Yeah, Lance had a lot of great luck. Getting involved in not 1, not 2, but 3!!! accidents. Yeah, that’s a lot of luck. I see what you mean. I wish I had that kind of luck. With my lucky crash back in June I could have been a podium contender at the Floridian if I’d only stuck with it.
I was very happy to see Ullrich do well in the Tour this year. My heart just sank when he bought it in the final TT not that it would have made a difference if he remained upright. (I was rooting for Lance to win overall though.) But I’ll never understand arguments like the ones your making.
“Ullrich should have won the tour.” But he didn’t.
“Jan is a better and stronger cyclist and should have won.” Better how? Tactically, mentally, physically? Stronger where? In climbs, sprints, TTs? Jan might be stronger physically, but I think Lance has it all over him mentally and tactically. I think Lance has shown that mental strength and tactics can overcome many physical barriers.
"Lance had a team around him, Jan didn’t. " This is a team sport, right? Now why is it I should believe that an inferior team should have won?
"Jan would not have lost as much time, if any, when he waited for Lance…it threw him off and he lost his momentum. " Something tells me that Jan wasn’t the only one to lose momentum on that day.
“Luck plays into everything…and this year it went Lances way.” Whaaat?? I guess he was lucky he didn’t crash 4 times.
One thing I do agree with is that I can’t wait for next year. Man, I hope all the big boys are healthy.
Lance will tell you that Jan is the most gifted cyclist out there, thats why he has to train and prepare better than him.
Jan didn’t go back for bottles, he actually went back to go number two (as reported in cycling news) yeah he got water while he was there, but he did have a few moments of free time while the poor guy in the car had to hold the plastic baggie.
There’s way more to it than that. Lance needs a much better team than anyone else out there for the simple fact that he’s the one everybody attacks. Lance, because he’s won the last 4 years (5 now), is a marked man and has to ride a very defensive race. All the other top stars just ride offensively. And in fact, the work that Postal does benefits all of the top 5 guys on GC. Postal controls the races and chases down breaks to protect Lance, but that benefits Ullrich, Beloki, etc. just as much. If Postal didn’t control races the way they do, Lance, Jan, Beloki, and all the top GC guys would have a lot more work to do. The only time in this race where Lance’s powerful team benefitted only him was in the team time trial.
Lance won the race simply because right now he is the best. Best at everything. Best tactically, best prepared, and most driven. Whether or not he’s the strongest is irrelevant. There may be thousands of people in the world who are physically stronger, but they don’t beat Lance because he is the best.
"Jan didn’t go back for bottles, he actually went back to go number two…but he did have a few moments of free time while the poor guy in the car had to hold the plastic baggie. "
LOL, okay, I’m a relative cycling noob, especially when it comes to this kind of “behind the scene” action on the professional level. Please tell me you were being sarcastic or something.
How does this work…does he get in the car? does he drop trow and hang it off the saddle, all while holding onto the car while it’s moving? Either one…there is actually someone who holds a bag for these guys to take a crap in? OMG. Thats too funny and quite facinating…in a none, I’m-stuck-in-the-anal-stage, Freudian kind of way. Does the support team draw straws before the race to see who has to hold the bags on that day?
Is this the common solution when that kind of urge hits you during a race?
I have heard of guys using cycling caps to void, but in this circumstance he had a stomach ache and went to the team car to take care of business. The article explained that the bibs being cut low allow them easy access for such business. This must be a rarity, as the riders all have plenty of time in the AM to take care of business.
I was thinking, they must not do a great job of wiping, and could get a terrible rash.
On another note I saw Lance going #1 on one stage. All the team members got in a line behind Lance and to the left. They were close enough to each other so that they could steer with the left hand and push the rider ahead of them with the right hand. All team members were pedaling except Lance who was in front being pushed by his team. He went no hands and took care of business. They did this directly to the right of the peleton, and did not lose pace with it. The camera caught itand quickly moved away. Concidently one of the correspondents on LA.com wrote an article about the subject the very same day. He probably saw the same footage I did.
The camera caught itand quickly moved away. Concidently one of the correspondents on LA.com wrote an article about the subject the very same day. He probably saw the same footage I did.
The reason the camera quickly moved away is that filming it is considered taboo. Everyone in the field does it at some point, but you rarely see it for that reason.
That reminds me, I do believe I saw Tom Demerly do it in our district road race one year.
If Ullrich was the better stronger cyclist, then why did a cyclist with dysentery, new shoes that caused hip pain, severe dehydration, 3 crashes, a near crash miss with a little cyclocross, and every yahoo in the peleton on the attack end up on the top of the podium?
In my book, the guy with the trophy is the best and strongest until someone moves him off the top of the heap.
If Ullrich was the better stronger cyclist, then why did a cyclist with dysentery, new shoes that caused hip pain, severe dehydration, 3 crashes, a near crash miss with a little cyclocross, and every yahoo in the peleton on the attack end up on the top of the podium?
In my book, the guy with the trophy is the best and strongest until someone moves him off the top of the heap.
::scratching head:: why did you respond to my post? I’m certainly not the one who said Ullrich was the strongest or the best.
I only said dysentery because I’m pretty sure that’s the word Lance used in the Tour wrap-up. I might have misheard. You’re probably right that it was diarrhea, but the peleton didn’t get sick from antibiotics taken because of Lance’s fall in the Dauphine. Heat exhaustion is one thing, but racing at the end of a course of antibiotics probably is something else. I also didn’t say that Lance’s shoe issue wasn’t his fault. I was just suggesting that Lance had a lot to overcome to win this tour, and to say that Jan should have won it is like saying the Red Sox should have won a World Series by now. Like you said, the bottom line is that Lance was standing on top of the podium at the end.
