"Jim Burlant" <
[email protected]> wrote in message news:<aFkLc.1952$BX.1881@lakeread08>...
> You're right in that this year he doesn't need to attack. He would have had
> to if Ullrich, Mayo, Hamilton, and Heras didn't choke to varying degrees in
> th emountains. And given his inability to ride Basso off his wheel, I'm not
> convinced he could have attacked well enough. He can't sustain his surges
> the way he used to and the only reason he's in as commanding a lead as he is
> is that everyone else choked, period.
Err, have you noticed anyone else winning three stages so far? Oh,
wait, that's right, Bettini was choking. Petacchi was choking. Ooooo,
ooo, and Robbie McEwen was choking.....
The point being that Lance's surges were so powerful that everyone
else didn't CHOKE, they couldn't keep up. And you're about to see why
Basso hasn't beaten Lance. If today isn't object lesson enough then
stay tuned for the Bessason TT on Saturday.
> He figures that he'll put at least 2 - probably 4 or 5 - minutes on Basso in
> the final TT but he doesn't want to leave it to chance. But based on what
> you're saying, you mean that he didn't need to blow people away from 1999 -
> 2002?
No, he did need to do so to fix it in the competition's minds that he
was the boss. Don't kid yourself that at that level morale isn't a
large part of the difference between the top 5 racers. Lance often
wins not because he's faster but because he doesn't give up when
other's do. Just that little bit of cracking where it passes through a
riders mind that the other guy MAY be a little faster is all it takes
to keep him from trying just that little bit harder or holding his
speed just that little longer.
> The first day in the mountains, vintage Lance
> always laid down the law because nobody could hold his wheel, and you never
> saw 5 guys finishing within a minute of him on a mountain stage when he
> attacked. If he isn't doing it now it's because he can't do it and he's
> riding defensively in order to save as much energy as he can.
In my opinion what you're seeing is a lot of other guys really
focusing on the Tour and using Lance's own strategies of specifically
training on the course itself. Check out the times - Lance hasn't
gotten any slower at all, everyone else is beginning to learn his
methods.