Davey Crockett <Davey_Crockett@rogers.com> wrote in message news:<87r7ufwwwr.fsf@cpe000423176ea9-cm0f2069983361.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com>...
> Richard Adams <ackthpt@concentric.net> writes:
>
> > Van Hoorebeeck Bart wrote:
> >> Davey Crockett schreef:
> >>
> >>>And judging by the shape he's in with around a couple
> >>>of months+ to go, he'll have as much chance of winning
> >>>the Tour as the kelme and Cofidis lads.
> >>>--
> >> He'll keep Vino out of the wind in the flat stages.
> >>
> >
> > Heck, he'll keep the whole team out of the wind.
> >
>
> In a slightly different vein, I really feel sorry for Jan,
>
> He won it fair and square in 1997 and was always a better
> rider than the rider who is going for a sixth go-around
> this year.
No. He's not. All things being equal, better riders win
races over people who are not as good as them. Everybody has
a little bad luck, but the fact that Ullrich has lost the
tour four or five times since the year he won says
something. Sure maybe Ullrich has more natural talent, but
if year in and year out he's losing, then he's not better
than the competition. In fact, if you believe that he has
more talent then the only real choice you have is that he's
a slacker, or that he doesn't have the head of a champion.
Being a better racer than somebody else is about winning
more than them. Who knows, there could be 20 people who
either are racing or have been racing that have more talent
than Lance or Jan. Maybe they don't have the right work
ethic. Or maybe they have too many doubts and lose because
they are weak in the head. But you know what? If that's the
case, they aren't as good.
Professional bike racing is about having the whole package.
Climbing, time trialing, sprinting, suffering in the rain
and heat, crosswinds, cobbles, short, steep climbs, 20 km
mountain passes and having the mindset that goes along with
it. The best riders just go out and win races. The best bike
racers win because they are stronger, smarter and harder.
They win because they make that final counter attack even
though they feel like they are going to die. That make that
attack because every nerve ending in their body says "GO
NOW!" It hurts terribly, but they win because at the moment
it mattered most, the others were weak.
If I had a dollar for every bike racer I knew who had an
enourmous talent, but never went anywhere I'd be rich. Look
at the other end. Look at a guy like Mike Sayers. We were
team mates 8 or 10 years ago. To put it bluntly, Mike wasn't
exactly oozing with raw talent. He got dropped on any real
hill. But Mike wanted to be a bike racer and he worked HARD!
He's been a pro for years now and raced in the
who everybody thought had more talent who are still racing
industrial park crits in Nor Cal if they are racing at all.
Having said that, I have an enourmous amount of respect for
Jan, but here we are yet again, it's late April and Jan is
having to skip the harder races because he's not fit enough
to finish them. I'm sure he will get much fitter, and I'll
bet he's on the podium in Paris this year again. But it
won't be on the top step unless something happens to the guy
who got his third win of the year today. Somebody else my
beat Armstrong, but it won't be Jan...
Kevin Metcalfe nslckevin@yahoo.com Pleasant Hill, Ca
