to win

Andre said:

Otherwise Lance will take 5 to 6 minutes on
any of the contenders. Who will those contenders be ? Right now it
appears to be Rasmussen, Basso, Valverde, Mancebo, Leipheimer.

Leipheimer is a good TT rider.

JT

****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************

Gee, do you think?

I find it impossible to give Rassmussen much credit yet. Vino is
attacking enough that I think that he will fail.

Could it be that Armstrong has such a good idea of Vino's capability
that he can let him string out and then all the other teams have to
chase to protect their places? And if they don't he knows precisely the
amount of effort he has to do to protect the Yellow Jersey? That's a
dangerous game since you never know what may befall you or perhaps if
Vino might have a SUPER day. But, still, this Tour looks very
suspiciously like a Discovery cakewalk made more exciting for the
organizers.fans benefit.

Gee, do you think?

I find it impossible to give Rassmussen much credit yet. Vino is
attacking enough that I think that he will fail.

Could it be that Armstrong has such a good idea of Vino's capability
that he can let him string out and then all the other teams have to
chase to protect their places? And if they don't he knows precisely the
amount of effort he has to do to protect the Yellow Jersey? That's a
dangerous game since you never know what may befall you or perhaps if
Vino might have a SUPER day. But, still, this Tour looks very
suspiciously like a Discovery cakewalk made more exciting for the
organizers.fans benefit.

Tom Kunich said:

Gee, do you think?

I find it impossible to give Rassmussen much credit yet. Vino is
attacking enough that I think that he will fail.

Could it be that Armstrong has such a good idea of Vino's capability
that he can let him string out and then all the other teams have to
chase to protect their places? And if they don't he knows precisely the
amount of effort he has to do to protect the Yellow Jersey? That's a
dangerous game since you never know what may befall you or perhaps if
Vino might have a SUPER day. But, still, this Tour looks very
suspiciously like a Discovery cakewalk made more exciting for the
organizers.fans benefit.

You are correct, sir, until the last point. It's simply smart,
conservative tactics. By allowing other riders to threaten places above
1st, DSC creates a situation requiring other teams to work. The risk is
there but rather small. Vino can't have that SUPER a day on a TT bike.
He's no Rumsas.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall

Conservative dictionary:
Judicial Activist: n. A judge who tends to rule against your wishes.

Raptor said:

Tom Kunich wrote:

<rubbish snipped>

Quoted message said:

You are correct, sir, until the last point. It's simply smart,
conservative tactics. By allowing other riders to threaten places above
1st, DSC creates a situation requiring other teams to work. The risk is
there but rather small. Vino can't have that SUPER a day on a TT bike.
He's no Rumsas.

No, he's pontificating without cogitating. What do you think happened
today and why? In the top 18, w/in 6:37 of Armstrong, you've got 3
CSC, 3 T-Mobile, 2 Isles Baleares, 2 CA, 2 Phonak. Still some hills to
come. Look for more of the same.

Quoted message said:

Raptor said:

Tom Kunich wrote:

<rubbish snipped>

Quoted message said:

You are correct, sir, until the last point. It's simply smart,
conservative tactics. By allowing other riders to threaten places above
1st, DSC creates a situation requiring other teams to work. The risk is
there but rather small. Vino can't have that SUPER a day on a TT bike.
He's no Rumsas.

No, he's pontificating without cogitating. What do you think happened
today and why? In the top 18, w/in 6:37 of Armstrong, you've got 3
CSC, 3 T-Mobile, 2 Isles Baleares, 2 CA, 2 Phonak. Still some hills to
come. Look for more of the same.

I'm not sure what happened "today," as I'm under a deadline at work and
wasn't able to catch the whole thing.

Basically, DSC/LANCE watch anyone within 2 minutes, but especially the
TT riders. That weeds the competition down to "zero" with today's GC.
Botero's the nearest threat at 3:48. Rasmussen is no threat overall. His
TT will be his undoing. But his presence near the podium makes everyone
else gun for 2nd, and keep the climbs hot while DSC plays playground
monitor. Watch Levi, 3:58 back. Basso will be interesting to watch, and
Ullrich.

1. Armstrong
2. Leipheimer
3. Ullrich

The 2-3 race is going to be interesting. I put Levi ahead just because
Jan's accumulated lots of owies. They both get stronger in the third
week. Botero's going to disappear from the top, along with Moreau.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall

Conservative dictionary:
Judicial Activist: n. A judge who tends to rule against your wishes.

Tom Kunich said:

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I may be wrong, both on "proving himself" (have I forgotten key wins?),
and on predicting whether Landis can make noise this tour. Yes he "can,"
but I'd bet on Levi.

Does LL have what it takes to be successful against the inevitable charge
from Vino? Hell, does Jan? Stay tuned.

Vinokourov has several other guys to get around before he can even think
about Lance. So does Levi.

Jeff, I don't think you're thinking about this race much. Levi is WAY faster
time trialer than Basso and Floyd is faster I believe. Both of these guys
are withing 2 1/2 minutes of Basso and if they can maintain that or make up
some time both of them are in with a shot at the third step on the podium
come Time Trial time.

Basso looked pretty damn good in the Giro d'Italia time trials. He even
beat Zabriskie late in the Giro, who in turn was the fastest
time-trialist at the beginning of this Tour. With Basso in the shape
he's in, he should at least be able to defend his position in an ITT.

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

Quoted message said:

Tom Kunich said:

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>I may be wrong, both on "proving himself" (have I forgotten key wins?),
>and on predicting whether Landis can make noise this tour. Yes he "can,"
>but I'd bet on Levi.
>
>Does LL have what it takes to be successful against the inevitable
>charge from Vino? Hell, does Jan? Stay tuned.

Vinokourov has several other guys to get around before he can even think
about Lance. So does Levi.

Jeff, I don't think you're thinking about this race much. Levi is WAY
faster time trialer than Basso and Floyd is faster I believe. Both of
these guys are withing 2 1/2 minutes of Basso and if they can maintain
that or make up some time both of them are in with a shot at the third
step on the podium come Time Trial time.

Basso looked pretty damn good in the Giro d'Italia time trials. He even
beat Zabriskie late in the Giro, who in turn was the fastest time-trialist
at the beginning of this Tour. With Basso in the shape he's in, he should
at least be able to defend his position in an ITT.

The Giro TT had a climb in the middle of it. While St. Ettiene TT isn't
perfectly flat it isn't a climbing TT. Lance will RULE by 2 minutes or more.

Tom Kunich said:

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

Quoted message said:

Tom Kunich said:

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

Quoted message said:

>>I may be wrong, both on "proving himself" (have I forgotten key wins?),
>>and on predicting whether Landis can make noise this tour. Yes he "can,"
>>but I'd bet on Levi.
>>
>>Does LL have what it takes to be successful against the inevitable
>>charge from Vino? Hell, does Jan? Stay tuned.
>
>Vinokourov has several other guys to get around before he can even think
>about Lance. So does Levi.

Jeff, I don't think you're thinking about this race much. Levi is WAY
faster time trialer than Basso and Floyd is faster I believe. Both of
these guys are withing 2 1/2 minutes of Basso and if they can maintain
that or make up some time both of them are in with a shot at the third
step on the podium come Time Trial time.

Basso looked pretty damn good in the Giro d'Italia time trials. He even
beat Zabriskie late in the Giro, who in turn was the fastest time-trialist
at the beginning of this Tour. With Basso in the shape he's in, he should
at least be able to defend his position in an ITT.

The Giro TT had a climb in the middle of it. While St. Ettiene TT isn't
perfectly flat it isn't a climbing TT. Lance will RULE by 2 minutes or more.

No question about Lance - I just mean that Basso will be able to hold
his ground against any aspirant to 2nd place.

-Sonarrat.