Nah, I think it would be considered a major breach of sportsmanship. Back in '03 when it rained in the last time trial and Ullrich crashed (and Lance pulled up to safely finish 3rd in the stage) the final margin was only a little over a minute. Greg LeMond’s last stage victory was a little different because that was a time trial stage. It is probably not a coincidence that that was the last time they had a TT in Paris.
If the margin was seconds, on the other hand (less than 20, perhaps?)…wouldn’t that be interesting! I’m sure the final stage would be ultra serious business in that case…you’d see team tempo riding at its finest and it would probably destroy the peleton, giving the two big men the ability to match legs in the last few kilometers.
Well, it’s official. I kinda liked watching that last stage, from beginning to end, even if they pretty much soft-pedaled it the whole way. I heard Phil say that over the first half or so of the stage they averaged a measly 15mph. Though that final sprint was something else! Who’d’ve thought Vino would’ve been so stoked?
Well, adios, Lance. It’s been great. I look forward to Basso and Ullrich fighting it out next year.
I watched CBS’s coverage(HA!) today, jeez what a bunch of treacly pap. Of course they gave token coverage of maybe four stages, then an interview with Lance which was actually kind of good (they showed Rasmussen’s crashes, man was he cursed), and then of course the smarmy human interest yucko-fest. Oh, well, it will be interesting to see which Americano can rise to the top next year (Leipheimer, Landis, Zabriskie(?)). I think if Basso stays to form he picks it up next year. Or could it be Vinokourov, with the hot rumors that he may go to the Disco’s?
Congratulations Lance Armstrong! Have a wonderful retirement and wrap yourself up in those lovely children of yours. But don’t be a stranger. You owe something to the sport now. Do the right thing and model yourself on Bernard Hinault thankyou.
You know, Boo Boo Foo, having watched the way he and Bernie have gabbed at the yellow jersey presentations, and his little speech there at the end, I suspect that’s exactly what Lance is planning. I mean, sure, right now he wants to get away and relax for a while, but I would bet big money he gets involved with the planning and management side of cycling events and the Tour.
I just hope he spends some time getting people excited about events here in the US, like the Tour of Georgia, so that we continue to see the level of excitement about riding that we’ve seen build over the last seven years.
Yesterday, I heard that Rasmussen had ridden that course several times, and each time had gone around the roundabout to the right. Saturday, he followed the motorcycle around the roundabout to the left, got disoriented, and blew the corner for his first fall. After that, nothing felt right, and things unravelled pretty quickly. I’ve ridden home from big falls, and my concentration was shot, and I was pretty shaky from the histamine and adrenaline. Lord knows what I’d do in a race after a big fall in front of cameras. When Lance passed Rasmussen, I was actually afraid that there would be some sort of freak collision.
Now, since Lance obviously rock at TT, and is done with the tour, why doesn’t he try for world TT records or something? Was it Chris Boardman who holds it right now? Might be a nice new hobby for him.
Or he could do the reverse of Rasmussen and try mountain biking. . .
THe guy is off now to the south of France with his kiddies, his partner, and his entourage. I predict that for the next 2 weeks he’ll be drinking 4 litres of wine a day, and a kilo of caviar and pate per day. Within a month he’ll have gained 4 kilos and he’ll be happy, happy, happy.
Within 6 weeks he won’t be able to come in the top 100 in a world class TT, let alone try the Hour Record.
Lance’s career is over. Time for him to become a chubby Eddy Merckx for a while. He has nothing to prove. Certainly, the training and dicipline needed to go for the Hour Record is something he’s over. He’s over that big time I’d suggest.
Yeah, let’s hope that his criticisms of other cyclists that have gone out to greener pastures and put a bit more junk in the trunk don’t come back to bite him in the ass too hard.
However, there have been plenty of tours with more than three top ten finishers form one country. The tour of 1905 had ten Frenchmen in the top ten, and the Tour of 1920 had nine Belgians in the top ten! The Tour of 1980 had three Dutchmen in the top ten, the Tour of 2002 had five Spaniards in the top ten, and the Tour of 1936 even had three Luxemburgers in the top ten!
(sorry, but sometimes I can’t stand the fact that some Americans think the tour didn’t exist before Armstrong )
You mean before Lemond, don’t you? In that interview with Lance on CBS Sunday, he was asked what he’ll miss the most. His response was that he will never be in top physical shape again, that he’s at 160 pounds right now, and that he’ll never weigh that again.
Before his cancer, he was known for a guy who liked his beer. I’ll bet he’s pounding a few of them right now. And like Boo Boo Foo wrote, happy, happy, happy.
I believe I read that he’s part owner of the Discovery team, so he’ll still be involved with cycling.
I believe that was the point: it’s the first time that three Americans finished in the top ten. Knorf didn’t say anything about it being the first time that 3 cyclists from the same country being in the top ten.
In that interview with Lance on CBS Sunday, he was asked what he’ll miss the most. His response was that he will never be in top physical shape again, that he’s at 160 pounds right now, and that he’ll never weigh that again.