bac

He has shown great form, his problem has always been his inconsistency. He's like a light switch - either all the way on, or all the way off. One thing is for sure, he's on now!

oneradtec

The best climbers hardly ever win the KOM. Virenque won it for years....yet Lance would crush him on the crucial stages. The best cyclists ride for yellow. Then there is a lesser group that wants the polka dot jersey and the green jersey. Virenque won the KOM for years but never won the Tour. All I'm saying is that Botero is riding more like a cyclist that could seek yellow this year versus the polka dots. But then again...it's a long way to the Tour mountains....and Botero has been in good form for quite a while. I wonder if he can hold is form(peak) for such a long period. We saw what happened to Mayo last year.

Do you realize that you can win the KOM jersey and go through the entire tour without getting on the podium for even one stage. I'd be interested to know how far back in the GC the avereage KOM winner usually finishes. I bet there have been KOM winners that were down more than 10 minutes or more on GC going into Paris. What really counts is where you stand on the podium in Paris. Didn't Laurent Jalabert win that jersey one year? Where did he finish that year on GC?

Gustaf

ah, your right forgot about him. so used to him being on tmobile and not doing anything.


There are so many things wrong with this post.

Walter

Since this is a Spoilers thread...

Botero fell 11 seconds short of Landaluz today. He's said he's happy with his 2 stages, podium and form. If he loses the oft-mentioned inconsistency there's no doubt he's a contender.

Props to a young and unsupported Landaluz. The big guns usethis race as a tune-up but I suspect he's thrilled to win it. Discovery went 1-2-3 for the stage so both LA and the train look decent.

Related note: Jan Ullrich blew apart a ITT at the Td Suisse today.

Devil

How could I forget? The riders who win the KoM competition are lesser riders. They aren't even very good, to be honest.

oneradtec

You Devil you......

No I'm not saying that any of these riders are not great cyclists. The KOM competition is simply a game though. sometimes great cyclists will win it by accident...as did Botero and Jalabert. Then there are riders like Virenque whom make it a goal to win that jersey. You simply get in a good break away...or go alone in the mountain stages and try to be top 3 going under the various banners where points are awarded throughout the route. The real contenders never concern themselves with these points. It's more of a distraction to them. Generally...these riders going for these KOM points will fade when the real racing action heats up near the end of the stages. Here is where riders like Vino, Lance, and Ullrich start cooking the field.

Botero appears to be emerging as a real threat for the Tour. His form is such that he can attack and drop big name riders in the mountains....and he can win crucial time trials as well. That is a very special recipe going there. So yes..I say he is climbing better than ever. The fact that he won a KOM jersey in a past Tour does not convince me otherwise. Again..the KOM jersey is an award for winning a game. I don't think that Botero was playing the game that year...but probably won it by accident.

let me clarify.....any cyclist that rides the Tour de France must be a great cyclist indeed. I take nothing away from these great athletes. They all inspire me. Further...you certainly need good climbing legs to win a polka dot jersey. I take nothing away from those great cyclists that win that jersey. That said....the KOM rider is rarely the best climber in the bike race. The 'King Of The Mountain' is rarely the true King.

Kris Flatlander

This years Dauphine was really good in my opinion. It was like a game of musical chairs for the GC and that was refreshing. This years race also taught me the art of eating crow and how well Botero can do, I can't wait to see him in July. I thought Levi looked really strong throughout, he should be a big contender at this year's Tour. Off topic, anyone know what the Gerolsteiner team will look like for this years Tour?

waltergodefroot

When, in your estimation, did Tyler Hamilton emerge as a real threat for the Tour?

oboeguy

So what's the deal, did Lance win the points jersey or what? Nobody seems to be talking about it. Not that it's terribly important, but it does show that he was in the mix the whol way through.

Smoothie104

Landaluze won by 11 seconds, after watching the coverage on OLN yesterday, it looks like he kept the win becuase he was being hauled to the line by a Lampre rider, and Fassa Bortolo rider. I thought these guys must be basque, or at least spanish, becuase there is no way they are racing so hard for 11th place on the stage. But it turns out it was Mazzoleni and Bruseghin, both Italian.

So, either Landaluze is good buddies with these guys, or someone was getting paid a little under that table money to help him keep his win.

2Rodies

Durring yesterdays F1 race on CBS Ralph Shaheen said the Williams F1 drive Mark Webber was off to Wisconsin after the race to train with LA (but both he and Dereck Daily had so much other info wrong about the race I wouldn't be surprised if this was incorrect). I find it odd that Lance would return to the US for such a short time to train for the TdF. Anyone have any info on that piece of news?

JohnSFO

Not sure if anyone's already posted it but Graham Watson's offered some interesting insight into the race via his paceline.com column.

From Saturday's Stage 6:
"Vinokourov attacked immediately, and Landis went with him, assuming this was the good move. But Lance got back up to them with Leipheimer – at which point another Vinokourov attack took Jose Gomez away. Suddenly, the three Americans were together, seemingly working together to get back to Vinokourov. Then Lance accelerated, dropping Landis but taking Leipheimer with him, and the two moved towards Vino’ and Gomez. If there was ever any doubts still, it was when Lance eased off the Vino-Gomez attack to allow Leipheimer to catch up again that we knew they were working together against Landis.

If you are as puzzled as you should be, don’t worry. This is Lance’s way of showing Landis what life is like ‘after US Postal’ – and there will be more to come in the Tour de France, be sure of that. To make Landis’s day even worse, he overshot a bend with two-kilometres to go and skidded into the dirt, making it back to the race with only his pride hurting."

From Stage 7:
"This has been a wonderful Dauphine-Libéré, with the outcome always in doubt right to the very end. And Lance Armstrong has shown he is in the best condition he’s had for a few years, an enormous factor in his build up to the Tour de France next month. He hasn’t won anything himself, but he has been controlling the racing all week, sending his Discovery men into breaks to tease rivals or destroying the chances of other rivals himself – especially on yesterday’s stage to Morzine. There was a bit of a repeat performance today, with Phonak trying hard to get their man away early on, only to be brought back by the Discovery riders and their friends in the peloton. Then Discovery showed Phonak how it should be done by despatching Popovych and Hincapie in front at a great rate of knots. The two men pulled and pulled together to the point where they arrived for the circuits at Sallanches with an unassailable lead. The only question was whether they were there to support an attack by Lance himself, or to be sure of that team victory – it proved to be the latter."

sorry so long but I thought it might be good reading for those who havent been visiting paceline.com.

doctorSpoc

what is armstrong's problem with landis.. did he leave on such bad terms? Leipheimer left too, so why is it different with LA and Landis???

roadgator

^^^ yeah, you can go down the list of ex-postal guys and lance never seemed to take it persoanly with any of them, just pedaled them all into the ground equaly.

Devil

Two words:

Kevin Livingston

lotek 

ouch