What the hell are you talking about? I know Eddie's story.

---

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Eddy ;P

ironclm, You are one of very few who know Merckx's Story. Most think it began with Lemond, and now Lance is the greatest ever. The competition Eddy faced was twice that of what Lances faces. Even Lemond had alot more comp. than Lance. Ullrich may be good but he is no BH, Pedro Delgato...ect.

>>ironclm, You are one of very few who know Merckx's Story. Most think it began with Lemond, and now Lance is the greatest ever.<<

Yeah, I forget about that.

---

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

ah, Pedro Delgado...the only guy who did test positive during the Tour, for who the test was confirmed positive, and yet kept his Tour... ;-)

Actually not many road cycling enthusiasts have not heard of Eddie Merckx.

Here's another slant to the same story.

Back in the old days, practically all the pro riders contested most of the events. As such it was that legends like LeMond, Hinnault, Indurian and especially Merckx did dominate in so many of these events across the board.

Now it's different. Which pro rider in the Peloton wouldn't sacrifice the rest of the season if they felt they could really be in with a chance of winning Le Grand Boucle? In fact a larger proportion of the Pros do plan and focus their season and select events depending on their strengths. Such is the nature of the competition now, it's totally unpragmatic to try and do well in most of the bigger races spread through the season and still expect to win Le Tour.

So it's all about the change and evolution of the competition itself. The legends are legends but let's not use nostalgia to dilute Mr Armstrong's achievements. Misseur Lance is a legend and he may well be the greatest legend of all time depending on who you talk to. No matter ..from now and into the future when people talk about that most taxing, most highly contested and greatest of all bicycle races, they will not be able to do so without talking about that great bike racer, Lance Armstrong. Yes he has firmly embedded his name into the history books.

Even the Lance bashers who keep on bashing him; ironically keep his name at the forefront more than any other bike rider when their common protest is that they're tired of listening to his name. -:)

I'm not bashing the current riders...but it is a bit boring watching lance sit back day after day...only attacking during a few stages and the TT's. Yesterday was a great example...the race had tougher climbs, yet there was a relatively big pack of riders finishing together because the pace wasn't pushed to the extreme that it was the day before. It seems to me, if they really want guys to go all out on a daily basis, there needs to be more incentive for them to do it. I know it's not likely to happen...but it would be cool.

Having said that...I can't imagine how much more punishing the race would be if you actually raced to win every single stage. The riders would probably have to resort to taking drugs just to finish ;)

So according to their reasoning, an Italian is more american than a Kazakh ???

I have trouble understanding their point, to say the least.

Well you know how it is. Le Tour is a long race with so many different types of stages and terrain, for riders who want to win the Green or the Polka Dot or a particular stge or the GC they prioritize their strategies accordingly. No one in their right mind would just go and attack every stage for a win everyday. Obviously the rider who did that would highly likely end up empty handed.

That's one of the things that makes the race interesting. Mindless racing for every stage win would lack the profoundity of speculating and seeing how the riders and teams strategise and their ability to react to the dynamics. And we all know whose best at that for the overall big win.

As I'm sure you know the main pack will not bother too much with a break of riders who are not in the race for any of the jerseys. But even in that situation it's interesting to see what unfolds in the break for the race for the stage win and it's interesting to see how much time the main pack will limit the time gap and whether the Disco boys can keep everybody else who matters in check. So far none of the main contenders have been able to pull off any kind of spectacular challenge. Seems like the Boss n the Disco boys are pretty much controlling what they need to. In contrast them other contenders need to pull off what they need to. In the last 6 they haven't been able to and so far in this one they haven't either. The pretenders really need to do something cuz if things go on the way they are, Rasmussen in 2nd will lose out in the long TT. The result short of a serious crash or illness will be inevitble. If the Boss and the Disco boys can turn it up another notch and there's no ability to react from anyone else the nails will be in the coffin even sooner. Yup that not going all out to chase breakaways stgs 11 and 12 could well mean Disco is still keeping some in reserve, which is not good news for the rest.

Talking about chasing breakaways, Robbie Mac's little hiding in the French bush trick must have got the sprinter teams flustered for awhile, worrying about and chasing down his fantastic phantom breakaway. After sneaking in from the rear of the peloton and getting a draft into town he still contested and won the sprint finish to take that stage 7. Could it be a little cheeky revenge for getting penalized in stg 3?

Anyway next 2 days coming up should afford the opportunity for the sprinters again if I'm not mistaken. I like the excitement when the sprinter teams start to crank it up coming into town. At those speeds with so many riders charging it's really hairy. It's a shame Boonen is out and one less Quick Step Team will not be charging down the final kilometers. Did you notice Leaky Gas (that's how it's pronounced) Team is always pulling setting the pace for the final sprint? But have they got a sprinter that they're setting up for? Cuz if they have he hasn't shown his face in any of the sprint finishes so far.

"i bet it's what he said/meant. the interview was most likely originally in french or german and got translated (badly)"
-----------------------------------------
Yeah, translated into "American," hence the extra stab at the French.

I would think Eddy gave the interview in French. He's a known Francophile, n'est-ce pas?