But not looking good today!

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Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
http://www.swimrunfrance.fr
http://www.worldofswimrun.com

You need to be on the Alberto bandwagon with me. Actually, I wouldn't mind any of the top 5 guys winning the overall, except for the chicken. I've never really liked that guy for some reason. Doesn't look like my pre-tour pick Kloden will win, but like you said, it isn't over yet.

I know some people miss Lance's dominance but how much more exciting is the tour now that he's gone? What about that ride from Popo today? Impressive. And didn't I tell you and a bunch of other people on this forum to stop bagging on Levi a few months ago? Up to 4th and getting stronger every day, though I don't know if he will make the final podium or not.

If I have to hear Phil Ligget say "poor 'ol Vinokourov" one more time...

I'm on the Kloden bandwagon since he won Paris-Nice all those years ago. I'm also a Cadel fan and would love to see him win. I just have a thing for the good TT'ers.

Now Levi, what an impressive ride from him today! Remember that he was limited by Contador's actions, so what he did was really, really good. Very impressive and yes, some cycling wannabe-fans need to remember that Lance's shoes are impossible to fill and Levi is a pretty decent rider. He's going to podium, I can feel it! :-)

I'm not implying anything at all, but these cyclists know the rules for testing and when chicken Rasmussen doesn't conveniently tell the UCI officials that he is going to Mexico to train and TWICE misses tests in the month or two leading up the tour stinks to me. Sure the guy is a great story what with the broken femus last October, but I smell a rat.

Bob

some cycling wannabe-fans need to remember that Lance's shoes are impossible to fill and Levi is a pretty decent rider. He's going to podium, I can feel it! :-)

Not so much "wannabe-fans," as it is that 2:30+ to 5:10+ gaps are seemingly not death knells in the post Lance (and pre-Lance) era. Although my hazy memory of the Induran era is that no one was coming back from such gaps then either. Why is it you super fans think it can happen now?

Levi was my pre-race favorite and I hope he does win. (Go USA!)

Rasmussen and Contador will lose more time in the next TT than in yesterday's TT. Yesterday's route favored them but the next one does not. Good TT'ers like Kloden and Evans will put a lot of time on them.

I feel the exact same way. Something just stinks. It stinks way more than Floyd in my opinion.

Not as lonely as the ValVerde little red wagon over here.



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"Maybe you should just run faster..." TM

Nah... the stinking ranking is still:
1 - Tyler
2 - Floyd
3 - Ras

Curious for the rankings, once a person admits doping (or attempted doping)...does the stinking stop? If so where do you put Zabel, Basso?

Cadel still has an outside podium shot with his decent team and Chris Horner looking out for him ;)

I like him too, along with Kloden. Not a huge Levi fan (although I'd like to see him win as well), but I really don't like Rasmussen (but I have no idea why).

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

I think Levi has been the most consistent of the pre-race "contenders". He hasn't had a disaster day, but not a magical day either. It's almost too bad (for Levi) that Contador is such a special talent.

I don't think Evans is out of it, but he needs to stop trying to go with every acceleration of the pure climbers(Soler, Contador, Rass). Pick your spots. You notice Levi and Kloden weren't jumping on every attack and they held up much better at the end of the stage by keeping their rhythm. Ok, so Evans had the most to lose, but he's gotta know he can't keep constantly changing his climbing pace like some of those guys.

I like Evans too. Seems like a nice guy. He's come a long way since he was with Mapei and came out of nowhere to get the Maglia Rosa going into the last week of the Giro.

I think the stinking stops. Otherwise you'd definitely have to put Jorg Jaschke at the top, imo.

It wasn't a thourough list, by all means. But I'll stick to my number one ;-)

And jaylew, I have to compliment you on your knowledge and insight when it comes to cycling, it's a rare thing here. Did you guys have cycling classes at that Austin HS or something??? :-)

Except that Floyd actually tested positive. So I'm not sure what type of logic you're using to reason your opinion.