Armstrong is done

You never know, a little rest, some EPO, blood transfusion and he could be right back in the game. Remember, they have the best medical team in the sport.

cheaters are boring wrote:

The worse case of poor sportsmanship I've ever seen in any competition was when armstrong chased that guy down and threatened him to keep him from winning a stage.

I didn't hear about this -- can you provide a link or a bit more about what happened?

I am sure it will make me hate Lance even more...

johnnyb1610 wrote:

Did you not here about last years Tour? He gave up the win for a teammate.

1. You can't spell.

2. He didn't give up the win. He was totally unwilling, and it was taken from him by a better rider while Lance pouted and showed his usual poor sportsmanship.

lancedd wrote:

cheaters are boring wrote:

The worse case of poor sportsmanship I've ever seen in any competition was when armstrong chased that guy down and threatened him to keep him from winning a stage.

I didn't hear about this -- can you provide a link or a bit more about what happened?

I am sure it will make me hate Lance even more...

RuKiddingMe! wrote:

the bare facts.......The "Sponsors" won't be happy! They just LOST 75% of their viewing Audience!...including me.

Only reason most watch is because of Lance...the bare facts

Not true. I started watching a few years ago because of Lance, but the races are really interesting. I go over to my parents house (they are in their 60s)and watch the last half hour of the taped show in the evening with them.

From what I understand, Simeoni contracted to basically blog the TDF back in '03 or 04, and was pretty blunt about how common PEDs were in the peloton. He was blackballed and made an outcast by other riders (Lance included).

That's what happens when you try and break the code of silence about PEDs in cycling. By all accounts, Simeoni is a pretty decent guy who vastly underestimated the backlash of calling out the Tour on its PED culture.

The question is, why would Lance be such a dick to someone who was only trying to clean up the sport? I think we know why.

I hope it's not the same way in distance running, but who knows.

I liked Lance's GTFO to the German rider (I think in '04) after LA was spit upon by German fans... Lance out-sprinted the German rider on a mountain stage, just to let him know he didn't appreciate loogies in his face. To be clear, the rider didn't spit on Lance, fans did, but beating the German was LA's way of getting revenge.

If Lance were clean the last decade, he's hands-down the most amazing athlete of, at least, this generation. But that's a B-I-G "if".

It's not easy competing clean.

I don't think Lance will have a problem riding for Levi. He rides for his teamates all the time in the lesser tours, and its clear now that he's not coming back from this deficit. Past his prime or not, Lance will make a heck of a domestique for Levi, and I wouldn't be surprised if Lance just made life difficult for Contador now. If Lance attacks its not like Contador and the other guys on top can just let him go.

I also agree that Contador looks beatable. We'll see when we get to the real mountains.

There is a LOT of speculation that he is just playing possum. This is not that big a deficit for man with his talent to make up. He will probably wait a few stages, then catch up, then later blow them away in the mountains.

Unlike you folks, I actually RACE a bike, so I know what I am talking about.

Gomer wrote:

There is a LOT of speculation that he is just playing possum. This is not that big a deficit for man with his talent to make up. He will probably wait a few stages, then catch up, then later blow them away in the mountains.

Unlike you folks, I actually RACE a bike, so I know what I am talking about.

Does playing possum involve crashing? really, this possum theory is BS.

Lance is almost certainly out of the podium...if he doesn't crash on the cobbles or today I think he'd still be in contention. He looked good on the climbs leading up to the major crash and had a great opening TT. Having to cross the gap back to the peloton just before the first cat 1 climb was devastating...I doubt anyone could have hung on after that.

negative 5 million/10

cheaters are boring wrote:

The worse case of poor sportsmanship I've ever seen in any competition was when armstrong chased that guy down and threatened him to keep him from winning a stage.

[/quote]

So from the article Lance owned the guy who insulted him and called him a cheater, wow what a poor sport. Besides that guy sounds like a complete pvssy. "His attitude and his words made me fall into depression." Really? That's embarrassing.

I believe Lance is one heck of a beast and a physiological freak. I believe Lance competed doped in the past. That combined with his amazing natural abilities allowed him to dominate.

Now, I think Lance has way too much to lose from any blatant doping where there is any chance he will get caught. I think he is competing clean now, and also did last time. The fact that they have cleaned up the sport some means the competition is not quite as good or as deep because they have to be more careful with doping. The top guys are probably doping, and with Lance likely competing clean, this is the best he's got.

If that's the case, it's still pretty impressive. But I think the man is an arrogant idiot.

If Armstrong didn't stand up for the peloton tanking drugs then who would? Certainly not Simeoni. And don't give me that cr/p about Armstrong being clean. He's no wimp!

Gomer wrote:

There is a LOT of speculation that he is just playing possum. This is not that big a deficit for man with his talent to make up. He will probably wait a few stages, then catch up, then later blow them away in the mountains.

Unlike you folks, I actually RACE a bike, so I know what I am talking about.

And most people here race on their feet, it doesn't mean they know what they're talking about.

Armstrong would have to have a Landis type ride to make this up. Anything can happen, but this isn't the kind of thing he's going to make up a few minutes at a time. Even in his prime, he wouldn't be able to beat Contador et al day after day. Its going to take one miracle ride to do it.

[Does playing possum involve crashing? really, this possum theory is BS.[/quote]

See here young one, you probably don't know a waffle racer from a marathon trainer, but you SURE don't know a cogset from a crit.

Lance is just waiting to pounce when he is ready. And AC didn't look too sharp today. And Schleck ain't no great TT guy.

The Bare Facts wrote:

It really looked like his RS teammates were holding back to keep him in the game. Even if he hadn't crashed today, I just don't think it's possible for a man of his age to win the TdF. No matter how much talent he has.

or how many drugs he takes.

Forgive my amateur knowledge, but with only one TT stage, can Schleck be poor enough to lose his advantage gained from every other stage? Surely he can't have such an atrocious TT considering his stage performances.