Lance isn't going to race to beat Contador, no way, never. He's racing against Schleck.

did you see todays finish? jeez what a sprint!

here is #2 brother with bike on his 930. he has 2 steel frames, foundrest and independant?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-930-turbo-super-charging-forum/486447-trip-930-a.html


i predict one of the schleck brothers will win the stage. perhaps another 1,2,3 with contador.
LA will loose 2 min., amybe more.

I don't think Lance will see the podium come Paris...actually I think he will lose 3-4 minutes to tomorrow's stage goats and wrap the '09 TdF in 6-7th spot. Personally I'd love to see AC blow up (don't care for him) and LA do well but then reality sets in again.

Barring all miracles, I believe you're correct. LA traditionally does not get along with Ventoux.

Why....?....I think that Contador desserve to win TDF IMO.

Just saw that the winds on top of the Ventoux are gusting up to 65 mph (110kmh). It is going to be very interesting.

Well, interesting finish I thought....not the stage I expected at all.

But well done to them all.. very impressive result for the old man.

Interesting, perhaps but it could have been so much more. At the foot of the mountain it really looked like they were going for it with the successive attacks. A shme they didn't continue on the mountain itself. This stage could have been epic. :(

Dunno, thought it was actually pretty epic. Andy S attacks full on several times and can't shake anyone, and Frank can't come across. Frank puts in one good effort and LA covers. Had me on the edge of my seat.

I digress. Andy could not leave Contador but the others could not follow him. It just did not make sense to continue attacking because the others did not matter and he did not want to leave his brother alone with Armstrong.

Agreed. I'm not so sure the others couldn't follow, it was more that they didn't have to. Lance simply had to stay with or near Frank. Frank didn't have the gas to follow Andy, and none of the others were drawn in.

Too true...I expected a full on attack at the base... with LA dragging them all out and killing the ff one by one.. but the cat and mouse game was not expected.

Letting the tow keep the lead for so long and not go for the stage win.. especially Andy is almost inexplicable. He would have been more noted for wining the stage than his second place finish.

Very different race today than what I was expecting. Admittedly LA looked better than I thought he would however I still don't think Lance would have hung with Andy & Roberto & ??? had they just dropped the hammer vs. surging & waiting for Frank.

Bradley sure dug deep that last KM to keep his 4th place spot.

IF Frank had more juice, it would have made for a much more exciting stage.

Props to the old man for his 3rd.

Pretty awesome stage overall. Rumors of Lance Armstrong's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

He knows how to defend a position. He knows where everyone is all the time and how much time they need to challenge. He picks his battles very carefully - a lesson that undoubtedly Contadore has learned too.

Frank Schleck was burned - you could just tell. He's still good, but he just didn't have enough in the tank to push with the big guys like his brother or R.C. If he did, it might've been a different race, but I honestly think L.A. could have kept him reeled in.

Next year is going to be very, very interesting. If L.A. trains like the "old Lance" and gets a good team around him, he may very well be up there with a very real shot of winning another one. Obviously the guys to watch are the Schleck brothers (especially because they're so young), Fabian Cancellara, Contadore (of course), Bradley Wiggins and possibly Kloden.

Don't forget that Armstrong recently broke a collarbone too. His performance has been downright inspiring given his age, his less-than-ideal training/preparation, his injury and all the drama/infighting among team Astana.

You can tell in the interviews with Lance that he's pissed he's not winning it. He knows he's "right there" but right now he simply can't hang with R.C. That'll undoubtedly be a motivator for him as he prepares for next year's tour.

I essentially agree with all of this. The body language between Lance and Contadore was very interesting to see during the ride in and during the ceremony!

Tyler Farrar would make a good addition to Lance/Radio Shack.

Third place - I had my doubts LA would make it that far. I'm glad I was wrong. He's an animal.

Absolutely!

An animal who is going to train like the devil all year and come back in 2010 with a very large chip on his shoulder.

Looking forward to THAT race! Hope he can round up a strong team.

angela

Hincapie has said he won't race in next year's tour...

I wonder if his phone is already ringing from L.A.'s team organizers. Wouldn't THAT be something... ;)