The 2005 Tour de France thread / Go Lance Go!

[phanan]

The 2005 Tour de France thread

Only a couple of days away now. Last call for Lance.

Should be a good one.

 

[DaveC]

I LOVE the TDF.

Not such a fan of the course this year though, would like to see more of northern France personally.

 

[phanan]

Yeah, the course is unusual this year. Not much in northern France, and going clockwise for a change. It will be strange going through the Alps first - I'm so used to them being near the end.

 

[phanan]

Another difference is the first stage later today - it's not a prologue, but a small individual time trial. It should be interesting if Lance or Jan Ullrich can take the lead right away, because if one of them can, and then their team does well in the team time trial, that person could be wearing yellow for a while.

 

[DaveC]

I'd really like to see if Ivan Basso can keep the polka dot jersey this year...I guess the word is that he's been focusing a LOT on his level ground speed training, and some have said at the expense of mountain training. It will be curious to see if he's still in form.

 

[pax]

Go, Lance, Go!

Make it a lucky #7.

I know cydewaze and Mrs. Edge are watching Le Tour with bated breath...anyone else?

 

[impy13]

It's old hat to me now. I think he's overexposed.

And no, I'm not denouncing his accomplishment, it's one of the best stories in sports, but I'm just sick of his bicycle-seat-chapped ass.

I do hope he wins though.

 

[phanan]

I'd say Lance is looking good after yesterday.

 

[phanan]

Yep, I am checking it out too. I started a thread the other day...

http://forum.interference.com/t132680.html

 

[Achtung Joshua!]

Lance will wipe out on his bike and it will be funny.

 

[phanan]

 

[DaveC]

10 minutes till Stage 3 starts!!

OLN's coverage has been really erratic this year so far...I can't usually watch it in the mornings because I'm at work, but the hours when it's supposed to be on in the evenings...it's not!

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Go Lance!

 

[kobayashi]

merged.

we can only hope for a solid competition. but winning would be a great send off for lance this year. seems he is the favourite.

 

[DaveC]

So how about Ullrich crapping out so far?

And Robbie McEwen today...what was possibly going through his head to make him do that??

 

[phanan]

Yeah. I love how McEwen keeps saying he didn't do anything wrong, and that he looked at the tape and still didn't think so.

The team time trial just ended, with a crash by Zabriskie. If that didn't happen, he'd probably still be in yellow. But it was just enough of a distraction.

It appears the yellow jersey is now where it belongs!

 

[DaveC]

Poor David Zabriskie...what a way to lose the maillot jaune!! I feel bad for him.

So here's the predictions for the race after 4 stages, I guess:

Yellow Jersey: Lance Armstrong (there's nobody strong enough to challenge him. The only one might have been Ullrich, and he's sucking major amounts of hairy, sweaty ass.)
Green Jersey: Tom Boonen (Stuart O'Grady can't come back fast enough to make up that point deficit, I don't think.)
Polka Dot Jersey: Ivan Basso (I don't mind Basso winning it, although I would like to see Voeckler get it.)
White Jersey: Fabian Cancellara/Tomas Voecklet (this is the only one I can't decide on...)



I have yet to see today's TT, I only read about it online. but it's on TV in an hour, so I'm excited.

 

[DaveC]

Ok, so apparently I'm an idiot, and Voeckler isn't even eligible for the white jersey. uh:

 

[unosdostres14]

I'm not into biking but can someone explain to me how all the team stuff works. Like what does a team do?

 

[phanan]

Without going into too much detail, a team usually has a leader who goes for the yellow jersey. The team works together to achieve that goal - they sacrifice themselves for the good of the leader (known as domestiques).

During the flat stages, they surround the leader and keep him out of harms way. When the tour hits the mountains, each member has a specific role, so the leader can save his energy until the very end of a stage when he can attack and wipe out his closest rivals (or just wait for them to crack from the pace set by the leader's teammates).

I could really get into it, but I'll spare ya...

 

[phanan]

Poor David Zabriskie...what a way to lose the maillot jaune!! I feel bad for him.

So here's the predictions for the race after 4 stages, I guess:

Yellow Jersey: Lance Armstrong (there's nobody strong enough to challenge him. The only one might have been Ullrich, and he's sucking major amounts of hairy, sweaty ass.)
Green Jersey: Tom Boonen (Stuart O'Grady can't come back fast enough to make up that point deficit, I don't think.)
Polka Dot Jersey: Ivan Basso (I don't mind Basso winning it, although I would like to see Voeckler get it.)
White Jersey: Fabian Cancellara/Tomas Voecklet (this is the only one I can't decide on...)

I agree on Armstrong and Boonen - they are too strong for the yellow and green jerseys.

I think Voeckler is concentrating on the King of the Mountains jersey and has a plan in place. Whether he succeeds or not, who knows, but I hope he does. Basso will be concentrating on GC, so I don't think he'll be too focused on the polka dots...

As for the white jersey, I see Vladmir Karpets repeating. He's too good in the mountains.

 

[DaveC]

I agree. Karpets is v good in the mountains, but Cancellara is miles ahead on the flats. This tour has a lot more flats than last year's did. I think as long as Cancellara can hold in there on the mountains and not concede too much time, that he can burn Karpets on the flats (especially the long gradual downhill of Stage 13), and make it VERY close. Maybe even right down to the Champs-Elysées. Which Cancellara would probably win on in a sprint finish.

 

[phanan]

Cancellara is going to have to attack on one of these flat stages in order to have a chance, because he can't beat the sprinters and he'll lose time in the mountains. If it's close for the white jersey by the final time trial, he'll take it.

 

[phanan]

Lance appeared a little vunerable today. I wonder if that was truly the case, or if it was planned. He had no teammates with him on the final climb, and we're only talking a Category 2.

This is getting interesting...

 

[DaveC]

I don't think he looked vulnerable at all. He chased Vino down twice when he attacked.

I'm sure his teammates are going to be getting an earful tonight though from Johann.

 

[phanan]

I don't think he looked vulnerable at all. He chased Vino down twice when he attacked.

I'm sure his teammates are going to be getting an earful tonight though from Johann.

Yes, I meant vulnerable in terms of being isolated, of not having any teammates with him. When he's by himself, there's only so many attacks he can counter.

I think the riders were going so fast up that smaller mountain that it took everyone by surprise. They certainly won't be going as fast on the big ones - maybe that's why his teammates weren't there.

 

[Rono]

Pieter weening

The stage of yesterday was good, Lance did look a little vunerable . Lets see what will happen today

 

[DaveC]

Lance has lost the yellow jersey.

I really don't know what Johann Bruyneel is intending to do with this strategy...I mean, I know Lance couldn't have come close to Rasmussen or even the first chase group (Voigt and Moreau), but he could certainly have made it into the second chase with a little attacking.




PS: Rono, those bananas move at EXACTLY the same tempo as "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" by Bob Dylan.

 

[Rono]

Maybe Lance want to save energy. His team is not in the best shape, voigt is not a real threath ( rasmussen either ) and with Ulrich, Klode and vinokoerov (sp)T-mobil will attack hard in the Alps.

 

[Vorsprung]

Don't forget CSC. Next to Voigt they have three other very capable riders (Basso, Sastre and Julich) in the top 10 and all of them (the 3 others) know how climb up a mountain.

And trust me, Vinokourov will attack....He's probably the most offensive rider in the peloton...which also his greatest weakness...