Armstrong doing 3 classics

iainf72
iainf72 Posts: 15,784
edited January 2010 in Pro race
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstro ... -programme

I reckon the old sod would like to win a classic.
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
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Comments

  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    You'd think he's ideally suited to Flanders or Liege. One of the few able to do that sort of double. Good for him if he takes them seriously and gives it a go.
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • Doobz
    Doobz Posts: 2,800
    10 bucks says he breaks his collarbone again..
    cartoon.jpg
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    He's tried to win Liege before - Didn't he finish high up when Hamilton won it?
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    2nd places in Liege
    I like bikes...

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  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    If memory serves he was second behind Berzin in 1994 and again to Pascal Richard in 1996 at Liege.

    Does he have the top end now to win a Classic? It's been over ten years since he raced a spring classic to win.
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    iainf72 wrote:
    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstrong-adds-flanders-and-liege-to-race-programme

    I reckon the old sod would like to win a classic.

    I guess the Waalse Pijl doesn't count as a proper classic?
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • thomasmc
    thomasmc Posts: 814
    When has he done a race pre Tour that he tried to win (since his first tour win)?

    This is solely for training / bank balance!
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    thomasmc wrote:
    When has he done a race pre Tour that he tried to win (since his first tour win)?
    !

    2003 Dauphine.
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    Post-1999 he did the Amstel Gold a couple of years in a row relatively seriously, with one or two runner up finishes - the only classic he did during his TdF years I think.
  • thomasmc
    thomasmc Posts: 814
    Moray Gub wrote:
    thomasmc wrote:
    When has he done a race pre Tour that he tried to win (since his first tour win)?
    !

    2003 Dauphine.

    Your right Moray, I had classic's in mind thought!
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Oh dear, I was going to go to Flanders this year, maybe Paris Roubaix instead then...
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    Oh dear, I was going to go to Flanders this year, maybe Paris Roubaix instead then...



    Seriously ? you would let a rider you didnt like (1 out of 200) stop you going to watch a race ?
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    Moray Gub wrote:
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    Oh dear, I was going to go to Flanders this year, maybe Paris Roubaix instead then...



    Seriously ? you would let a rider you didnt like (1 out of 200) stop you going to watch a race ?

    I suspect it will be even more mental than Flanders usually is. Which is pretty.
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Moray Gub wrote:
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    Oh dear, I was going to go to Flanders this year, maybe Paris Roubaix instead then...



    Seriously ? you would let a rider you didnt like (1 out of 200) stop you going to watch a race ?

    Last time he rode Flanders all the hotels were booked up as soon as he annouced he was thinking of doing it, so I might not have a choice!
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    andyp wrote:
    If memory serves he was second behind Berzin in 1994 and again to Pascal Richard in 1996 at Liege.

    I always forget about Phat Lance v1 :wink:

    In 03 Ferrari picked him for the win so I figure they must've been aiming at winning it.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    Richard did him up like a kipper in 1996. Armstrong was the pre-race favourite and was clearly one of the strongest riders and got away in a break with Richard and Gianetti. Richard let Armstrong do the lions share of the work and didn't chase when GIanetti went with a kilometre to go. That effort probably cost Armstrong the race as Richard nipped past him in the sprint.

    Richard was probably the most tactically savvy rider of that era. Since his retirement his life has been something of a cluster f**k by all accounts.
  • wicked
    wicked Posts: 844
    Would LOVE to see him do P-R (although not this year as I am going).
    It’s the most beautiful sport in the world but it’s governed by ***ts who have turned it into a crock of ****.
  • micron
    micron Posts: 1,843
    It'll be interesting to see if he actually rides - I seem to recall several announcements about 'helping George to win a Classic' followed by a no show. I assume he thinks that winning a Classic will make him the all time greatest - which of course it will in the eyes of the acolytes.

    This is surely mainly about prepping those early stages in the Tour - about his best chance to seriously affect/eliminate Contador is on the cobbles early on. Surprised Wiggins hasn't announced a Classic or two in his pre Tour prep. And LA's bank balance won't suffer either. Finding it interesting that he is riding more pre Tour than he's ever done - wonder why he feels such a totally different preparation will net results when surely his great success was predicated on carefully conserved efforts, and he has said that he was stretched too thin last season? And he isn't getting any younger. Guess he's desperate to shift those Nike '8' T-shirts.

    Still, serious American fans will be delighted since whatever he races is guaranteed coverage in the US. And good on him for at least being visible in his final seasons unlike his disappearing acts of 2000 onwards.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    He has tried on a number of occassions and certainly the lack of a 'monument' seriously discredits his ambitions as a 'great'. His biggest hope would be something like one of the Ardennes classics - he isn't powerful enough for Roubaix or Flanders - LA rode Flanders in 2005, took a pull on Tenbosse, Boonen went with Hoste and Lance wasn't seen again
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Monty Dog wrote:
    He has tried on a number of occassions and certainly the lack of a 'monument' seriously discredits his ambitions as a 'great'. His biggest hope would be something like one of the Ardennes classics - he isn't powerful enough for Roubaix or Flanders - LA rode Flanders in 2005, took a pull on Tenbosse, Boonen went with Hoste and Lance wasn't seen again

    I'm not sure I agree(surprise, surprise). IF Lance really wanted one of the big classics
    like he wanted a bunch of TDF wins, well.......
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Dennis, having watched those races live it was very apparent that LA wanted those wins, but his team wasn't in a position to control the race and frankly he make some tactical errors on the day - he wasn't able to shake off Boogerd in Amstel and he went too soon and did a very good job of setting up Hamilton for Liege - trouble was, Hamilton was riding for CSC. The problem is he is a rider that wins by percentages, not heart - it might work in a GT where it's a process of attrition, but not in a Classic where if you sit around then it's likely that someone else will take the initiative - Devolder didn't win Flanders in the last 2 years by waiting for others to make their moves.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    andyp wrote:
    Richard did him up like a kipper in 1996.

    Someone's put said race onto cyclingtorrents. That's my viewing sorted for the weekend :wink:
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Gesink rotutinely takes part and performs in the Classics.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • micron
    micron Posts: 1,843
    dennisn wrote:
    I'm not sure I agree(surprise, surprise). IF Lance really wanted one of the big classics like he wanted a bunch of TDF wins, well.......

    On that reckoning we could award all kinds of riders all kinds of results they never actually achieved just because they ought to have won - let's award a TdF or two to Ullrich and Pantani shall we? And at least one P-R to Hincapie.

    Think this is the bit of the Myth that really irks me - like MG says, if you actually watch the races the reality is very different - but I suppose if you only watch 1 rider in 1 race then you can make up the rest of their career to suit yourself* (not necessarily you dennis :wink: )
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    micron wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    I'm not sure I agree(surprise, surprise). IF Lance really wanted one of the big classics like he wanted a bunch of TDF wins, well.......

    On that reckoning we could award all kinds of riders all kinds of results they never actually achieved just because they ought to have won - let's award a TdF or two to Ullrich and Pantani shall we? And at least one P-R to Hincapie.

    Think this is the bit of the Myth that really irks me - like MG says, if you actually watch the races the reality is very different - but I suppose if you only watch 1 rider in 1 race then you can make up the rest of their career to suit yourself* (not necessarily you dennis :wink: )

    I'm not awarding anything to anyone. It's all just speculation. I think my main point was that
    LA is a very driven man, a very capable racer, and if he's "got it" on a certain day, then like more than a few other classic winners, some of whom probably weren't "supposed to" or "thought to be in the running" for winning a big one, he, like these others, may come away a winner.
  • dulldave
    dulldave Posts: 949
    I'm developing an unnerving habit for agreeing with dennis. If he wanted to win one like he wanted to win the tour, he would. But he wants to win one AND win the tour, which is more difficult for him.
    Scottish and British...and a bit French
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    I think the point is he could win a classic if that was where his focus was, but that is a long way from saying that he would win. He did / does have the legs for it, but there are so many variables and race tactics are completely different to long stage races, so it is always much less of a sure thing.

    The same arguably applies to Contador (see the contador 1-day thread) although he is probably a less talented 1-day rider than Armstrong, who won the Worlds back in the day and had some good finishes, if not wins, in the Classics.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/41991871@N ... otostream/
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    If he*had* wanted to win one like he wanted to win the tour, he probably would have. I suspect it may be too late for him now. Nobody's going to let him go away like they did Ivanov (was it?) last year in Amstel, or Schleck in Liege, and I can't see him dropping Valverde. Kirchen or the like on the Muur or Cauberg.

    Unless he bought one of course, which would be well within his means.
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    dulldave wrote:
    I'm developing an unnerving habit for agreeing with dennis. ....

    You're really in big trouble. I don't even agree with myself sometimes.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    dulldave wrote:
    I'm developing an unnerving habit for agreeing with dennis. If he wanted to win one like he wanted to win the tour, he would. But he wants to win one AND win the tour, which is more difficult for him.
    1992-1996 anyone?

    Remind me how many proper Classics he won then, when he was seen as a Classics rider. One Fleche and the San Sebastian Classic? Any more.

    He tried very hard to win a monument but didn't have either the nous or the horsepower to achieve it.

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