"52TeethNoCavities" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in
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Quoted message said:"52TeethNoCavities" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:Quoted message said:...ULLRICH is to POULIDOR. Yeah, I know, it's not a perfect
comparison. Ullrich won once, Poulidor did not. But you know,
Anquetil and Armstrong both have/had an inner all-comsuming desire to
win, while Poulidor and Ullrich both were/are apparently not as
driven internally.
Based on Armstrong's and Ullrich's respective rides in the Prologue
today, I have to think the 2004 Tour may well turn out to add to the
Ullrich/Poulidor comparison. I mean, Armstrong was a man obsessed and
just obliterated Ullrich. And this was a 6km TT -- that's supposed to
be Ullrich's strong suit!
Huh? Ullrich was 4th last year, 4th in 2001, 4th in 2000, I could go
on, but exactly what gave you the idea that he specialized in spooky
short sharp turning TT's inside cities?
Jan's always been known as a strong TT rider. He's beaten L.A. at some
notable TT's, such as 2003 TdF Stage 12 at Gaillac and the Men's TT at
the 2000 TT. Are you suggesting the only reason Jan lost the Prologue is
because it was too short?
Jan is a big rider that likes to ride really big gears. That usually means
that he doesn't accelerate really well even though he is probably the most
powerful TT rider out there. Prologues, which are too short for Jan to
really strut his stuff leave him looking a bit slow even though he is really
strong.
So, yes, the main reason that Jan doesn't win Prologues is because they are
too short and sharp for his style of riding.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Apparently he must strike you
as being extraordinarily stupid.
No, I think Jan Ullrich is a very good cyclist. The only stupidity I'm
aware of is the 6 month suspension for drugs, which he himself admitted
was a one-time "idiotic" mistake.
Jan is young. We tend to forget that when you think that he's been racing
bicycles for 15 or more years.
Quoted message said:I'm just wondering why Ullrich didn't do well in the Prologue TT.
Conserving energy for later? Did he think LA would throttle back, so JU
could afford to as well? Or maybe JU just isn't in peak condition...
We'll see soon enough. Stage 13 will be huge in this race.
I don't believe that Jan will be significantly better than Armstrong
anywhere in this Tour. Though I wouldn't be too surprised if Jan did beat
Lance by some small amount in the flat TT on the next to final day.
