Skier Maier to lead out Tour de France

It would be funny if he beat some of the pro's.

"Charter Usenet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

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My two favorite sports coming together. This is great!

Maybe we'll see Tyler Hamilton forerun a WC SL someday.
--
Marty

I don't recall how old Maier is, but there's always that possibility: alpine ski racing requires a
surprising amount of aerobic fitness (as well as anaerobic capacity and isometric strength).

Andy Coggan

"Ronald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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It would be funny if he beat some of the pro's.

"Charter Usenet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

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sports.yahoo.comnewsOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My two favorite sports coming together. This is great!

Maybe we'll see Tyler Hamilton forerun a WC SL someday.
--
Marty

In article <[email hidden]>, "Ronald"

Quoted message said:

It would be funny if he beat some of the pro's.

"Charter Usenet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

sports.yahoo.comnewsOpen ↗

My two favorite sports coming together. This is great!

Maybe we'll see Tyler Hamilton forerun a WC SL someday.
--
Marty

The guy is awesome. I couldn't believe he skied again this year. He's made of titanium, I swear.

A time trial (the prologue of the TdF) is about performing at top level in an anaerobic state for as
long as possible. Prologues tend to be short time trials. I am sure the nature of the event will
allow him the opportunity to deport himself (and skiing by implication) well. I doubt he has
professional cyclist level bike handling or aerodynamic skills enough to beat pro cyclists who are
actually giving 100%. Many of the "helpers" on a professional team will not be riding 100% during
the prologue to save their energy for later stages. So, who knows.

Aar

"Andy Coggan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I don't recall how old Maier is, but there's always that possibility:

alpine

Quoted message said:

ski racing requires a surprising amount of aerobic fitness (as well as anaerobic capacity and
isometric strength).

Andy Coggan

"Ronald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It would be funny if he beat some of the pro's.

"Charter Usenet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

sports.yahoo.comnewsOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My two favorite sports coming together. This is great!

Maybe we'll see Tyler Hamilton forerun a WC SL someday.
--
Marty

"Charter Usenet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

sports.yahoo.comnewsOpen ↗

My two favorite sports coming together. This is great! Maybe we'll see Tyler Hamilton forerun a WC
SL someday.

Also reported on CyclingNews:

cyclingnews.comnewsOpen ↗

My Podium/top-8:

1. LANCE
2. Ullrich
3. Beloki
4. LEVI !
5. Mayo
6. Simoni
7. TYLER

-Ken

According to the story, he gets a three-minute head start.

Aaron Daniel said:

A time trial (the prologue of the TdF) is about performing at top level in an anaerobic state for
as long as possible. Prologues tend to be short time trials. I am sure the nature of the event
will allow him the opportunity to deport himself (and skiing by implication) well. I doubt he has
professional cyclist level bike handling or aerodynamic skills enough to beat pro cyclists who are
actually giving 100%. Many of the "helpers" on a professional team will not be riding 100% during
the prologue to save their energy for later stages. So, who knows.

Aar

"Andy Coggan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I don't recall how old Maier is, but there's always that possibility:

alpine

Quoted message said:

ski racing requires a surprising amount of aerobic fitness (as well as anaerobic capacity and
isometric strength).

Andy Coggan

"Ronald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It would be funny if he beat some of the pro's.

"Charter Usenet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
>

sports.yahoo.comnewsOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

>
> My two favorite sports coming together. This is great!
>
> Maybe we'll see Tyler Hamilton forerun a WC SL someday.
> --
> Marty

"David Ryan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

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According to the story, he gets a three-minute head start.

I'd say that's more to distinguish that he is not one of the actual competitors and to make sure
he's out of the way for the competitors in case he has a mishap.

He cycles for fitness in Italy and France and has closely followed the Tour in person for years.
He's been quite nice in his respectful comments for the Tour and its riders. But what kind of time
will he do??

"Andy Coggan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I don't recall how old Maier is, but there's always that possibility:

alpine

Quoted message said:

ski racing requires a surprising amount of aerobic fitness (as well as anaerobic capacity and
isometric strength).

Andy Coggan

"Ronald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It would be funny if he beat some of the pro's.

"Charter Usenet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

sports.yahoo.comnewsOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My two favorite sports coming together. This is great!

Maybe we'll see Tyler Hamilton forerun a WC SL someday.
--
Marty

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

He cycles for fitness in Italy and France and has closely followed the Tour in person for years.
He's been quite nice in his respectful comments for the Tour and its riders. But what kind of time
will he do??

How well do world class triathletes do in comparison to Tour cyclists? I'd expect Maier to do
significantly worse given his age. That's no slam against Maier. Tour cyclists are very impressive
specialized athletes.

Rick

"Java Man (Espressopithecus)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

How well do world class triathletes do in comparison to Tour cyclists? I'd expect Maier to do
significantly worse given his age.

He's 15 months younger than LANCE.

Hey the guy can do 40km in under an hour apparently so who knows?.... He's probably known about this
for a while so maybe hes trained for this one effort.

Quoted message said:

sports.yahoo.comnewsOpen ↗

My two favorite sports coming together. This is great!

Maybe we'll see Tyler Hamilton forerun a WC SL someday.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hey the guy can do 40km in under an hour apparently so who knows?.... He's probably known about
this for a while so maybe hes trained for this one effort.

Think they'll do testing on him?

"Andy Coggan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I don't recall how old Maier is, but there's always that possibility:

alpine

Quoted message said:

ski racing requires a surprising amount of aerobic fitness (as well as anaerobic capacity and
isometric strength).

Andy Coggan

I believe that the Herminator will be 31 this December. Not too old for a great World Cup level
athlete. I do know that the Austrians use A LOT of stationary cycling for indoor training and it
sounds like he rides quite a bit during the off season. I'm sure he's been training for this event
and based on his comeback this season in WC Skiing, I don't think his leg is bothering him too much.
Add to this his will to compete and I think he'll do okay. In any case, this is great for both
cycling and for skiing fans. Can't wait to him go for it.

Go Hermann!!!
--
Marty

This is a great story...and I am a huge ski racing fan and I race at college. In high school we had video of the norwegian ski team training...The training can be classified as nothing short of insane Maier is a tremendous athlete...as are most great skiers. A few years ago maier competed in the snapple superstars competition...that stupid competition where pro athletes from different sports compete in running and stuff...Anyway maier blew away the feild. It is also a well known fact that ski racers can see the line as well as anyone short of maybe F1 drivers...I would expect him to not have much trouble picking a good line...I would also think that maier would be able to hold an aerodynamic position as many of the skills required for a tuck and a good TT position seem similar. On the other hand no one has mentioned that maier weighs over 220 lbs!!!!!!!! What cyclist weighs near that much...Regardless of how good he might be I just can;t belive that you can compete at anywhere near a world class level in cycling with weight like that.

"Bikerecker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Maier will beat many pros in the prologue, unless he rides it as an

exhibition

Quoted message said:

or has [censored] equipment. He is one of the best athletes in the world, is

beyond

Quoted message said:

hyper-competitive, and has balls of beryllium. Like most DHers, he trains

hard

Quoted message said:

on the bike in the off season. Anyone who can drop off a mountain at

nearly

Quoted message said:

90+ can ride a bike around at 31 MPH.

I agree that Maier will be respectable, but it's not because he drops off a mountain at 90. So can
Picabo Street.

Maier is just an incredible physical specimen.

"Andy Coggan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

alpine ski racing requires a surprising amount of aerobic fitness (as well as anaerobic capacity
and isometric strength).

This year's prologue is not particularly technical, with one short early hill (of maybe 25 meters)
and only one turn of more than 90 degrees. In addition, thre are always guys who don't care about
the prologue. If Maier were motivated, it wouldn't surprise me if he beat a couple of them. I just
hope he doesn't show up in a head fairing.

"Robert Chung" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I just hope he doesn't show up in a head fairing.

Me too. But, I do hope he shows up in his red Carrera Fireball helmet, Carrera goggles and Austrian
National Team DH Speed suit. Now THAT would be funny.
--
Marty

In article said:

"Andy Coggan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I don't recall how old Maier is, but there's always that possibility:

alpine

Quoted message said:

ski racing requires a surprising amount of aerobic fitness (as well as anaerobic capacity and
isometric strength).

Andy Coggan

I believe that the Herminator will be 31 this December. Not too old for a great World Cup level
athlete. I do know that the Austrians use A LOT of stationary cycling for indoor training and it
sounds like he rides quite a bit during the off season. I'm sure he's been training for this event
and based on his comeback this season in WC Skiing, I don't think his leg is bothering him too
much. Add to this his will to compete and I think he'll do okay. In any case, this is great for
both cycling and for skiing fans. Can't wait to him go for it.

Go Hermann!!!
--
Marty

I wonder what kind of skin suit he'll be wearing- austrian national team?

(Marlene Blanshay) said:

In article <[email hidden]>, "Ronald"

Quoted message said:

It would be funny if he beat some of the pro's.

"Charter Usenet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

sports.yahoo.comnewsOpen ↗

My two favorite sports coming together. This is great!

Maybe we'll see Tyler Hamilton forerun a WC SL someday.
--
Marty

The guy is awesome. I couldn't believe he skied again this year. He's made of titanium, I swear.

You are playing him down. Hermann Maier is *GOD*