daytonian

Does Rasmussen know that he's not supposed to win or contend the Tdf this year? He might be thin but he doesn't know any better, and he isn't tired. He will definitely hang with Lance until the next TT.
Could Ulrich look any more unmotivated and tired. He does nothing but follow. No attacks, doesn't get dropped too badly, he's just doing his time.
Why is Julich ahead of Basso right now in the GC?
Anyone see Armstrong back out of that sprint when he knew he couldn't win.

georgiaboy

In Tuesday's stage Kloden and Ulrich on the road together trying to make it up to Armstrong, valverde, Rasmussen and Mancebo.

I never saw Ulrich leading Kloden. Kloden was left to lead the pace on his own. Ulrich never took a turn in the front.

This will be the last time Ulrich or any other contender can step up and be victorious over LA. Wouldn't you think that either win or lose Ulrich would be busting is ### to have a go at LA one more time?

Bockman

They're already calling him 'Rasmoochin' on some of the other boards

galen_52657

Rasmussen has no team support. If he is going to make a play, it will be at one of the mountaintop finishes - stage 14 or 15.

Ulrich can't match the climbing pace. He never has been able to, so why would he now? Since Lance destroyed him in stage one, what difference can he make in the race? He will loose more time in the mountains to come.

jjmolyet

I really like Ullrich, but I wish I would see some tactics from him and T-Mobile, the day that Kloden and Vino attacked was great but Jan just sat there, I don't understand the thinking at T-Mobile. Lance gained a minute on the ITT, and more minutes on the mountains, and Jan just sits there, where does he plan on making time? Is he just happy to be close, Hinoult has a saying, "No gifts" maybe Jan could learn from that. I would enjoy another Lance victory more with Jan nipping at his heels.

Devil

???

Basso is in 4th, Julich is in 17th.

fishigan

Who was he moochin the other day when he was kickin' LA's arse from start to finish? That's Disco's fault if they want to do all the work for the rest of the riders. I wouldn't be wasting my guys if your guys wanted to do all the work either.

reef58

This Rasmussen guy seems to be the real deal. Either he has a serious poker face, or he is fairly comfortable climbing at Disco's pace. I bet Lance wishes he had pulled back a couple of minutes on this guy Saturday. I doubt if he is given any more breakaways, and the TT may be his undoing, but I am really rooting for a podium finish for Ras.

Richard

fishigan

With a rest day after stage 15, I wonder if he'll try to do what he did the last time?

youm0nt

im sure he'll lose time in the TT.i dont think hes a TT specialist is he?

alanbikehouston

We are gonna know on Sunday night who is real and who is not. At this point in the Tour, most of the contenders are tired, many have been in crashes, and many have injuries. Saturday and Sunday are going to be brutal. If a rider is still within two minutes of the yellow jersey on Sunday night, he is certainly "for real".

If Ullrich and Basso truly are riding to win the Tour, Saturday and Sunday are the best shots at gaining a lot of time. This week-end is likely to be the most exciting part of the 2005 Tour. We will find out who is "for real". And we will see who "is looking forward to the 2006 Tour".

fishigan

Here is the stage 1 position of Rasmussen.
174 057 RASMUSSEN Mickael RAB DEN 03' 14"

fishigan

I'm thinking he'll need a good 5 min lead going into the TT if he wants yellow.
I keep hearing references on OLN that he just wants the KOM jersey. That's all he really cares about.

Jarery

His 3' 04" placing in the first tt was also when he was not conecentrating on gc plaement.

He said in one interview that he had 2 goals, be in polka dots, and win a stage at some point during the tour. So im sure he rode competitively in the tt, no one at this level of sports doesnt at least try, but i doubt he was trying to give it his all, as lance was.

Now that he's met his 2 goals, and done them both early, and finds himself sitting in a gc contention spot, my bet is he rides the next tt a lot faster. He may not be a tt specialist, but im sure hes gonna place higher than in his first tt.

I do hate the fact that hes basically leeching onto another team to get where he is, but thats part of the sport.

Iron Chef

Rasmussen finished 3 minutes down in a 19 km ITT. The boy is gonna lose 5 or 6 minutes to Armstrong in the final time trial. He wants the KOM because he can win it.

Grasschopper

If I rider is still within 2 min of the Yello? How about if a rider can get to within 2 min of the yellow? Other than the kid in the dots everyone is outside 2 min and closer to 3 or 4 min down.

^*^BATMAN^*^

Now thats funny......hahahahah

It would be nice to not see a blow out by Lance. I say have a few people withina few seconds going into paris, now THAT would make the race worth it by far!!

daytonian

My bad Devil, I saw Julich 4 min behind Basso, musta confused w/ someone else. Will Basso hang with lead pack in the mountains this weekend? Looked kinda tired after that drop on Stage 10.

daytonian

My thoughts exactly, it's like he's hiding in the pack and that's got to piss his sponsors off because for being as good as he is he gets less face time it seems than any in the top 15-20. Funny that he is ahead of Vino in the GC but who did we see on tv yesterday - Vino. Part of it I know is Discovery will never let Ullrich attack successfully so that has got to wear him down.

galen_52657

I like Ullrich, but you have to look at things realisticaly:

He gave up 2 minutes in the first mountains.

He gave up over 1 minute in the first ITT

Where the hell is he going to gain any time?

His only chance would be to infiltrate a early break on rolling terrain that had enough combined horsepower and motivation to hold off the Disco's. Good luck with that.

waltergodefroot

Menchov and Boogerd ain't chopped liver. Menchov was sick, but he must be getting better cause he ain't dropped out, and Boogerd has won in the mountains here a few times plus he won Paris-Nice. He can still drag it up the hills. And Breukink knows a thing or two about riding the TDF.

galen_52657

When I say Rasmussen has no team support, that would be compared to Disco. Rasmussen is the only Robobank rider in the front group on the climbs.

He teammates are all outstanding cyclist otherwise they would not be on the team, but once the climbing starts in ernest, he has to go back to the car himself for food and water....

daytonian

I know he's kinda boxed in timewise, it's frustrating to watch talent shutdown and wait for 06 TDF. By the way - don't know if I ever told you I grew up in Bethesda MD., went to BCC high School, and vacationed at Rehobeth and Ocean City as a kid. MD is a great state.

Kehaar

My perfect podium in Paris: Armstrong, Vinokourov, Rasmussen. I don't know if Vino can pull back that much time though. Maybe Valverde has a better shot of making the podium. Maybe Moreau could make the podium, but I know nothing of his TT skills. I'm guessing Rasmussen probably loses the podium spot in the TT too. Armstrong, Vino and...?

ZappCatt

Valverde is supposed to be really hurting with tendonitis in his knee. The Spanish papers actually said that he is not going to start tomorrow. The team has denied that and said he will....