Tour de Lance '09

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Who cares?

I would have loved to see Hincapie win, but the fact of the matter is this is racing. If he wanted yellow, he should have been faster. That simple.

I don't think Garmin-Slipstream has to apologize to him or anyone else. I respect the hell out of Hincapie as a rider; hopefully he won't ruin his reputation by whining about how he "got robbed".

Be faster next time.

[MFAFF]

I think the TdF will be won on Stage 20.. Mont Ventoux.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that this week LA gently applies pressure on Contador....the 'pressure of yellow' something that La knows all about.
I'm thinking stage 18 individual TT may bring LA far closer that the minute plus.. say even the lead... stage 20 then seals the victory.

Remember in the individual TT LA is free to go as hard as he can......no team orders.

Interesting last week.

[svandamme]

Lance says he sees Contador win and that he will work for him.

[Paco Anton]

I don't believe him

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by svandamme

Lance says he sees Contador win and that he will work for him.

I couldn't believe he referred to himself as a domestique. He is either showing admirable humility, or plotting.....we shall see.

[dd74]

+1.37 isn't too much time considering a number of possibilities anyone can think of in pro cycling.

One unknown that is sure to play into Lance's favor is when Contador did win Le Tour, Lance wasn't racing in it.

If I were Contador, I'd be a tad bit worried about Lance being A) A ferocious climber and B) An even bigger, meaner animal in the TTs.

The whole shepherding up to the end of Stage 15 could have as much been a tactic as a defensive maneuver on Lance's part. Who knows? It's poker on spokes.

One thing's for sure, as history has shown, Lance gets stronger toward the end.

Yeah, he says he can't win it. But talk is cheap in this sport.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by svandamme

Lance says he sees Contador win and that he will work for him.

I wish your boy Boonen had a better tour. you know I really hate Cavendish. I like those tough kids from Flanders. Do you really see them train in the farm or back roads during early seasons?

[svandamme]

Boonen has spent most of his pre-season partying, crashing his lamborghini and then trying to get back in the tour after testing positive on coke...Maybe he wouldn't have fallen ill if he had managed not to draw so much attention to him, and having to sue UCI and what not to be able to participate in the Tour


yeah i see em train on the farm and backroads, they're everywhere , and always running in my way... they don't follow the road rules, block the road for everybody, refuse to cycle on the cycle path because the tarmac for the cars is smoother...Then they feel like they need to go through the city center of each town they pass, usually without slowing down (where the cars have to) and then they are angry when a car driver can't spot them from the blind spot as they overtake at speed, in city centre...

the flemish/dutch word for them is "wieler tourist", we also call em "wielerterrorist", because they are often a pain in the butt, especially the smaller groups without a team car, or the lone fanatics

[Highlander179]

was away since the 15th... and without TV and Interwebs. Thanks for keeping the thread rolling.

I feel Im now updated on the stages I missed between the rest days.... and updated on bikes... and updated on french hate. Interesting read to say the least.

So what exactly happened that Contador gained the 1:37?

[gatotom]

the heck with Boonen, he is past tense. Start cheering for the new blood like Tyler Farrar, its his first tour and he is right behind Cavendish, soooooo close but so far away from a first in a stage.

He is a local boy, first tour rider from WA state and the little town of Wenatchee, you will see more of him for sure.

Last yr his Dad a bigtime Ortho Surgeon got hit on his bike by a inattentive driver and is now paralized from the waist down, sad story great family.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by gatotom

the heck with Boonen, he is past tense. Start cheering for the new blood like Tyler Farrar, its his first tour and he is right behind Cavendish, soooooo close but so far away from a first in a stage.

He is a local boy, first tour rider from WA state and the little town of Wenatchee, you will see more of him for sure.

Last yr his Dad a bigtime Ortho Surgeon got hit on his bike by a inattentive driver and is now paralized from the waist down, sad story great family.

Oh no, Boonen is no done yet. Not a long way. He is the typical Classics rider. Most of us American forget or do not know about. They are important in the calender too. We will see about Tyler and what he wants to train his body to do. By the way, I really dislike the kind of sprinters like Cavandish or Chipo, that require a train. Now Zabel was the real deal. I know, i know, he had a train too.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by Highlander179

So what exactly happened that Contador gained the 1:37?

The guy was a monster. He attacked about 15km out, and never let off the throttle. There were 3 break away groups from the peloton, and he walked away from the lead group.

[T77911S]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

I couldn't believe he referred to himself as a domestique. He is either showing admirable humility, or plotting.....we shall see.

LA is what, 37 and did race for the last 3 years? i think he new he could not win, that is why there, well he, was not the THE leader of the team. they did not want to put all their eggs in his basket and he could not produce. plus, they had to know contador was a much better climber being on the same team.

[T77911S]

Originally Posted by look 171

Oh no, Boonen is no done yet. Not a long way. He is the typical Classics rider. Most of us American forget or do not know about. They are important in the calender too. We will see about Tyler and what he wants to train his body to do. By the way, I really dislike the kind of sprinters like Cavandish or Chipo, that require a train. Now Zabel was the real deal. I know, i know, he had a train too.

zabel was/is a class act.

[T77911S]

Originally Posted by dmoolenaar

It's hard to tell if Lance was really pressured/maxed or just playing poker. Contador surely demonstrated that he has a couple extra gears - can Lance match him...I'm doubtful...if he had some reserve I would have thought he would have used some to cut the gap to something under a minute.

if he had anything, he would have followed schleck. that was his opportunity to chase contador without really chasing him, hate to say it, he is done.

[T77911S]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

I know the feeling. I have an old (steel) Peugeot that used to be my commuter bike when I was in Chicago. Thing is a tank - probably weighs 30 pounds (mountain-type frame but "hybridized" with taller gears, slicks, aero bar, etc.) I've been meaning to sandblast it and rebuild it from the frame-up. I've got enough spare components sitting around to make it a very fun training/ride-around bike. Most people around here use those "beach cruisers" which I utterly can't stand for some reason... At least they're steel (I think).

i painted my trek 5500 and my specialized MTB. for trek, i got the decals from trek. for the spec. i had a stencil cut and painted the name on over the main color. i will have to scan pics so you can see.
the spec was steel, i took it to a shop when i was in oklahoma that did sandblasting and they stripped the old paint. they had boothes big enough for cars and different material for srtipping.

[Highlander179]

... and whats this story about a Nike-Livestrong Team next year with Brunyeel as puppet master and LA as the obvious lead rider?

I'm never going away without being connected again. I miss too much!

BTW, AWESOME motor by LA yesterday!!! There are still too many riders that are too close. Its going to be fun to watch how they are dropped.

[flatbutt]

17km to go and LA is 1.44 behind the leader.

[T77911S]

what a baaaad time to get rid of cable!!!!!

[teenerted1]

contador and schelck(sp) bros kicked some a$$ today. lance fell to 5th.

stop your *****ing about contacor attacking LA...he had to protect his lead. this is how the racing is done. if lance cant hang why shouldnt contador go for it?