We need another ITT in 2006

Keith said:

Wonder what kind of an idiot decided to take out the middle ITT, we
really need that, especially in 2006. Taking this year as a reference
it would have been a virtual draw between Basso Ullrich - forgetting
about Ullrich's fringale in the second day of the Pyrenees when he
lost 1' in 1k.

Heck in 1985 there were 3 ITT's and one of them was 75k !

At the time, lots of people noted that: 1) Hinault was very strong in
ITTs, 2) Winning in 1985 would make Hinault tie with Anquetil & Merckx,
and 3) Hinault was French,

.... and speculated that the 3 ITTs were there for a very specific reason.

Mark

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mark Janeba said:

Keith said:

Wonder what kind of an idiot decided to take out the middle ITT, we
really need that, especially in 2006. Taking this year as a reference
it would have been a virtual draw between Basso Ullrich - forgetting
about Ullrich's fringale in the second day of the Pyrenees when he
lost 1' in 1k.

So what's your point? That the etape should have favoured Jan more? That
it sucks that Jan climbed badly and TT'd well?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Heck in 1985 there were 3 ITT's and one of them was 75k !

At the time, lots of people noted that: 1) Hinault was very strong in
ITTs, 2) Winning in 1985 would make Hinault tie with Anquetil & Merckx,
and 3) Hinault was French,

Every year when the Tour route is announced, people start speculating on
what "purpose" the particular course serves. So the Alpe d'Huez TT was
seen as a showcase for Lance's strengths...or weaknesses.

I haven't heard any of that speculation this year. Maybe someone can
figure out whether the mountain stages were more or less numerous than
usual (though it seemed like there were quite a few, and they were
pretty devastating). The reduction to 1.5 TTs plus the TTT was an
interesting novelty, but the Tour organizers always seem to like a
modicum of novelty, one way or the other. Maybe next year they'll do a
TT final stage again.

Quoted message said:

... and speculated that the 3 ITTs were there for a very specific reason.

Well, tell us, why? 🙂

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Mark Janeba said:

Keith said:

Wonder what kind of an idiot decided to take out the middle ITT, we
really need that, especially in 2006. Taking this year as a reference
it would have been a virtual draw between Basso Ullrich - forgetting
about Ullrich's fringale in the second day of the Pyrenees when he
lost 1' in 1k.

Heck in 1985 there were 3 ITT's and one of them was 75k !

At the time, lots of people noted that: 1) Hinault was very strong in
ITTs, 2) Winning in 1985 would make Hinault tie with Anquetil & Merckx,
and 3) Hinault was French,

... and speculated that the 3 ITTs were there for a very specific reason.

Mark

Yes but there were even more ITTs in the 70s, anyway, we still need an
intermediate ITT like we did in 2003 that would balance out the race
and offer more suspense, especially if Basso and Ullrich are the main
contenders next year.