Merckx critical of Ullrich

[Jeff Jones]

"Tom Kunich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Charles Hizark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I was just watching the Fleche Wallone and it appears that Ullrich did
> > not finish. This seems to confirm that Ullrich's form is off at this
> > point. So unless Ullrich starts to act fast his chances of winning the
> > tdf will be over.
>
> For some reason, Jan doesn't seem to be able to concentrate on his
training
> in the winter and then is continuously playing catch-up in the spring. The
> pictures I've seen of Jan did not show him significantly overweight as in
> past years but he speed in the races he has done this year is not
> impressive.
>
He's bigger than he was in this race last year. He didn't seem fat,
just...wide. Really solid and definitely several kilos off his anorexic Tour
shape. I dunno if it was the extra weight that made him suffer on the Huy,
but he was really struggling to stay on the tail end of the 190 rider
peloton at the top. He's got a lot of catching up to do before July.

Jeff

 

[Tom Kunich]

"Jeff Jones" <jeff@cyclingnews-punt-com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> He's bigger than he was in this race last year. He didn't seem fat,
> just...wide. Really solid and definitely several kilos off his anorexic
Tour
> shape. I dunno if it was the extra weight that made him suffer on the Huy,
> but he was really struggling to stay on the tail end of the 190 rider
> peloton at the top. He's got a lot of catching up to do before July.

He's also a great deal older than his real Tour form when Riis won. At that
time Jan was a Greg LeMond slight figure who could walk away from everyone
on the hills and who had to be restrained from winning the Tour from his own
team mate Riis.

Since then, each year Jan has shown progressively greater and greater power
but his size has neutralized that advantage each year. A great deal of this
is just natural to aging. Lance himself is nowhere near the body build he
had in '99 and a great deal closer to his form of '96.

You can't fool mother nature for too long.

 

[TritonRider]

>From: "Tom Kunich" [email protected]

>Since then, each year Jan has shown progressively greater and greater power
>but his size has neutralized that advantage each year. A great deal of this
>is just natural to aging. Lance himself is nowhere near the body build he
>had in '99 and a great deal closer to his form of '96.
>
>You can't fool mother nature for too long.

How dare you make reasonable points! Don't you know that If you took pictures
of a black Colnago and posted them a large portion of RBR would call you an
idiot and say it was a white DeRosa?
If Jan is going to get another Tour that matters, this has to be the one.
Unfortunately, as you point out his strategy may be way off. I don't think he
can get enough in the TTs to make up for the climbs if he is carrying too much
mass.
Go Jan
Bill C