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Official Tour de France thread.

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Great race today. I hope tomorrow is a little less exciting and the whole Discovery Team has it together. Those guys have just too much pride to let something like that happen to them three times.

Yeah, Lance is a beast. Just took everything those guys had and gave back more.

Looks like the Discovery Team will have a new member next year - Vino. Wouldn't you like to be in that team meeting tonight.

Edit: What was the deal with a possible 10 second penalty for Lance if he took that bottle of water?
 
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It was amazing to see Ullrich and Kloden reel in Vinokourov at the start of that last climb. There was no way he was going to stay out front, but haven't they heard of teamwork?

Unless Basso goes nuts tomorrow, it's over.
 
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If you are going to watch the last ten minutes of any one race to see what Armstrong is all about this was the one. He took the best in the world with him right to the finish and then just burried them. Twice now he has absolutely crushed Ulrich.

I agree Basso is the only contender left.

The kid who still impresses me is Rasmussen. I don't expect him to get any closer than he is, but for somebody who wasn't supposed to be a serious contender he has hung in there nicely,
 
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Another good day for Team Discovery. Lance keeps the yellow, but George Hincapie (sp?) wins the stage. First time he has won a stage in the Tour. Great job of riding by him.

Lance was not able to shake Basso, but a little more separation between Lance, Ullrich and Rasmussen.

Oh yeah, I loved the motorcycle running over the over-zealous fan.
 
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I had no sympathy for the fan either. I'm surprised that more people don't get hurt when running alongside the riders.

Nice climb by Rasmussen today, almost catching Ullrich. Looks like Rasmussen will join Lance and Basso on the podium in Paris.
 
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Indeed. I hadn't realized he was the only one who's been with Lance over this whole 7 year run. Certainly a special day for him.
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They have been friends since they were teens.

I too was glad to see Hincapie take a stage, but it is one of the interesting aspects of Bike racing that a guy like Pereiro cna bust his ass all day and take a group to the finish, only to be beaten by a sprinter whose only time in the lead was the last 40 yards. Because of his role relative to Armstrong Hincapie did none of the work while the break away group led through the mountains and was well enough rested that Pereiro could not shake him in the final climb. Nothing untoward about it, but I would be a very disappointed fan were it the roles reversed.
 
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Yeah, but you could argue that all things being equal, Hincapie would win a sprint anyway, even if both riders are fresh. When you are primarily a flat-stage rider who has become a good enough climber to hang on to the pack, you have the luxury of being able to do what Hincapie did today. Pereiro had to know that the only way he was gonna beat Hincapie was to ditch him on a climb, and he didn't do it.
 
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Gotta be some of the craziest fans in sports.

There were an estimated half million people at the top of the mountain for the end of Sunday's stage. A two lane road is the only way in. They were still trying to get out at 9:00 the next morning.

And all this to do something that is akin to watching one lap of a NASCAR race.
 
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Oh8ch said:
Gotta be some of the craziest fans in sports.

There were an estimated half million people at the top of the mountain for the end of Sunday's stage. A two lane road is the only way in. They were still trying to get out at 9:00 the next morning.

And all this to do something that is akin to watching one lap of a NASCAR race.
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I recall them saying on the broadcast that the road up to the top of the climb was closed for several days, so most of the people had to walk all the way to the top and then back down.
 
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Checking the running commentary of today's stage and came across this little gem...

14:32:15 - "Highways Are The Cathedrals Of Our Time..."
<SMALL>To paraphrase Dave Byrne from the movie 'True Stories', "Highways are the cathedrals of our time".
In case you doubted this statement from the cult 'mock-umentary', it's worth looking at the imposing structure which is now 240-odd meters above the 10-man escape group.
The Viaduc de Millau was a bridge that was completed at the start of 2005 at a cost of 310 million Euros..</SMALL>
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And meanwhile, Armstrong was in the peloton having a chat with another rider...just cruising towards victory...
 
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