Tour de France 2009 - Who wins?

[Jaxbuck]

Originally Posted by BB73

On his bike, he's not going anywhere, but he stuck his arms through his old football pants to convince himself he's wearing the yellow jersey.

Originally Posted by jlb1705

His stationary bike really puts him at a disadvantage against the more advanced wheeled bikes.

He is a heavy favorite on the bench stages though.

Losing again then. The more things change the more they stay the same I guess.

[ScriptOhio]

Originally Posted by Oh8ch

He can use the phrase "good of the team" all he wants, but he isn't putting in the work and pain it takes for a 37 year old to be competitive in this race so he can be there to shake Alberto Contador's hand in Paris.

To a minor degree, I believe that he is also doing it as an inspiration to those stricken with cancer and to promote (i.e. get more funding and support for) the Lance Armstrong Foundation/Livestrong.



Lance Armstrong Foundation: Home

[AKAKBUCK]

Originally Posted by Oh8ch

Was Armstrong the only overall contendor who got "lucky" yesterday, or did he get a heads up from somebody like Hincapie?

What's the head's up? It's no secret that Columbia is going to give Cavendish every chance he can to sprint it out... And, forthat matter they don't want to let Cancellara run a 10K time trial on his own for the end of the stage.... these guys have a week to show what they can do until the Pyrenees suck the life out of them.

Lance had Popovych with him, so he went.

Honestly, I was surprised to see Armstrong finish 12th at the Giro... and could have done better if Liepheimer hadn't predictably melted down in the 11th stage and had Armstrong have to bring him up the mountain...

Btw, Armstrong and Popovych attacked together that day as well.

Anyway, I don't think he's going to win... but, he's sure gonna have everyone else on edge... (And nothing the guy does would surprise me last couple stages are a mountain time trial and Ventoux before the ride into Paris? Interesting.)

[BB73]

With 9K left, Astana's time is 41 seconds ahead of Saxo, so if they match SaxoBank over the last 9K, Lance will have the yellow jersey by 1 second.

Columbia had a disappointing day, They may have exerted too much energy yesterday.

[BB73]

Looks like Lance is in yellow by less than 1 second.

We'll see if he can hang with the younger guys in the mountains.

Edit - Although Lance's team won by 40.11 today, the tiebreaker goes back to the tenths of a second on the individual TT (stage 1), and Cancellara keeps the yellow based on that.

[jlb1705]

The broadcast I'm watching online says Cancellara holds on to the yellow jersey by hundredths of a second.

[BB73]

Originally Posted by jlb1705

The broadcast I'm watching online says Cancellara holds on to the yellow jersey by hundredths of a second.

Yep - The Versus coverage knew how the tiebreaker worked, but they didn't have the info from Stage 1 broken down to hundredths of a second. I also went to the tour's official site, and they only listed whole seconds from stage 1. It now lists the two with the same total time, but has Cancellara in yellow.

Imagine if this had been the final stage.

[jlb1705]

I was actually watching the Versus coverage thru their website, but once they reach the finish the commentary is Australian - and they were right on top of the result.

[Oh8ch]

I make sure to record the original broadcast in the morning and set it to go over by about an hour.

I was doing half an hour over. For stage three it cut off with two kilometers left.

[Oh8ch]

If you are at all interested in the tour - or want to give it a try - tomorrow will be a great day to watch. This is the last day that many of the contenders will still be in the race, and the final 10.6 km will separate the men from the boys - and perhaps Lance from Alberto.

I am pumped for this one.

[jlb1705]

Here comes the climb...

[Steve19]

Personally, I'd love to see Lance Armstrong win it, although I will be very surprised if he has enough in the mountains to make that a reality. This man is a walking poster for fighting cancer.

[BB73]

Contador should be 2 seconds ahead of Lance, but he's not in yellow. The guy that was 3:13 behind starting the day is in yellow (Nocentini). He's 6 seconds ahead of Contador and 8 seconds ahead of Lance.

They missed the fact that 2 guys in the breakaway (Nocentini and Pineau) would be in yellow if they finished 3:13 (or 3:17) ahead of Lance and 3:32 (or 3:36) ahead of Contador, until very late in the climb. They were projecting Lance in yellow without talking about Nocentini and Pineau, and for a while ignored the fact that if Contador got about 20 seconds on Lance he'd be ahead of him.

Their refusal to announce the yellow jersey for so long was annoying.

[fourteenandoh]

Originally Posted by Oh8ch

If you are at all interested in the tour - or want to give it a try - tomorrow will be a great day to watch. This is the last day that many of the contenders will still be in the race, and the final 10.6 km will separate the men from the boys - and perhaps Lance from Alberto.

I am pumped for this one.

can you explain the team aspect they keep aluding to? lance says it isn't ideal, but when it comes to make a decision either he or the other guy on his team won't like it. what are they talking about? doesn't it come to a point eventually where they can go head to head?

[dragurd]

Yeah but at some point the team will be forced to choose sides, help Lance win or help Alberto win. Like today if the team had decided they wanted Lance in yellow his teamate would of lead the way chasing bat Alberto setting up Lance for an attack.