Yeah, the fall didn’t cost Ullrich the race (might’ve cost him the stage though).
I was rooting for Lance, but there was a part of me that wanted Ullrich to close to within 10-15 seconds just to see what would happen tomorrow.
5 in a row! Congrats Lance!
Does Ulrich give interviews? I realize I’m reading English-only sites, but I’ve yet to see any statement at all by Ulrich.
In Bild (German newspaper, journalistically on par with the Sun or Fox News) he said:
“I am sad, because I would like to have won the time trial. On the other hand, I could only have won the Tour if Lance had fallen today.”
More realistic, then I would have expected in this paper. On the other hand, they sported the headline: “This is where Jan lost the Tour”.
I was watching the times, too, and even before the fall it looked like Armstrong was going to have a safe lead for the final stage. But he eased up a lot after hearing about Ullrich. Without Ullrich going down, Armstrong would have been riding harder and maybe he would have fallen. Ullrich’s chance of winning was pretty slim by that point, but to lose it so suddenly must be hard to take.
Still, a hell of a good Tour. Fingers crossed for tomorrow; good job, Lance
It’s a fiendish Communist plot I tell you! I’m SURE I typed in “USP” into the keyboard, but there are bloody pinkos everywhere these days! 
Well, you might have, but it’s USPS in reality.
As someone pointed out on this board recently, in Britain the post is delivered by the Royal Mail, and in America, the mail is delivered by the Postal Service.
I beg to differ. The Team name hasn’t been USPS for two years now. My understanding is that the official name of Lance Armstrong’s team is…
US Postal - Berry Floor
No mention of the word “Service” in it all from what I can see.
(I’ve been meaning to ask this - and too lazy to look it up (Berry Floor logo is on like all the USPS gear))
Who/What’s Berry Floor?
Have to say that after only a couple of corners, Ullrich looked too tense, not surprised he came off.
I also thought he was risking it by coming in so tight into those corners too, his lines were taking out him wide on the exits and he was struggling to stay inside the barriers several times.
At least when you go in to a corner wide and come out fairly tight, it’s the back that goes and you have some chance of catching it.
I did not expect he would have got much more than half the time back from Armstrong anyway.
Good on Miller though, he’s had a bad chest for a godd week or so now, but for that he might have been looking around a top 20 finish.I would have put him at or very near the top of any flat time trial stage.
I want to say that as cool as it is to see Lance win 5 in a row, and how great that one mountain stage was…the most amazing story of this tour has to be Tyler Hamilton.
j
It’s a Belgian manufacturer of laminate wood flooring.
Lance Armstrong has (many times) said he will return to Le Tour for a a bid at an unprecedented sixth tour victory in 2004.
All four of the previous five-timers have tried one more time for a sixth victory in Le Tour, as I learned from this BBC article from (The Year) 2000
Jacques Anquetil - “As with all the subsequent five-times winners, he tried for a sixth in 1966, but injury forced him out of his last Tour.”
Eddy Merckx - “But 1975 saw him finally falter on the road from Nice to Pra-Loup, after he had already overcome a spectator punching him.”
Bernard Hinault - won the (King of the) Mountains jersey and a stage win on Alpe d’Huez in his last tour in 1996.
Miguel Indurain - was attacked in the Alps in 1996, and lost the lead. Retired after winning Olympic gold in Atlanta.
I just hope he knows when to retire, as so few athletes seem to. It would be so depressing to watch him as a domestique or a struggling has-been.
That said, I’d really like to Vinokourov, Hamilton, or one of the Euskaltel guys win it next year.
I’d say Armstong has little choice. He’s in the club of legends now. All of those who have preceded him in this club have attempted a fabled 6th win. Hinault arguably came closest. He actually wore the Yellow for quite some time in 1986 but he had made a promise to Le Mond the year before to help Le Mond win his first tour in 86 as a form of payback for the reticence that Le Mond had shown in 85, when arguably, Le Mond could have easily won that year too.
As for Jan Ulrich being “destined” to have a fall in the ITT?
Well, you known, it has to be said, in the interests of fairness that “funny bikes” (as dedicated Time Trial bikes are referred to) are notoriously poor handling machines. Due to their design which forces riders to be amazingly hunched over and all “forward” with their centre of gravity, it’s really hard with a time trial bike to be super duper nimble with your cornering skills.
Combine this with the fact that of all people, Ulrich had to take more chances than anyone else, and the reputation that Ulrich has for being a somewhat poor descender in the mountains, and the fact that Peschel had already fallen off in the same, greasy wet corners - and well, I don’t think we should be too hard on Jan. He had to go for it on the day. The conditions and circumstances conspired against him I rather think.
With hindsight, I just wish the Yellow Jersey had not “virtually” fallen on Armstrong’s shoulders quite so early. Remember, after Stage 4, he was only 1 second off the lead to his own team-mate - which meant he was effectively in Yellow from that point on, and he never relinquished that Yellow for the rest of the Tour.
I wish that the lead might have see sawed a few times. It would have resulted in Armstrong having to ride a far more attacking race, as compared to the strategic defensive race that was forced upon him.
It should be noted of course, that my wish stems purely from a spectators point of view. Given the way the race unfolded, you couldn’t possibly fault the way that Armstrong rode the Tour. He was forced into a defensive position early - and his strategy from that point onwards was faultless really.
Just would have been nice to see him on the attack a bit more, if you know what I mean.
As Marcel Wurst noted last night, “Super Humans” are never really all THAT popular. The French like to see their champions suffer a bit, and I can understand that actually. It lends the Tour an air of theatre.
Thus spoke the motorcyclist, obviousy.
Yeah, it’s a shame Ullrich went down, but fair is fair: he wouldn’t have gained a full minute on Lance.
Great tour, best one in years. Impressive results from Armstrong, Vinokourov, and of course Hamilton.
Boogerd was the best Dutchman at 32nd spot in the GC. But in fairness, he’s aiming for the world championships this year, and chose not to peak in the Tour. He’d better live up to that claim, though. 
Boo Boo Foo, thanks for keeping us informed with so much insight, and such fantastic “behind the scenes” stories. It’s been a joy to read, and I’m sure I speak for the lot of us when I say that! A night of brews of your choosing is on me, should you ever be around my parts - which I can recommend, by the way.
And now, the criteriums. Small, slightly amateuristic looking “runs around the church” (as we call them), mostly in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Fixed races pretty much, getting the big names in to run through your village. Pay them a shitload, make a buck yourself as an organisor. Bit of a disgrace to the sport, really, but part of it as well. Tomorrow night, Boxmeer, in my home province. They have a history of contracting the #1 guy. Will Lance show tomorrow night, for a cool 50,000 euros or so?
Thank you kind sir.
More beer, more beer, more beer!
More beer, more beer, MORE BEEE-YAAAAAAHHHHH!
I don’t find this depressing at all. I don’t blame athletes for doing what they love for as long as they can. I would to were I in their shoes.
Anyone remember the bonehead Boston Gobe (I think) sports columnist who last year said Lance wasn’t all that? Something like “Yeah, he can pedal that bike really great, but could he beat up Mike Tyson? Could he take down Lawrence Taylor? I don’t think so.”
I’d be interested to read his take on this 5th win.
Yeah I remember that story! What a loser that guy was. I don’t think he even came up with Tyson, I think his comparison entailed 300 pound American football players or something. Because THOSE are true athletes compared to a skinny bike sissy like Armstrong!
I still don’t know whether he was serious, or whether it was the best Troll ever.
Also, there was a really fired up thread in the Pit this time last year too about Lance Armstrong.
It was, if I recall correctly, written by an unusually ungracious American who objected to the words “Lance Armstrong: An American Sporting Hero” written in an article in Sports Illustrated - but I might be wrong there.
Regardless, I’m pretty sure the author of said thread objected to the word “Hero” being used - which in isolation was probably fair enough. But then, the silly man proceeded to rant on about how Lance’s achievements were no big deal, and that winning the Tour de France was no big deal, and that cycling itself was a pussy sport etc etc. I recall the author giving Armstrong a really savage spray - and in particular - he went on and on about how offended he was that the Tour de France got as much attention as it did, and that it got in the way of what he believed were “real sports” like American football.
Man… did that guy cop a beating! I honestly can’t recall seeing one guy get bashed around in the Pit as much as that bloke did.
Interestingly, the author never poked his head back into that thread to back up his point of view either. We have no idea if he ever read the replies, but one thing’s for sure… his Pit rant didn’t get the jingoistic backup he was expecting or hoping for.