So much can happen and from the stage pictures I'm not quick to discount Jan Ullrich. Can't wait for the upcoming mountain battles.

Damn you Aldephia Cable...

Found this on the web regarding Miguel Indurain. Wow! I'm not a biking fan, but this is truly incredible.

"Doctors were amazed by Indurain's extraordinary lung capacity, characterised by a resting heart rate of around 30 beats per minute, a lung capacity of eight litres and a heart capable of pumping 50 litres of blood per minute for hours at a time. In the mountain stages of the Tour de France, Indurain could take his pulse rate up to 190 beats per minute and drop it back to 60 on the descent within half a minute."

I would like to see Lance win 6, but I think the media is not giving Tyler Hamilton enough credit. I think he is the rider to watch out for in the mountains.

No OLN on cable....listen to it live here
http://ww2.olntv.com/tdf04/

Stage 12 turned out to be a very good day for Lance !!!

He came in 2nd today( rode in with Basso), gaining 2:30 on
Jan Ullrich and 3:27 on Tyler Hamilton.

if he rides well on Saturday he should re-claim the Maillot Jaune:)

Sat. will be a fun one to watch. I know Voeckler will loose the jersey but man he has made the team and himself defend it so well. On todays stage those last few kilometers his face showed the pain.

Vockler and Cesar suprised me with their strength, but the tour is nearly finished. As long as Lance stays on top of the bike, he will take the win.

Unless the French press just so happen to find some EPO just lying around in Lance's hotel room. Article

"France is for Lance" - or so said the sign in the back of a pickup truck yesterday on the I-15. F'em if they can't stand another yank win.

The Kaiser has cracked !!! Big Jan diesel could not hang, he now sits 7.:01 back of the leaders jersey. I thought Lance would re-claim the yellow jersey today but the little man Thomas Voeckler put up a hell of a fight !

Sorry to hear that Tyler dropped out of the Tour....word is due to back pain.

Lance's rival at the moment looks like Ivan Vasso, he sits only 1:17 back of Armstrong in the GC, he is having no problem riding with Lance on the big climbs.

Looking fwd to Tuesday & wednesday's stages :D

Even overcoming a flat tire and finishing first in the stage still has him about a minute back on Saturday. Wow.

EDIT: Now they say 22 seconds back.

where was Vasso on the prologue and team time trial? My sense is that unless he drops Lance on one of the climbs, "close" won't be good enough come the TTs.

Time will tell...what a brutal race. You could sense that Ulrich was fried yesterday. It was nice to see Virenque encouraging Voeckler yesterday. There does seem to be a bit more camaraderie and honor (doping aside) in this sport.

Static,
Good point......Basso was 27 seconds back of Armstrong on the prologue, and Team CSC was 50 seconds behind Postal in the TTT
1:17 seems a little close for comfort when you figure Armstrong said he wanted 4 minutes on Ullrich.

So Lance walks his talk. Too bad some of the more rude fans can't seem to get over it.

The past few day's I've really taken a dislike to Greg LeMond. Being the legend he was, and my sports idol, I really hurts to say that. Why can't this guy just age gracefully? I've heard some people are applying "Lance" stickers over the "LeMond" on their GL framesets. Talk about the pot and kettle!

I only wish OLN was in Hi-Def. It's exciting to watch, either way.

Far out - he's in another class altogether this year. Mechanical/illness/etc issues aside, or something truely heroic from Basso/Ullrich/Kloden, it looks like numero 6 for Lance.

At least Jan is starting to look better. I like Jan --> I liked Lance after reading the first book but suffered serious Lance fatigue in the second.

Another great day for Lance with an incredible sprint finish !
Kloden attacked with less than 1km to go, behind him was a group of 4 riders, Armstrong, Landis (my fav. domestique), Basso & Ullrich. With 500 m to go it looked like Kloden would take the stage win, Lance chased him down & got him before the line. SmileWavy

that was an amazing sprint.

I do have to say that as fun as it has been watching Lance be "the man", I am disappointed in the competition. Mayo, Hamilton and Herras all abandon and Ullrich has yet to post a serious challenge, no one else has stepped up although Voeckler has ridden a solid race. Guess I had an expectation of a close race but for Lance it seems to be almost scripted.

Haha, today's little conflict between Armstrong and Simeoni was hilarious. Lance layeth down the smack on the Italian. Haha, I could never dream of a better Tour. Of course, it helps if you're a big Lance fan. :)

Man that Simeoni character is in a tough spot for spilling the beans. Sucks to be a rat - especially in a peloton. Too bad that he also happens to be telling the truth (IMO). Hat's off to Lance though, what an amazing feat that's mostly lost to the hoards of MLB and NASCAR "sports" fans here in the States. :rolleyes:

Now that the tour is basically over, here's what Letterman had to say about Lance

Top Ten Signs Lance Armstrong Is Getting Cocky

10. Race starts at 9, Lance rolls out of bed around noon

9. Has already figured out that the trophy can hold a 3-gallon margarita

8. He eats frosting by the fistful

7. For the last leg, he rode one of those crazy 1920s bikes with the big front wheel

6. Deliberately crashing into things to get more air time on sportscenter

5. Making a couple extra bucks delivering pizzas during the race

4. After the starter pistol is fired, he hangs around hitting on french babes

3. Turns to the other riders and says, "oooh, I'm sooooo scared"

2. Instead of training, spent last 2 months pimping his bike

1. Has started selling ad space on his ass