Beyond expectations

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That Voeckler is a tough little nut, ain't he? Must be some super
powers in that jersey.

Historically, the jersey sometimes makes the man. It's
kind of amazing.

Mike

Michael said:

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That Voeckler is a tough little nut, ain't he? Must be some super
powers in that jersey.

Historically, the jersey sometimes makes the man. It's
kind of amazing.

His team is riding well too. Good for them.

Looking at teams in this race, USPS is clearly the best prepared for a
GC fight. CSC is perhaps the most dynamic and exciting, and Brioches
La Boulangère must be really pleased.

JT

In article <[email hidden]>,

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

Michael said:

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That Voeckler is a tough little nut, ain't he? Must be some super
powers in that jersey.

Historically, the jersey sometimes makes the man. It's
kind of amazing.

His team is riding well too. Good for them.

Looking at teams in this race, USPS is clearly the best prepared for a
GC fight. CSC is perhaps the most dynamic and exciting, and Brioches
La Boulangère must be really pleased.

Well, the bakers have done an awful lot to vilify critics of the
sometimes-dubious French team selections. They are not only riding well,
they're doing interesting things. Voeckler finished 13th on today's
stage, which is pretty much amazing considering how long he's been
defending the yellow jersey.

Now, can we all give R.A.G.T the award for worst team right now and go
home? I can't even think of a rider of theirs who was involved in a
serious escape, much less any other accomplishment.

Their "GC rider":

93. Sylvain Calzati (F), R.A.G.T. Semences-MG Rover, 1:18:35

Oh, but he's doing much better in the race for the green jersey:

35. Sylvain Calzati (F), R.A.G.T. Semences-MG Rover, 28 Pts.

Er, King of the Mountains?

38. Christophe Rinero (F), R.A.G.T. Semences-MG Rover, 5 Pts.

Hm. Well, Calzati also qualifies for the young rider competition...

14. Sylvain Calzati (F), R.A.G.T. Semences-MG Rover, 1:18:35
(Never mind Voeckler, he's well behind Noval, and USPS doesn't even care
about GC or the white jersey.

Oh well, maybe the team competition?

21. R.A.G.T. Semences-MG Rover, 3:45:05

Well, Finot is only 14 minutes out of the Lanterne Rouge.

One other question: Even the tour's official site doesn't have an
overall classification for combativity. Is there one? Rasmussen won the
funny numbers today. I just wanted to make my listing of RAGT futility
complete.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That Voeckler is a tough little nut, ain't he? Must be some super
powers in that jersey.

He is impressive!!!

Curt

Ryan Cousineau said:

One other question: Even the tour's official site doesn't have an
overall classification for combativity. Is there one? Rasmussen won the
funny numbers today. I just wanted to make my listing of RAGT futility
complete.

Finot wore those numbers today. He kinda got it on the cheap though.

--
Stig Are M. Botterli
[email hidden]

"Ryan Cousineau" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

One other question: Even the tour's official site doesn't have an
overall classification for combativity. Is there one?

Rules & Stakes, Article 25 describes the Most Aggressive Rider
Classification:
A r t i c l e 2 5 - Rankings
a) GENERAL INDIVIDUAL TIME CLASSIFICATION
The general individual time classification is determined by adding the times
of each rider in the 21 stages, taking into account time bonuses and
penalties.
b)GENERAL INDIVIDUAL POINTS CLASSIFICATION
The general individual points classification will be determined by adding
the points obtained in the prologue and the individual stage classification,
in accordance with the following scales and taking into account time
penalties:
c) BEST CLIMBER CLASSIFICATION
The best climber classification is determined by adding the points won in
all mountain and hill climbs, [...]
d) YOUNG RIDERS CLASSIFICATION
The young riders classification is open only to riders born after January
1st 1979.
e) GENERAL TEAM CLASSIFICATION
The general team classification is determined by adding each team's best
three individual times for the prologue and every stage.
In the event of a tie in the general classification, the order of teams is
determined based on the number of stage wins by team, then their number of
second places, and so on until a number of places obtained by one of them
enables them to be finally placed.
A team reduced to fewer than 3 riders is eliminated from the general team
classification.
f) MOST AGGRESSIVE RIDER CLASSIFICATION
This prize is awarded to the rider who displays the most effort and
sportsmanship.The recipient of the most aggressive rider is decided on
during the road racing stages by a panel chaired by the race manager.
The general classification is determined by adding the points given by all
members of the panel in each one of the road racing stages.
In the event of a tie in the final general classification, the order is
determined based on riders' placings in the general individual time
classification.
Competitors must finish the Tour de France in order to be placed in the most
aggressive rider classification.

JF

curt said:

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That Voeckler is a tough little nut, ain't he? Must be some super
powers in that jersey.

He is impressive!!!

Curt

I'd swear I heard someone on today's ride utter under their breath: "And
here goes Thomas Voeckler, total Cinderella story, out of no where,
tears in his eyes as he crosses the finish on the Champs Elysee, the
whole of France cheering wildly for this boy in his yellow jersey,
unbelievable..."

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

Michael said:

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That Voeckler is a tough little nut, ain't he? Must be some super
powers in that jersey.

Historically, the jersey sometimes makes the man. It's
kind of amazing.

His team is riding well too. Good for them.

Looking at teams in this race, USPS is clearly the best prepared for a
GC fight. CSC is perhaps the most dynamic and exciting, and Brioches
La Boulangère must be really pleased.

So... If you are Joseba Beloki, what are you thinking right now?

If you're the sponsor of this brave little team, hopefully you are
having some very serious second thoughts. If it weren't for that UCI
Pro Tour [censored], you'd be made.

Richard Adams said:

curt said:

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That Voeckler is a tough little nut, ain't he? Must be some super
powers in that jersey.

He is impressive!!!
Curt

I'd swear I heard someone on today's ride utter under their breath:
"And here goes Thomas Voeckler, total Cinderella story, out of no
where, tears in his eyes as he crosses the finish on the Champs
Elysee, the whole of France cheering wildly for this boy in his yellow
jersey, unbelievable..."

Well methinks the whole World minus the bassophiles and lanceophiles is
cheering him on.

He has enough moral support, and I'd love to see him in Yellow in Paris,
but I just can't see it happening unless he can get into another
double-digit break, which isn't about to happen either.

Upon reflection though, and not to detract from his performance, I think
his goose would have been cooked Friday without Spotted [censored] encouraging
him. That was probably worth more than the slim 22 second lead he has
after stage 13.

Quoted message said:

Well methinks the whole World minus the bassophiles and lanceophiles is
cheering him on.

Actually, the L-philes and B-philes are cheering him on, too. I was at the
Tyler Hamilton Foundation showing today in the DC area, and no one got more
support from the crowd than Voeckler. There was applause and cheers every time
he came on camera.

BTW, watching commerical-free (they ran the video feed without commentary when
OLN went to break) was fantastic - and getting Phil and Paul without *any* Bob
and Al was even better. A great way to wacth the stage.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Stig Are M. Botterli said:

Ryan Cousineau said:

One other question: Even the tour's official site doesn't have an
overall classification for combativity. Is there one? Rasmussen won the
funny numbers today. I just wanted to make my listing of RAGT futility
complete.

Finot wore those numbers today. He kinda got it on the cheap though.

Ah, thank you. So RAGT took a day of the combativity classification.
Woo! Their tour goals are complete 🙂.

Anyone want to nominate the team that should have been in le Tour
instead of RAGT?

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

in article [email hidden], Ryan Cousineau at
[email hidden] wrote on 7/18/04 12:21 AM:

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Stig Are M. Botterli said:

Ryan Cousineau said:

One other question: Even the tour's official site doesn't have an
overall classification for combativity. Is there one? Rasmussen won the
funny numbers today. I just wanted to make my listing of RAGT futility
complete.

Finot wore those numbers today. He kinda got it on the cheap though.

Ah, thank you. So RAGT took a day of the combativity classification.
Woo! Their tour goals are complete 🙂.

Anyone want to nominate the team that should have been in le Tour
instead of RAGT?

God, where to start?

Kelme. Lampre. De Nardi. Milaneza-Maia. Saunier Duval. Vini Caldirola.
Chocolade Jacques. Relax-Bodysol. Hell, even Navigators would have done a
better job than this [censored]-poor team could ever accomplish even if they had
Bernard Hinault as the head honcho.

-Sonarrat.

Richard Adams said:

That Voeckler is a tough little nut, ain't he? Must be some super
powers in that jersey.

Unknown to most is the attention and care paid to the selection of the
annual foil for the Lance Armstrong/USPS Goliath. Though last year's
well-publicized hassles made the selection moot, each year Johan is
assisted by a small army of soigneurs who catalog the pro ranks for
riders who have grievously under-achieved, and/or show potential of
being merely strong but not truly challenging.

When it comes time to surrender the yellow jersey early in the Tour de
France, Johan enters the numbers of each breakaway rider into his team
car computer. Wireless internet connects to a bank of computers running
statistical analysis back on the Nike campus in Washington. (This year
AMD is the hardware sponsor.) The statistcal number-crunching is
returned real-time to the team car, and the chase by USPS domestiques is
turned on or off accordingly.

In 2002, both Francios Simone and Stuart O'Grady came up as being
acceptable yellow jersey wearers. This year, it was Thomas Voeckler. The
geeks behind this effort, accounting for as much as 20% of the team's
budget, have performed well.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young soldiers to
a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning
them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it
could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater
instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"

Davey said:

Well methinks the whole World minus the bassophiles and lanceophiles is
cheering him on.

Why not them too? We know he's not going to win, but we want to see a
good race.

Quoted message said:

He has enough moral support, and I'd love to see him in Yellow in Paris,
but I just can't see it happening unless he can get into another
double-digit break, which isn't about to happen either.

Yep, you're dreaming.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young soldiers to
a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning
them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it
could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater
instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"