"Andy Coggan" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> From VN report on the final moments of the Amstel Gold race:
>
> "Catching the others by surprise, Vinokourov took an immediate 50-meter advantage after
> negotiating a series of turns in the village of Sibbe. Boogerd jumped hard in pursuit, but
> Armstrong was right on his wheel. The Dutchman slowed, then tried again. But his American shadow
> again thwarted the effort - while Vinokourov was moving 10 seconds clear as he slalomed
his
> way down the Sibbergrubbe hill into Valkenberg."
>
> So while Armstrong was marking Boogerd, Vinokourov slipped away for the eventual win. Question is,
> was this just a tactical error on Armstrong's part (w/ hindsight of course being 20-20), or did he
> just not have the
legs
> to win himself?
Today's L'Equipe had some interesting quotes. Translation is mine.
Boogerd: "I think that I was the strongest, with Armstrong and Kessler....There's no personal
problem between Armstrong and me, but maybe something between the two teams. In the TdF, USPS had
wanted an easy stage before the final TT but Dekker was in the lead group (at Bourg-en-Bresse) and
they had to work harder than they wanted..."
Emmanuel Magnien, strongly opposed to the compulsory helmet regulations but not insensitive to
issues of safety, complained about the course: "Traffic circles, traffic islands, poorly placed
cars, cameras, and grandmothers..."
The L'Equipe reporter had also interviewed Armstrong:
Q: We had the feeling that at the end, you were one of the strongest but also one of the most
marked. Could you have done anything?
R: Lots of guys were marked. The endgame was very tactical. Everyone was watching for the
favorites to jump. It's the nature of the game even if, in the final analysis, it was negative
racing. And when Vinokourov had 200 meters, I knew that it was over especially since Kessler
was there. Telekom is very strong on paper, but it also proved itself on the ground. In the
end, I didn't even try to sprint. It doesn't really interest me to finish second again at this
race. For me, today, it was all or nothing. However, I want to say that this course is becoming
more and more dangerous. I don't understand it: 250 km, 500 turns, badly parked cars, traffic
islands. They need to do something quickly because we were often grazing cars. It wasn't the
safest day of the year.
S: Despite everything, you must have been reassured about your condition...
T: Yes! Today I felt my best since the beginning of the season. I felt good enough to have won...but
it doesn't do any good to cry over spilled milk. I was happy to learn that I'm improving, that's
a good sign for the future. I know where my bread is buttered, and it's not the Amstel Gold Race.
And also, it's still a good indication for L-B-L next Sunday. An extra week is probably going to
be good for me.
U: L-B-L is becoming a big goal for you?
V: Of course...first, because it's a great race, one of the monuments. Then, these last few years,
this week has been when I've started to feel good. I'm going back to Spain first to recover and
then to prepared especially for this race...and then we'll see what happens.
All the best
