I know, it's not really beer related. But what the hell.
2005 Final Standings
Yellow Jersey: Lance ARMSTRONG - Discovery
Green Jersey: Thor HUSHOVD - Credit Agricole
Polka-dot Jersey: Mickael RASMUSSEN - Rabobank
White Jersey: Yaroslav POPOVYCH - Discovery
Overall Team: TEAM T-MOBILE
PARIS (AFP) - Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong escaped with only a cut to his face after crashing on his time-trial bike in training, his Discovery Channel team said.
The six-times Tour winner crashed while trying to fend off a wasp when he riding at less than 30kmh.
The 33-year-old Texan, favourite to win a seventh Tour in the July 2-24 race, will continue with his training at Nice on the Mediterranean this week.
story
That would have been an ignominious end to a great streak.
I'm thinking of getting on the "writing a letter to the editor" bandwagon in response to the following I saw on Velonews.com:
"Lance disses LeMond
Editor:
In a recent article in Outside magazine, Lance takes a cheap shot at Greg LeMond. Lance tells the reporters when he retires he does not want to gain 40 pounds like LeMond. Rather he wants to stay in shape and go rock-climbing, hiking, and kayaking.
Clearly Lance is still pissed off over LeMond's comments about Lance and his possible drug use. I hope Andy Hampsten does not get fat or he may be next on Lance's hit list. Hey, Lance, if it wasn't for LeMond and Hampsten, you would not have had the opportunity to have a cycling career in Europe.
I will be glad when Lance retires.
Steve Dalton
Phoenix, Arizona "
It would go something like this:
"Steve
Glad to see you're keeping an open mind about it. I know I would want to gain 40 pounds so I could be like my career-enabling predecessor if I had the chance, as a grateful tribute.
I'm sure that LeMond doesn't have anything to be bitter or jealous about either. How many Tours did he win again?"
You might want to add in an "Andy who?" for good measure.
Armstrong has three main rivals in Tour de France, says his team director
By JEROME PUGMIRE, AP Sports Writer
June 29, 2005
PARIS (AP) -- Lance Armstrong's team director says only three riders could threaten the Texan's bid for a seventh straight Tour de France title when cycling's showcase race begins Saturday.
Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's tactical adviser in each of his six Tour wins, picked 1997 winner Jan Ullrich , Alexandre Vinokourov and Ivan Basso as the main competition.
``I think those three are the real challengers,'' Bruyneel said this week in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
Vinokourov is not as quick as his T-Mobile teammate Ullrich on time trials, but he's better in the mountains. At the Dauphine Libere tuneup earlier this month, Vinokourov won the climb up Mont Ventoux -- beating a tired-looking Armstrong by 37 seconds.
Although Team CSC rider Basso lacks speed, he is a tenacious climber -- as he showed on last year's Tour.
``He was the only one to stay with Lance in the mountains,'' Bruyneel said. ``Will he be able to maintain his condition for three weeks on the Tour? That's the question mark. But it's possible.''
Vinokourov's attacking style caused Armstrong problems in the mountains in 2003, when the Texan beat Ullrich by just over a minute -- his smallest overall margin of victory.
Bruyneel admires Kazakhstan rider Vinokourov but believes his attacking range will be less this year.
``He takes advantage of every opportunity. I think he's become more resistant over the years, and stronger in the mountains,'' Bruyneel said. ``In 2003, he wasn't one of the favorites, so he got some freedom to attack. I don't think it will be the case this time.''
Ullrich, a five-time Tour runner-up, has long been considered Armstrong's main rival. But a poor showing last year -- 8 minutes, 50 seconds behind Armstrong in fourth spot -- has raised doubts about his commitment and ability to handle pressure.
However, Bruyneel does not rule him out.
``He is one of the best time trialists and always gets better in the second half of the Tour,'' Bruyneel said. ``He is definitely weaker in the mountains. But he is a tough guy who never cracks.''
Bruyneel also mentioned Spain's Joseba Beloki -- runner-up in 2002 -- and former Armstrong teammate Roberto Heras as possible threats.
Beloki, though, wasn't upbeat about his chances.
``To have any possibilities of winning against Armstrong, Armstrong himself has to have a bad day,'' Beloki said. ``If Armstrong weakens one day with a minimal loss of time, I don't think it'll be enough. Armstrong would have to have real difficulties and have to lose lots of time.''
``To have any possibilities of winning against Armstrong, Armstrong himself has to have a bad day,'' Beloki said.
My sentiments exactly. Crossing fingers, toes, and shoelaces here in fanland.
Only 2 more days! And the Tour starts off with a bang this year, no mostly meaningless prologue. Right out of the gate we start out with an individual time trial. Should make things interesting.
It starts this farking weekend?! I'm going to be at my folks- I'll have to find OLN on their satellite.
It is July 2 this weekend, isn't it?
2-24th right??
Yes indeed, the 2-24th. Pretty much the whole month of July. :)
Armstrong has Ullrich in yellow jersey - in 2006
June 30, 2005
CHALLANS, France (AFP) - Lance Armstrong has named arch rival Jan Ullrich as the man who will sit on his Tour de France throne - although the soon-to-be-retired American expects that will not be until next year.
Armstrong's retirement race is set to be one of his hardest yet as his main rivals - Ullrich and Ivan Basso - count on their respective teams to try and upset the six-time winner.
Germany's 1997 winner Ullrich, of T-Mobile, has on paper perhaps the best chance of giving Armstrong a hard time. The 31-year-old appears on form and has the past experience of coming runner-up five times.
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Ullrich's team is also one of the strongest on the race, and features Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov - a third place finisher in 2003 who is so impressive he is currently in negotiations with Armstrong's Discovery Channel team.
Basso came third last year, however the 28-year-old Italian who races for CSC has improved his time trialling dramatically in the past year.
Armstrong was adamant that both riders, including possibly last year's runner-up Andreas Kloden, also of T-Mobile, would be the ones to give him trouble.
Looking confident and physically in good race condition, the American admitted it will be his last chance to finish his amazing career on a high.
"Obviously the older you get the risk of losing gets bigger. Time is not on my side, but I feel strong and motivated. I can't do much about what my birth certificate says," said Armstrong ahead of Saturday's first stage, a 19km time trial from Fromentine to the tiny peninsula of Noirmoutier.
"We expect a serious challenge. At the Dauphine Libere (stage race) Vino (Vinokourov), was climbing and time trialling well. And I know for various reasons he is motivated to do a good Tour.
"Jan will get serious and fitter as the Tour goes on and Kloden - you never know. The three of them add up to a strong team, but we will try and neutralise anything they have."
Armstrong begins his bid to win a seventh consecutive yellow jersey on Saturday's time trial. For once, organisers have done away with the traditional short prologue and replaced it with a 19km race against the clock which, according to Armstrong, is tough all the way.
"For a start it doesn't feel like a race of 19km. It's point to point but the entire race is (into a) headwind," said Armstrong.
"You have one bridge, five roundabouts, and then headwind. There could be some important time differences. We have to look at it as a difficult stage, not just a prologue."
After Saturday's taster, a long week of almost flat racing is set to light up the race and Armstrong will be looking for the almost constant protection of his team in a bid to avoid any mishaps and to keep precious energy.
The first real challenge for the yellow jersey contenders should not come until the 10th or 11th stage.
The 10th stage is 192km from Grenoble to Courchevel and climbs a total of 42km.
The 11th stage is a relatively short 173km from Courchevel to Briancon but climbs over three of the race's most well-known Cols - the Madeleine, the Telegraphe and the Galibier.
"I'm most nervous about the opening stages in the mountains because you're nervous about your own condition, and you want to know how the others will be," added Armstrong.
"I think the two days back to back - Courchevel and Briancon - should be hard but in general the middle ten days of the race are going to be critical. Then obviously you've got the Pyrenees not long afterwards."
With Ullrich seemingly determined to finally beat his American nemesis before he retires, it could turn out to be one of the most dramatic races since Armstrong's reign began in 1999.
And despite being impressed by Basso, Armstrong could not resist putting his arch rival into the virtual yellow jersey - next year, when he will have spent a year away from the sport.
"I can only guess (at Basso's form) because I haven't seen him in the last month. At the Giro d'Italia he was very impressive until he had bad luck with a stomach bug.
"He's improved dramatically in time trials. And he's a very classy rider. I think he'll be one of if not the main challenger. I must confess I'm a real fan of Basso," said Armstrong.
Asked who he thought might take over his Tour crown, however, he added: "I wonder a lot. I don't know who it is. If you asked me who would win the Tour in 2006 I would say Ullrich."
link
[Edited by on Jul 1, 2005 at 05:54am.]
Armstrong passes Ullrich in a 19km first stage time trial. Absolutely amazing. Why is he retiring again?!
Lance stays out of the yellow jersey, 2 seconds out of winning the stage. Can't wait to watch the replay.
Ullrich finishes in 18th place - can't be a good feeling for the German.
That certainly makes a statement, doesn't it?
I think that statement is, "I said, NO GIFTS!"
Basso or Leipheimer, maybe Vino will challenge more than Ullrich, methinks.
Ullrich doesn't generally start strong.
Ullrich and his entourage appeared flabbergasted as to just what happened in those 20 short minutes by the Atlantic seaboard. Rudy Pevenage, who according to Godefroot is the only man who really knows what's up with Ullrich, said he had no explanation.
"This is a huge disappointment," he conceded. "The crash yesterday during the training doesn't account for this."
Ullrich himself was similarly at a loss as to just what had happened in Formentine.
"I went all out and I didn't feel bad at all. Quite frankly, I am pretty demoralized now." Ullrich agreed with Pevenage that the crash had nothing to do with his performance, saying, "It didn't impede me at all."
He'd better try to get in shape quick. http://www.velonews.com/tour2005/news/articles/8372.0.html
The T-mobile team is doing some shuffling, it seems.
By Phil Liggett
So, Lance is ready to take his last ride before heading into the Texas sunset. Life after July 24th will not be the same again for any of us.
The American who has written his own piece of Tour history has won six -- in itself the outright record -- but would be far happier with seven when he retires from the sport that has earned him millions of dollars on the final day of his favorite race in three weeks’ time.
This will be his 11th trip around France since 1993 when he failed to finish, but did win a stage. Since then millions of words have been written about the cancer-ridden rider who came back to triumph a record number of times. In all, too, he has won 21 stages so far.
Obliged to ride the race one more time to honor his new contract with Discovery Channel, Lance has chosen sooner rather than later, leaving the way clear to go home and spend time with his young children. At almost 34 years of age, he may be getting on the wrong side of maturity to win races, but not to enjoy his after life!
Forget any thoughts that Lance rides to fulfill a deal; he is at the start of the 92nd Grande Boucle for one reason – to go out with a final winner’s yellow jersey. Losing has never been part of his make-up.
Who can beat him? In my opinion and given a fair race, only Jan Ullrich has the ability to beat the master. The German is ready and I think this year has the best chance ever of spoiling the party for Team Discovery Channel.
The opening time trial on the isle of Noirmoutier in the Vendee will give a good indicator as to form. If Lance wins this, will he try to lead all the way home. I doubt it, but it is still an intriguing thought.
As the race journeys across northern France to Germany and into the Alsace region, we can reflect on 100 years of mountains as the Ballon d’Alsace, the first mountain climbed in 1905, is part of stage nine.
Lance will use his team in the north to distance rivals when possible -– in the team time trial on stage 4, for example –- and to make sure he stays out of trouble. Once into the major mountains of the Alps from stage 10, he will still have the likes of Yaroslav Popovytch, George Hincapie, Jose Azevedo and Paolo Savoldelli to look after him.
Onwards to the Pyrenees, often Lance’s favorite playground in victories gone by, and here he will attempt to shake off Ullrich, Mayo, Basso, Heras, Vinokourov, Botero, Landis and Valverde. If he fails, then his last chance will be the time trial at St Etienne before the long train to Paris for the final stage.
Champagne on the Champs-Elysees, as has been his way since 1999? We hope it will be so again, but one can not help feeling that this is going to be no ordinary Tour and Lance will win no ordinary race.
May the best rider win and may Lance Armstrong enjoy a happy retirement with my thanks for a great 15 years.
[Edited by on Jul 2, 2005 at 07:33pm.]
Ullrich agreed with Pevenage that the crash had nothing to do with his performance, saying, "It didn't impede me at all."
I don't buy that. Did you see the back window of the car? From what it sounds like, the car hit the brakes unexpectedly and Ullrich slammed into the back end. There was a pretty good sized dent in the sheet metal and the rear window was shattered. He clearly hit the car hard. I ran into a parked car once on my bike at less than 10 mph (don't ask) and it shook me a bit.
Stage 1 thoughts
Lance has clearly hit the ground running in this year's TDF. He nearly won an individual time trial, losing by only 2 seconds to a rider 8 years younger than himself. This young rider also had the distinct advantage of having a tailwind throughout his time trial, a tailwind that had all but disappeared by the time Lance took the course. And more amazing, he was able to not only catch Jan Ullrich, but pass him, something that has never happened to Ullrich.
Granted, Ullrich was in a car-bike accident yesterday during training. Ullrich claims that he was not affected by the crash. For his sake, let's hope he's telling the truth. Otherwise, it looks like T-mobile has backed the wrong horse. Ullrich is currently behind Armstrong by 1:06 and has said himself that nobody can make up a 45 second deficit against Lance.
All this after leaving the starting house with his right foot not completely clipped into his pedal, which caused him to slip and slowed his overall launch as he reclipped in. This surely could have made the 2 second difference between himself and Zabriskie.
"I didn't come to ride the Tour. I came to win," said Armstrong. And I think he clearly put his money where his mouth is today.
On a personal note, Zabriskie rode an average speed of 54.676 kph today. By way of comparison, the fastest I've ever ridden (that I've had a speedometer for) is 62 kph. And that was downhill, with a tailwind. These guys are flying.
Oh, I also forgot to mention this little tidbit. All the tour riders completed their compulsory drug testing yesterday. Today, random drug tests began. One rider was "randomly" tested. Armstrong.
Six-time Tour de France winner and leader of the Discovery Channel cycling team, Lance Armstrong of Austin, Texas, left, prepares to overtake T-Mobile team leader Jan Ullrich of Germany, during the 1st stage of the Tour de France cycling race, a 19-kilometer (11.80-mile) individual time trial between the coastal town of Fromentine and the island of Noirmoutier, western France, Saturday, July 2, 2005. David Zabriskie of the U.S. won the stage in 20 minutes and 51 seconds, Armstrong finished 2 seconds behind and placed second, Ullrich finished in 12th place.
US cyling ace Lance Armstrong, seen here before a training session in France, was given a surprise anti-doping test on the eve of the Tour de France.
Jan Ullrich undergoes a medical check-up two days before the official start of the 92nd Tour de France. Ullrich had cuts to his face after falling and hitting the rear windscreen of a car.
Pretty much my thoughts exactly - I don't see how the other GC competitors are going to be able to make up the ground he's put into them in day one, barring something unlucky or tragic.
<crosses fingers, toes, throws salt over left shoulder, knocks on wood>
Sure, Ulrich is suffering something from the car crash - but I think all of the riders have bruised days, etc. I read that he missed the braking signal the car gave him.
So, darn car just leaped right out and attacked you, eh? I had that happen to me once - on foot - when I was chemically induced.
Well, I got to work at 10, missed the race live. From the recaps though, it doesn't appear to be much missed. A couple minor crashes, and the leader board remains largely the same.
A nice little performance by Thomas Voeckler though. Gutsy little kid from last year that Armstrong finally caught in the last stages.
"Armstrong's ultimate fantasy of carrying the yellow jersey from start-to-finish was foiled by two ticks of the clock, but don't expect to see him chase time bonuses to grab the jersey. Having Bjarne Riis's red army expending valuable energy to protect the maillot jaune early on plays perfectly into Armstrong's plans to win a seventh Tour."
 http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/8376.0.html
Hey, that's what I said... :)
That's an interesting article, with the point that CSC is an awfully strong team, and could pass the jersey to Basso once the mountains come up... if they can hold off Discovery. Awfully big if, IMO.
And what about the even more tantalizing option - why not take the scenario to its absolute maximum - and pass the jersey from Zabriskie to Ivan Basso in the Alps?
I don't think Basso will be a factor, if his time trial is any indication.
I think you're right. I'm finding it hard to picture how the other teams can hope to gain the minute back - or how CSC will hold off Discovery in the mountains. It's going to be fun to watch.
Indeed. I hope they let Zabriskie run with it.
In other news, OLN's website still sucks. It was bad last year and I see no improvement or reason to return there.
trekbikes.com also sucks, in that I'm trying to register for their Lucky 7 game and keep getting the same message over and over. "Registration failed. Please try again." A little clue as to whyit failed would be helpful, don't you think?
Only one change in the leader board today, Erik Dekker took over the King of the Mountains title from Thomas Voeckler. Dekker rode hard today in a three man break that led for most of the day. I thought they almost had the capacity to hold off the catch at the end, but it wasn't meant to be. At least he got the jersey out of all that work. Otherwise, not much to report.
Tomorrow's team time trial should be very interesting. Team Discovery has a lot of unproven members, and even Lance said, "I don't think that we will stay together." Whether this is a psychological parry to throw off the hunt or he is truly lacking confidence in his team's ability to ride as a unit remains to be seen.
I'm soo glad to be back from the cabin.....I need my cable tv!
4:40 p.m. - Led by Roberto Heras the Liberty team finishes in 1:11:32... the best ride of the day so far. It's amazing what having Manolo Saiz driving behind you screaming "Venga! Venga! VENGA!" can do to a team.
I need cable here at work!
Current standings, 46km (20 of 21 teams):
1. Discovery Channel 47.14
1. T-Mobile +0.01
2. Liberty Seguros +0.14
3. Phonak +0.42
4. Credit Agricole +0.51
5. Liquigas +1.06
6. Illes Balears +1.12
7. Gerolsteiner +1.12
ZABRISKIE CRASHES!
5:09 p.m. - CSC is racing to the line, but Zabriskie loses the jersey because he won't finish with his team.
Team time trial top 5 results:
1- DISCOVERY 1:10:39
2- CSC 1:10:41 at 02"
3- T-MOBILE 1:11:14 at 35"
4- LIBERTY SEGUROS 1:11:32 at 53"
5- PHONAK 1:12:10 at 1' 31"
Armstrong officially takes over the title of Mellow Johnny...
American Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel/USA)(C) and his teammates sprint towards the finish line of the fourth stage of the 92nd Tour de France cycling race, a team-time-trial between Tours and Blois. Discovery Channel won the stage ahead of Danish CSC team.
[Edited by on Jul 5, 2005 at 08:48am.]
Man, I gotta' say - the blue shoe/sock things on Discovery are fugly.
Yes, they are. I don't like that shade of blue. At all.
Injured overall leader David Zabriskie of the U.S. rides towards the finish line after falling in the last kilometer of the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race, a 67.5-kilometer (41.95-mile) team time trial between Tours and Blois, western France, Tuesday, July 5, 2005.
Had he finished with his team, Zabriskie would probably have stayed in top spot but the 26-year-old American, winner of the opening individual time trial on Saturday, lost everything when he crashed on a steep turn 1,200 metres from the line.
His team mates were forced to leave him behind and finish without him. Had the incident occurred in the last kilometre, Zabriskie would have been given the same time as his CSC mates.
I'm no metric whiz, but isn't a kilometer 1000 meters? So he missed getting the team's overall time by only the length of two football fields. That's gotta hurt more than the fall.
holy crap...look close at the photo.......I almost missed it.
You talking about the big rip in his shorts by his hip? Lots of road rash there, and on his calf too. Ouch!
rip(yikes--if a girl wooohooo), knees, arm, hip, blood, rip on shoesock, etc...
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I glanced and missed it all....then I looked again...
[Edited by on Jul 5, 2005 at 11:05am.]
Zabriskie is no stranger to mishap. He has screws in one knee from a crash in 2003 when he broke his leg and wrist after being hit by a sports utility vehicle in his home town of Salt Lake City.
Armstrong sympathized with his former U.S. Postal Service teammate.
"It's unfortunate," Armstrong said. "The TTT (team time trial) is so hard at the end that everybody's on the limit, everybody's a little bit cross-eyed.
"There's a lot of turns and you get the whipping wind and it's easy to make a mistake like that. I can clearly see how it happened. It's a bad one for him."
Armstrong praised Team CSC, which lost by just two seconds to Discovery Channel in a thrilling tactical race. He also predicted a bright future for Zabriskie.
"They (Team CSC) were flying, riding really strong," Armstrong said. "It took everything we had to catch up to them.
"David's a young rider and I suspect he will be in yellow some time in the future."
http://www.canada.com/sports/story.html?id=124bb99d-6636-442b-9717-1a4b2bbfc42a
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8474742/
Yikes!!!!!!!-I don't want to see this!!!!
BLOIS, France - A decision on whether injured former race leader David Zabriskie can continue in the Tour de France will be made on Wednesday.
Zabriskie crashed in the final mile of Tuesday’s 44-mile team time trial and needed stitches in a cut to his right arm.
“He’s not well and is completely devastated by what happened,” CSC team press officer Brian Nygaard said.
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It looks like Tom was a little excited at winning the 4th stage of the race.
Tour de Joe
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[Edited by on Jul 5, 2005 at 12:47pm.]
Thank you for pointing that out.