That's funny - I was thinking the same thing!

Not sure whether LA isthe strongest domestique in TDF or not, he was beaten by Kloden. LA has been riding as a team leader rather than a domestique so far, hence he is second in the general classification. When the pressure was put on, he was found wanting.

I'll third that. The thrill is gone. I'm betting Lance will now fall off the pace and lose by ... six strokes.

+4 i was hoping for the old Lance

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So you guys aren't really cycling fans as much as Lance fans?

True the drama may be over, but it's still a treat to watch a one of a kind athlete in his chosen sport. More so since cycling has such a tradition for great champions to stay in the sport as supporting players.

Kind of completes LA's resume, his cycling lifecycle if you will. Make's him more human, less a miracle freak of nature IMO.

Not that there is anything wrong with that ;)

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I think Kloden is the stronger domestique for Astana. Seeing as he out rode Lance in the TT by 18 seconds, and pretty much hauled Lance up the last hill today and put a bit of time into him in the last 100 meters or so. Where would we have guessed those two would have finished today had Kloden not paced Lance up the hill? I wonder where poor Levi would have been too.

Yeah, I'm thinking we need a "Seniors Tour". Lance. Der Kaiser. Maybe Lemond could drop a hundred pounds and make a comeback.
We can all follow Lance's domination of the pot belly tour.

Brad

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how would he have attacked? he got dropped by everyone including a guy who was a track rider until a few months ago. lance is done, and showed what a dick he is with the post-race comments. did you notice christian said "i'll absolutely be riding for wiggo" while lance could only lament on himself? and his "we still have a few cards to play" line - please. do your job and ride for contador like you said you would before he handed you your ass.

lance will be lucky to be near the podium when he doesn't have kloden to pull him up the mountain.

Lance the strongest Domestique of the 09 TDF??

I think that honour might go to Cancellara. Did you see him bust the race open at the bottom of the climb after being in the break all day? Lance will place higher, but FC has been doing a shitload of work the whole tour.

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So you guys aren't really cycling fans as much as Lance fans?

To the contrary. I'm quite a cycling fan. I just don't think this is going to be much of a bike race from here on. I think Contador is going to be on a cake walk to his coronation. I mean ... c'mon ... nobody came close to staying with Contador. You can argue for Andy Schleck, maybe, but it's a weak argument.

Game over.

I find that a rather negative assessment.

If you imagine that this is the first time in his career that Lance has actually raced his bicycle, (participated in other races), he's done amazingly well.

It makes one wonder how he would've done if he would've been out there racing during his Tour years; if he would've had success. With this year's broken collar-bone. It's so surprising that he's sitting so high up in the GC now. But, then, he's got a great team pulling him down the road.
It was good poker to have him pretend to be a team leader thus far.

For a guy who really shouldn't be there, - he's doing so great.

IMO, - Lance should be celebrated for breaking into the top 10; even if he now drops way back.

Cheers,

>>IMO, - Lance should be celebrated for breaking into the top 10; even if he now drops way back

this line of reasoning baffles me. was it lance's goal to win the tdf or go out and do as well as he can for a 37-year old guy? the way he sauntered back into astana and tried to shove the guy aside who has won the last three grand tours he's entered made it seem like he intended to win.

so now that contador appears to have the tdf under control (but of course a lot of things can change), is everyone going to shift their attention to giving lance lots of attaboys and backslaps for being out there trying hard, instead of recognizing contador as the strongest rider in the race right now?

Albert Accountant does seem to have the jump in the mountains and the TT'ing advantage over the main rivals that Lance had when he was winning - just that extra gear no one else has an answer to. Lance is still there with the top riders but doesn't seem to have that extra bit. Whether this is lack of training due to collar bone injury, 3 years off training, age or just not having that motivation to turn yourself inside out (though he seemed to be riding pretty hard so I doubt this) . At one stage it look like Kloden had been dropped as he shook his head and started to drop back. Lance pushed the pace to catch the Shlecks but that effort obviously cost him as Kloden came back.

Most cycling fans pretty well knew that before the tour started. Regardless of who wins, this week is the one to watch. Aren't you remotely interested to see what what Wiggins can do? Whether Kloden makes it on the Podium? Who wins up Ventoux?

I would love to see Astana turn Kloden loose. Kloden and Contador should end up 1-2 if he is not relegated to towing Lance around.

I'm not so much a Lance fan as I'm a Tour fan. Maybe because it's in the middle of the summer, but I just really get into the tour. I really never expected Lance to beat AC, but also didn't expect AC to ride off his wheel so easy without more of a fight. There's still plenty of drama to come, just not for the Yellow.

There are two Lances.

One, - months ago said that "I'm coming back to promote cycling, and Livestrong." Then, came the contradiction, - sometime after the Giro. I concur with my teammates and racing pals who said that if he comes back and sticks to promoting cycling and behaves as a great ambassador/domestique that it'll be super cool. If he comes back knocking over all of the plates in the china closet, and asserts himself as the protected rider in the TDF, - then he's a major jerk. If it turns out that his behavior was part of a Bruyneel poker bluff; then some slack should be cut. If not, then shame on him.

At the end of the day, it was an amazing thing to watch, Lance riding the Giro, plus the TofCAL. Lets see if he rides the Vuelta.

Definetly would not want to play Texas hold-em with LA. Okay maybe I would.

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I'm not so much a Lance fan as I'm a Tour fan.

I'm not that much of a tour fan. Too many "nothing" stages like the ones we were treated to this year with final climbs coming 40 kms from the finish line. BOOOOOrrrring!

I always hoped Lance would come back from retirement. I just wish he'd have come back to be a classics racer ... to go for some of the races like Amstel where he was so close in the past. The classics have been pretty good for older riders.

i'm talking about the lance who said the tfd will get sorted out in the alps. ac just did the sorting and lance doesn't like his hand.

I have felt since the announcement of his return that today would happen. He lost a bit of time and and Contador going into the tour was the better rider. He proved that today but that does not mean that this tour is over one bad day in the mountains can put you out of the win. Astana came in with several options for this tour and I really think Astana's plan was to sweep the podium and that clearly is a realistic option. Lance did look to be struggling at the top. I do not think it is so much age but the fact he has ben out of the peleton for close to 4 years. The team Lance has around him now is built for options whether it be for Contador, Armstrong, Koden and Leipheimer when he was still in the race. In the past Lance had a team that worked the mountains for him in stages to launch him with 3-5 k to go. The guys like Popo, Rast worked the bottom but the climbers really had to work together. It is a great tour with a lot of drama remaining. Remember that last stage before Paris will still determine the podium. As for the pre stage and post stage comments remmber that Johan and Lance are the best at tactics and this race still has 4 major stages remaining. The tactic for Contador was to go today and Lance was looking for the tt and Ventoux.It was very unrealistic to think tht he would roll away with this tour especially since the best rider in the race is a teammate. It will be clear as the week goes on that the object is to make sure Astana wins the race and bickering could allow someone steal it. That will not happen under Johan's watch.

Quit living in the PAST!