Three topics that I have been thinking about lately that I am surprised have not been discussed or only discussed minimally so I figured Id start:
Loved the press conference where Lance was so open about his condition so far and hopes for the tour. So rare to here athletes be this candid. Quite a departure from the younger Lance. I thought he made some interesting points too about this group of riders being better, the Schlecks and Contador in particular, than the guys he faced. I think he may be right. If Lance does his comeback in 08 he maybe wins that tour (assuming no Contador and A. Schleck was still progressing) since nobody was that strong. I kind wish he would have forgotten the tour for his comeback and focused on single day or one week stage races. I think the Toby Keith lyrics, “I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was,” might be applicable to him. Hard to recover day after day after day at his age but like we saw him at the Tour of Flanders, could still be good for one day.
How bout Cadel! The guy is showing great form this year and I think more importantly, wining those rainbow stripes boosted his confidence and he no longer just follows wheels but puts the hammer down. Loved when he dropped Vino in the homestretch. If he can keep his form he might give AC a run for his money.
This Giro has been great. Lead changes almost everyday. It was so refreshing to tune in for the flat stages and have something actually happen as opposed to the predictable tour de france flat stages. Wind, crashes, splits…excellent! I hope the pave in this years Tour breaks up the monotony. They should make all the flat stages like classics.
1 - I think Lance is just preparing everyone for a dose of reality. I’m sure he’s comparing his power numbers, and they probably aren’t what they were when he won tours in the past. I’m sure with Brunyeel on his team he has access to Contadors 2009 numbers as well. As for the Schlecks and Contador being better than Ullrich, Vino, Basso, etc…I’m not too sure, those guys were all doping during the time which gave them a huge boost…of course I’m pretty sure AC isn’t exactly clean either. (Google ‘AC’, ‘Liberty Seguros’, and ‘Operation Puerto’ before you argue this)
Maybe its because cycling was big in the US during the Lance years but it just seemed the names were bigger and more talented during that time, although none of them could touch Cancellara in a TT.
2 - I like Cadel, even though he’s probably the socially inept guy on the tour. Some have argued he’s lost races because his domestiques hate him so much they won’t work for him. He’s definately due, and I do hope he takes the Maglio Rosa this year.
3 - I haven’t been able to find the Giro on TV…what channel is it on? Universal?
Yesterday’s race ranks up there with the best races I’ve seen. I’ve watched every tour since 1999 start to finish and tons of the classics and this one was awesome. Cadel all the way!
The only thing that surprised me about the press conference with Lance was to hear him say at the end that it’s still his goal to win the Tour again. Is he just being hopefull that his form will suddenly show up? Is it all just the kind of gamesmanship that we know Lance can master? Is it just deflection to keep the competition from focusing on the real team leader … Levi?
As for the Giro stage yesterday, I’m so impressed with Evans this year. No rainbow jersey curse for him. I must admit, however, that I despise the current wearer of the pink jersey.
The only thing that surprised me about the press conference with Lance was to hear him say at the end that it’s still his goal to win the Tour again.*** Is it all just the kind of gamesmanship that we know Lance can master***?.
yup, me thinks this one. he’s gonna set France on fire one last time.
Agreed…that stage was great. Some said that adding the dirt roads was gimmicky or making a “spectacle” of it but I disagree. What I think it does is eliminates the boring team tactics we see in the tour every year. It was every rider for himself and look who ended up in the final group of 5 or 6, Vino, Evans, Cunego, Arroyo, Garzelli and Pinotti. All big name, strong riders. No whining from Basso and Nibali either…they crashed on a paved section. And for some reason I am enjoying seeing Sastre have a bad go of it. I always felt he got lucky in 08 because everyone was looking at each other instead of following his wheel (Vande de Velde!) on Aple d’Huez.
The only thing that surprised me about the press conference with Lance was to hear him say at the end that it’s still his goal to win the Tour again. Is he just being hopefull that his form will suddenly show up? Is it all just the kind of gamesmanship that we know Lance can master? Is it just deflection to keep the competition from focusing on the real team leader
Could be a bit of sand-bagging. He’s never really looked great heading into a Tour de France in the past, so nothing really new here. Still some time to go and cycling is one of those sports that once you get the base and the mid-level fitness up, you can get right to top form relatively quickly.
What Lance will have going for him is, the Radio Shack team will be 100% behind him, all the key players on that team are rounding into top form. I am somewhat doubtful of the unity on the Astana team and how much absolute support Contador will get. Now we have Vino back on form??? Contador may have to do more work on his own. Saxo-Bank always rides and races well as a team at the Grand Tours, the Tour de France in particular - the Schlecks could possibly be more of a factor because of that.
Anybody know Vino’s weight? He climbs with the best and seems to be substantially bigger. Big watts. We’ll see if he can hang on the Plan de Corones TT. I like having an antagonist in the mix to root against…makes it more interesting.
But that’s just it. Lance at 39 can kill it for 6.5 hours. I SOOOO wish he’d have focused his comeback on the classics that escaped him like Amstel and Flanders. Van Petegem had some big results at the age Lance is now. If Lance had come back with a classics focus, I think he could have killed it! I just don’t see it happening for 3-week tours.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing in that YouTube video that didn’t happen in 2005 or before. It’s 2010.
and as you have said, it’s him being the masterful showman that is the reason he has not won anything. announce you are capable of beating everyone so early in races that aren’t intended as anything other than training rides? all that would do is make opponents train harder and that would be anti tactics.
he said the last tour he wasn’t aiming to win and look what happened? a podium at the very least and he was wanting to win but with death threats, that’s understandable as well.
But that’s just it. Lance at 39 can kill it for 6.5 hours. I SOOOO wish he’d have focused his comeback on the classics that escaped him like Amstel and Flanders.
That was the talk in the very early days of the come-back, that he would ride the Tour de France in support of someone else, and that his focus would be on different races than in the past, in particular some of the great one days Classics.
you’re welcome pyscho and remember he not only shattered that race course time, riding over 65 miles out front and by himself by over 19 minutes, he did so with a flat tire…the last few miles of it anyways so he would’ve come in some minutes sooner if not for that flat.
