Originally Posted by The_Convert
I'll never understand this...
Yes Jan has amazing genetics, but when was there ever a glimpse of them being better than Lance's? It wasn't just Lance's hard work that beat Jan 7 years in a row. Besides, if Jan had to be THAT meticulous to even come close to beating Lance, it doesn't sound like he had "extra" talent he wasted.
You also claim that you can ride 20% grades in your big rig.
Anyways, the thing with Jan is that he was ALWAYS way over race weight a month or two before the Tour. So instead of doing the high end LT work that most of the GC guys would be doing in order to get themselves ready, he had to do long, moderately paced rides to focus on burning off the spare tire he had around his midsection. For him to be that close to LA on that many occasions with little or no high end LT work is absolutely amazing. THIS is why people consider Jan Ullrich to be one of the greatest talents EVER. Add 10-15w to his LT and you could very easily have a score of Lance 4, Jan 4.