Why has Hincapie gone with the breakaway today? I would have thought Lance would want him around to ride tempo for as long as possible. They made such a big deal about losing a rider the other day, and now George just rides 18 min out front today; that doesn’t sound like much of a teammate. Any thoughts?
Gives Disco a reason to hang back and not chase down the break since Hincapie can move up in the standings (not a priority, I know, but maybe a gift to LA’s most loyal lieutenant). Also guarantees that Lance will have someone with him if the break does get chased down (by CSC? right now).
I was wondering about that as well. I can’t imagine, however, that GH would have done it without LA and the DS’s orders.
and it looks like he is just sitting in
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anyone know what the bands most of the riders are wearing today…seem to be white with something written on them??
This is classic tactics. It forces the other teams to ride, rather than sit back and then attack. With the break at almost 20:00, Hincapie threatened some of the big riders’ positions on GC…therefore they had to work to bring back the break…Discovery, though…sat in perfect position…a strong guy in the break who could win the stage if no one chased…otherwise, they could sit in and wait for the rest of the teams to decide what to do…and Hincapie is just sitting on the break, NOT working…so he’ll be somewhat fresh WHEN the break is caught…even if all the other teammates drop off…Hincapie will be there to help pace Lance toward the end of the stage…
This was a planned (as much as you can plan any good breakaway in cycling)…and ideal situation for Discovery.
The white bands are in rememberance of Fabio Casartelli, the then reigning Olympic road race champion, and teammate to Lance on Motorola. He died in a crash on the Portet d’Aspet 10 years ago. Incidently, Lance always draws inspiration from passing the Casartelli monument, and this is why he will win the stage today… Lance maintains contact with Casartelli’s former wife and son, visiting every year. It is a special day for him, and for all of the riders who were in the peloton that day.
Thanks Brian thought they probably had something to do with the anniversary of Casartelli’s death, been at work and so missed the start of the coverage, like you my money is on an Armstrong victory in memory of FC.
HUGE win for GH!!
Way to go George, awesome job
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Q: “Why has Hincapie gone with the breakaway today?”
A: So he could win the stage!
Wow. Would never have expected that given the stage profile. Thought only a 4x4 would stand a chance.
Yeah - imagine riding the equivalent of the Death Ride in about 6 hours - frickin amazing
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Mybe because he could take the stage win?
he wasn’t the road race champion I believe…I think he was part of the Italian team that won the 100km TT.
my bad…he won to Erik Dekker.
The questions for me now are:
Will LA win a stage? His only real chance is probably the 55km TT. But Ullrich will be putting everything into that so that he can beat Rasmussen and get on the podium.
Will JU beat Rasmussen? Maybe even Basso???
If the ITT was tomorrow, Jan would need about 3 mins to overtake Rasmussen, in last years 55K TT we was about 6 mins faster. Rasmussen will need to have the TT of his life but I still say its 50/50.
DAve in VA
Lance is way above the rest again this year. he will probably win the TT.
I think Ullrich will take third. Rasmussen will not make up time on him tuesday and Basso probably has enough buffer before the TT.
Hincapie winning the toughest mountain stage in this years tour what ever next - Heras winning the sprint finish in Paris?
Rasmussen and McE trade jerseys
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Hincapie winning the toughest mountain stage in this years tour what ever next - Heras winning the sprint finish in Paris?
As a customer just emailed me: “Go Georgie!!! How does a 6-3, 185 lb guy win the hardest climbing stage of the 2005 Tour de France? POWERCRANKS!!! (you might want to put that on your website)”
Just think we might do that. 