After watching the various stages of the tour it appears that Lance is winning this thing with one arm tied behind his back. He seems like he could explode at anytime on anyone if he wanted to, and there isn't a damn thing the other guys could do about it. Hmmm, amazing what hard work, preparation, and a single-minded focus can accomplish. European riders seem to think that bravado, tradition, and nationalistic pride are all you need to win. Get off your asses and log some miles, boys.

I haven't been watching much, but I did see him a few stages ago just take off and run down Basso like it wasn't even a big deal... Basso took off from the pack, Lance sorta sat back and waited for a minute, no one else decided to chase him so off he went. Caught him in the blink of an eye. I just kinda sat there in amazement. Then he just stayed on his wheel the whole way to the finish cruising along. He didn't even look as though he was straining in the least. Then again, neither did Basso... Basso appeared to be SMILING? Anyone who says cyclists aren't elite athletes is nuts

Geez dude. I think the same about bravado, tradition, and pride can be said of us Texans.... I'm sure those Europeans train hard as well. But you can't deny that Lance is also very naturally talented.

Easy? Maybe. Definitely boring.

Don't get me wrong -- if I was on the tail end of my competitive cycling career I have no idea how much gas I'd have to spend. And I sure wouldn't risk the TDF on an impulsive move.

Nevertheless...it's rather underwhelming. I'd like to see him attack a little, y'know? Get out there and cause a fuss. Not sit back just because nobody "important" is attacking. It's kinda like slowing up in a Porsche on the Autobahn. It's just somehow...wrong.

I can't wait for next year...

It's not because of Lance. It's all others not challenging.

To see Lance win 8?

No, to see a close race...maybe...hopefully.

I see the logic in that. My feelings about it are less agreeable, though. I guess I think "Hey, I have the chance to make big news! I can really tear these guys up! Why not go out with a bang?"

I'd love to see him kick out the last couple stages holding nothing back. What could he really do if he didn't play a conservative game? I dunno...I think I'm just a riskier person. Foolish, but fun. Lance is all competitor.

And also, people WANT drama. Risk it all, what the hell?! Cause a scene. Instead we get plodding.

Still very happy for him, though! GO LANCE!

I disagree. Lance is riding protected, drafting easily along, 90% of the time. In the couple cases where the rest of Discovery were left behind for whatever reason, everyone reacted with shock. "OMG!!!!! Lance is alone, how is he ever going to win TdF or a stage like that?!?"

He's a protected pansy the way Discovery treats him. I think it's ashame: he's obviously a great gifted rider, and we don't get to see it.

it's a team sport.

Anyone that thinks Lance is a pansy knows nothing about cycling. He has to save it for the time trial on Saturday. One mistake on that day could cost him everything. Look back in the tour when Lemond won by a few secs in a time trial at the end. Everyone had given the race away already. But Lemond pulled out a amazing race and won the tour. To anyone that thinks he should be out and leaving tread on the course right now. Is uneducated in the Tour. You take everyday one day at a time. If you are bored by the way it's going right now. Don't watch till Saturday when the real race starts..

And Lance is on a team 100% dedicated to sacrificing themselves to Lance (aside from a couple of stages and I say way-to-go Hincapie), and arguable the best team at that. Sure its a team sport, and Lance's team makes life incredibly easy for him. If you're Lance/Disco, no-brainer. The point is it makes things a bit boring w/r/t what Lance is doing.

yeah... unfortunately when OLN figures out that without Lance, they'll lose over 75% of their audience, they'll probably do what they did for the Giro...

-dan

I agree - the time trial on Saturday will be Lance's swan song. Other than the tour itself, I can't imagine him wanting to win anything more. Should be great fun to watch.

55/Rad

Boring , I sometimes agree. But then again this is the first time I've actually watched the TDF. I would dare to say that that a lot of TDFs have a lot of boring moments.

Lance is riding smart. He worked to get the yellow jersey and is now playing smart to protect it. If soemone else (individual or team) pushed to challenge or even take the jersey then you'd see a much more agressive Lance/disco team but since no one is really stepping up what's the point in risking too much, getting into a crash or burning out?

I usually don't flame people but this is one of the dumbest posts I have ever read. You clearly don't know very much about pro cycling.

"European riders seem to think that bravado, tradition, and nationalistic pride are all you need to win." ???

A reality check. 2 Americans have won the TDF. 31 have participated. What is it? 6? Have won a stage.

Anyone who's ever raced with any of these guys knows that the statement above isn't worth commenting on, but we'll go for the bait this once. Every American in the TDF peloton would laugh at you, not with you. Every American in the domestic pro peloton would do the same. Lance would ask you to look up the nationalities of the guys who get the job done for him day in and day out. It's pretty apparent that there's very little objective understanding stage racing/training/ or how incredibly strong all these guys are compared to all cat.1 riders and 99.9% of the N.American pros. (Talk to any of them who did the tour of Georgia that they peaked for while LA, LL, FL,BJ, and their teams rode for early season training.) We're lucky enough to see the physiological phenomena at his peak with a strong, well organized, well funded team and support apparatus. I think if you asked LA, he'd agree that even with his gifts and drive, it's never been easy... Review the 2003 tour tapes. Win without boasting, lose without excuse.


"I think it's ashame: he's obviously a great gifted rider, and we don't get to see it."

Believe us, you're seeing it everyday.

he's the team leader. if other teams played the game they way discovery does, the race would probably be more competitive.
i'm not a lance fan -- FAR from it. but i like the way discovery goes about its business. as they say, "no news is good news," and they've proven that year after year.
if you look at discovery's tactics, they only pull out the big guns when they have to. they don't do it just for the glory like most other teams. boring or not, it's what works, and if no one else wants to play smart, they're going to lose everytime. i'm really interested in seeing how it works out for them next year.
but boredom and tactics aside, i have my own view of the sport. it ain't about what you're on -- it's the quality of what you're on.

When did you start watching this stuff? It's not a free-for-all sport if you haven't noticed.

i think he could win an 8th. Sure he's drafting on the flats (so are basso and ulrich), and it helps considerably, but in the mountains, on the climbs, drafting does very little. He's just that strong.

Oh please, not this lame excuse again. If it's boring don't watch it.

Yeah, he's got a great team. As I understand it, he was a big part of building that team in the first place.


I guess quarterbacks are protected pansies, too, right? I mean, they've got those linemen keeping them from getting hit and all.
(OK, I admit I've said exactly those words to more than one actual quarterback, but I always smiled when I said it.)

Discovery has this down pat. Ride fast enough when needed to control the race, but not so fast as to waste energy.

I beleive Bob Roll made an insightfull comment this week (im not a big Bobki fan but ill give him credit here). He stated that the Discovery tactics inflict a sort of amnisia on the field. They forget why they are at the TDF and just start to ride along.

Even the biggest Lance fan has to admit there have been but a few "cruch time" moments this year, although he has risen to the occasion every time.

Too many of us Americans aren’t seeing the full picture in front of us. Those that understand bike racing do, which is to say most Americans don’t. LA has a business model that works. Like a good CEO he is surrounded by very good people and like a good CEO once he makes it look easy we Americans turn on him because we like the underdog.

I think our love of the underdog propels us to great heights as a nation, but it also takes away from things, for example our appreciation of what’s happening at the tour. We want lance to hang it out there, take a risk, add to our excitement. Using the CEO analogy, do we want the leaders of the company we work for to risk our jobs for a possible big pay off? What about the leaders of the companies we own stock it? Should our president send every one of our troops into harms way at the same time risking our security?

Lets be realistic here, LA would be a FOOL to attack when 2:30 up. He isn’t PAID to be a fool, he's paid to win, which he does. And THAT is why he gets paid. Asking anything else of him would be for our own personal needs.

As an aside, don’t think for a second that he wouldn’t LOVE to beat the crap out of folks during a few of these stages. But for reasons I listed, as well as NOT BEING ABLE to this year when in the past he would have, he hasn’t. This has been a great strategic tour and as in years past, postal/disco make it look textbook easy.