Put far more eloquently than any of you could ever manage...
http://www.procycling.com/news.aspx?ID=294
or
Boardman: A mountainous anti-climax
Chris Boardman looks back on a week when Lance's rivals crumbled and
wonders if Lance is still due a slice of bad luck cake.
PICTURE BY TIM DE WAELE
Having spent nearly two weeks looking forward to the mountains, it was
something of an anti-climax when Lance Armstrong rode away from all
the pre-Tour favourites… again.
I almost thought I heard Ullrich say "Oh, I'll get my coat then, shall
I?" and Armstrong's reply, "Yeah, thanks for stopping by." It would
seem that the German's prologue performance was not born of
unfathomable tactics after all, just plain not being as fast as the
others. Now trailing the USP rider by a whopping 6-39, it's hard to
see what he can do to have any kind of meaningful influence on the
outcome of the race.
Basso seems to be the only rider in the competition who has lived up
to his pre-Tour billing (Armstrong excluded of course) and is capable
of staying with the American; the rest can't even cope with
Armstrong's ludicrously strong team. Despite Armstrong talking of how
tough his Italian companion was, I got the distinct impression he was
merely being polite and that he could have ridden away at any time.
Of course, the battle is far from over and Lance is yet to have his
slice of the bad luck cake everyone else is busy digesting, but it is
hard to see what anyone can now do to him or his team that will serve
to be more than a minor irritant.
Talking of irritants, Richard Virenque managed to slip into the
mountains jersey yet again, by being king of the 4th-category climbs.
I have to admit I am a little confused as to why Virenque is in The
Tour at all. I fail to see how the TDF can send people home who are
under investigation for doping (with nothing proven) and then let the
likes of Virenque, who was established to be one of the causes of the
race's biggest ever doping scandal in 98, compete? Well, I suppose it
is their race…
An honourable mention must go to young Thomas Voeckler and his team
for squeezing every last drop out of their stint with the yellow
jersey; those boys really know a thing or two about hard work. After
the preceding 24 hours of carnage in the mountains, his smiling face
as he crossed the line in 13th position (still in yellow) was a
welcome sight.
This was an emotion I was hoping not to see displayed by Ivan Basso
who, after his win on stage 12 and subsequent 2nd place on the
monstrous stage 13 to Plateau de Beille looked disappointedly content.
My fear that he would be equally delighted with 2nd on GC would seem
to be coming to fruition, meaning CSC are likely to fall in to the old
trap of working for Armstrong by default.
With favourites cracking left, right and centre, it was a pretty
confusing (and depressing) couple of days, so much so that I am
actually looking forward to the flatter stages more than the remaining
mountains, as it looks increasingly likely that only fight worth
watching will be the one for the green jersey, and a fine battle it is
shaping up to be.
Robbie McEwen is clearly the fastest sprinter in the race, but he is
decidedly more fragile than the likes of O'Grady, Zabel and Hushovd,
the latter emerging as one of the new stars of the Tour de France.
With plenty of grippy stages yet to come, I can see the young
Norwegian wrestling the points jersey from McEwen's shoulders, however
he will need to build a buffer sufficient to survive the Champs
Elysées, where the Australian is more likely to shine.
Like Induran before him, we can hardly blame Armstrong for doing his
job well, but it has to be said, watching him repeatedly stomp all
over, well, everyone and snuff out any glimmer of a chance that he
could be bested doesn't make for top telly. Perhaps the collective
cycling industry should club together and pay him a few million to
retire. Hang on, I'll go and borrow a tenner…