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Le Tour 2005

thewizard1o1

thewizard1o1

International Debutant
And don't forget people on the side of the road holding their (hand)bags out:).

Courchevel should be a great finish to tonights stage, hopefully i can stay awake for the finish to the stage!
 
FaaipDeOiad

FaaipDeOiad

Hall of Fame Member
What an amazing finish that was. Lance showing his class, as Discovery set the pace in the final climb, and one by one the challengers dropped away, then he somehow finds it in him to keep the pace up after his team were left behind. Surely he's set the stage for a massive Tour win now, opening up massive time gaps on all his competition.

Cadel Evans almost made it up in the leading group today, fell away with around 10 ks to go and is probably out of the running as well now.
 
Chubb

Chubb

International Regular
That's the end of the tour. 2004 all over again. Well done Lance, you're a genius. No one can go with him, not even Basso. I realise Valverde did, but even if he (Valverde) makes up the time in the mountains, even if Basso does as well, then the TT is still to go, and Armstrong'll annihilate both of them, even with Basso's improvements.

I really can't see anything other than another Armstrong victory now. Unless something incredible happens. And, from time to time, incredible, improbable things do happen on the tour...

I really hope at the end of the tour, or even tomorrow, I can quote from this post and say how wrong I was but right now I don't think it's going to happen.

I'm not taking anything away from Armstrong, he's just amazing. But I'd like to see a close race. Doesn't everyone?

The Galabier tomorrow! that's something to see, much higher than L'Alpe D'Huez. Who will take the stage, with the descent to be taken into account?
 
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Jamee999

Jamee999

Hall of Fame Member
I'm going to a stage of the Tour while on Holiday, will get back to you lot WRT which stages and when/where :)
 
Chubb

Chubb

International Regular
I've been to a few of the places on the tour this year, mainly in the Pyrenees but also in the early stages in the Vendee but never whilst the race was there. I've been to Loudenvielle, Luchon, Pau, Gourette (which is the near the Col D'Aubisque which I had the "pleasure" of walking up) and Laruns. I love the pyrenees, I much prefer them to the alps; too comercialised if you ask me, plus the Basque, Catalan and Occitan cultures are fascinating. Anyone here played Pelota Vasca?
 
Chubb

Chubb

International Regular
Neil Pickup said:
Is Rasmussen good enough to run Armstrong close?
Click to expand...
No. He can't TT. Basso and Valverde are the best hopes now but they're too weak on the TT, although Basso has improved.
 
Magrat Garlick

Magrat Garlick

Global Moderator
Chubb said:
That's the end of the tour. 2004 all over again. Well done Lance, you're a genius. No one can go with him, not even Basso. I realise Valverde did, but even if he (Valverde) makes up the time in the mountains, even if Basso does as well, then the TT is still to go, and Armstrong'll annihilate both of them, even with Basso's improvements.
Click to expand...
Valverde's not THAT bad a TT rider - he was 14th and 12th in two TT stages in the Vuelta last year (yeah, I looked that up :D ). The TT is flat, yes, but not overly flat, and he'll not lose more than a minute to Armstrong in the form he was today.

Of course, there is the small matter of three minutes to catch up, which I don't think Discovery or Armstrong will let him do, so it's tricky. Rasmussen's a rubbish TT-rider, though, too light.

But yeah, I'd say it's 90 % Armstrong's now.
 
thewizard1o1

thewizard1o1

International Debutant
Crap, that was the last thing i wanted to happen...but well done to LA and his Disco boys, totally killed all the challengers. Valverde suprised me a hell of alot, i knew he could climb a bit but damn. Also was nice to see Mancebo do well on the stage :) (was my pre-stage tip to cloete :D)
 
Craig

Craig

World Traveller
Chubb said:
I've been to a few of the places on the tour this year, mainly in the Pyrenees but also in the early stages in the Vendee but never whilst the race was there. I've been to Loudenvielle, Luchon, Pau, Gourette (which is the near the Col D'Aubisque which I had the "pleasure" of walking up) and Laruns. I love the pyrenees, I much prefer them to the alps; too comercialised if you ask me, plus the Basque, Catalan and Occitan cultures are fascinating. Anyone here played Pelota Vasca?
Click to expand...
Don't they pass on one of the Pyreneen stages where Armstrong's team mate crashed and died in the 1995 Tour?
 
Craig

Craig

World Traveller
Chubb said:
That's the end of the tour. 2004 all over again. Well done Lance, you're a genius. No one can go with him, not even Basso. I realise Valverde did, but even if he (Valverde) makes up the time in the mountains, even if Basso does as well, then the TT is still to go, and Armstrong'll annihilate both of them, even with Basso's improvements.

I really can't see anything other than another Armstrong victory now. Unless something incredible happens. And, from time to time, incredible, improbable things do happen on the tour...

I really hope at the end of the tour, or even tomorrow, I can quote from this post and say how wrong I was but right now I don't think it's going to happen.

I'm not taking anything away from Armstrong, he's just amazing. But I'd like to see a close race. Doesn't everyone?

The Galabier tomorrow! that's something to see, much higher than L'Alpe D'Huez. Who will take the stage, with the descent to be taken into account?
Click to expand...
Paolo Savodelli might be a dark horse if he stays with the leading group since he is one of the best descenters in the business.
 
Chubb

Chubb

International Regular
Craig said:
Don't they pass on one of the Pyreneen stages where Armstrong's team mate crashed and died in the 1995 Tour?
Click to expand...
Fabio Castartelli. That tour was the first one I watched. I remember the day after when the peleton let Motorola go over the line together. It was very moving. That death led gradually to the now-compulsory helmet rule.

Casartelli died on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet which is only a C2 but the descent leads into the start of the climb up the Col de Mente, a C1. It was a very hot day and Casartelli must have thought that for the short descent it wasn't worth the trouble of putting a helmet on, only to take it off at the start of the climb a few minutes later. He was going at high speed and two riders crashed in front of him, he slipped and crashed into the concrete blocks protecting the roadside from the precipice. He was flown to Tarbes hospital but it was too late, he died in the helicopter.

The Col de Portet d'Aspet is on stage 15, as well as the Col de mente, so they will go past his memorial.

I think that Armstrong's first stage win was a few days after and he dedicated it to Casartelli.
 
Chubb

Chubb

International Regular
To his knee I think, there was a crash yesterday. He's had three crashes in this tour. At least it opens up the Maillot Vert a bit.
 
Craig

Craig

World Traveller
And Beltran has crashed out so for the first time since 2001 Armstrong wwill have at a max 7 team-mates to finish with in Paris.

For tonight's flat stage, unless a breakway happens, I'm tipping McEwen.
 
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