henrypscott

What do you think was going through Jan's mind on La Mongie? I think I've got an idea: Ullrich.pdf. This is an approximately 200 kb picture (PDF format) that I made while watching yesterday's stage for the second time. I watched it in the morning, and then again with my wife in the evening. Please don't take this to be an insult to Jan Ullrich: I have a huge amount of respect for him and was just being silly after watching the coverage twice... I know the thoughts I tend to have during a bad day on the bike

-Henry

bac

I've been there!!! Funny pic, BTW.

allgoo19

Well, I can only argue with the brand name of it.

Seriously, what's happening to him? Getting behind more each stage and doesn't seem bouncing back. Any injuries?

brent_dube

I was thinking this before and as the Tour was starting...
my guess is that him having to lose weight so late in the spring probably hurt his ability to properly train and peak for this race. And it also probably made him more succeptable to illness. Maybe he got a little sick in the cold early in the race. Or even without illness, maybe the cold simply hurt his overall form (some bodies tolerate it better than others). And if he arrived a little overweight, the weather probably did kill his form (that is what happened to Indurain, or so I've read).
Compound any possibilites with the fact that La Mongie is really steep... something that would suit a more natural climber better than Ullrich.

And then it could also just be the competition simply getting better. I think Armstrong may be on the best form of his career, and he wasn't able to ride off from Basso so far, for example. IMO, teams with DS's like Bruyneel and Riis are probably more professional and advanced in training methods, while the methods of other DS's might be a bit behind...

I'm just playing guessing games on all of this.

Cyclist109345

All I can say is, I hope he is better looking off the bike than he is during the race. Sheesh, that Dude is scary looking!!

only-haley

Yep, he is. https://oceanides.chez.tiscali.fr/spo...ama/200382.jpg

I dunno what's up with him lately but on Stage 13 it looked like he was transforming into the Hulk while trying to bridge up to the breakaways near the last summmit.

Crack'n'fail

classic

SteveE

I wouldn't call La Mongie terribly steep. It is long, though.

brent_dube

The first half is easy, and the second half is short and steep
Only about 6-7km of hard climbing, but those 7km average about %9

SteveE

That's different. I didn't see any detailed profiles of the climb.

Raiyn

You saw that too huh?

roadbuzz

Watching him on the climb to Plateau de Beille, I kept thinking, 'Gawd, maybe you could just try a lower gear."