Thursday is the last chance for Armstrong to strike with his incredible time trial ability. He only has 40.5 km to do it.
I know Contador has significantly improved his time trialing. Significantly. I also know that Fignon was shoe-in to beat LeMond in the final time trial in Paris in 1989, and remember how that turned out?
So- can Al Contador match Armstrong in the TT? Can Armstrong get back the 1:37 and then some? Armstrong may need some padding going into the final, pivotal stage on Saturday when the riders climb Mt. Ventoux. Was Armstrong just feigning weakness on this last mountain stage- as, by his own (and Bruyneel’s) admission- he’s done before in the Tour as a tactic?
I still see a scenario where Armstrong beats Contador in the time trial on Thursday and puts in a credible performance on Satruday to win the Tour by a handful of seconds. I know… A long shot. Thing is, Armstrong has built his life on longshots. Longshots that paid off.
You could fake weakness and give away 1 second in the sprint finish (or finish in a virtual tie on the winner’s wheel). I don’t think you fake weakness and fall off the back by 1:37. The fat lady was singing on the side of the road 5K from the summit at Verbier when Lance road by and he knows as we all know that an 8th golden fleece jersey is out…
Can’t we just leave this alone, this is no longer about Lance winning. As he said:
“Now it is clear we have the strongest rider in the race. If we play it smart we can have three guys in the top five, and the guy who wins. I think now is time to put my chances aside and focus on the team,”
I am one of the biggest Lance fans around, but this is too much. His race for the yellow jersey is done.
I agree. Further, unless that was a bad day (and I think it was given that Kloden recovered and paced Armstrong), the more likely scenario is that Andy Schlek with take time on Armstrong on the mountain stages and push him down to third. I would not be surprised if Armstrong gave Kloden some freedom with the final 4 being Contador, Schlek, Kloden and then Armstrong.
Hell of a ride, though.
And I stand by my earlier statement that Armstrong is the leader and Contador will win the tour.
“I fully trust my team. The riders are very professional. I will finish this race with them without any problems. After yesterday’s result, everything is much clearer within the team now. Lance said afterwards that he would back me and I believe him”.
Are you watching the same race, following the same riders over the past few years? I bet Contador beats him by 40-60sec, I do hope Lance can get maybe 3rd in Paris. Right now i cheering for Wiggy in 2nd, 1st is long gone unless Contador has a badd day which can happen.
Without the team time trial he would have been out of contention in the first week. The organizers did a very good job planning thiese stages to keep the mass media interested for this long
Quite possible AC will smack LA again in this TT, but the first one was a little better suited to AC’s strengths vs LA’s (more hills, turns/accelerations). IF Lance is gonna do it, though, the longer, flatter course gives him a better shot.
I think Wiggo ends up 5th. But 3rd isn’t a bad call. And it’s great to see him having such a good tour. Making the jump from track to GC in a grand tour is an amazing accomplishment.
I doubt Lance can beat him by that much and I am not sure he can beat Contador at, but I would like to see Lance win the TT. Hey, Team tactic says Lance wins TT by 1:30. Contador second. Naturally that means that Lance must maintain his position in the mountains and that no one else can TT with Lance or Contador. A whole lot of if’s, but it is fun to dream.
Hey maybe George H. wins TT? Everyone felt so sorry for him on Saturday.
I’d like to see Wiggo take the TT and put the fear of the Union Jack into the Spanish Armada on Ventoux…both Sastre and Contador are going to want that stage. Come on, Wiggo’s already in the Officer of the British Empire in the same lineage of Lord Nelson …
