Yeah, It was a good attacking day by T-Mobile. Vinokorouv blew up the pace, and probably any chance he had by going all out so early. But he is a loveable rider, always attacking. And then finally Ullrich gave it a try, which is admireable. He hasn't been very attackwilling earlier. Basso on the other hand is a big p***y. But I guess he gets what he came for. A 2nd place finish. Also Armstrong is a masterful tactician, letting other riders close down attacks on most occasions when his teammates are blown. That is something I never have liked by the tour is that riders value a podium finish so much that they wont do what is needed for the win. When someone attacks the leader (Lance) there is always the other riders trying to close it down to get 2nd or 3rd in the end. Let Lance close it, or wait to attack Lance on your own later. That I feel is the only way Lance could have been beaten. He would probably be strong enough (looked very strong today) to close those attacks himself, but not even forcing him to do so saves Armstrong legs and tires your own. Looking at it that way it is easier to defend the jersey than take it away, and that is why the time trial part of Lance's wins is so important.
Current standing all the way down to todays stage winner: 1 001 ARMSTRONG Lance DSC USA 2 057 RASMUSSEN Mickael RAB DEN 01' 41" 3 021 BASSO Ivan CSC ITA 02' 46" 4 011 ULLRICH Jan TMO GER 04' 34" 5 164 LEIPHEIMER Levi GST USA 04' 45" 6 066 LANDIS Floyd PHO USA 05' 03" 7 031 MANCEBO Francisco IBA ESP 05' 03" 8 014 KLÖDEN Andréas TMO GER 05' 38" 9 019 VINOKOUROV Alexandre TMO KAZ 07' 09" 10 101 MOREAU Christophe C.A FRA 08' 37" 11 096 JAKSCHE Jorg LSW GER 08' 52" 12 044 EVANS Cadel DVL AUS 09' 14" 13 007 POPOVYCH Yaroslav DSC UKR 09' 59" 14 161 TOTSCHNIG Georg GST AUT 10' 39" This is looking more and more like a Armstrong, Basso, Ullrich podium unless Rasmussen can come back in the mountain stage tomorrow - as he will lose hard on the final time trial.
I guarantee you he was tired. One of the most important "skills" a pro cyclists can have is the ability to hide the fact that he/she is tired. Especially from the TV cameras. Remember a couple of years ago when Armstrong faked being tired and caused Telekom to bust the peloton open for him?
What does it mean when "the team" brought the attacker back. I never understood that. Did they ask him to stop riding hard or what? How can a team bring someone back to lance Armstrong. I don't get it. Unless it means they peddled hard to catch up to the attacker and let Armstrong draft off them.
A perfectly good example was yesterday when Robbie McEwen won the stage. He would never have been close to winning it had not his team brought the attack back (or rather brought the peleton up to the breakaway). McEwen also said so in his victory interview. He was in awe of his teammates being able to do that when no one else was willing to ride hard to catch the breakaway. Btw, some of his teammates came in around 11 minutes after the pack and were as credited with the win as all Davitamon-Lotto riders. Without them the breakaway would have succeeded and Robbie could not have won the stage. And yes it is all about drafting.
Robbie McEwen rewarded his Davitamon-Lotto team-mates by crossing the line first. Before the Australian champion threw his salute, however, there was one big question that needed to be answered: will they or won’t they stay away? ‘They’ were Chris Horner and Sylvain Chavanel. The former was part of a five-man break that escaped the peloton after 17 kilometers of the stage from Miramas to Montpellier, the latter a man riding on the motivation provided by the whiff of a win and the performance of his colleague David Moncoutie on Bastille Day. Together with the instigator of the today’s long escape Carlos Da Cruz, the Spanish opportunist Juan Antonio Flecha, and two local ‘roulers’ Thomas Voeckler and Ludovic Turpin, the American who rides for Saunier Duval-Prodir worked hard in the obligatory attack. After a rapid hour of racing, Horner’s quintet had a lead on the peloton in excess of nine minutes. Normally this would have signaled the theme of what was yet to come. In ordinary circumstances the escapees would have pushed their leading margin even higher and the peloton would have been content to roll into town to contest the sprint for sixth place. Boonen’s absence, however, changed the format of this transitional stage. Davitamon-Lotto riders came forward after the rapid first hour – in which the leading five covered 51km! – and began their pursuit. Their sprinter, Robbie McEwen, began the hot stage ranked third in the points classification and the flat course was ideally suited for a bunch finish. This is why guys like Wim Vansevenant, Johan van Summeren and Christophe Brandt put the peloton into overdrive en route to Montpellier. Two of these Davitamon-Lotto riders who swapped off at the front of the bunch for hour after hour are ranked last and second-last in the stage, but McEwen insisted on reminding everyone at the finish that his victory was largely thanks to their toil. http://www.letour.fr/2005/TDF/LIVE/us/1300/index.html
To bad Boogert didn't win, but he was just not strong enough. I realy do not understand why that guy who came in second, that sanish guy(forgot his name) kept riding up front. he got no help and still he kept going, it was just not smart. Rasmussen did a god thing in the end, he almost got up with Ulrich, very impressive. The Rabobank team is cycling pretty wel.
where do the cars go when the bikers from behind are catchig up to the bikers up front? you know they can't just drive off the street...ehere do they go? Also, I don't even know how the riders know where they are going because there are so many people on the street. It was like going through butter. Basso was cutting right three 'em but I don't know how. I saw that one dude get run over by the motoycle. Do the riders like it when water gets dumped on their back?
Chalk up #7 for Lance Armstrong. Retiring at the absolute peak (of all time?) of your sport must be satisfying, to say the least.
As for where the cars go... if you get to see a shot of the end you will see that the cars have a special place where they can turn off. If it's in the middle of a race then the cars have to just pull over as best they can even if it means "moving" spectators out of the way. Since the race directors know where everyone is (more or less) they will radio to team cars and let them know they have to "clear the gap" as riders are approaching. The riders know where to go because they are given a race "bible" beforehand with maps of all the routes. If the riders are smart (like Armstrong) they will ride the route before the race (weeks before) to learn not only the route but the nuances of the course (where it gets steep, where it gets slick, where the sharp turns are, etc...) If its very hot, the riders probably don't mind too much about the water but you never want strangers throwing water on you as it may not be water. Its probably never a bad thing when someone you know does it. You never, ever drink from a beverage offered to you from a stranger (however I did see a rider take a bottle of water from a stranger and dump it over his back). On a long, hot ride a Coka Cola is the best thing to drink. Cold, sweet and full of sugar.
Actually it is probably the worst thing to drink on a long hot ride as the sugar dehydrates you a lot.
im in paris right now, camping out early tomorrow for a spot on the finish line. ill post pics if im able to get decent ones.
Despite his detractors and the skeptics that believe he is doping, Armstrong is one of the greatest cyclists ever, we have all watched history and the stuff of legend for the last couple of years. Although I'll be sad to see him go, it'll be nice to see what will happen next year.
Anyone know the story of Lance's divorce? As I was watching, I was wondering what his ex-wife must be thinking seeing Sheryl Crow...Sheryl wasn't there for the bad times.
