TRaffic Jammer

What shop? I will definitely stop by.

Crack'n'fail

I just want to say that today was some great racing. I was out of my seat jumping around during the whole climb up the Alpe.

It was hilarious when Landis caught up to Merckx and Merckx kind of jumped at how fast he had caught up to him.

With the gaps as small (relatively to past years) as they are, we hopefully will see lots of attacking and excitement tomorrow as well.

gmason

Me too. Too bad, but he came close. He is pretty much back on form now.

Who was that masked man laboring on turn 6 ...

OrionKhan

Sure, but...

Based upon the standard that they set for the last seven years, I'd say they're crappy this year. They've had a year to prepare for life without Lance. Can you really say that anybody on their team is a threat this year? Sure they've won a stage. But how do they look overall? Heck, a wild card invitee team won a stage.

CSC and T-Mobile had their leaders pulled unannounced right before the race. And they're showing up pretty strong just about every stage. And they've won stages. Would you say that Discovery is as strong as them?

By Discovery standards, dominating the Tour for the past seven years, they're crappy this year. If the Lakers or Yankees don't play for the championship, its a crappy year. These are the raised expectations you get with winning. Player changes aren't acceptable excuses. Great teams adapt and overcome. To say otherwise about Discovery, is to say that the only reason they were great is because Lance was there.

I'll also add, that I'm not a Discovery or Lance hater. I'm a big fan of them. But I'm also realistic. They have a nice team. One good enough to pull out a stage win or so. But they don't have anyone to seriously challenge for the yellow jersey in Paris. Not just in the prologue. Based upon their history over the past 7 Tours, I'd say that's crappy for them.

Visionquest

can i just say that i love all the drama here in the forums...it's really fun!!! I don't contribute very much as i feel most things that need to be said, are. i just have to throw in one thing here.

i've always marveled at how passionate sports fans get about their favorite team/player...but i always have the sense that they/we lose sight...forget about...ignore???.... the respect of the ability it takes for these guys to make it look so damn easy...it's like watching Baryshnikov dance or hearing Horowitz play a Liszt sonata...and while it's fun and exciting to bash some teams and athletes i worry that perhaps the bashing goes too far and people take things too personally...and countries despise other countries for things that have very little to do with the individual...or very little to do with respect of fellow man...and athlete...and bike gods. and thus i state;

by show of hands, how many people can beat any of these guys up those mountains..............no................ I didn't think so........and for those of you emphatically raising you're hands in your den or office or wherever, and getting strange looks from your husband/wife, neighboring cubicle...cat...i salute you and raise my pudgy hand up with yours.

Kris Flatlander

+1

A Huge GO LEVI! From up north! Althought we have Michael Barry he hasn't ever done Le Tour in my recollection however he routinely does the Vuelta doesn't he? Anyways Levi is the greatest (I don't mean THE greatest I mean the expression, ie great guy etc) I know his brother who runs a shop in Levi's home town of Butte, MT (The Outdoorsman) and when we go down there for the fourth of July I'm always forced into buying stuff there because I feel guilty for sitting there for 3 hours a day watching the Tour on the big screen they have in the shop and talking their ears off . GO LEVI!

hollow

I didn't say anyone was a threat this year. I said they won a stage and wore the jersey, not a bad year for most teams. I also said they are not strong. And I'll say it: Postal/Disco would not have won 7 Tours without Armstrong. Big revelation, I know. They lost one of the best TdF riders of all time and they are not as good. That's no surprise and to say they should just go on rolling is just folly.

For the record, I was going to be pulling for Ulle this year, so I've been a bit disappointed. But I've hardly missed any of the race, and it's as exciting as ever. As by "ever" I mean beyond the past 7 years as I've been following for a lot longer than that.

OrionKhan

Hollow, sorry for sounding antagonistic in my post. I was more directing it towards the legions of Disco fans and hype machine media that are running around thinking that Discovery is a great team this year. And they don't realize that this is an off year. I think they're having a crappy year in comparison to the past. And I mean that even considering that Lance is gone.

You are correct that most teams would be ecstatic to have a stage win and worn the yellow for even one day. It would be a shame for Discovery to slip into the realm of just another team after the great run they had. I think Discovery still has the core to be a great team. They just need that great lead man. One thing that they were great at is rallying around one man. Popovych is a nice rider, but he's probably a couple of Tours away from being a real GC contender. I've got to think that there are some GC contenders out there that are wondering what it would be like to have the supporting team that Lance had.

For the record, I'm a sprinter by nature. Robbie McEwen is my favorite. The man in Green but waaayyyy down in GC. I was disappointed to see Boonen abandon today though...

Revenig

Five years ago, while doing the family tree, I found family in Luxembourg and we have been e-mailing each other ever since. Later I found out that three lines of my family came over on the boat from Luxembourg. So I'm feeling a little "old country" pride with Frank's outstanding win.

SweetSammy

So I'll put my two cents in.

--- Hats off of Cyril Dessel. The guy has a mechanical at the bottom (read: steepest) part of the Alpe and he still battles back to somewhere approaching contention on a stage that blew apart. Keep in mind this guy was a relative grand tour unknown coming into this. He won't win or podium, but he showed some guts out there today.

--- Maybe after the Tour we'll learn what happened to Levi on the TT. No one drops that kind of time without something like a virus or godly curse weighing him down.

--- And what do you expect? Disco is an American team and OLN is the only American channel carrying this weird and sometimes boring sporting event. Well boring to the NASCAR set anyway. Of course they're gonna hype Disco. Get over it. I just like the crappy Cervelo commercials that try to mitigate OLN's 3-hour long Trek commercial. Disco doesn't suck...they just don't dominate. A stage win and yellow ain't bad for a team in transition.

---And for the record, NASCAR is far more boring than any bike race.

OrionKhan

Actually, there's nothing to get over. I never said that Discovery sucked. I said that they're having a crappy Tour compared to what they've done in recent years. Even if you consider that they lost their top rider. Heck, a wild card team has stage victory this year. Discovery effort hasn't been inspiring. Their a team rounding out the field. They don't have anybody contending for any of the jerseys. Sure they're in transition, but they've had over a year to get ready for the post-Lance era. They're not showing much. Can you seriously say that they've put out a great effort this Tour?

The problem with all of this Discovery hype, is that the casual fan tunes in to see Discovery dominate. Then that fan sees that Disco isn't a contender and they tune out. That's not good for the overall growth of the sport.

Disco isn't the only American company sponsored team. CSC is and American company. And they've got a couple of wins, including Alpe d'Huez, plus a rider in the top ten. That's with them losing their top rider days before the Tour started.

You are correct, NASCAR is boring.

And think you've got a good point on Levi. I think something was up with him on all of the early stages to lose all of that time. He seems more than okay now though. He's gotta be kicking himself. He should be right there with Landis.

Shemp

My favorite moment of the day... the fan who shot a snot rocket out of his nose onto a rider. What class, what dignity. I can't believe these buffoons do this year in and year out to the riders without repercussions. I seriously can't wait for a rider to go ape**** on a beligerant fan some day.

For fans so dedicated to cycling, I don't get it. I know "it's always been that way," but that doesn't make it any more right than it is. The one moron almost took out the yellow jersey because he was out in the road not paying attention. THen there was the dope who went down on the pavement with the Norwegian flag, inches from a rider's wheel.

Hitchy

C'mon Doc.....I was just over at the "Jihad R Us" forum...they seem to like you guys!

CanyonChaser

Did you ever see that fan who ran out and tackled a T-mobil rider? Everytime the riders are climbing through the hords of fans, before they get to the fencing, I'm cringing that some fanatical monkey is going to foul up one of the riders.

Isn't the tour great?!?

dp

bobsdf

You've heard of Mariposa frames? That's him. Here's a link to his shop: https://www.bikespecialties.com/ I've met him a couple of times riding the Donut. Really nice guy.

TRaffic Jammer

I've been lookin all morning... nice lugs....sexy 2k for a frame and fork...ouch

Dead Extra #2

I actually laughed out loud when I saw that. Great stuff!

TRaffic Jammer

I wonder how much jump they would have had if Axel had been upto speed because Landis had created a little gap.

adamastor

In what year? Not 2006, I suppose???