[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iqwARP2BvQ"]YouTube - Descent into Gap: Lance Armstrong Vinokourov[/ame]
Will Lance Armstrong start the Tour de France
- Thread starter steve
- Start date
coneofsilence said:
Yeah well that was then & this is now. Lance has had a rotten build up to this years T de F & he's pushing 40.
However much I dislike him (& I do) credit where credit due. In his prime he was a seriously good cyclist - strong, technically able & tactically on the ball (& smart enough to get the best dope & medical 'advice' money could buy
) When this T de F is finished I propose to start a thread entitled 'The meaning of Lance Armstrong?' but that will have to wait until the end of July.
I consider myself neither fan or foe, but, "don't count your chickens before they hatch".gtm said:
Last year all the anti-Armstrong posters talked much trash and he came in 3rd. So he beat over 100 other riders.
IMO- Unless a trash talker is Contador or Andy Schleck they have no place to talk.
As far as drugs and doping, I figure there are 2 types of competitors. Those who do dope and those who wish they were willing to gamble their careers to dope.
Wlfdg said:
I think he can have a succesful tour, but I don't think he can win. Not with the likes of Contador, Schleck, Cadel, Sastre etc... A stage win and a high overall standing (top ten) wouldn't surprise me and for a rider pushing 40, would be impressive.
Wlfdg said:
I'm not sure I agree this comment. I don't think all clean riders tell themselves, "I sure wish I was willing to use performance enhancing drugs." They might not be willing to do drugs because of the negative outcome it could have on their career, but I don't think the 2 types of competitors wouuld boil down to dopers and those who don't have the will to act on their own wishes (doping).
Wlfdg said:
Makes sense. I got hung up on your comment: "wish they were willing to gamble their careers to dope."
LA has entered the Tour de Suisse. This should be a pretty good indicator of where he is at mentally and physically a couple of weeks before the TdF starts.
One thing that will work in Lance's favor is the fact that the likes of the Schleck brothers and Evans won't attack. They don't have the cajones to do it, instead seeming more content with fighting for the scraps after someone eventually does put the hammer down. I bet half of the top names have stained their chamois brown at the thought of the final 3 mountain stages.
Now, if the Tour was more like the Giro or even old school Tours and they started serious attacking a couple of mountains from the finish and made a day of it then Lance could well be in some serious trouble.
It'll be more of the same, just like last year. We'll probably get one day of semi entertaining racing in the mountains and that excitement will only be prompted if one of the top guys gets a flat tire.
Now, if the Tour was more like the Giro or even old school Tours and they started serious attacking a couple of mountains from the finish and made a day of it then Lance could well be in some serious trouble.
It'll be more of the same, just like last year. We'll probably get one day of semi entertaining racing in the mountains and that excitement will only be prompted if one of the top guys gets a flat tire.
swampy1970 said:
Gotta love those flats!
I think this year's tour will be pretty entertaining. Climbing up the Tourmalet twice, with one of the accents being a mountain top finish. Should be a nice deviation from the norm. I think the Tourmalet was only used as a finishing climb once or twice before. Also, stage 3 with the cobbles could prove entertaining. We might see similar results to the 2004 stage where riders with overall ambitions lost some pretty significant time on the cobbled sections. However, I am dissapointed with the lack of TTs this year. Just two ITT's totaling 59 kilometers. Since they left the TTT out of this year's race they should have added another ITT (30-35k) halfway through the race or possibly a mountain TT. Oh well....
pennstater said:
This years tour needs more time trailing
I like to see them bring back at least 2 50km+ TT's. If a climber looses 4 or 5 minutes, it will force them to attack more in the mountains instead of riding like its a funeral procession.Not including prologues;
1991
Stage 2: TTT > 36.5km
Stage 9: ITT > 73km
Stage 21: ITT > 57km
Total TT: 166.5km
1992
Stage 4: TTT > 63.5km
Stage 9: ITT > 65km
Stage 19: ITT > 64km
Total TT: 192.5km
1993
Stage 4: TTT > 81km
Stage 9: ITT > 59km
Stage 19: ITT > 48km
Total TT: 188km
1994
Stage 3: TTT > 66.5km
Stage 9: ITT > 64km
Stage 19: ITT > 46.5km
Total TT: 177km
1995
Stage 3: TTT > 64km
Stage 9: ITT > 54km
Stage 19: ITT > 46km
Total TT: 164km
2010
Stage 19: ITT > 51km
Total TT: 51km
steve said:This years tour needs more time trailing
Not including prologues;
1991
Stage 2: TTT > 36.5km
Stage 9: ITT > 73km
Stage 21: ITT > 57km
Total TT: 166.5km
1992
Stage 4: TTT > 63.5km
Stage 9: ITT > 65km
Stage 19: ITT > 64km
Total TT: 192.5km
1993
Stage 4: TTT > 81km
Stage 9: ITT > 59km
Stage 19: ITT > 48km
Total TT: 188km
1994
Stage 3: TTT > 66.5km
Stage 9: ITT > 64km
Stage 19: ITT > 46.5km
Total TT: 177km
1995
Stage 3: TTT > 64km
Stage 9: ITT > 54km
Stage 19: ITT > 46km
Total TT: 164km
2010
Stage 19: ITT > 51km
Total TT: 51km
Thanks for breaking that down Steve. Pretty stunning to see how much less time-trialing the riders do now compared to a few years ago. The amount of kilometers raced against the clock dropped significantly from 2005 (151 km) to 2006 (108 km) and has stayed low ever since. But this year is especially low.
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