Lance (spoiler)

Ya know I didn't get to watch this mornings stage live and I couldn't help but check the results and headlines---so I see "Armstrong has bad day..." "Armstrong blow-up" type headlines so I'm wondering what happened----got home from work to see the last half-hour of Versus coverage from this AM and all I can say is dayum too!!!!  Ok he didn't hang with the guys 10+ years younger then him but come on....

He's pretty impressive. People do use this of examples of why he must be on drugs.

Agree, I know that there are a lot of 'cyclists' that feel the need to dis him for whatever reason, but man, you just can't help but be impressed by the guy.  He's in the top of the rankings of the most difficult cycling event in the world at 8-10 years beyond the average age of his competitors.  I have heard all of the accusations of doping, but I have a hard time imagining any rider getting away with it under the current testing protocols.  Maybe I am niave...

Maybe I can't even spell niave...

ETA: I keep wondering where he would have ended up on Stage 17 if he hadn't stayed back with Wiggins for so long. 

Greg

Edited by trinewby 2009-07-23 10:06 AM

I think he is going for the Stage win up Mont Ventoux.

I think he has to make an attack. Maybe he can get into Popo's ear tonight and have him lead him up the mountain. A flash back to 2005 when Popo was in white and Lance in yellow.

Two things about Lance never get enough attention...
1. He (+ his team) know how to look at the TDF as a whole. So many other teams win the battle but lose the war.
2. He is known for having "false modesty" as a psych out technique.  Forgot where I read it, but he likes to demean himself to the point where you wonder where the truth really lies.  He may be gambling on a TDF version of a "rope-a-dope" especially with such a good team.

I think it would be a historic end to a great tour if he won the Champs-Élysées stage.

He was really only one mountain stage a way from being within two minutes of Contador. The Time Trial put him back a bit but if he would have went with the break away in that mountain stage Contador's butt cheeks might have been a little tighter on Mont Ventoux today.

Just listened to an interview with Lance.  He seems pretty determined to go for number 8...

We forget or the (media/pundits) do that he broke his collarbone (sic) had screws/staples put in and missed out on valuable training time.    Did ride the Giro (get back into shape-back on the horse)

And now he is grinding up Ventoux.....and he has to be coy/smart/diplomatic/teamplayer about what is going on during the stage.....

Teammate has the Yellow Jersey, you are to work for them...and whatever happens happens.

I salute Lance for being gracious and a teamplayer and understanding the BIG PICTURE.

2010 is going to be a GRAND EPIC EVENT.

<rant> my question is - why does everyone constantly accuse lance of doping?  in the tour, if 50% of the people are doping, you HAVE to dope, to be competitive.  as we saw last year, it turns into a game of how not to get caught.  drugs or not, these guys are amazing athletes with extreme talent.  i just don't understand why some people discredit everything they do, just because of all the doping stuff. 
it just puts the sport in a tough spot, because you can get fairly signifcant gains by doping, so if the top 10 people are doing it, and you hope to finish well, then you pretty much have to dope. 

i was just reading some comments that people posted on a news website about the tour, and it was just people bashing lance for doping.  it seems as if people think they could grab a bike, do some EPO, and be able to hang with the pro's.  </rant>

I like what Lance said today after the race about knowing what Contodor's weakenesses are.

If Contador doesn't end up on a good team next year, with a good race manager he will not win Le Tour next year. Just my opinion.

I liked Lance prior to this tour (I forgive him for his personal life, as I do most people - after all, who am I to judge?), but I like him even more now. I don't know if he could have beaten Contador head to head, but if he wasn't being such a great team player this year, I think he could have stood in 2nd place but not too far. He stayed with Wiggins forever on that stage (can't remember the number), and led the Yellow jersey, just as he should have done. I thoroughly enjoyed his interviews because I felt like he was actually saying something, other than Cavendish who I felt was reading a script - very political like.

I'll be rooting for Armstrong next year. I have nothing against any of the other riders.

One of my favorite Lance quotes regarding Alberto and the Astana Team morale...

"--- pause, silence, smirk---
Yeah, well, I guess you don't need to be a genius to know what's going on there..."

I guess I am a little more cynical, here is my take.

A - I think everyone dopes at that level. Maybe not actively, but at one time. I used to work with a national level cyclist 15 years ago, but in a different discipline. Even then, he thought he competed in the dirtiest sport on the planet.

B - When Lance is in retirement, he is not subject to testing. In fact, many of the banned substances have medically appropriate uses in cancer treatment. (Prevent muscle wasting - for example) I don't think that it would have been a horrible thing if he did take these substances when he was in recovery - that's what some of them were made for!

C - Bruyneel's teams have always had stricter tolerances for their team testing than the regulators. Their publicist probably says it is to keep them clean. In reality, it only ensures that any doping is kept at low  levels that should not be detected at current protocols, and that the team will catch it and intervene before they can put the team at risk.