Stage Two
Tyler Hamilton is the toughest son of a bitch on the face of the planet.
Hamilton has a broken collarbone. A broken collarbone, people! And he refuses to drop from the Tour. I just can't imagine that he can make it through the mountains with an injury that keeps him from using his upper body. But, the man refused to withdraw and finished the stage today, probably riding in ridiculous amounts of pain. The tour is brutal when you are fully healthy, but riding with a broken collarbone is suicidal. We though Nardello was tough a few years back for finishing a stage covered in blood, refused to withdraw, and crawled back into a decent final standing. Hamilton makes Nardello look like a sissy.
Once again, some lousy French riders had a nice, long breakway. Then the peleton methodically pulled them in and put them out of their misery. Because it was only a two-man break, there was a chance to pick up 2 points on each of the intermeidate sprints. Nazon, Petacchi, and McEwen all managed to lead the peleton during the intermediates. McEwen's sprint was ridiculous. He just blew away the field and had already sat back in his saddle as he passed the checkpoint. In a dead sprint, I don't think anyone can beat him right now.
This is also the second day Team Telekom has been unbelievable in support of Zabel, and its the second time he's let them down. Jason is right about thier brilliant job after his puncture yesterday, and today, they led the chase of the leaders and got Zabel to the front for the final sprint. He rewarded his team's brilliant work by finishing fourth in the sprint.
I'll say it, Zabel has lost a step. He's not going to win the Green. The way Telekom is riding, the Zabel of old would be well ahead on points right now. Instead, McGee is in Green and Zabel is in third, eight points out. That's still real good, I'm not saying Zabel's turned into a pumpkin, but he's no longer the guy to beat. McEwen is.
And is FDJ going to party tonight! McGee is still in yellow, Mengin is in dots, Cooke won the stage and now he's in 2nd in the Points standings, and they are having their most successful Tour ever. It won't last, but even if they fail to do anything else for the rest of the race, FDJ is one of the big winner's of this year's race.
Tyler Hamilton is the toughest son of a bitch on the face of the planet.
Hamilton has a broken collarbone. A broken collarbone, people! And he refuses to drop from the Tour. I just can't imagine that he can make it through the mountains with an injury that keeps him from using his upper body. But, the man refused to withdraw and finished the stage today, probably riding in ridiculous amounts of pain. The tour is brutal when you are fully healthy, but riding with a broken collarbone is suicidal. We though Nardello was tough a few years back for finishing a stage covered in blood, refused to withdraw, and crawled back into a decent final standing. Hamilton makes Nardello look like a sissy.
Once again, some lousy French riders had a nice, long breakway. Then the peleton methodically pulled them in and put them out of their misery. Because it was only a two-man break, there was a chance to pick up 2 points on each of the intermeidate sprints. Nazon, Petacchi, and McEwen all managed to lead the peleton during the intermediates. McEwen's sprint was ridiculous. He just blew away the field and had already sat back in his saddle as he passed the checkpoint. In a dead sprint, I don't think anyone can beat him right now.
This is also the second day Team Telekom has been unbelievable in support of Zabel, and its the second time he's let them down. Jason is right about thier brilliant job after his puncture yesterday, and today, they led the chase of the leaders and got Zabel to the front for the final sprint. He rewarded his team's brilliant work by finishing fourth in the sprint.
I'll say it, Zabel has lost a step. He's not going to win the Green. The way Telekom is riding, the Zabel of old would be well ahead on points right now. Instead, McGee is in Green and Zabel is in third, eight points out. That's still real good, I'm not saying Zabel's turned into a pumpkin, but he's no longer the guy to beat. McEwen is.
And is FDJ going to party tonight! McGee is still in yellow, Mengin is in dots, Cooke won the stage and now he's in 2nd in the Points standings, and they are having their most successful Tour ever. It won't last, but even if they fail to do anything else for the rest of the race, FDJ is one of the big winner's of this year's race.
posted by Poseur at 11:38 AM
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