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What the F@#k is going on with Ullrich ?

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What the F@#k is going on with Ullrich ?

Old 07-22-04, 07:43 PM
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What the F@#k is going on with Ullrich ?

I'm sorry about the title but I am a strong supportor of Ullrich and was hoping he would shine this year
instead, he seems up and down I know we talk about Lance, Lance Lance, but I would like some opinions on what people think Ullrich's problem is
He must be good because every year, Armstrong says Jan is his main rival, and if Lance say's it, it must be true

So, what's going on Jan? If your reading this, lots of us want you to win
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Old 07-22-04, 07:45 PM
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Maybe at the end of the tour, he'll tell us?

Like Phil/Paul mentioned during the prologue, he had cold sores on his lip, which may suggest he wasn't at 100%. Then there's also talk about how he lost too much weight too fast...etc etc.
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Old 07-22-04, 07:49 PM
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I'm also a big supporter of Jan. Maybe next year.

Or who knows, maybe he'll ride the Vuelta (we can only hope!).
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Old 07-22-04, 07:51 PM
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I think he's just having a bad tour, especially with all the pressure of stopping Lance. My husband, at lunch today, said "Jan should have started training a month earlier." I think it's just that Lance started training last August and Jan may be a little burned with his great showing at the Tour de Suisse. It's reported that he lost 10 or so pounds the last month before the tour. That's got to be hard on the body.

I secretly hoped that this would be his year. I really want to see him win again.
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Old 07-22-04, 07:56 PM
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Big disappointment for me too, I'm a jan fan. I agree, it seems he just didn't get into form in time. Let's face it, Armstrong's entire regimen is based on winning the tour, and you have to somehow beat that formula. You have to be as rigid as lance is about it. Also, T-mobile showing bad management. They have not supported Jan, not the way USPS works for lance. And andreas kloden is taking sprint points that should be for Zabel! I think Lance's brain and ullrich's body should be grafted together.
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Old 07-22-04, 08:00 PM
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Ive been watching him . This is just my oppinion . But it looks like he has a few extra pounds in his abdomin area . Maybe 1 or two pounds . Not much , but alot for a professional .
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Old 07-22-04, 08:08 PM
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Originally Posted by sm266
I think he's just having a bad tour, especially with all the pressure of stopping Lance. My husband, at lunch today, said "Jan should have started training a month earlier." I think it's just that Lance started training last August and Jan may be a little burned with his great showing at the Tour de Suisse. It's reported that he lost 10 or so pounds the last month before the tour. That's got to be hard on the body.

I secretly hoped that this would be his year. I really want to see him win again.
Maybe he should have started in August. I mean you can't lay around all off season & then try to be in top tour winning shape in a few months can you? Maybe that's part of why Lance wins - the sheer dedication to the tour and nothing else. I give much respect to Jan he's one helluva strong rider, I just want to question his motivation and drive sometimes.
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Old 07-22-04, 08:16 PM
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I'm a big Lance fan, but I respect Ullrich immensely. I like his stoic nature on the bike, and his class off the bike, which shows over and over if he doesn't win a stage or race. Seems like a genuinely solid guy.

My assessment: as I've said in another thread, the difference between the two is the difference between having the most talent (Ullrich) and being the most prepared (Armstrong). For once I don't blame JU for not wanting to train all winter long - he has a wife and kid now. Still, I wonder if it knaws at him that if not for Pantani and Lance, HE might have rewritten the record books.
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Old 07-22-04, 09:01 PM
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That's the thing, armstrong has sacrificed everything for the tour, it even cost him his marriage because he was never home. Maybe it has something to do with nearly dying, and that's what drives him. No one else has that driving them. It's not that lance is better than everyone else, he's better than everyone at the tour. There are other guys like ullrich, and maybe others, who if they adopted that attitude would also have won. But probably most of them want to have a life and can't sacrifice everything for one race.
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Old 07-22-04, 09:04 PM
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He isnt riding a Bianchi this year
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Old 07-22-04, 09:27 PM
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Have you seen the look on Ullrich's face as he's been finishing up the last few stages? It's like a war face, real intense. Gotta hand it to him, though, he's not giving up.

Interesting to see the difference in cadence/gear choice between Ullrich and Armstrong.
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Old 07-22-04, 09:29 PM
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I think Jan's got all the tools, save one, focus on the TdF like there's no other bike race in the world. It also doesn't hurt having a talent laden, selfless team that is only there expressly to get your across the finish line in yellow.

I think Lance speaks so highly of Jan because he thinks he has the physical talent to compete with or beat him.
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Old 07-22-04, 09:40 PM
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I think two factors influence this:

(1) I don't think Jan believes in himself anymore. He's been 2nd for so long, it must seem like 1stis impossible. He doesn't have the mental "guts" to go up against Lance for more than a day or two...

(2) He doesn't train like he wants it. Lance does anything and everything to win. Jan just isn's as serious as that (I don't think)...

PS (3) He's never had a team like USPS...
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Old 07-22-04, 10:02 PM
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Originally Posted by CarlJStoneham

(3) He's never had a team like USPS...
big bump....USPS are the vehicle Lance rides on. They've done an awesome job. George, Yeki, Noval, Azevedo. Incredible.
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Old 07-22-04, 10:06 PM
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Originally Posted by ed073
big bump....USPS are the vehicle Lance rides on. They've done an awesome job. George, Yeki, Noval, Azevedo. Incredible.

.......and Chechu.
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Old 07-22-04, 10:15 PM
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Originally Posted by ed073
.......and Chechu.
And Landis, who today had all the top 5 riders wishing that hill would end!!
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Old 07-22-04, 10:18 PM
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Originally Posted by tourist
And Landis, who today had all the top 5 riders wishing that hill would end!!

Sheet yeah!!! I knew I was going to forget someone!!!

Those guys deserve to enjoy thier ride into Paris and lead Lance onto the Champs Elysees....great ride.
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Old 07-22-04, 10:56 PM
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Not sure it would happen, but it would be great if Lance could get them up on the podium this year when he receives the "bowl" (if he wins '05, he'll have a clean one for cereal every day of the week )...
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Old 07-23-04, 03:47 AM
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I have noticed that T-Mobile dosn't have the tactics that USPS have and I think it's about time that Ullrich found a team that can support his talent. I really feel that if Ullrich gets into a team like Phonak or CSC or someone who takes it serious, he will be the next TdF winner
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Old 07-23-04, 03:58 AM
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When it was all on the line last year, when Ullrich really and truly had a chance to win the Tour and could have beaten Lance...Lance sick and hurt...at the final time trial when it was pouring down rain:

Lance went out and looked at the entire course and prepared

Jan stayed in bed.

That's the difference.

This is not Circuit de la Sarthe. It's cycling's Super Bowl.

Jan stayed in bed.

I still cannot believe it.

Oh...and Jan makes tactical errors that Lance does not...but Lance has, argueably, the best tactician in the world in his team car.
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Old 07-23-04, 07:04 AM
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I've never been convinced by the Jan "has more talent than anyone." Jan has immense talent but has a fatal flaw; he can't match acceleration changes on climbs. He climbs at a steady, fast pace but if there's an acceleration he's caught out. We've seen this repeatedly. No one has a bigger motor but he can't "rev the gears" as high as Armstrong and that has killed him many times. I'd imagine he could ride anyone, even LA, off his wheel on long flat or even rolling courses but not in the Alps or Pyrenees and that's where it matters.

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Old 07-23-04, 07:30 AM
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If you haven't taken time to read Jan's daily diaries on his own Web site (in German) or on the T-Mobile Web site, you're missing an incredible opportunity to learn more about Jan. It's late in the tour, but the entries are still very illuminating:

https://www.t-mobile-team.com/cms/tmo...0/id=9158.html
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Old 07-23-04, 07:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Walter
Jan has immense talent but has a fatal flaw; he can't match acceleration changes on climbs. He climbs at a steady, fast pace but if there's an acceleration he's caught out. We've seen this repeatedly. No one has a bigger motor but he can't "rev the gears" as high as Armstrong and that has killed him many times.
If it was as simple as that, he would be able to gradually reel in any and all attacks against him in the mountains.

But when he is slower, he cannot catch the rider who accelerated.

I've heard that 'the only reason Armstrong wins in the mountains is he can sprint from Ullrich. Besides that, they are just as fast', when Armstrong has won two mountain time trials against Ullrich, and has often beat Ullrich by over a minute on mountaintop finishes. You don't get a minute in an attack. You get 5-15 seconds.
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Old 07-23-04, 08:57 AM
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Originally Posted by ed073
big bump....USPS are the vehicle Lance rides on. They've done an awesome job. George, Yeki, Noval, Azevedo. Incredible.
This is true BUT ... look at the uphill time trial. That was all Lance. Factor in the difficulty of competeing against the Posties as a team and then throw that mental bomb in there and voila! Game over (for this year).
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Old 07-23-04, 09:25 AM
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"High RPM is a straight line to horsepower." That's a saying from race engine builders but I think it holds true for human engines as well. Ullrich can't match cadences on climbs and can't (usually) hold LA's wheel on climbs. Oftentimes by the end of the stage Jan is beginning to recover some time but by then it's way too late.

LA works/trains harder than the others w/o doubt but he also isn't giving anything to anyone when it comes to natural ability as well, claims to the contrary nonwithstanding.

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