Just when everybody was writing him off. But it’s still not over yet.
Guts, by Lance Armstrong.
Any questions?
Bravo indeed!
Two things worth mentioning:
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Jan’s *good *sportmanship in slowing the race for Lance to recover from his mishap will mean Jan has to race at least 20 seconds faster in the final TT to pull this thing out. Think of it as a self-imposed penalty for being a class act – a gesture made despite the fact that this is the tightest race in years, and he was just 15 ticks behing Lance on GC.
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Iban Mayo’s unwillingness to make a similar classy gesture to Jan at the line (he sprinted out and grabbed the time bonus for 2nd) gives Mayo seconds which are meaninglees to him, but would have been very valuable to Jan.
Assholic thing to do, as was him teammate’s (Zubeldia) attempt to grab the thrird spot bonus as well.
Great, great Tour.
Yes, an absolutely amazing race. This Tour will either give me a heart attack or an ulcer, I’m not sure which.
I think Ullrich was returning the favor for the time Lance waited on him.
Lance’s ability to react and recover is amazing. While I don’t have the details, the crash makes my point from the “I propose jail time” thread regarding how easily some dummy on the sidelines could sabotage a potential winner’s effort.
I think that this is by far the most challenging Tour for him, the most exciting for us, and it leaves no doubt: If he wins this one, it is because he is the best rider out there, and is worthy of sharing the “5 consecutive Tour wins” title with Indurain.
This means that Saturday will be very exciting indeed.
Great stuff - I’ll tell my kids about that one…and Ullrich, a real class act, now he’s a winner whatever the outcome in Paris…
Having just listened to Lance’s post-stage interview (translated by Sean Kelly, so you never know…), when questioned about his pedal problems he steered the response towards some problem with his derailleur rather than pedals.
I was only following online, and didn’t see the problems, but do those of you who did think his response primarily had SPD-SL marketing in mind, or could it have been a derailleur problem…?
After Saturday’s stage, I became concerned. Lance did not look good at all, and though he held on with a very gutsy effort, I feared as though his time at the top would be short-lived. However, I began to feel much better about his chances after yesterday’s stage, and I really feel better after today’s. When he crashed, I thought he was done. That was quite scary. But I kind of figured that Jan would slow down. I remembered what Lance did for him when he went off the cliff a couple of years ago. Jan had to wait. It was the only right thing to do. I’m glad Jan recognized that. It was quite a display of sportsmanship.
Then Lance went on the attack. He said after the stage that he was on the attack when he went down, but not like he was after he got up. He absolutely hammered after the crash. I guess the adrenaline was pumping, and he figured that was as a good a time as any.
I wonder if there’s not some kind of animosity between Mayo and Ullrich. For Mayo to take those seconds was not a nice gesture. Either he is very selfish, he doesn’t like Jan or he likes Lance. Those seconds were crucial, and it works out in Lance’s favor that Mayo took second. I just wonder if that was a blatant move to harm Jan and/or help Lance.
RP
“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated…”
Whether it be due to his childhood or his battle with cancer, Lance has the deepest reserve of will I can ever recall of any athlete. Having seen him after the last TT, lips parched and body gaunt, to come back from a fall and win a stage, just when it was do or die–what an inspiration!
All I know is that this is the best Tour in my memory. Even better than 1989. Did you see Ullrich’s face when he was chasing Armstrong? I wouldn’t want to get in his way!!
Anyone know what the TT on Saturday looks like? According to the profile, its 49 kms and pancake flat, but what about corners? Assuming there is no change in the standings on Wednesday, if its a drag strip, I predict Ullrich will win le Tour by 7 seconds. If there are lots of corners, Lance will still lose the TT, but will limit the damage to win the Tour by 7 seconds.
Any way you slice it, great racing from all of the contenders, except Mayo and Zubeldia, that was cheap. I guarantee that Jan, and Lance for that matter, don’t forget their “gesture”. I would think that if Lance wins, he would want to have won in the most sportsmanlike manner, and payback can be a bitch. And Jan appears to have a long memory.
I’m not convinced by what’s been written above that Mayo’s move to take second was in poor taste.
For a Basque rider to sit up in the Pyrenees won’t do, regardless that Ullrich set the tempo for the last 10 K. In fact, it was Ullrich’s job to set that tempo, and to drop the Euskatel riders to catch Armstrong. The fact that he couldn’t do it meant that Mayo and Zubeldia had every right to squeeze something out of it in front of the home crowd.
While the rules of sportsmanship clearly applied when they all sat up when Armstrong crashed, the same did not apply at the finish line - it’s a race after all.
While the Basque riders always want to do well in the Pyrenees, they should have helped Ullrich pull Armstrong back, so one of them can get the stage win. Second place is meaningless, unless you are looking for those bonus seconds. As it was, all they did was sit on for the ride, how is that a show of strength?
Definitely in poor taste. Kind of reminds me of a certain directeur sportif who as a rider in the early 90’s, pipped a 5 time Tour winner on the line, after not doing a single pull for 45 kms (or however long that breakaway was).
I want Jan to win.
Having said that, I agree to the above statement. Mayo and Zubeldia where as close to Spain as it gets and they where fighting for every second. If Jan wants to win the Tour he has to do it by himself and not by getting seconds from others, it’s a race not a parade.
Waiting after the crash is a different story and I think it was good for the sport, although I would have apriciated a little more thankfullness from Lances part. Maybe he just didn’t know yet what happend when he was interviewed.
I’m not convinced by what’s been written above that Mayo’s move to take second was in poor taste.
I totally agree. Mayo sits in 5th place overall. It’s not impossible for him to stand on the podium in Paris. He’s fighting for every second he can, and given Vino’s performance today, I’m sure Mayo will fight very hard from now on. He did nothing wrong–he’s not riding for Ullrich.
Reports are Saturday’s TT is flat, few corners, wide good roads and generally a tailwind. Get out the 55x11 gears. It will be hard to make much of a difference unless the wind changes into a side/head wind.
Mayo’s actions were perfectly acceptable. Ulrich was the one losing the Tour so it was his job to chase and he knew anyone left with him was going to jump him at the end. It was up to him to drop them to prevent it and he couldn’t.
If they were all equal on time or just going for a stage win just sitting on would have been a problem, but when you are trying to be top dog you got to put up with the bitches.
Anyone know what the TT on Saturday looks like? According to the profile, its 49 kms and pancake flat, but what about corners? Assuming there is no change in the standings on Wednesday, if its a drag strip, I predict Ullrich will win le Tour by 7 seconds. If there are lots of corners, Lance will still lose the TT, but will limit the damage to win the Tour by 7 seconds.
I agree with Eric. Mayo & Zubeldia are still fighting for the podium. They had dropped Vino and had no way of knowing exactly how much time they could put into him. Every second did matter to them. And of course they are on the Spanish border. Then you’ve got the fight between the two of them. They are neck and neck and while they may end up fighting for 4th & 5th in the end. I’d rather be 4th than 5th in the TDF, wouldn’t you?
In the end, I’m really impressed with Euskatel. Weren’t they one of the last teams selected for the Tour. Having two riders in the top 5 is no small task. They were leading the team classification as well. Are they still?
Well, Jasonk, perhaps you don’t remember that one of the most remarkable traits of Indurain is that he never went after glory for glory’s sake. His gift to Bruyneel (and make no mistake, it was a gift. Indurain could have blown JB’s doors off anytime he wanted to.) was out of his sense of sportsmanship. He had what he needed. He didn’t need the stage victory. And you never heard him complain that JB never took a pull. THAT’s a champion for you.
Whatever Mayo and his Teamate did for whatever reason is now in the history books and it is over. They all got dropped by lance and they were all fighting, I don’t think Ullrich should have any quarms with being beat to the line he is a gentleman and a fine racer. I personally don’t like the bonus seconds rule anyway. The top GC riders actions today showed that they would probably forego the bonus seconds anyway. Yet it is the rules and it could change the outcome, look back at some of the stages Lance and others have had to fight at the finish line also.
What Ullrich did is also in the books, a true Gentlemen. Tyler Hamilton was in that group that sat up also. Hamilton made hand gestures and comments in an effort to get the others in the group sit up also.
Did you notice Lance tapping this Stage leaders back as he passed him?
Man to Man is way I saw it today. Great race. That poor little kid and his flag, bag or whatever it was, brought the best out of these guys. I would hope that this kid doesn’t feel that way and next time he will be more careful, I’ll bet Armstrong will.
A man can live an entire lifetime only to be judged by one action or response. Judge them as you may.
I’d just like to add that many of you/us have been down on LA from the start for not being agressive enough. Evidently all he needed was for something to make him mad.
Anyone have a friend at the tour? If so, tell them to trip LA up again this week…that way he WILL win on Saturday 
I would hope that this kid doesn’t feel that way and next time he will be more careful, I’ll bet Armstrong will.
Now that I don’t agree at all! This was ENTIRELY Lances fault! Nobody to blame but himself. I’m glad though it didn’t have too much of an effect on the outcome of the race. Although you could argue that a change in pace, since Jan had to slow down, favors lighter, jumpier riders like Lance, Mayo or even Hamilton and didn’t help Ullrich which has longer to speed up. He did take time back from Lance after he got going, so if they would have gone steady from the beginning, maybe Lance wouldn’t have been able to pull away. Nobody will ever know.
Lance did say after the race that he was riding too close to the crowd. Maybe it was BS and he’s pissed about the whole thing, but that’s not how I thought it came off. Even though the speed was slow, that was a pretty nasty little fall.