Answer this question for me, please

He won #5 by 61 seconds....if someone tried to get away the final day the team would chase them down effectively neutralizing their effort. Everyone knows that so they don't try

It's also considered to be in poor taste to attack on the Champs-Elysees. Something happened regarding some situation like this last year... and Lance rode up to the dude and told him to back off... or SOMETHING... Anyone remember? Last year's final stage? (They were not attacking Lance, per se...)

What if the difference was something very close, like 2 seconds, that could be won in a final sprint?

Ok. To answer the original question. . . it it was 2 seconds or something like that, then it might be fair game. . . but you can bet that Team Discovery would be out in front the entire time controlling any break away attempts. .. plus you would only have to worry about the guy who was 2 seconds back and just sit on his wheel the entire day. I think the last stage is mostly flat and easy going.

The second question about did Lance chase down a guy on the last stage. That was earlier in the race, not the last stage and that guy (Pantini, or something like that) wasn't close to him in the general clasification. He chased him down because the two of them had an outside "disagreement" about a certain doctor. So Lance being the Boss of the Tour didn't want him to get a stage win, so rode up with him to the breakaway group, which forced the other guys in the breakaway group to want Pantini to leave because they knew that Lance could win the stage and they wouldn't have a chance. Lance was congratulated by many back in the Peleton for taking control and putting this loud mouthed Pantini in his place.

You are referring to the Simeoni break that was on the final stage. Lance and the guy had a court case pending referencing Dr Ferrari

Yes, that. Elephant ear guy.

l'd think that if there was a gap of <30 seconds, and since there is a 30 second time bonus for winning a stage (and smaller time bonuses for 2nd and 3rd), that the affected parties would be going balls out to tray and pick those bonuses up.

Well, I think you are thinking of Marco Pantani, but he wasn't in the TdF last year as he died in February 2004. So no, it wasn't Pantani...

-Frank

Not Lance, but does anyone remember Greg LeMond making up something like a minute in the final solo time trial stage to Paris and beating Laurent Fignon?  No one thought the time could be made up, but that was the year people started believing in aero bars for TT.

yea greg won by 8 seconds i think.

the race I remember was in  '86 when Greg was out to get Hinault. on the last time trial, Greg took a turn too fast and greased out. Moments after getting back on his TT bike he realised the rear brake was rubbing. He stopped and changed to his rode bike. At the finish line he still caught the two riders who started before him. Overall he lost the TT by 25 seconds but kicked Hinault by over 3:00 to take home the yellow jersey. One hell-of-a ride.

I think it was 1989. Fignon and Lemond were on the same team. They had aome type of agreement that Greg would help Laurent win a stage and Laurent would help Greg. Well, Greg lived up to his end of the bargain, but Fignon didn't. That year the final stage was a ITT. Greg ended up winning by (if I recall correctly) 2 or 3 seconds. It was the fastest ITT at that time - and I believe still is as far as MPH goes.

I'm just going off memory here (and many times it's hazy) so if someone has better info, please share.

Edited by crazylegs 2005-07-19 11:31 PM