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
Yeah. Insanity, for sure. Those Basques seem especially rabid.
Hincapie said in a Velonews article that he met Lance when he was 14 and Lance was 16. Lance said he was going to attack from the start and keep going, George said you can't do that 'cause you'll burn out - Lance went ahead and did it anyway and won, and he's been doing it ever since.
Rest day. Sigh.
Drawing near the end.
Yep. After Tuesday we start to flatten out as they make their way back to Paris.
I was just reading an article how many hard core people think that the race is over after yesterdays stage....
I think if Lance rides well on Tuesday it's over, unless he crashes or makes a mistake in the time trial. But second and third place are still very much in play, as is the Green Jersey. I think Rasmussen has the polka dots locked up. The white jersey could change hands too.
A little light rest-day reading to keep your Tour de France web reflexes sharp. Here's the interview Playboy magazine did with Lance Armstrong for its June issue.
Armstrong talks about LiveStrong, LeMond, and lots of grudges.
It's not a VeloNews interview, in any sense:
PLAYBOY: Some cyclists train by sleeping in an "altitude tent" with thin air that helps thicken the blood. It's a legal way to make your blood more efficient. Have you got one?
ARMSTRONG:: A tent's not big enough. I've got an altitude cubicle.
PLAYBOY: You sit in there and work on a computer?
ARMSTRONG:: No, you sleep in it. We sleep in it. We can get Sheryl's whole bed in there.
PLAYBOY: So in a virtual sense you've joined the mile-high club.
ARMSTRONG:: Oh, I've joined that club in a literal sense.
The Playboy Lance Armstrong Interview
(the preceding was gratuitiously stolen from tdfblog.com
[Edited by on Jul 18, 2005 at 12:49pm.]
Lookit the knobby knees on Sheryl Crow!
If she and Lance ever breed, their kids are gonna look like stick insects...
Who the fuck is Randy Rust? I ask in the midst of my inebriation...
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hmmmm - who the F is sparky?? didnt know seals could type with their flippers!??
Thanks for the article, dude. For all his success, he's still a pretty down-to-earth guy.
If he and Sheryl ever breed, their kid is going to be a heckuva climber.
Sorry Randy R. - didn't know you were easily offended. And your banter is greatly admired.
Best comment of the day:
Seventy-eight Yellow Jerseys for Armstrong. Not bad for a guy who got fired by Cofidis on his apparent deathbed a few years back.
And that line of Armstrong's in the Playboy interview upon being asked what Cofidis has done since: "Not much."
And with today's stage win, Team Discovery moves into first place in the team standings. T-Mobile is second by 37".
They lost Kloden today, who is a better time trialist than Manuel 'Triki' Beltran was - so the overall team edge in the time trial goes to Discovery, I'd say. There may be some interesting moves made in the next couple days by T-Mobilers. Sevilla has yet to do anything stage-wise, but he keeps going off the front. Burning a lot of energy - maybe he can persevere for them at some point. :)
And, as icing, Popoyvych is still in command of the white (young riders) jersey, by over 6 minutes.
[Edited by on Jul 20, 2005 at 12:05pm.]
I'm still trying to figure out how the team scoring works. Discovery is in the lead right now with a total time of 216 hours, 19 minutes and 20 seconds. What I think is that it's based on the top three riders? They are as follows:
Lance 72 h 55 m 50 s
Yaroslav 73 h 10 m 17 s
George 73 h 15 m 25 s
So if I add these up, I get:
219 h 21 m 32 s
which is a difference of about 3 hours. What am I missing here?
Best dailypeloton.com comment of the day:
After the initial winners had crossed the finish line, Ullrich decided to attack. Because the peloton was so far behind the stage winners, I think it surprised our commentator as evidenced by:
Folks! Jan Ullrich has attacked on the Cat 3! Well, this is evidence that it's not over till the fat lady signs. Or the fat man. (So Jan Ullrich, basically.)
As I understand it, it's the first three finishers *in each stage* for each team that gets added to the total. So, yesterday when they had two in the breakaway they got time subtracted from your total, and when Hincapie won the stage, etc.
I wonder if they get the bonus times then 2...
That makes more sense. Lots harder to manually tally, so I'll just have to believe you and trust the numbers published by the judges.
http://www.letour.fr/2005/TDF/LIVE/us/1700/classement/ITE.html
complete standings, by any category you'd like. :)
T-mobile is back in the #1 spot for the team contest. Otherwise, not much to report as we get closer and closer to Paris.
Wasn't even a GC attack. Dangerously close to boring.
Dangerously...
The final stage was much more exciting that I could have hoped for. While there were no changes in the positions for any of the jerseys, Vinokourov showed that the ride to Paris can be anything but ordinary. Not known as a sprinter, Vino attacked throughout the day taking a 6 second time bonus to time him for 5th position with Levi Leipheimer. It came down to 100ths of seconds, but Vino managed to move into 5th overall in the GC. Then, he beat out all the usual suspects to take the stage win in Paris. This is a guy who's looking for a new team. I wonder where he'll end up.
All four jerseys together
Team winner T-mobile
Stage winner Vinokourov
Da U-boat
Eight??
Ha! Even Lance thinks Jan is tubby...
"Jan is a special, special guy to me," Armstrong said. "I truly believe that Jan can win the Tour again, not just once but more than once.
"Clearly he has to show up to the event in a little better shape, because what you see toward the end of the event is the guy who can win the race."
"It's just a question perhaps of a kilo and a half less at the start."
bbc story
http://team.discovery.com/videogallery/chopsuey/chopsuey.html
Haha!
Nice picks dude. I need to make a "What would Lance do?" bumper sticker, if someone hasn't already done it.
I'm ready to support him to succeed Kinky as next governor of Texas.
It could be a double bill. Vote Kinky/Lance!
Snork!
then why does a fat beer drinking slob watch it??
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oh wait its on my hunting channel..and I lost the remote....
hee hee
'lmost forgot....I thought I heard something yesterday that there is another 5 stages left...all BS for marketing and celebrations....????????
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something like sprints left???
Nope, it's over.
The only sprints are going to be on the beach, where Lance & friends are celebrating becoming an icon at 33.
oops...was something in belgium on monday...my goof...