Yes, I know he’s the media darling of the moment and the press is doing him to death, but I can’t help it. Go get 'em Lance!
I watched the whole of stage 10 yesterday as we are lucky enough to now get OLN. The man is an animal. He stayed at the rear of the peloton for three-quarters of the race, and then at the foot of the last and largest mountain, pulled away and went up it as though it were a little hill. He regained several of the minutes he was trailing, passed Jan Ullrich and Laurent Roux, and passed the finish two minutes ahead of everyone.
In addition, his was the fastest time on today’s time trial. He’s now third in the overall standings and if he doesn’t get the yellow jersey within the next couple of stages, I’ll be surprised.
Whenever I feel like not riding because it’s cold or windy or I’m just not into it, I’m going to get out my tape of stage 10 of the 2001 Tour de France and motivate my lazy ass.
I hope he does it too, but he’s still got a long way to go(7 minutes?), and his team is hurting if I recall. Today should be the day he takes over the yellow, otherwise it’s gonna be tough.
I love the highlight they were showing on the major networks when Armstrong is right in front of Ullrich during Stage 10 and turns back and stares Ullrich down for like 5 or 10 seconds, then turns back and just rides away from him. It really gave an observer a sense of Armstrong’s power on the mountains.
Armstong is awesome. He is without a doubt the best allrounder since Miguel Indurain.
L’Alpe d’Huez used to be affectionately called “the highest mountain of the Netherlands”. A lot of Dutch riders won there, and the pastor of the local church is (used to be?) a Dutchman and he would sound the bells when there was a Dutch victory.
That’s long ago, though. IIRC, Erik Breukink was the last Dutch winner on the Alpe in 1992.
But that’s OK. I agree with the poster above: that shot of him on the slopes of the Alpe d’Huez, staring at Ulrich, only to pull away… sheer dominance. Fantastic. THAT’S what cycling’s all about.
Sure, a close finish in true Lemond-Fignon style can be VERY excting, but it’s one in a million. Normally, the real thrills of the Tour are in the decisive moments. And Ulrich knows that all too well.
On a side note: I once rode up the Alpe d’Huez on my mountain bike. I won’t embarrass myself by telling the time it took me, but it was without a doubt one of the hardest things I ever did. It was just three weeks after the Tour had been there, and all the Fiat and Michelin paintings were still there at the finish line. So I sat up straight, pulled my shirt straight down, raised my arm, and passed the finish in true drama style.
I got a roaring applause from the 3 old geezers playing cards on a nearby park bench.
Saint Lance is the Man. I am sick of the hype (and, God, he’s a texan, fer Christ’s sake ( :)), but he really is damn good and has overcome a lot and I’d like to see him at least match LeMond’s accomplishment (he won 3, right?). I was a doubter, faithless, and thought after that funky stage 8 thing that there wasn’t any chance, but now I am a believer. (“Testify!”) That footage where he passed Ullrich is just like last year when he just blew by Pantani, who just sort of shook his head and looked down.
LA’s mechanic from last year runs a high-end road shop here in town which my husband worked at for a while-- funny thing is the guy isn’t that hot of a pragmatic everyday mechanic, but in the tour it’s mainly a question of sticking on brand-new replacement parts really fast, and not trying to salvage old and used bits.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to see the full four-hour coverage of stage 10, just the two-hour evening highlights programme. Did the full OLN coverage show his move through the peloton? If so, I may have to track down a copy.
The whole day was beauty. The huge bluff Lance & USPS put over on the other teams. The “come on if you’ve got the juice” stare followed by totally dropping Ullrich. The post-race comment (paraphrased) ‘Team Telekom had a great strategy and stuck to it - it worked for us’.
I keep thinking that with all of those spectators and media-types with all of those cameras around, surely someone got a pic of Armstrong’s face as he stared Ullrich down. Please, somebody have a picture!
Classic, classic psych (a very important component of bicycle racing) coupled with fantastic physical and technical ability. I’d been waiting for this - I was sure he was going to do it again this year. Lance IS DA MAN!
P.S. If one of those idiotic cretinous spectators takes Armstrong out, I swear I’ll be the one going postal. I understand that you’re excited, people. I would be too. Cheer, scream, wave, photograph, jump up and down all ya want. Even run alongside the racers if you must. But don’t touch the racers, don’t try to get their attention (they’re BUSY you gauddamme morons, they don’t have time to look at you!) and DON’T JUMP IN FRONT OF BICYCLES GOING 40 or 50 KM/HR!!! Jesus Allah Krishnu on an onion bagel, you people are fucking imbeciles!!!
Oops, I meant 13 minutes behind. And he won’t do it today, today is a rest day. He did blow the field away the first day of the mountain stage, he can do it tomorrow.
It would be a heck of a comeback if he did, from 35 minutes back I think???
Nah, the coverage on the highlights show was the same as in real time. He got a quick but short leadout from Rubiera, the THAT look back. And the rest was …uphill, mostly
Go Postal! Lance is one of the biggest insparations in my life. I also hear that his wife is expecting twins!
I tried to get the tour threads rolling here. Sadly, I don’t have OLN, so I’m keeping up to date by means of the web. Anyone know of any really good sites that are covering the tour? I have cable so I wouldn’t mind a site with lots of videos and pics. Thanks.
Go postal, go Lance!
cykrider, I like velonews.com. They have coverage that is updated every few minutes.
redtail23, right on about the snotbites in the crowd jumping out in front of the riders. Some of them look like they’ve been pounding the Kronenbourg since before breakfast. While I’m watching, I alternately scream “Go Lance!” and “Get the HELL out of the way, you f***ing cretins!”
Coldy, that’s awesome. I’d love to try even a few hundred yards of that mountain, just to say I had been there. Wasn’t the oxygen a bit thin, though?
In culinary news, Mr. Pug described to me an interview done with the U.S. Postal Team’s cook. The cook said that during the Tour de France, the guys each ate 6,000 calories for dinner! He fed them pasta, steak, chicken, bread and fruit pastries. I bet even in off-season those guys couldn’t get fat if they tried.
cykrider - I’d have to agree about the velonews coverage. I didn’t see any of the television coverage last year, got all mine on the web. Their constant coverage updates are great.
Hee hee hee. Yup, that’s what we’ve all been doing too. I have to restrain myself from physically jumping up to try and move those idjits OUT OF THE WAY! (Yeah, I lean all over the place playing video games, too. g)
I’ve got a race report from a couple members of a local bikeclub list - they rode up the mountain to watch the race. Didn’t do too badly - one got all the way up and one stopped 5k short in only two hours. I don’t think I’d make it at all - I’ve almost killed myself trying to go uphill in the Colorado Rockies. Me 'at’s off to ye, Coldfire.
OK, then. My time was 2 hours 12 minutes. I think the record is something like 36 minutes, to give you an idea (still Breukink, isn’t it? He smashed it in 1992).
Make no mistake: I was SLOW. But I made it up there, dammit.
Couldn’t do it now, though. Gained a few kilos, rode a little less. Got about 8 years older. All that doesn’t help.
