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.