was cruising, not pressing, during the last couple of miles.

Yet, at the end, Lance was within just three seconds of running the FASTEST TIME TRIAL IN 102 YEARS at the Tour de France! Anquetil, Poulidor, Merckx, Hinault, Fignon, LeMond, Indurain...yesterday Lance beat the best time trial times of the greatest riders in Tour history. There was nothing wrong with how Ullrich rode.

So, Ullrich is in fine form, but Lance is in exceptional form. As usual, Ullrich will ride near Lance, day after day, looking for an opportunity. If Lance becomes ill, has a mechanical problem, gets in a crash, Ullrich will be right there to take advantage of the opportunity. BUT, without such a bit of luck, Ullrich is racing for second.

Ullrich's critics mock him for coming in second, year after year. However, over the past century, thousands of the best bike racers in the world have entered this race. Only a dozen or so have stood on the podium in Paris as many times as Ullrich. He is a great champion, with the bad luck to be riding in the era of a slightly greater champion.

pedex

pffft, zabriskie beat lance and he's already been in one GT already this year, armstrong hasnt

if a bunch of knee jerk reactions should be made its whats wrong with lance based on that LOL

Ullrich broke a freakin window of a car,probably with his head for crying out loud

I dont expect anyone to win cept armstrong though, but as usual it wont be all armstrong, it will be yet another clinic put on by TEAM discovery that will tow armstong along for all but about 100 miles of the race, nothing new there.As usual Ullrich and the rest of the few GC contenders that you can count on one hand will be drafting team discovery the whole damn way unable to attack because of the tempo discovery sets.as each Discovery team member gets used up and burned out he will be replaced by another expendable piece of meat to tow armstrong along.You will NOT see another team in the race do this as effectively as discovery, its a team sport, Armstrong is hardly out there by himself.

if credit is really due anywhere, its guys like Salvodelli and Basso and Zabriskie, these guys have enough guts to actually race more than one big race, some working for someone else, some for themselves.

oldspark

I really wish some people would do their home work before posting garbage.

jbhowat

There is no way Ullrich is 8-10 pounds overweight. Do you have any idea how much that is? Seriously man. I can't find any really good pictures, but to me - He looks to weigh less than he has in a LONG time at the first day of the Tour....



That is fat?

No, thats not a gut - he's breathing. Lance is the same way:

pedex

on top of that ALL these guys are gonna lose even more weight during the tour, they ride so hard each day that they are right on the edge of what you can humanly digest nutrition wise, it only takes one day of problems with your caloric intake or hydration and it can easily be "game over"

cslone

He's listed as 75K, whereas Lance is listed at 77K. Neither are fat by any means.

squeegy200

Editors of Velonews seem to have the same opinion. Jan himself once said it is impossible to recover 45 seconds on Lance.

It is still too early to tell. But Vinokourov is the man to watch this year.
https://www.velonews.com/tour2005/new...es/8372.0.html

wabbit

Jan sure as hell isn't fat,he looks great. Maybe it was the crash, although they say it wasn't. It's a real bummer. I fear it's going to be another yawner, i really hope it picks up a bit. As we all know, it's only the first stage!

All my sports heroes are bailing on me! The red sox got clobbered on friday! Mind you, they won yesterday.At least they're offering some real genuine thrills these days!

Bikeophile

Give it some time...The flat stages are always less eventful (except for the final km) than the mountains...patience.

jbhowat

People keep saying things like he got owned, etc when he got passed. But the fact is, Armstrong beat what, everybody except Vinokourov and of course DZ by more than 1 minute. Put ANYONE as Armstrong's minute man and he would have passed them.

gcasillo

Jan needed to take time out of Lance in the TT, because he cannot get it in the mountains. Yesterday was a bad sign even though he rode a typical, good Jan Ullrich TT.

A better way to look at yesterday's TT is to say Lance rode past not just Ullrich, but all of his rivals.

gmason

I hope he just manages to go away and lives a long, happy life.

But Jan Ullrich is a tragedy waiting to happen. On top of all the stuff from a few years ago, he still relies on his Svengali/Rasputin Rudy Pevenage, whom many in the inner circles of the sport seem to believe is a major problem for him. Then he rides without a helmet and crashes into his own lead car a day before the TdF in which he is taking his last shot at LA because "to be the best you have to beat the best".

Too many events showing too little discipline over too long a time, and a surfiet of, ..., what? Stupidity? Inability to learn from one's own (oft repeated) mistakes? Lack of common sense? Lack of discipline? Belief in one person's opinions over those of many others who are at least as smart? Too much belief in the impending appearance of miracles?

It has really been too bad, but perhaps he is just another in a long line of these types in sports. He has been called the "biggest engine in the sport" for a long time by LA. Unfortunately he simply wastes it.

Guest

Please don't post stage results from Stage 2 here- we have a thread already created in the Tour de France forum.

Thanks!

Koffee

skydive69

In your dreams - he is really going to blow up in the moutains, and I love it!

jbhowat

Ok

Phattz

True however - the psycological pressure of knowing you MUST gain at least one whole minute on LA - on Day one ... then add that to the fact that Jan had a front row seat of LA gliding past and then easing off and still being unable to regain any time - HUGE psycological blow - huge !

sm266

As always, a voice of reason. Thanks!

alraicercsu

the worst he has done is 4th, he has been 2nd 5 times and he has won. He is already making up time on LA he moved up 6 places and is now only 58 seconds behind. there are still 22 days left.

TheKillerPenguin

I feel bad for the guy. He's obviously great, but everyone craps down on him for not being good enough. And now his team is publicly slapping him. Imagine having to race knowing that's what everyone thinks of you

I hope Ullrich catches up to Armstrong just so you all have to eat crow!