BikerDawg

This is the first year I've REALLY tried to understand what's going on in the race, though I've watched it many times. Is there anyplace that explains the dynamics of what is, or should be, happening? For example, the USPS team is there to protect Lance?? Why wouldn't THEY try to win? And, is L.A. sitting where he wants to be at 12th overall after stage 3?

If anyone knows of such a place, I would appreciate the link!

Thanks,

Michelle

Raiyn

Lance is the Captain of the team the rest of the guys ar "domestiques" there to run block for Lance bring him water food etc. If he wins the team wins that's how it works. Lance is fine in the position he's in because he typically OWNS the mountain stages and will begin his march from there. I'd be concerned if he was around 50th but in the position he's got now he will pull it out.

shaharidan

the best way to learn is probably to watch and listen to phil and paul on OLN, they really do a good job giving out information. also ask specific questions here.
the team protects lance by always keeping a couple of riders around him to help keep an eye out for crashes and things like that.
it's not what place he is in right now thats important he's not behind in time very much and im sure they are happy with there placement.
they arent trying to win right now. in the flat stages its very difficult to pick up large amounts of time, and i dont think the peleton would ever let Lance take off on a break away.
they will wait for the time trials and mountains to try and take over the lead. its easier to grab large amounts of time then because they dont have to battle the peleton.
hope that helps some

BikerDawg

Hmmmmmm, thanks for the info. I have been learning from Phil and Paul, but I still get confused, at times. LOL

I figured his position was good, I know he's not far behind in time. So, theoretically, the ONLY guy from the USPS team that they would ALLOW to win would be Lance? Same with other teams? They have a big guy being served by little guys? (So-to-speak?)

Also, from the names I've heard, it seems that the USPS team is not all American; is that correct? That just seems odd to me. I also wonder how many Americans are in this race, overall? I saw that one of them was injured in the crash on day 1 and is out of the race....but he wasn't on USPS.

SIGH....thanks again!!

The Toninator

5

The Toninator

https://tdf.olntv.com/

The Toninator

Also the team members nationality should not be confusing, as the team does not represent the US like teams do in the Olympics. It's just a US sponsored team with an American team captain.

BikerDawg

Okay, thanks for the info, Toninator! And, Joe, sorry I posted this in the wrong forum!

The Toninator

Ok i saw this posted somewhere but couldnt find it so i did some quick figureing on my own off of the gc.
6 Aus
4 Aut
8 BEL
3 COL
1 CRO
2 CZE
4 DEN
43 ESP
1 EST
39 FRA
1 GBR
16 GER
1 HUN
29 ITA
1 KAZ
1 LAT
6 NED
1 NOR
1 POR
1 RSA
5 RUS
1 SLO
5 SUI
2 UKR
5 USA
1 VEN
188

a2psyklnut

Two American's were injured, but only one is out.

Tyler Hamilton is an ex-postal member and sustained a fractured collar bone, but is still in.

Levi Liepheimer (sp?) sustained significant low back injuries to prevent him from continuing.

Too badd too! I liked Levi.

The more you watch the more you understand.

To sum up, the domestiques do most of the work, and the captain gets all the glory! The domestiques role is to keep their captain well rested, so at the finish, the Captain is fresh and can sprint to the win!

L8R

RegularGuy

As captain, Lance is being positioned as the General Classification (Yellow Jersey) contender on the USPS squad. The rest of the team work for him. Their job is to help him win the overall GC and wear yellow in Paris.

To that end, the team may or may not want to win the Team Time Trial tomorrow. The team may also want to win the best team competition.

Other members of the USPS squad might be positioned to win individual stages, or even other jerseys (Green for sprinter, Polka Dot for King of the Mountains, White for best young rider). All of that is pretty theoretical though. The bottom line is, Lance's job is to wear the yellow jersey in Paris, and the rest of the team's job is to help him make that happen.

An interesting thing happened yesterday when Brad McGee, wearing yellow, served as lead out man for his friend and team mate, Baden Cooke. Cooke won the stage, McGee retained the yellow jersey. Cooke is the team's sprinter. It was a classy move on McGee's part. McGee can't really expect to be a contender for the General Classification win, though.

Last year, in a post-Tour race (which one, anyone???) Lance paid George Hincapie back for his loyalty and hard work by serving as his domestique. How many guy's can say Lance works for them?

Lance's position right now is very good. He doesn't have the yellow jersey yet, so he doesn't have to defend it. Watch for him to take charge in the mountains. Watch for the other GC contenders to try to keep that from happening.

Lance is a yellow jersey contender among others, like Jan Ullrich and Joseba Beloki. EriK Zabel (Team Telekom) is a contender for the Green Jersey, which he will be defending against other sprinters. Different teams may have different goals in the Tour.

Watch for opportunists to make long, heroic breakaways (their team sponsors love it--gets their name on TV for hours) and try to grab stage wins. Also watch for the strange alliances that sometimes form between individual riders across team lines.

The Tour is a great sport spectacle: part race, part circus and part soap opera.

RegularGuy

Ah, yes. Protecting the captain means not only protecting him from crashes, but also chasing down breakaways and keeping the captain sheltered from the wind. Lance will draft his team mates most of the time. In the mountain stages when he will try to take command of the race, his teammates will take turns pulling for him until they are all spent. Then Lance, relatively fresh, will make his move, and try to drop all the competition.

Random

One thing to keep in mind, if you are not already aware of it, Lance is really in second or third place. Lance doesn’t care about these early leaders taking time out of him, because most of them will lose tons of time trying to haul themselves over the mountains. If for some reason Jan was to go out on a break, then you would see Postal in a frenzy to haul him back in, because Jan will not loose as much time as these other guys.

Joe Gardner

SF Grand Prix

RegularGuy

The Tour used to include national teams. The Tour, as it is now run, is made up of commercially sponsored teams. USPS delivers mail. Saeco makes capuccino machines. iBanesto and Rabobank are banks. Once is a Spanish national lottery that benefits the blind. Etc.

RegularGuy

Thanks, Joe! You saved me doing research!

KevinG

Man wouldn't that be great! Talk about edge of your seat TV!
But it will more than likly not happen.

brent_dube

I thought that was awesome seeing the way Simoni attacked in the Giro this year (on a couple stages... early in the stage)

brent_dube

I'm sure they would let the others would win if they could (IF THEY COULD), as long as they still did their job. Heras isn't going to attack Lance in the mountains in going for a stage win, for example. He is going to stay in front of lance to clear the wind for him, until he is out of energy.

One thing is, I wish Lance focused more on winning the mountain stages rather than just gaining time on the overall contenders (because of the 20s bonus).

As of the 12th place thing... position doesn't matter (right now). Time deficit matters. If he was in 150th, but just 1 minute off of the leader, I would say he is in no trouble. (In 2001 I think he was over a half hour down from the overall leader, and in like 30th place before they hit the mountains)

Ulrich has like 5 seconds ahead of Lance right now. That 5 seconds will mean nothing by the end of the race.

Ajay213

What was it, 2 years ago where Lance and the other GC contenders were some 30 minutes back during the first flat stages of the race? So Lance is sitting in an almost perfect position right now.

The tour is very much still wrapped up in tradition and such, it's considered "bad form" for the GC leader to win lots of stages, or to "win" other jersey's. Just the same as on the last day of the tour the peleton will "wait" for the GC if he were to fall behind, etc. I think this is more of a newer tradition (considering the commercialization of the tour in the past few years/decades) though.

Andrew

KevinG

But that is exactly what Merckx did.

~LongRider~

You will see alot more of the team action playing out in the mountains. The USPS team is just cruel there. They will kill everyone's legs, and Lance will ride away like he's going down hill.

steversk

What does it mean that his teammates chase down breakaways? How do they stop people that breakaways? It doesn't involve any breaking the knee caps of people who try to break away? ha ha....

~LongRider~

The team will move to the front of the peloton, and push the pace faster and faster, until they catch back up to the riders. They force the faster tempo on the other riders, while allowing the team captain to draft and conserve his energy still.

The Toninator

I have never heard this.