Originally posted by allgoo19
My impression of him talking about the next tour in the tonight show looked pretty positive. My prediction is 7.
Originally posted by Memphmann
First thing first, the only ppl that seem to believe that Lance shall win again are fellow Americans. He can only win again if his supporting cast gets stronger. Would not shock me if Postal offered Jan a contract to help Lance win. Remember Lance only beat Jan because of the TTT. Also luck on his side with the huge crash and Hamilton not feeling well either. I can see him DNF next years TdF with some bogus excuse....
Memph
Originally posted by Memphmann
First thing first, the only ppl that seem to believe that Lance shall win again are fellow Americans. He can only win again if his supporting cast gets stronger. Would not shock me if Postal offered Jan a contract to help Lance win. Remember Lance only beat Jan because of the TTT. Also luck on his side with the huge crash and Hamilton not feeling well either. I can see him DNF next years TdF with some bogus excuse....
Memph
Originally posted by allgoo19
Whooooi. This is getting pretty emotional.
First year for Lance, right out of hospital, nobody, I mean NOBODY even including ANY american thought Lance was going to win the race. Even after his voctory, people were saying "Because Pantani wasn't there. He can beat Lance easily," and "Ulrich wasn't there. Lance was lucky." Even I thought Lance's victory was the craziest thing ever happened to the history of the sports.
He kept winning, beating everybody including Pantani, Ulrich. I bet everybody outside the US was thinking, each year, there would be no more victory for Lance but he kept proving they were wrong. I heard every possible negative opinion on Lance whenever he had one bad day, making it sound like that was the last day of Lance's career.
Sure, Lance is human. There will be an end of his career some day. The way I look at the confidence he has shown, that day doesn't seem to come any time soon.
At the Tonight Show Lance said, "I won't go back to the race for second place." There was a big applause from the audience.
Does it make you feel bad or disappointed if Lance win next year, Memphmann?
Originally posted by VitaminE
Ha! Do you seriously think that the only people who think Lance will win a 6th are Americans? How closly do you follow international cycling media coverage? The best part was, "remember Lance only beat Jan because of the TTT." Holy ****! I nearly chocked on my cheeseburger! Pretend for a second Jan won, you could just as easily say, "the only reason Jan won was because Lance was dehydrated in the first TT." or "the only reason Jan won was because of the time Lance lost when he crashed on stage 15." or maybe "the only reason Jan won was because Lance was shaken up after having to take it off-road to avoid the Beloki crash." You could go on and on, but you don't win 5 consecutive TDF's out of luck and one TTT. I seriously can't believe you would say that.
Originally posted by JDM
It still amazes me how some of us still have short-term memory when it comes to Armstrong. Let's alll say for the sake of argument, he never came back from cancer and had retired in 1997. He still would have had a remarkable career - world championship, one-day wins, tour stages, etc. A lot better than the average pro-cyclist. And now, like anyone at the top, he has his detractors. Doping, you say? Please educate us - to what are you referring? Weaker Team? US Postal was a real juggernaut in the late 90's weren't they? I don't recall teams lining up to sign him in 96-97. The team is what it is now, directly because of him. I doubt very much that US Postal would have made it past 1999 or 2000 had Armstrong not won the Tour when he did. And anyone that can put the most talented cyclist in the world(Ullrich), into second place in the Tour, THREE times, is nothing short of a "great" cyclist. Please educate yourself if you're going to get up on your soapbox.
Originally posted by JDM
In reference to the doping........ It seems to me that professional cycling has the most stringent measures in place to prevent and catch cheaters, much more so than in the olympics. As an American, it is refreshing to enjoy a sport where nearly all athletes are clean, ethical competitors, unlike the other typically American sports(football, basketball). I hope that I'm not deluding myself. In 1998 it appeared that the vast majority of cheats were weeded out, but with the recent scandal involving Museeuw and the horse trainer I guess I'm mistaken. We're all aware of Armstrong and his altitude chamber and his former relationship with the infamous Italian doctor. But, I hope and I am confidant that that Armstrong has never cheated. Simply put, look at the thousands of drug tests he's taken and passed. And not just him, other pro cyclists who have been targeted, but have never failed a test. If he has taken any performance enhancing drugs, then shame on him. Which brings me to the French. I have always marveled at the fact that they have embraced Virenque, a disgraced confessed doper, but are continually suspicious of Armstrong and would gleefullly tie the noose if he were to be caught. I hope that all fans, around the wold can see Armstrong for what he is - a classy champion, genuinely deserving of all the recognition he has received.
Originally posted by JDM
Fair enough - but unless someone can give me one example involving Armstrong and performance enhancing drugs, then I suggest we put this topic to bed.
Originally posted by patch70
This is purely speculation:
Why did Lance get so dehydrated in the 1st ITT of this year's TDF?
Losing 7kg in a one hour race is physically impossible. 2kg/hr is maximum if you drink nothing.
Did he forget to drink before? I doubt it very much.
Was he taking diuretics???
It just doesn't make sense to me. Obviously this 'proves' nothing though. I don't think Lance is the bad guy - I think he is the same as other pros in respect to doing whatever he can to get the edge. I don't think professional cycling is a 'clean sport'.
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