Could be a very valid point if he was in the 4 faster onesad9898 said:I understand that, I didn't say it, HE said it was slow. Just on that point what were the 4 that were faster and was Armstrong involved ?
Could be a very valid point if he was in the 4 faster onesad9898 said:I understand that, I didn't say it, HE said it was slow. Just on that point what were the 4 that were faster and was Armstrong involved ?
nonns said:Suspend your thoughts for one moment as to whether he took peds or not. He was never caught.
Personally I believe Lance used to win because broadly he was physically competitive. He was robust and consistent. His bike handling was awesome. His preparation was meticulous. He didn't try to do too much. His team was a huge benefit. He got everything together in a way that few others have managed. I still think the killer component was that he simply believed he owned the Tour. I will win this race because its mine. What you're attacking me?! But I will make you pay......
That was then but this is now. Can he win again? Look at whats against him
2 years out (he's still fit but there's fit and there's fit!). Though that mountain bike race he finished 2nd in was pretty tough and at quite a high level. He's obviously lost none of the bike handling skills and can compete individually.
Many other riders now pursue broadly similiar training to the new methods Lance brought in so that advantage is now somewhat limited.
Lance will be 37 and presumably has lost some ability to recover/some power also. Will he still be able to do those explosive uphill bursts and lose the likes of Contador/Sastre?
He will be marked like never before. Can you see him getting so much as a bike length on the pack without being blocked/marked/jumped on.
Which top riders will ride for him. Ok Hincapie and Contador might but the rest? Lepheimer? Sastre? I doubt it.
I could see him doing well but unless he assembles the most fantabulous team around him I think he will find it very hard indeed.
I must confess I don't see what he has to gain. I think this is a high stakes gamble. I would say tho' that watching some interviews with him he obviously loves to ride at a high level. He sounded almost sad when he was saying he couldn't fit the cycling in so had to run instead and it wasn't the same. If he even finsihes in the top 10 I think that would be a triumph after two years out at 37. Lets face it Cadel Evans couldn't do it without a break (his chances in 2009 must now be even slimmer). Can you imagine the pressure Lance will be under.
As a fellow bike rider (not quite in the same shape I'll admit) I wish him all the best. I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the Cadel Evans house when the announcement was made.
BTW for all those that believe that Lance was a Doper have you considered that you're wrong. He might be an alien instead. I wonder how the UCI would view that.
And so will everyone else.de don said:As we all know HGH increases recovery right!! There is NO test for it. So he will be using that by the bucket full so
The PED race never stopped. It is just evolving and finding new ways to beat the system. How do we know the dopers this year were any different? Maybe they just sucked. In fact I know they sucked, not because they rode the tour 1 mph slower, but because no one had the balls to actually make it a race. There's only so much wheelsucking and lame attacks you can watch. I've seen better Cat 5 races in the US. At least in those races you get to see guys weaving uncontrollably across the road and crash themselves out with no one around.poulidor said:Yes an usual doped Lance would have won the last TDF where dopers were on a smallest program than the precedent years. So Lance's judgement is false and stupid, his come-back, especially when annoucing the will to win, is very bad for cycling. The pharmacy and the race to PED is back too!
As we have seen in Beijing new PEDs and/or gene doping are available. That is probably what want to use Lance...
We already need DNA comparaison with his first ball.
I think with the Eurotard reference, he wasn't referring to Europe. In America, he was right on the money. Let Media Life spell it out for you(don't try and make a living shooting fish in a barrel).limerickman said:The huge numbers of roadside spectators and the increased TV Nielsen figures for TDF 2008 - as ever - state different.
Oh dear.
Let me spell it out for you.
2008 TDF was the fifth fastest TDF, in the 95 editions of the race, since 1903.
Shooting fish in the proverbial barrel.
cyclismag.com reports the following: According to a source close to the situation, but who asked to remain anonymous, Jan Ullrich will return to racing next year at the age of 35. He will join Team Columbia, the successor to his previous team T-Mobile. The information was confirmed in an exclusive interview in Super Picsou Géant, which will appear later this month. Jan Ullrich will join the team for free and will pay out his pocket to ride. He will post all his blood values on the internet and on the wall of his house in Switzerland. Questioned on the subject, Ullrich's manager refused to comment.jhuskey said:Well, Jan is training at the moment for a fact. His races will be several charity races the first October 3 in Stuttgart.
I believe it is a retirement/farewell race in honor of Weseman.
I would love to see an Artmstrong vs Ullrich race one more time and not a wheelchair race so................ sometime soon.
lucybears said:cyclismag.com reports the following: According to a source close to the situation, but who asked to remain anonymous, Jan Ullrich will return to racing next year at the age of 35. He will join Team Columbia, the successor to his previous team T-Mobile. The information was confirmed in an exclusive interview in Super Picsou Géant, which will appear later this month. Jan Ullrich will join the team for free and will pay out his pocket to ride. He will post all his blood values on the internet and on the wall of his house in Switzerland. Questioned on the subject, Ullrich's manager refused to comment.
http://www.cyclismag.com/article.php?sid=4493#ancre1
Kloden going to go batty.... he won't know who to chase down or ride for !ad9898 said:all the old dogs coming out to play, i wonder though can they teach the the new dogs any tricks, I'm sure Jan will be back now, just to race Armstrong
Bike N Ski said:I think with the Eurotard reference, he wasn't referring to Europe. In America, he was right on the money. Let Media Life spell it out for you(don't try and make a living shooting fish in a barrel).
Viewership was down 18 percent for the 2008 Tour through last Tuesday, according to the most recent Nielsen numbers available, going from an average 171,000 viewers last year to 140,000 this year.
That includes all the Tour dayparts, such as the live morning broadcasts and the taped primetime coverage.
The live segments, starting each day at 8:30 a.m., drew the biggest audience, 264,000, including 100,000 viewers 18-49. That’s compared to an average 343,000 in the morning last year, with 139,000 18-49s.
When the final numbers are out later this week, it will be the least-watched Tour in years, pulling barely half the average 315,000 who tuned in in 2005, the year Lance Armstrong won his last race.
ad9898 said:all the old dogs coming out to play, i wonder though can they teach the the new dogs any tricks,
It's Picsoulucybears said:Super Picsou Géant - one of my favourite reads...
Lim I'm with you on this but what worries me is Armstrong will run with the "Cancer Cure Crusade Team 2009" and have President Obama force ASO let the Astana Cures Cancer Team ride in the 2009 Tour.limerickman said:The same source tells me that the ASO will almost certainly not want anyone remotely connected with 1998 - 2006, back racing in the races that they control, either.
The flight of sponsors from the sport dictates everything..............and those riders under a cloud from 1999 - 2006 are still way too toxic.
If they actually name it the Astana Cures Cancer team I'll literally Vomit.whiteboytrash said:Lim I'm with you on this but what worries me is Armstrong will run with the "Cancer Cure Crusade Team 2009" and have President Obama force ASO let the Astana Cures Cancer Team ride in the 2009 Tour.
Prudhomme is cautious but I get the feeling he will have to let them in.
whiteboytrash said:Lim I'm with you on this but what worries me is Armstrong will run with the "Cancer Cure Crusade Team 2009" and have President Obama force ASO let the Astana Cures Cancer Team ride in the 2009 Tour.
Prudhomme is cautious but I get the feeling he will have to let them in.
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