Every team in the TDF does the same thing for their "star" rider as Discovery does for Lance. It is the team's job to protect thier #1. Saturday's TT is going to be sweet!!

UH? What are you talking about? You got this completely backwards! Basso, Rasmussen and Valverde have not been hanging of his wheel. He's been hanging on theirs. Lance has not even had to try and attack this year genius.

Yes the Stage 1 was not a prologue but you make sound like Lance took advantage of that. It was not a prologue for anyone. If the other 188 riders didn't want to behind over a minute after the first stage then freaking ride harder.

Well then I chalk my grumblings up to this: It's silly to have a team sport where only one person gets the acclaim, the recognition -- and the credit for the win. You don't see "Team Discovery" getting the credit for x number of TDF wins. It's all Lance this and Lance that. So I guess it's natural to want to see Lance do something fantastic on his own. You know?

I understand it's unfair to ask him to be anything other than a competitor, here. I'm just saying the event is not promoted or presented well if our answer to the boring strategy is "well, it's a team sport you know." I say dismantle the team aspect and see what these guys are made of. Then you'll see me, and more Americans, actually get excited about what's happening.

I don't think it has ANYTHING to do with a preference for underdogs. I'd love to see Lance stomp out the competition and win his 7th. The emphasis, here, is on LANCE.

Name Gretsky's teammates. Now name Jordan's. Who is Sean Yates? Neil Stephens?
If you know the sports, you'll know who they were and why they were important.

Que? Are we watching the same race?
You've never TT'd, have you?

Yes, but in those cases the TEAM gets the win. Yes, the individual is "the star," but the record books show The Bulls won the championship.

I'm just saying that if it really is a team sport, then the TEAM should be credited with the win. But if Lance is going to get credit for winning the TDF, it's only natural & reasonable to want to see him actually...you know...race. And stuff.

Bicycle racing is absolutely no less a team sport than basketball or hockey, but our knowledge of the latter two is much greater so we appreciate and understand how the team works. And believe us, you're seeing LA racing every day. Only a couple of handfulls of the riders among all the teams are capable of contending the GC in the TDF and none stand a chance by themselves. Someone (or two) got LA up to the front of the final climb in today's stage, and worked really hard doing it. The other day before we watched FL caught off the back of the main contenders group because his team was asleep at the wheel and didn't have him where he needed to be. No doubt he was strong enough to follow..if he had been there. T-mobile's DS let a break get 20min. up the road and lose their 1st place team standing...really poor management. That's the nature of the beast. (LA's winnings are split with the entire team) The cycling world indeed does know and remember the winning team and team members. Yates, Andreau, Phinney, Pierce, Roll, Bauer, Anderson, Hamsted, Hincapie, Landis, Berry... the list is long and these are only the non-Europeans/S. Americans that have been there to either win a grand tour (Hamsted) or help stars like LA while accomplishing some pretty amazing race records of their own including Olympic medals, national championships, yellow jerseys, tour stage wins, etc.... while racing for 7-11/Motorola/Postal/Discovery.

Back to the original topic of this post, interesting comment from Unzue:

"I think this is Armstrong's most beautiful Tour," said Eusebio Unzue, the Spanish sport director who guided Miguel Indurain to five straight Tour wins in the early 1990s.

"Perhaps he's not quite as strong as other years, but the style with which he's controlled the race, tactically taking the time at just the right moment, it's poetic," Unzue said. "It reminds me a lot of how Indurain used to win the Tour."

A great observation. The comment has been made here regarding stealing a 1 min lead in the Prolog, ect. But having a lead and knowing how to ride the race with a lead are two different things. The biggest strength of Lance and Discovery is knowing how to win from the front. They are masters of this race.

True indeed!

OLN ch 608 5:30am to 8:30am everyday genius. What are you watching? I have every stage on DVD if you need to see them so you know what the hell your trying to talk about.

Yes they are.

Well that's just an lazy statement...you didn't read the post. Yes Lance is doing exactly what he should be doing to win (taking all the time he can get in the TTT/TTs and riding protected whenever else with the best team money can buy). The point is: it's not always a whole heck of a lotta fun to watch. 99% predictable.

No question. But not just riding smart -- training and planning a team smart, that's probably as big w/r/t his success.

That's not what is being discussed.

What PenguinDeD was responding to was your suggestion that the other riders could've ridden harder in the stage 1 TT and not lost 1+ minutes to Lance. The point is, they were all riding at their absolute limit the whole time and Lance still beat them by over a minute. Expect more of the same tomorrow.

The point is in 6 years the best Teams and Riders in the sport have found no way to counter this predictable strategy. They all come to the Tour ready to do this or that and end up riding Discovery's race, falling right into line. That is amazing! (and I disagree, it is very interesting to watch).

Folks keep confirming Disco's and LA's approach is valid, makes great sense, it's all about the team protecting the GC rider, etc etc. Now LISTEN: nobody's going to argue that.

The original poster's comment was: "After watching the various stages of the tour it appears that Lance is winning this thing with one arm tied behind his back."

Others are having discussion related to that -- and, yep, it's TRUE. LA is coasting to a win in most stages easily.

Have there been great cycling rivalries in the past that have played out much differently than the quasi-boring 2005 tour? Heck yeah! Merckx didn't get the nickname "Cannibal" for nothing, for instance. Think of some of TdF's classic rivalries: Lemond-Fignon, Lemond-Hinault, Indurain-Rominger... who's LA's rival? So is 2005 Boring?!? I've watched most of almost every stage (thank you OLN), but yes, it's still a bit boring.

"Others are having discussion related to that -- and, yep, it's true. LA is coasting to a win in most stages easily."


LA is yet to win a stage this tour.

Le Tour historians, how many times has this happened? Overall win w/o stage victory?

Based on that I am surprised that only 2 minutes and change are the difference at the top... that 2 minutes can be overcome in a 55km "sprint." I believe he held a 6 min lead last year and that was considered comfortable... the year before was "tight."

You have to realise that Lance is only a couple of seconds away from leading this TDF from start to finish. That in itself is an amazing thing to ponder.

Cool, let's get technical rather than addressing the post. (And fwiw, LA came in a close #2 (2 sec?) to DZ in the prologue, later to see Zabriskie drop after the TTT crash, poor guy... and LA rode across the line not contesting a stage win in the alps b/c he doesn't care about stage wins, they don't factor into getting and keeping yellow jersey. Actually the only really exiting non-TT parts of 2005's TdF where the few chase downs on Basso and Ullrich IMO.

We all get wiser in our years. Lance is showing what his last 6 TDF wins have taught him. We all enjoy watching the excitment of Vinno's multiple attacks, but where is he over all. I am not as strong as I was 10 years ago but I am faster.

Maybe you aren't awake enough to catch whats going on during the live feed.

Stage 10 ring a bell?