Will Lance be better this year?
Comments
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edhornby wrote:
and has a team 100% behind HIM for victory (which he didn't last year)
sorry Dennis but I call BS on that point - LA came 4th in his team in the prologue ! Contador, Leipheimer and Kloden were all faster than him
Contador was instructed by Bruyneel not to attack on arcalis
he even had someone else's (ColumbiaHTC) team helping the american based riders pull the echelon away from his team mate
I think LA won't podium this year, the schleks, Contador, Wiggins, Evans and Sastre will be well prepared and the lack of a TTT won't skew the result
As i said in an earlier post the race would have been raced differently without a TTT, its too simplistic to say take away the TTT and such and such would have finished here or there.Gasping - but somehow still alive !0 -
Whatever way you look at last years tour, all the could haves and what might have beens, then apply them to what you think might happen this year, Lance still has a whole lot of improving to do to beat Contador.
None of us know what shape he was really in last year, or as some would say what chemical assistance he received.
The one thing I know for sure is there was one hell of a gap between him and Contador and it will take a hell of alot of bridging.0 -
Its the big question surrounding the tour build up this year, will `he` be better?
By `he` you could be meaning;
Armstrong
A Schleck
Wiggins
Basso
Sastre
Evans
Gesink
Nibali
Will they all be better and step up to fight Bertie?0 -
SpaceJunk wrote:Moray Gub wrote:I was making the point you cant argue the age thing against Lance yet not put it forward for Sastre as seems to be the case.
Okay then:
- Lance is too old
- Sastre is too old
too old to win yep .............too old to get a podium place nope.Gasping - but somehow still alive !0 -
But I still feel baring injury/accident podium place means 3rd. AC and AS are at ages where a year older is likely to make them better, and certainly you would hope smarter racers.
If Liquigas sort out properly who they're riding for they will have a strong challenger. Talk is cheap (as we all know from having to read each other's BS) but Basso seems to think he'll be better again this year and that he's sorted himself out mentally. It's not that long ago he was the next great thing, so maybe he'll make me look stupid (along with my own opinions) and challenge the obvious top two.
Evans is likely to be as good as before last year, given the TTT won't effectively put him out the race before it's almost started.
Sastre probably is too old.
Wiggins has to prove it wasn't a one hit wonder
Valverde/Menchov challengers for 3rd if it goes right for them
Lance, well I just can't see him getting on the podium. In truth if the team was a team and not the Egos backing band they'd probably be riding for Levi or Kloden0 -
Moray Gub wrote:too old to win yep .............too old to get a podium place nope.
Given very good fortune, I'd tend to agree with MG's assessment,.......just.
Here's actual proof that he's in better shape than last year.
Last year's TDU: 26th
This year's TDU: 24th.
:P"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Lance will run Contador close. contador behaved badly towards Astana in 2009 and deserves to be put through his paces on the cobbles this summer. I hope for a big time loss for Mr Contador and Lance, who will be a year better, will be close to them in the mountains.0
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PauloBets wrote:Lance will run Contador close. contador behaved badly towards Astana in 2009 and deserves to be put through his paces on the cobbles this summer. I hope for a big time loss for Mr Contador and Lance, who will be a year better, will be close to them in the mountains.
Did you forget [sarcasm] [/sarcasm] there?
:shock:___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
calvjones wrote:PauloBets wrote:Lance will run Contador close. contador behaved badly towards Astana in 2009 and deserves to be put through his paces on the cobbles this summer. I hope for a big time loss for Mr Contador and Lance, who will be a year better, will be close to them in the mountains.
Did you forget [sarcasm] [/sarcasm] there?
:shock:
Needs one of these:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/n ... usion.html
It's a really good idea and I think it'll catch on.0 -
PauloBets wrote:Lance will run Contador close. contador behaved badly towards Astana in 2009 and deserves to be put through his paces on the cobbles this summer. I hope for a big time loss for Mr Contador and Lance, who will be a year better, will be close to them in the mountains.
A year bettter...................
A guess you missed the list of 37, 38 and 39 year old winners
"Behaved badly towards Astana" You should see how I'd behave towards my employer should he 'forget' to pay me. Where was Astana's support for their top man when JB started to run the team as Big Tex's backing band? The car incident at the Anecy TT alone is enough to have seriously questioned Astana's commitment to Bertie.0 -
Contador attacked his own team in one of the mountain stages of the tour and then lied about not getting materials. Lance Armstrong has gone on the record about this. I can't wait to see what the shack has up their sleeve for pistolero in the first week of the tour0
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PauloBets wrote:Contador attacked his own team in one of the mountain stages of the tour and then lied about not getting materials. Lance Armstrong has gone on the record about this. I can't wait to see what the shack has up their sleeve for pistolero in the first week of the tour
He was in the yellow jersey?
He was the main favourite?
He's entirely in his right to consolidate his lead.
To think otherwise is foolish.
To think anyone in US postal would complain that Armstrong had "attacked the team" in '99-2005?
Pfft.Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.0 -
PauloBets wrote:Contador attacked his own team in one of the mountain stages of the tour and then lied about not getting materials. Lance Armstrong has gone on the record about this. I can't wait to see what the shack has up their sleeve for pistolero in the first week of the tour
:roll:
Is there some kind of ignore/block function on this forum?0 -
teagar wrote:PauloBets wrote:Contador attacked his own team in one of the mountain stages of the tour and then lied about not getting materials. Lance Armstrong has gone on the record about this. I can't wait to see what the shack has up their sleeve for pistolero in the first week of the tour
He was in the yellow jersey?
He was the main favourite?
He's entirely in his right to consolidate his lead.
To think otherwise is foolish.
To think anyone in US postal would complain that Armstrong had "attacked the team" in '99-2005?
Pfft.
no,pistolero eliminated Andrea Kloden and what if pistolero had crashed later? The Schleks would have won as Andrea was wiped out needlessly by the Spanish fool. How is that good tactics? I think Contador will be 5 minutes down going into the mountains in 2010. I hope the shack pay him back with some echelons and attacks when he least needs it. No way will Lance give him an armchair ride to the cols.0 -
teagar wrote:PauloBets wrote:Contador attacked his own team in one of the mountain stages of the tour and then lied about not getting materials. Lance Armstrong has gone on the record about this. I can't wait to see what the shack has up their sleeve for pistolero in the first week of the tour
He was in the yellow jersey?
He was the main favourite?
He's entirely in his right to consolidate his lead.
To think otherwise is foolish.
To think anyone in US postal would complain that Armstrong had "attacked the team" in '99-2005?
Pfft.
Exactly. If it was so important for Astana to get Kloden on the podium (as if), then why did Armstrong also ride away from him in the final kilometres? Because a) it's a race, and b) Kloden had bonked. Simple as.0 -
@Arkibal & iainf72
You have to love remarks like yours, it's an Internet forum...... Duh!
It's full of mad opinion, fact, fiction and BS in equal measures.
The block function is selectively choose to ignore it, the way I do with Big Brother, Strictly Come Talentless aholes and all the other things in this world sent to annoy me.0 -
PauloBets wrote:teagar wrote:PauloBets wrote:Contador attacked his own team in one of the mountain stages of the tour and then lied about not getting materials. Lance Armstrong has gone on the record about this. I can't wait to see what the shack has up their sleeve for pistolero in the first week of the tour
He was in the yellow jersey?
He was the main favourite?
He's entirely in his right to consolidate his lead.
To think otherwise is foolish.
To think anyone in US postal would complain that Armstrong had "attacked the team" in '99-2005?
Pfft.
no,pistolero eliminated Andrea Kloden and what if pistolero had crashed later? The Schleks would have won as Andrea was wiped out needlessly by the Spanish fool. How is that good tactics? I think Contador will be 5 minutes down going into the mountains in 2010. I hope the shack pay him back with some echelons and attacks when he least needs it. No way will Lance give him an armchair ride to the cols.
I'll take a £10 bet with you that won't happen.Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.0 -
PauloBets wrote:no,pistolero eliminated Andrea Kloden and what if pistolero had crashed later? The Schleks would have won as Andrea was wiped out needlessly by the Spanish fool. How is that good tactics? I think Contador will be 5 minutes down going into the mountains in 2010. I hope the shack pay him back with some echelons and attacks when he least needs it. No way will Lance give him an armchair ride to the cols.
This presupposes that Lance can stay with a higher pace on the flat/cobbles than Bertie. We'll see.0 -
I have never seen a race like last years Tour de France. In any other race in history (except for famous hand bag fights; Lemond/Hinault, Simoni/Cunego, Riis/Berzin) the team gets behind the number one rider. If Lance was in yellow then it would've been 100% for him without question.
The trick is that if Contador was in yellow then the Team rides fo him. If the situation wasn't so crazy, Kloden should have pulled for Bertie.
Contador bonked and lost the Paris Nice and lost the race.
The trick is that usual racing would mean that Contador should have got as much time as possible in all opportunities. When the Peleton split, on the flat stage before the Pyrenees, Astana rode for Lance even though Contador was behind. When in the Mountains, why didn't Kloden ride for Contador when they got away with the 2 Shreks. Same situation but Kloden sat on the back and didn't work. As an American once said "No more gifts"
-Jerry“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”- Albert Einstein
"You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water."
-Jacques Anquetil0 -
afx237vi wrote:
18 months ago if i had suggested AC had been on the beach prior to the Giro you would have been on the first to scoff and pooh pooh it...........but seeing as your are an AC fanboy now well its cool he was on the beach prior to the Giro.Gasping - but somehow still alive !0 -
Moray Gub wrote:afx237vi wrote:Enlighten me, oh wise one, what would I have said 18 months ago? And then give me a link to where I actually said it.
18 months ago if i had suggested AC had been on the beach prior to the Giro you would have been on the first to scoff and pooh pooh it...........but seeing as your are an AC fanboy now well its cool he was on the beach prior to the Giro.
I dunno about you, MG, but I'm getting a distinct feeling of déjà vu here. I can only suggest you buy yourself a notepad and start taking notes of things I write. That way, the next time we have this conversation (next week, probably), you can actually give me a specific example of something you've imagined I said. It'll save you the effort of flailing around in the dark.0 -
Moray Gub wrote:18 months ago if i had suggested AC had been on the beach prior to the Giro you would have been on the first to scoff and pooh pooh it...........but seeing as your are an AC fanboy now well its cool he was on the beach prior to the Giro.
Well, I'll admit, I would have said it, as that's where he was supposed to have been.
But, hey, talking of fanboys/beaches, that's some tan ol' Uncle Lance is sporting, Down Under.
Sure must be sweltering in the Gulf of Mexico, come November, December, when you make the local boys look like chalk. :P"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:Moray Gub wrote:18 months ago if i had suggested AC had been on the beach prior to the Giro you would have been on the first to scoff and pooh pooh it...........but seeing as your are an AC fanboy now well its cool he was on the beach prior to the Giro.
Well, I'll admit, I would have said it, as that's where he was supposed to have been.
There was fair dgree of scepticism about it at the time, but given the forum is full of AC fanboys these days all that is forgotten.Gasping - but somehow still alive !0 -
Are you lot still arguing about this?
It's very likely that, with an uninterupted preparation, unlike last year, Armstrong will be in better shape in July than he was last year.
The problem for him is that Menchov, Sastre, Evans, Wiggins, Vande Velde, Nibali, Schleck (probably) and Gesink will be better than last year, and Valverde will be there too. The one who probably won't improve, but will say about the same, is Contador. But then he probably wasn't pushed 100% last year either.
It should be a great race - let's enjoy it when the time comes.Twitter: @RichN950 -
it seems to me that lance is about more than winning races these days. everywhere you look there is media coverage and promotion and a very slick and savy engine behind it - the most effective way of generating this is if lance races - the most interesting lance media story is can he win the tdf again (?)
personaly i dont think he can - he looks nowhere near as good as he did when he was at the top of his form and there are so particularly good riders up against him - but if the principal goal is media coverage and promotion then victory is irrelevant....the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon...0 -
VinceEager wrote:it seems to me that lance is about more than winning races these days.
I hope so because he didn't win anything of note last year. Oh yeah, there was that mountain bike event.
I may get shot down in flames here, but I reckon Lance wouldn't have podiumed (is that a word?) this year if he hadn't been on the same team as AC. The time he made over Wiggins was gained on an attack on Wiggins after having sat on his back wheel and been towed up the climb. This was because AC was already up the road and Wiggins was forced to do the work.
AC was also the best trialist in that team, so Lance wouldn't have had the benefit of his contribution to the TTT.
But then again, the race would have been totally different.
I sympathise with MG here. AC was getting a doing on here before Lance came back, For what it's worth though, I still don't think he was on the beach. I'm still not much of an AC fan.Scottish and British...and a bit French0
