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Tour de France update thread...

buckem:

You are a living cycling encyclopedia! I don't know if I can compete with you on this subject.

In the 50s and 60s I used to live in Florence and Turin, Italy. My dad was a cycling fanatic and used to drag me to France, where one of my uncles lived near Lyon, to follow some of the stages of the tour. I remember distinctly Coppi, Nencini and Gimondi, the guys that my dad followed more closely, winning flat stages not by 35 seconds but more than 2 minutes over the pelleton on several occasions. I will have to assume that if these three Italian guys did it, some others must have done it as well. But, in all sincerity, I don't recall if these great athletes were considered the "tour favorites" during those years when they accomplished those feats, other than they won many important races in Europe during their competitive years, so I suppose they should have been considered at least "great cyclists". Coppi, Nencini and Gimondi each won one tour (Coppi perhaps two), if I recall correctly.

My earlier experience with the tour is based on actual events that I have seen personally and from the coverage of Italian TV which in those days was nothing but horrendous. The more recent history of the event I have followed here on television as I would suspect the most of us. I don't doubt for a second that what you are saying with respect to the statistics of the most recent tours corresponds to the truth and I wouldn't dare trying to prove you wrong.

In fact, I will make sure to read your posts more attentively as you have demonstrated you know a lot more than I do with regards to this event.
 
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USC - If you are talking that era I am sure it is completely possible and you would be more qualified to speak on it than me. I think that the race has changed a lot since then. Even as recently as the late 80's, time trialing was done with the same bike as the other stages. Also the degree of importance that riders place on the Tour has changed. As recently as 5-10 years ago the podiums for the Giro (Tour of Italy) and Vuelta (Tour of Spain) were the same names as that in the Tour. Indurain himself won both the Tour and the Giro in two of the five years he won the tour and finished third in another. In this era Tour contenders seem to ride exclusively for the Tour.

Die Hard - Having a good team is a tremendous benefit and not having one can certainly put you at a big disadvantage to win a tour but in the end a team can't win a tour, the rider has to. Though Indurains team in 96' was not as strong as in other years he just didn't have it anymore. Guys that he used to own where riding away from him. Cycling's like that. Stars rarely fade. One of these years Lance will get blown away and he will seem like a shell of what he once was (unless he retires after winning one).

Lances Posties will most certainly bring him to the base of the mountains in better or as good of shape than anyone else and will be there to try and pick him up if he has a bad day, but in the end it comes down to can he beat the other guys up the mountain and in the time trials. Should be exciting to find out.
 
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Lance is still 9'35" back. For those of you who really seem to know your stuff about cycling, at what point will he begin to make his move? I assume it will be in the mountains, but will they (the team) try and get him in to first place all in one stage or will they whittle away for a few stages?
 
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Lance is still 9'35" back. For those of you who really seem to know your stuff about cycling, at what point will he begin to make his move? I assume it will be in the mountains, but will they (the team) try and get him in to first place all in one stage or will they whittle away for a few stages?

There will be no "move" the mountains will take care of the guys in front of him without attacking them...
 
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Let's see how the Sprinters like this:

The 12th stage has two category-one climbs. The first is the Col d'Aspin, a 12.3km long ascent with an average gradient of 6.5% that rises to 1,489m. The summit is at the 172km mark. The second climb is at the end of the stage. Riders will be allowed to discard their helmets for the final ascent because it is longer than 5km. The last climb is 12.8km long with an average gradient of 6.8%. The finish is at an altitude of 1,715m. .
 
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I don't think I've weighed in on this topic yet, so here goes.


My first taste was with Greg Lemond back in 89 I think it was. I was checking in to my duty station in Okinawa, Japan and people were talking about Greg Lemond and I asked "did he win" and they said yep. woooo hoooo I was stoked - and I am not sure why. ha ha.

anyway - I think Lance is freakin unbelievable.

What has me concerned is the stuff Lemond has been saying about Lance. I didn't know this has been going on for like 3 years... stinks. You would think as the two greatest American cyclists in history they would be helping each other out or at least rooting for one another ( I know Greg is long since retired). I can only think Greg maybe has some jealousy towards Lance since he has supplanted him as the greatest American cyclist ever. Who knows. I haven't followed it closely enough, but it is quite a shame.

I think it is disgusting that they try to pin stuff on Lance as well. Stupid frenchmen. Piss me off.

My biggest fear is this: Someone( i.e. and idiotic fan) is going to do something real stupid and try to take Lance out of the tour. Maybe like knocking him off his bike or reaching out and hitting him in the head (they do get too close to the sides IMO - even though they are trying to cut time). I hope this doesn't happen - I just have this strange feeling that if he is close to winning - something bizzaro is going to happen. God I hope not.

Lance is the freakin man. What a great team he has as well. I like George Hincapie too!
 
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The stage isn't over yet... but there's a big shake up coming in the standings... It appears Lance will put some time on Ullrich and Hamilton as well...
 
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Armstrong just took second and opened up some ground on Ullrich who appears to be struggling (2:30!). Hamilton dropped way off the pace. Voeckler still has the overall lead, but it looks like things are falling in place. I am really becoming a fan of this stuff.

Someone( i.e. and idiotic fan) is going to do something real stupid and try to take Lance out of the tour.

In general the French fans love Lance - more this year than ever. However, I heard somewhere that this is what happened to Eddy Merckx (who most consider the greatest of all time) in his attempt for a sixth win. A fan punched him in the stomach? Hopefully somebody out there can fill in the details.
 
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Ivan Basso wins Satege 12.... Armstrong 2nd... ti appears Armstong let him go...Voeckler will stay in Yellow finishing 3 plus minutes behind (For at least one more stage)
 
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Lance looked very good today and definitley has the form to win another. Putting 2:30 on Ulrich was huge! Usually Ulrich is able to minimize his time losses to Armstrong in the mountains in hopes of regaining the time in the time trials. Unfortunatly for Jan one of the time trial is up Alp d'Huez where it is unlikely he can even win none the less put significant time on Lance. 2:30 is just too much for him to give on the first day. At this point barring an absolute horrible day in the mountains or a crash for Lance, Jan is the only person that even has a prayer of beating Armstrong. Though I still expect Lance to have his one mountain day where he struggles, Jan did not look to have very good form and Hamilton looked worse. As for the climbers, none showed even a hint of a sign of being able to attack or crack Lance.
 
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