Tune up the fat lady
Not much time to post today, but I'll have more in the days to come. Obviously there will be a report on Stage 21. On Monday and/or Tuesday we'll to the team evaluation and hand out awards--figuring out the all-star team isn't easy this year.
Lance Armstrong finally won a stage. The final time trial of his career was like watching the master artist work in his finest medium. There were other tight races in front of him, but more accurately they were beneath him. Lance is going to win this thing by nearly 5 minutes, and with the exception of stage 12, he has been passive in the face of his rivals. It has become boring. I can't wait until next year when someone else has a chance to win.
Armstrong may be in a league of his own, but Jan Ullrich beat the snot out of everyone else. Only one guy was within a minute of Ullrich. Only 5 were within 2 minutes. He was going to overtake Rasmussen for third even if Rasmussen hadn't fallen off his bike half a dozen times. In fact, Jan could have fallen off his bike once just to help everyone else out.
Speaking of Rasmussen, his day was a nightmare. He looked nervous. When he fell the first time he had already lost a ton of time and the writing was on the wall, but he went from losing 3rd place to losing 4th, 5th, and 6th too. Just how many mechanical problems and bike changes did he have? Everything went wrong. It was like a Steve Martin movie, or like watching Neel Shah in real life. At least he didn't crash out of the Tour. Tomorrow he'll be on the podium as the King of the Mountains.
Yes, Rasmussen beat Iban Mayo in the time trial anyway.
I thought Leipheimer would overtake Mancebo in the standings because Levi is an excellent time trialist and Mancebo is a crummy one. Well, Levi had a pedestrian day. Mancebo did the best time trial of his life. He not only kept his lead, he improved it. Mancebo will head to Paris in 4th place, which sounds a lot better than saying he's 9:59 behind the lead.
Alex Vinokourov did a great race and moved into 6th place in the overall standings, just two seconds behind Levi Leipheimer. Tomorrow, Vino's going to try to make that up with the time bonuses for the intermediate sprints. Maybe McEwen or O'Grady should follow his wheel.
Lance Armstrong finally won a stage. The final time trial of his career was like watching the master artist work in his finest medium. There were other tight races in front of him, but more accurately they were beneath him. Lance is going to win this thing by nearly 5 minutes, and with the exception of stage 12, he has been passive in the face of his rivals. It has become boring. I can't wait until next year when someone else has a chance to win.
Armstrong may be in a league of his own, but Jan Ullrich beat the snot out of everyone else. Only one guy was within a minute of Ullrich. Only 5 were within 2 minutes. He was going to overtake Rasmussen for third even if Rasmussen hadn't fallen off his bike half a dozen times. In fact, Jan could have fallen off his bike once just to help everyone else out.
Speaking of Rasmussen, his day was a nightmare. He looked nervous. When he fell the first time he had already lost a ton of time and the writing was on the wall, but he went from losing 3rd place to losing 4th, 5th, and 6th too. Just how many mechanical problems and bike changes did he have? Everything went wrong. It was like a Steve Martin movie, or like watching Neel Shah in real life. At least he didn't crash out of the Tour. Tomorrow he'll be on the podium as the King of the Mountains.
Yes, Rasmussen beat Iban Mayo in the time trial anyway.
I thought Leipheimer would overtake Mancebo in the standings because Levi is an excellent time trialist and Mancebo is a crummy one. Well, Levi had a pedestrian day. Mancebo did the best time trial of his life. He not only kept his lead, he improved it. Mancebo will head to Paris in 4th place, which sounds a lot better than saying he's 9:59 behind the lead.
Alex Vinokourov did a great race and moved into 6th place in the overall standings, just two seconds behind Levi Leipheimer. Tomorrow, Vino's going to try to make that up with the time bonuses for the intermediate sprints. Maybe McEwen or O'Grady should follow his wheel.
posted by uberschuck at 7:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home