Armstrong & Ullrich

[Rompinrhino]

Doe's anyone have a picture of Armstrong and Ullrich when Lance attacks on the mountain in 2001. This is the day where Lance had been faking it in the back and then on the climb takes off, he looks back for like 2 seconds, doesn anyone have a picture of that?

 

[gntlmn]

Originally posted by Rompinrhino
Doe's anyone have a picture of Armstrong and Ullrich when Lance attacks on the mountain in 2001. This is the day where Lance had been faking it in the back and then on the climb takes off, he looks back for like 2 seconds, doesn anyone have a picture of that?

The way you describe it, I bet you have a picture in your mind of this already. And you can take that with you when you go hill climbing. The "real" version would be tougher to carry. I know I can remember that. I don't remember if it was 2001, but I know the attack you're talking about. I doubt you will forget it, nor will I. It was quite a statement he made. On the other hand, he sucked wheels for so long back there under the guise that something was wrong. This isn't breaking any rules of course. It just took attention away from the fact that he was not doing any pulling in that pack. However, he didn't have his team to back him up, the way I remember it. So he was kind of forced to resort to this kind of tactic. If he had pulled, he would have risked wearing himself down while one of the group then attacked him. It turned out well for the American, all right.

 

[crystal_tears_]

Well Eddy Merckx would have pulled alright nearly pulling the legs off the lot of 'em in the process haha

 

[Jdawg]

Actually, What is known as "The Look" was simply Armstrong looking back to see if Ullrich was in trouble. As soon as he saw that he was, he attacked. He wasn't trying to make a statement as far as he says anyway.

Also, When a pack is going up a hill, you will almost never see a GC contender pulling on pace. The only time this happens is when no one else is able to hold pace, so the a GC contender goes on the attack, the other riders are just trying to hold on, but this is not pace setting.

Just my .02

Jdawg

 

[tcklyde]

It looked to me like Lance had already started to attack when he gave "The Look." It was more like, hey, are you gonna chase me or not?

Whatever the case, though, it was awesome to watch Armstrong cruise up the rest of the mountain. No sign of pain, just raw, quiet power.

 

[wfbrown]

Originally posted by tcklyde
It looked to me like Lance had already started to attack when he gave "The Look." It was more like, hey, are you gonna chase me or not?

Whatever the case, though, it was awesome to watch Armstrong cruise up the rest of the mountain. No sign of pain, just raw, quiet power.

This was a fantastic move; classic; one for the replays for years to come; my 9 year old and I still talk about it.

Lance says that he was just looking back to see who was there. No way. He had stayed back all day pretending that he was in trouble. This worked for him because the pace was very high all day and no serious attacks could take place.

He came to the front at the base of Alp-de-Huez and attacked from the front; what a move. Lance gave the look to drive a stake through Jan and it worked; no one is better in psychological warefare than Lance. In effect he said "I am attacking you from the front, are you able to follow?" What a killer.

 

[crystal_tears_]

Well personally i think it was a totally unmemorable gesture of sheer arrogance.

 

[GuyStevens]

Another classic 'look' moment was in the 1996 Tour when Bjarne Riis attacked defending champion Indurain. He then intentionally drifted all the way back to the rear of the lead group, eyeing everyone to assess how much they were suffering before putting in the decisive second attack. Can't remember if he had sucked wheels to that point though.

 

[DiabloScott]

Here it is. Frozen in time it looks perhaps arrogant but it only lasted a second. I remember Phil saying "Armstrong looks back to ask 'are you coming or not?' and the answer is 'NOT'!" What came to my mind was "psych!"

Armstrong had been feigning weakness, tricking Ullrich's team into using themselves up by setting the pace. Borderline sneaky tactic but hardly the first time anyone has ever used it - Hinault even suggested it in his book.