After todays time trial Lance looks to be in great shape just 2 seconds away from the yellow jersey.
How about Dave Zabriskie of Salt Lake City.....in yellow in his first Tour. Could he be the next great American cyclist?
After todays time trial Lance looks to be in great shape just 2 seconds away from the yellow jersey.
How about Dave Zabriskie of Salt Lake City.....in yellow in his first Tour. Could he be the next great American cyclist?
I wouldn't be surprised if Lance isn't holding back a little. If I remember correctly he's never had the lead before the sixth or seventh stage (I could be wrong though).
I don't think that was holding back. He passed Jan Ulrick with 3K left to go and was DEFINATELY making a statement! He has a minute on Jan and passed him for what was believed to be the first time he has EVER been passed in a TT. Lance is strong, no doubt about it. Question is will he be able to endure the race through the mountains again.
TDF
Yes. That dude was flying today! Jan is in great shape and that had to be a tough blow to his confidence to get passed in such fashion.
A 53 second lead on the main field after the first day's 11.5 mile TT. That is pretty significant. To understand how significant that chunk of time is only one minute seperates the third place guy from the guy in 45th place.
Kaybee, He threw down the gaunlet at last years opening TT as well. I think he came in second that day as well.
If he performs like years past in the mountains, and this team is a strong as it seems. Any and every second he gets on the main threats in the lowlands could be nigh insurmountable come the mountains.
Odds favor Lance. I'm putting Vinokourov ahead of Ullrich at this point in time. Maybe Basso, too ?? I LOVE THIS RACE ! ! !
GO, LANCE ARMSTRONG ! ! ! !
2005 Tour De France Betting Odds
Lance Armstrong will attempt to win a record 7th straight "Tour de France” in this his final appearance. Can he do it? You decide!
ODDS TO WIN 2005 TOUR DE FRANCE Denis Menchov +6600
Alberto Contador +6600
Damiano Cunego +5000
Yaroslav Popovych +4000
Floyd Landis +4000
Roberto Heras +3300
Levi Leipheimer +3300
Santiago Botero +2500
Iban Mayo +2500
Andreas Kloden +2000
Alexander Vinokourov +1000
Ivan Basso +600
Jan Ullrich +250
Lance Armstrong -140
Team Time Trials Tuesday, Stage 4. Lance will take the YELLOW, jmo, still only 2 sec. down after today.
Tour Interactive
Follow the race with live updates, interactive maps and stage-by-stage results.
Wow,
Discovery was strong today, and won the stage by 2 seconds. Zibrinski (sp?) went down with about 1km left and didn't finish with his team so he didn't get the team time.
Lance is 55 secs up on the field now.
Yeh, he will win and I like it for the whole American pride thing but I do have to say that Cycling has to be one of the least competitive sports ever. People wait on each other when they fall down and stuff. Of course, Lance has done it too in the past, so it is a nice gesture. I guess I am just used to sports where you kick the other opponent when they are down, not let them back up.
A few years back when Urich missed a turn on a decent and fell down a hill, Lance waited on him so that he could kick his ass without any excuses. To me that shows more sport than riding off after your competitor has fallen.Originally Posted by dhussdawg
Yeh, I can concede that but it still wasnt Lance's fault so why wait on him. That is like a baseball team calling off the WS if the other team's best pitcher is hurt. You just have to say, "Tough titty said the kitty....".Originally Posted by LongtimeDawgfan
Here is something to chew on: The Discovery Team's annual budget is 15 million dollars. What is Tech's ath. budget?
Today should be interesting after yesterday's collapse of the Discovery Team. T-Mobile smells blood. Watch for the Big 3 of T-Mobile to repeatedly attack Lance today.
Yeh, I like how Sir Lance was all pissed at his team the other day. I dont understand cycling. It is such a team sport yet one man always gets the glory. Can I get some light shone on this?Originally Posted by LongtimeDawgfan
It's not too different than the way a RB gets the glory while the OL toils in the trenches. Only a handful of riders have the talent to win the Tour. For instance, as good as he is, George Hincapie could never win the Tour de France, even if he had Lance Armstrong on his team working for him. Look at Floyd Landis, Roberto Heras, and Tyler Hamilton (last year) all former members of Lance's team. They have all tried to become a team leader and have faltered badly.Originally Posted by dhussdawg
The parts are NOT interchangable. Last year Ryan Moats could not have switched places with an OL and our running attack be as successful. Well, as good as some of Lance's teammates are (Salvodelli especially) none of them are Lance Armstrong. In the end the team leader who wins the Tour does not share in the prize money. Lance's 8 teammates will split the pot and this year that will total in excess of $500K. So, that's about $63,000 each, for 3 weeks of work. And they are being paid a handsome salary too!
Nope, cyclists like Lance only come around once in awhile. He is one of the best all time. Only Eddie Meryck (sp?) is even in the same class with him.