Hezz

I thought that this tread might better belong in this forum since Armstrong is primarily a TDF road rider. I'm curious how well everyone thinks he will do in Leadville. He says he is not going for a win and that it's just a goal to help him stay in shape. I'm curious if he will beat Floyd Landis's time. Since Landis was an off road racer I have to think that he might be faster in this off road setting.

USAZorro

top 5

Gonzlobo

Win by 15 seconds.

Hezz

While I don't know if Lance can win this race in his present condition and amount of training. I think his ego will drive him to 2nd or 3rd place overall. Although he is claiming to be shooting for an 8 hour time which would usually put him around the 5th place finisher. This course is more of an endurance race than a technical orientation which is just the kind of race that he can do well at if his fitness level is up to the challenge.

Also an interesting note regarding Landis race last year. If he wouldn't have crashed he may well have won the race even though Dave Wiens past him on most of the more technical sections. Landis would pass Dave on the less technical cardio sections.

C_Heath

Top 5 and Carmichael 65th

kc0bbq

No matter how he does it will be a great race. Look what having serious competition with Landis did for Wien's time. Both riders beat the course record, Wiens crushed it.

Hezz

Ya, it can only make for a much more interesting race. I'm excitied to see what will happen.

SunFlower

I doubt there is drug testing for this race so.......

Hezz

. . . Lance will undoubtedly take 2nd place or higher with a new course record for a roadie on the mountain . . .

dagna

Spoiler Space for Halfway Update:












Velonews is reporting Wiens & Armstrong working together with a 5 minute lead over the rest of the field at the halfway point.

Hezz

Looks like Wiens did it again. Besting the old record by around 13 minutes in 6:45:45. Armstrong 2nd in 6:47:41 still beat the old record by about 11 minutes.

dobovedo

What exactly is your point? Lance was tested as much or more than any other athlete.

SunFlower

I wasnt making a point about Lance. Its the other racers I am curious about.

erader

yep. proof that with a good system you can beat the tests .

ed rader

Hezz

I think the race results do show that if Lance would have been in TDF condition he would have likely won the race since he was able to say with Wiens and even push him up until the last ten miles.

I wonder if Lance will race next year and try to better his time. Maybe even try to set a new course record that may stand for a long time.

kc0bbq

I really don't know if Lance could beat Wiens in any MTB race where Wiens can stay in sight of him. Even with the last two Leadville 100s we haven't seen how far Wiens can be pushed. I'd like to see that race, though.

SunFlower

Its apparent that every tour de france winner who shows up just results in Wiens getting faster. It sounded to me like Lance is seriously thinking about getting in shape and coming to win. I think Lance actually thought he would win this year but didnt figure that Wiens could improve his own time so much. Lance looked about 15-20 lbs over his tour weight. Wiens looked cut and lean and in shape.

Hezz

Ya, Dave hardly even looked tired at the end. Lance says he may be back again next year. If he does I think he'll have a better idea what to train for. Lance started the TDF at about 160 and dropped about 5 pounds by the time he was at the mountain stages. He looks about 170-175 right now if I had to guess.

There is a good link over on the mountain bike forum to some videos and pictures of the race if anyone is interested. Pretty good video. It shows some of Dave and Lances climbing.

sagginwagin

Do you have any actual facts to back up this statement or are you simply assuming this is the case?

If he raced year round then you might have a case but he raced maybe 1/5 at most of the entire season's schedule.

BILL_W_WV

I predict 2nd place around 2 minutes behind winner David Wiens!!

xfimpg

Did Ned Overend not race in the Leadville 100?
That's too bad...

Trip McNeilly

He's part of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's out-of-competition testing list which means he's randomly drug tested regardless if he races or not.