Beautiful Win by Tyler Hamilton in LBL!

Wow, what a show! Probably one of the best races I've seen since the Armstrong/Ullrich "fights" on
the tour in 2001. Superb attacks by Merckx, then Armstrong and finally Hamilton...
___________________
Keith www.gpspassion.com All things GPS and PocketPC

 

Incredible, I did expect him to fall in the last kms on the wet and slippery roads With 10 K to
go everyone *knew* Armstrong would win, but even LA hits the wall sometimes. The Euskaltels were
incredibly strong today. For one moment Boogerd looked like he was going to win, but then came
Tyler's final attack. The last km he was riding almost backward as he expected to be caught again.

Erik

"Keith" <[email protected]> wrote in message news[email protected]...
> Wow, what a show! Probably one of the best races I've seen since the Armstrong/Ullrich "fights" on
> the tour in 2001. Superb attacks by Merckx, then Armstrong and finally Hamilton...
> ___________________
> Keith www.gpspassion.com All things GPS and PocketPC

 

"Erik van Leeuwen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> With 10 K to go everyone *knew* Armstrong would win, but even LA hits the wall sometimes. The
> Euskaltels were incredibly strong today. For one moment Boogerd looked like he was going to win,
> but then came Tyler's final attack. The last km
he
> was riding almost backward as he expected to be caught again.

When the end came for Armstrong, it came pretty quickly. He had a 30 second gap and the next time we
looked it was gone. Sanchez had been taking shorts pulls but Armstrong was doing most of the work.
Shefer looked like he was sitting out, waiting for Astarloa and Di Luca. Armstrong tried once more
after the peloton (what remained of it) joined up, but he couldn't drop anyone on the hill.

I'm still shaking my head in amazement thinking about Merckx pulling those little guys up the hills,
and seeing Bartoli hang on, hang on, hang on, and finally drop. I think I actually grunted.

When Hamilton went clear, the helicopter shot couldn't identify who it was. It was a shock when they
finally switched to the moto camera and I realized who it was. Hamilton crossed the line first but
Sorensen won the race for him.

 

>When the end came for Armstrong, it came pretty quickly. He had a 30 second gap and the next time
>we looked it was gone.

Pretty odd, eh, actually the coverage was decent today except we never got any time differences :-(
so had to rely on the idiotic Jean-René Goddard :-(

___________________
Keith www.gpspassion.com All things GPS and PocketPC

 

> Wow, what a show! Probably one of the best races I've seen since the Armstrong/Ullrich "fights" on
> the tour in 2001. Superb attacks by Merckx, then Armstrong and finally Hamilton...

Yes, beautiful race! Very smart and strong ride of Hamilton. I think Lance overrated himself a bit,
nevertheless he was the best of the favourites. I hardly see any of the big guys: no Di Luca,
Vinokourov, Celestino, VDB. Casagrande and Kessler a little bit. Even Boogerd raced pretty
anonymous, unlike Boogerd. After last week I expected him much more attacking. But he did the right
move on the right time and got a good third place. It was also nice to see Bartoli again. Amazing
what he is already capable of after breaking his pelvis in january. Lance was the only favourite who
took the initiative. I guess he became the victim of that. It's only at the finish the rewards are
given. If he was less impetuous and waited until the Saint Nicolas he could have definitely made the
decisive break. Tyler rode a smart and strong race. Attacking on La Redoute, making his team work in
the chase after Armstrong. A good climb of the Saint Nicolas and a strong attack the last kilometers
(after Boogerd tried) and keeping the gap on the Cote d'Ans. Beautiful.

 

> favourites. I hardly see any of the big guys: no Di Luca, Vinokourov, Celestino, VDB. Casagrande
> and Kessler a little bit.

I was surprised to see Rebellin (with a bursted shoulder!!)

> Even Boogerd raced pretty anonymous, unlike Boogerd. After last week I expected him much more
> attacking.

I wasn't sure if he was finally being patient or just not good enough. I think it was a bit of both.
He missed the Armstrong break and prayed that they would be caught. About his legs, I think he is
the only one in top 10 of RVV, AGR and LBL this year. Time for some rest now.

Erik

 

isn't that the beauty of a well set up team?

Hamilton crossed the line first but Sorensen won the race for
> him.

 

"Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote:

> When Hamilton went clear, the helicopter shot couldn't identify who it was. It was a shock when
> they finally switched to the moto camera and I realized who it was. Hamilton crossed the line
> first but Sorensen won the race for him.

It's nice to see a team leader who puts his guys on the front and then actually pulls out the win.
And, all hail Barney Riis! Okay, Jalabert and Hamilton gave him a lot of material to work with, but
he gets results out of those riders no one predicted.

I believe Hamilton becomes the first American to win one of the five monuments (Sanremo, Ronde,
Roubaix, Liege, Lombardy). Not Greg, Lance, George, Fred, ...

 

"Benjamin Weiner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>>
> I believe Hamilton becomes the first American to win one of the five monuments (Sanremo, Ronde,
> Roubaix, Liege, Lombardy). Not Greg, Lance, George, Fred, ...

It is surprising that Hamilton would be the one although perhaps not too much considering he did get
2nd in the Giro last year. It's just that LA gets so much attention that most everyone outside of
him and Hincapie get overlooked (although until yesterday that may have been justifiable).

Another interesting note is that Americans (Lemond and Armstrong) won 7 Tours de France before
winning a single monument. That would not be predictable, IMO, since many of the biggest races in
the US have of the one day variety (and even the stage racing here does not feature the above
category climbs found in the TdF), the stage races that we do have tend to be 5 days or less, the
stages of those stage races tend to be more power-oriented, and there are 5 Monuments per year vs. 1
TdF per year (theoretically 5 times as many chances).

 

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Another interesting note is that Americans (Lemond and Armstrong)
won 7
> Tours de France before winning a single monument. That would not be predictable, IMO, since many
> of the biggest races in the US have of
the one
> day variety (and even the stage racing here does not feature the
above
> category climbs found in the TdF), the stage races that we do have
tend to
> be 5 days or less, the stages of those stage races tend to be more power-oriented, and there are 5
> Monuments per year vs. 1 TdF per
year
> (theoretically 5 times as many chances).

I think that LeMond and Armstrong were the strongest among a dozen riders each year that might win a
Grand Tour. Hamilton, on the other hand, was the strongest out of 140 riders - half of whom may have
had a chance to win. One day races are far and away much harder races.