I think Vino is insane. That's why I like him. Would Vino be as much fun if he was reigned in by Johan? Doubtful.

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- Nick
Now that I know some of you guys look through the special needs bags for kicks, I'm gonna put some really weird stuff in mine. I can see it now. "What the heck was he going to do with a family pack of KFC chicken, a football helmet full of peanut butter, a 12 inch rubber dildo, and naked pictures of Bea Arthur?"

You'd pull a lot of breakaway's too, if you had to breath/smell 100+ sweaty, stinky men wearing used cycling gear for 21+ days.

"Also, anyone have any idea how old he is? "

Pretty sure he's 31

Exactly! I don't think he could be reigned in. My guess is that is why Disco isn't interested in him. Too much of a free spirit for their regimented program

Vino is 31.

He certainly was exciting to watch this year as always. He is just an attack style type cyclist.

My only problem is that he rode for a contract and not his team. Kloden made reference to this when he said during the Tour that he would never ride with Vino ever again and that he (Vino) was only out for himself.

Vino had a job to do and that was to support Jan and he didn't do that. All of this is evidenced by his actions including letting his team management know and announcing it, that he would not be back next year. This references his mind set.


I certainly appreciate him as a cyclist and he is a lot of fun to watch, no doubt.

Hes exciting, but is he disciplined enough or could he control himself enough to win the tour? I couldnt see him beating Jan or Basso at their best. I was bummed that he knocked Levi out of 5th. Isnt it customary that the race for GC is over after stage 20?

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Definately exciting, the most exciting rider in the Tour this year for me. He's a terrible teammate though. Could Ullrich have done better on some of those climbs with Vino's help instead of Vino riding for himself? Most likely. He seems to have the type of attitude that will probably never allow him get anywhere near his true potential.

not a lot of results?
this year so far: 2 stages of the TDF and Liege-Bastogne-Liege for the big ones...not too shabby I'd say...

Isnt it customary that the race for GC is over after stage 20?

Vino's not into "customary", that's for sure; since there were just 2 seconds separating he and LL entering the stage, I think it's one of those "anything goes so long as the Maillot Jeune is not put into harm's way" kind of deals.

So Vino takes on Gerolsteiner 1-on-4, including Leipheimer and they *still* couldn't dispatch him; then he takes the overall stage win. Amazing guy, unbelievable strength, even more unbelievable balls to do some of the things he did (or tried to do) this year. Since we don't know all the ins and outs as to the internal workings of T-Mobile, we'll perhaps never really know what kind of "team" guy Vino really is. After all, wasn't there a stage (forget which one) where he attacked and in essence his own team chased him down?

Obviously something was very wrong with the team mechanism at T-Mobile, but they did win the overall team race this year. Who is to blame? Will we ever know?

Oh yeah, but I forget, this year's tour was boring as hell.... ;-)

imagine Lance 1'' behind Ullrich before the last stage...do you think Lance would care about traditions??? Hell no!

[reply]imagine Lance 1'' behind Ullrich before the last stage...do you think Lance would care about traditions??? Hell no![/reply]


Obviously you have not been paying attention these last seven years, otherwise you would know Lance cares very much about tradition.

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Proud Founder of the Jamis Mafia- Daring to be different.

imagine Lance 1'' behind Ullrich before the last stage...do you think Lance would care about traditions??? Hell no!

I got distracted and didn't finish with the other thoughts I had when posting, but you did it for me...the "tradition" certainly wouldn't hold if overall GC winner is in doubt. It is a generally flat stage so hard to make up minutes, but seconds definitely can be had (as we saw yesterday).

From what I have read this "tradition" of the last stage being largely ceremonial is a relatively recent one, like within the last 20 years or so?

you mean like chasing personally a guy who is 2h behind at the GC? LOL...

[reply]you mean like chasing personally a guy who is 2h behind at the GC? LOL...[/reply]

I suppose you are referring to shutting up a pariah of the peloton. Something done by Merckx and Hinault.

Francois-get over the fact that Lance won seven times and no Frenchman has even had a decent shot in almost 20 years.

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Proud Founder of the Jamis Mafia- Daring to be different.

[reply]Sure, he doesn't have a lot of results to show for it, but imagine what he could do if he had a team that was helping him.[/reply]

Not a lot to show for it?!? Two stage wins, including out thinking the sprinters in Paris, and 5th overall? I'd say that's a hell of a lot to show for it!

I love Vino! It was great watching le tour, "...there goes Vino.......there he goes again....."

-C

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

Me too. Reminds me of Claudio Chiappuci (sp??). What alot of fun he was to watch. Made stages exciting...and boy could he come down a mountain. One tour he had Liggett and Sherwin fearing for his life as he dropped down a mountain.

LOL...palhaco...

Wow, what a great comeback! I'll bet you spent a lot of time thinking up that...time you could have been coming up with something intelligent....oh, wait I forgot who I was talking to...nevermind.

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Proud Founder of the Jamis Mafia- Daring to be different.

yep...what I said...

How old are you?

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Proud Founder of the Jamis Mafia- Daring to be different.

[reply]
Vino had a job to do and that was to support Jan and he didn't do that.
[/reply]

I thought he did a pretty good job on the first mountain stage (I think, the one when Kloden got second). His attacks isolated Armstrong from his team, which I'm guessing was the point.

I don't know...it keeps changing

I think only lance had a better tdf, 2 stages and 5 th in the gc.... Beats the hell out of der jan, basso, landis, leipheimer, heras, mayo, mancebo.

add to that the victory in liege-bastogne-liege one of the 5 hardest races of the year.

AND we will see him again in the frontline of the fall classics and the world championship. How many of the top 10 finishers of the tdf will be at the front in those races ?

can't wait for san sebastian..

Looks like he's headed to Liberty Seguros for the next two years...

http://www.lequipe.fr/...50726_100823Dev.html

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I am a living animal, tied to a dying soul. -PKD