El Diablo Rojo

The crushing has begun, Stage 13...souls were crushed allright.

ScandiHo

No true cycling aficionado can be a fan of Jan Ullrich.

botto 

you've got that bass ackwards, this is what you SHOULD have typed if you knew your facts:

Its likely that Jan Ullrich wouldn't have won his TdF without Riis at his side.

roadwarrior

Boy is that the truth....this is looking like the butt kickings that Armstrong used to lay on during his Tour heyday...and yesterday was only one real climb...I shudder to think what will happen next week.

lotek 

yah you're right,Bjarne should have said:
"yah, my guy Basso sucked today. Der Jan is a better rider and should be
in the maglia rosa, and BTW he (der jan) is gonna win the Tour and crush souls
all over France"

what do you expect? who does Bjarne work for, CSC or T-Mobile.

and yes it's all Psy-Ops.

marty

Enthalpic

Give the guy some respect. Like him or not he is a great cyclist. What the hell did he do so wrong? Consistent tour podium finishes... what a hack. What’s more funny is a bunch of Internet bike geeks think they know some secret that would make him win more.

-- This website brought to you by team CSC --

DocRay

Well...to start, he gets one on the largest salaries , despite not watching his weight. He's a convicted drunk driver. There are lots of riders with far less, working a lot more.
..and he's losing minutes/stage at the Giro, but he's just training...to get dropped at the Tour.

Jakey

From cyclingews...

El Diablo Rojo

From OLN during todays coverage:
Ligget, Sherwin, Roll all say Basso is the favorite for the tour. Armstrong says Basso's the favorite for the tour. I say Basso is the favorite for the tour. What do all these experts know? Nothing. But we will all find out in July. I hope Ulrich, Basso, Landis, Vino, Valverde, Levi all come into the tour in there best ever form and the Tour is nail bitting down the wire finish.

Jakey

Basso probably is the favorite..and chances are he will be hard to beat. But a big part of me hopes that Jan has been playing possum all spring, and just rides away with it. Puts an exclamation point on it, and bows out into retirement wearing yellow in paris.

I'd like to see him try to go hard in one of these mountain stages... if he can beat Basso, or stay on his wheel, when basso is going hard one has to give Jan a serious look for the tour. If he can win the TT's and stay with the leaders in the mountains...thats all he really has to do.

daytonian

But Ullie is not the one with the nickname "Mr 60 percent".
Drinking a bit too much CSC koolaid with chasers of EPO.

domestique

Don't forget the esctasy use. Ulrich likes the Raves almost as much as the strudel

waltergodefroot

Jan has also been known to crush souls by sitting on them.

roadwarrior

actually, it's Discovery Channel Cycling...

roadwarrior

He cannot beat Basso, any more than he could beat Armstrong.

He's a great rider, but he refuses to change. He cannot mash on climbs, when guys like Armstrong (did) and Basso (will) ride away from him at high tempo. How do we know? It's been proven over and over in July...and I'd give him the time trial, but Basso's improved so much there in the past year, even that's close. He won't beat Basso in flat stages...so that leaves climbing.

Ullrich's a great rider...but he's chosen to surround himself with less than stellar support staff. They make tactical errors (attacking Armstrong at inopportune times, and then the stellar bluff in '01)...other riders have learned how to ride better. Jan keeps on grinding.

Now...all that being said, Basso's given a pretty big effort so far with the tough stuff to come. We'll see that he has left for the TdF.

jkoman

Let me tell a story for comparison

Years ago there were 2 doctors working on cancer research, Dr. Ray (DR) and Dr. Armstrong (DA). Although they were trained in East Germany and USA respectively, they were the leaders in their research. Let me assure you they were paid and funded accordingly. DR was sent away from family early and DA raised in a broken family....this effected both dramatically in many ways.

After many years of training and research the business changed....doctors would now be compared to others to secure funding and be paid accordingly.

2000 DA saved 1.9 mil. lives...DR only 1.7
2001 DA saved 2.1 mil...DR only 1.9
2002 DA saved 2.8 mil. DR a measley 2.7 mil.

In 2003 a writer for the trashy German paper...Der "warped" Opinion, named Scandelous Ho, got an interview with the world renowned DR....some parts of that interview follow...

Der Ho asks...Why are you routinely outperformed by DA?
DR...Well he is a phenominal Dr.

Why do you not work harder??
I continue to strive to be the best I know how to be...I am saving lives

But you could do better...look at what you're paid...commented Der Ho
Perhaps we could all be better...from DR

DR decided to ask a few....Who is the highest paid at your paper? Ho? Why I am said Der Ho

And what awards have you recieved, Ho? I got best creative writing in 12th grade said Der Ho

Didn't your fellow writer get a Pulitzer, Ho? Well yes that was our tech writer...I do the trashy stuff.

And you choose to criticize me? said DR....after all the lives I saved??? I don't get it?

At this point Der Ho looked at his glass of wine at the table.....could you order another bottle? asked Der Ho

But yours is still 1/2 full said DR

Der Ho got angry and said..." It's not 1/2 full it's 1/2 empty!"

Dr. Ray got up and said ...." Now I get it "

El Diablo Rojo

If Dr Ray showe up to work drunk (read overweight and undertrained) for the biggest operation of his carreer and that was the reason he wasn't saving as many lives as Dr Armstrong would you still support him as strongly?

harlond

I have lot of difficulty with the view that the Jan-haters espouse. There is simply no way to achieve even one podium placing in the world's toughest bike race without having trained extraordinarily hard and without having sacrificed a great deal. Given his palmares, there is no reasonable basis for concluding that Jan doesn't do just that, but the fact that his detractors think his alleged failure to work even harder than extraordinarily hard is comparable to showing up to work drunk demonstrates how unattainably high are the standards Jan is expected to meet.

Every year, a dozen or more GC riders set their sights on the TdF, and every year, most of them are proved to be incapable of contending. Are those the guys we jump on for undertraining or lack of preparation? No, it's Ullrich, the guy who has never shown up at the TdF without being capable of contending. That doesn't make good sense to me, and no amount of speculation about how much more Ullrich could have done will make that make sense to me.

El Diablo Rojo

First I'm not a Jan hater. Second even his ex-DS said that if Jan had the dedication and preparation of Lance he'd have won 10 Tours. I would say that his DS has a much better insight than any of us to what Jan does and doesn't do to prepare for the only race he's really paid to win.

My post from above was in response to a very poorly thought out analogy between Lance and Jan. Aside from 2003 Jan has come into the Tour at above his ideal weight, while his main rival was at his best. This isn't something of myth or speculation.

DocRay

I read it. I read it again.



I really doubt Ullrich will make it to the top of Plan de Corones.

jkoman

If he doesn't make the top it will be because he chose not to. I remain convinced he will show up at the TDF well prepared. I would say that no other rider showed up at the TDF as well prepared as LA nor team. Some of them may have actually out-performed LA based on their abiliities vs performance...some underperformed...all are studs.I still believe that # 2,3,or 4 in the world is deserving of high praise rather than disdain, but some only see 1/2 empty when they fully understand the variables. Others choose to see it that way even when they have no concrete/direct evidence to support.

My other premise still holds true....at what level do the nay-sayers perform in their chosen profession...answer that question...do they view themselves with the same disdain and disrespect they espouse to others? If they do I feel sorry for them...if they don't, I feel sorry for them....and hold them in disdain.

Why when LA rode for training in the early season was it smart and well planned, when Jan adopts it ....." I really doubt Ullrich will make it to the top of Plan de Corones???

Sorry to go so neg. but the carping on various pros just bugs me....talk about the guy you root for rather than slamming someone you know nothing about, it's a good trait

DocRay

we'll see 50/50 he doesn't make tomorrow, 70/30 on the plan de corones.

El Diablo Rojo

I think you miss the point. I'm not going to speak for the others who doubt him but from my perspective Jans ability to still end up on the podium when not at his ideal fitness (ie weight conditioning) is a testament to his emense talent. What gets me and I suspect others, all riled up is that had he put in the extra effort he would have been dominant. Possibly winning 8 or more Tours, this is where I think you miss read the negative comments.

Enthalpic

Exactly. Everyone just can't look past what he could have been. They fail to see what he already is; great. Even Lance and Basso are Jan fans. Jan is who they compare themselves to for a reason.

DocRay

Could have, was, used to be...he's 33 and has pissed away a rare gift. Could have, should have, does not define great cyclists.