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Lance sucks, Ullrich will win!!

What? He had his ass handed to him today?

Hmmm...well...Lance is a doper, doesn't race as much as Ullrich, and, ummm, hasn't won as many other races.

[censored]. He has and it's Ulle that's been suspended? Damn. Ok, uh...Americans are idiots and it's all about the MONEYYYY!!!!! Yeah, that's the ticket! Since I don't have the balls to give credit to Lance for owning the rest of the field, I'll just crack on his nationality and whine about American fans.

And that dayumm yellow bracelet pisses me off. He's just doing it for the money. What? He's raised millions and millions to fight cancer?

Ummm....Ullrich will win!

Lonnie Utah said:

I don't know about this. I once heard a sports caster say, that once American's figure out that there is money to be made in a sport, there is no stopping their dominance in that sport.....

I'm not saying it's 100% true, but you got to think about what Lance is doing for USA cycling. It's all about potential. What about all those skinny little kids (like me 🙂 ) in small town America, forced to suffer through the ball sports or wrestling, that would never have gotten on a bike if it wasn't for Lance? I wish somebody had give me a bike about 20+ years ago. I have a feeling you're going to see a crop of really good American cyclists come on strong in the next decade...

L

The Soccer World Cup of 1994 did not help the USA to have a good soccer team to rival the European or South American powerhouses 10 years later. So, perhaps it happens the same with Cycling once LA is gone.

YIMan said:

There may well be...but on the evidence of today where I've seen Ullrich called a "wuss" and a "schmoe", and where the Armstrong fans have since 5pm(uk) been shouting in capitals with an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence, it goes more one way than the other.

I'll make a deal with you...If you can stop the Euro's from crying about the only way Lance can win is to dope is A#$ off then, I'll work on encouraging my fellow Americans to give credit where credit is due... Is it a deal?

sopas said:

The Soccer World Cup of 1994 did not help the USA to have a good soccer team to rival the European or South American powerhouses 10 years later. So, perhaps it happens the same with Cycling once LA is gone.

The difference? They didn't win the world cup 7 times in a row....

L

[quote="Mtventoux"] Where's T-Mobile?

I suspect they are somewhere down the Courcheval looking for their wheels.

996vtwin said:

You have to excuse the yanks, they are becoming well known for their arogance and pompass attitudes around the world. Sorry to be harsh but many of the American I have met have all been greedy and revolved around money with no regard for anyone or anything else.

Translation: "Whomever I wanted to win today got burned by Armstrong, so I loathe all Americans today."

I'm an American; I may be pompous, arrogant, and materialistic, but I love the sport of cycling and I respect all the competitors of every nationality. No one brought up Ullrich's nationality or anyone else's; an opinion was offered regarding Ullrich's willingness/ability to attack, which seems like fair criticism of late, and suddenly the thread devolved into an anti-American tirade.

You want to discuss world politics, I'll be happy to "take it outside" with you; in the meantime, it would be nice if some of you would refrain from polluting this cycling forum with political resentments.

Just a friendly suggestion from a stinking American.

zapper said:

I'll make a deal with you...If you can stop the Euro's from crying about the only way Lance can win is to dope is A#$ off then, I'll work on encouraging my fellow Americans to give credit where credit is due... Is it a deal?

I don't need to stop crying about anything related to Armstrong...because I haven't started.

yeah i'm a bit sad about today's result, all the hype about it being a great stage and it is just the same thing that has been going on since 1999: lance in front and ullrich lagging behind with that terrible look on his face.

i'm surprised vino cracked like that.

i suppose there is still quite a few mountains left but today was a hard blow to all of armstrong's rivals.

babylou said:

Vino's performance today has cost him a significant amount of salary for next year.

There can be no doubt that Armstrong is the boss of bosses, ie the Godfather.

I'm so sick of hearing about Ullrich this.....Ullrich that. I can't remember if the guy has launched a serious attack in several years. The guy is a wuss. At least the other riders like Vino, Kloden, and Basso periodically give it a shot.

he doesnt atack cause he cant even follow the liders how would he atack,and ive seen him atack in other tours like 2001 he atacked time and time again and only armstrong would follow and then he would leave ullrich behind,you talk about basso atacking ive never seen that the only thing he does is follow lances wheel he never atacks armstrong.

nonameboy said:

he doesnt atack cause he cant even follow the liders how would he atack,and ive seen him atack in other tours like 2001 he atacked time and time again and only armstrong would follow and then he would leave ullrich behind,you talk about basso atacking ive never seen that the only thing he does is follow lances wheel he never atacks armstrong.

I said I could not remember Ullrich attacking in the last several years. Your 2001 TDF example was four years ago. I think that fits outside my window of "several years". I understand your point that maybe Ullrich doesn't have the legs to attack. However, his legs seem to be better than most of his competitors and yet they periodically attack. If Ullrich attacks maybe it fails and costs him a position or two in the final classification. Who cares? His worst fate is to be 2nd behind Armstrong. Then again, maybe his attack succeeds and he is victorious. Beating Armstrong just once makes all of his second place finishes impressive. It just seems Ullrich is not willing to put it all on the table. He has the reputation of slacking in training and he is no longer aggressive on the bike.

Finally, I stand corrected about Basso. I have not seen him go after Armstrong either. Well at least we have Vino and Kloden and now hopefully Valverde.

babylou said:

Finally, I stand corrected about Basso. I have not seen him go after Armstrong either. Well at least we have Vino and Kloden and now hopefully Valverde.

Don't forget about Rasmussen. Of all the challengers, he's the only one who made a legitimate lunge to distance himself in the last 10K. In the meantime, from the postrace comments, it sounds like Lance convinced the 3 others with him to form a temporary union to put as much time into Ullrich as possible. Lance continues to believe that Ullrich will be the major threat in the Pyrenees and the last ITT. Maybe so, but if Ulle has another day tomorrow like he did today, he may be too far behind for it to matter. Suck it up, Jan -- a great day tomorrow would create a new dynamic.

sopas said:

The Soccer World Cup of 1994 did not help the USA to have a good soccer team to rival the European or South American powerhouses 10 years later. So, perhaps it happens the same with Cycling once LA is gone.

The same thing was said when a great American rider named Lemond retired...... Of course, then Lance put his mark on the race. If Lance wins this year, it will be 10 out of the last 20 years for an American victor. In America we do not produce great races, just great TDF racers. France in July has become a showcase for American riders. There will be others.

babylou said:

I said I could not remember Ullrich attacking in the last several years. Your 2001 TDF example was four years ago. I think that fits outside my window of "several years". I understand your point that maybe Ullrich doesn't have the legs to attack. However, his legs seem to be better than most of his competitors and yet they periodically attack. If Ullrich attacks maybe it fails and costs him a position or two in the final classification. Who cares? His worst fate is to be 2nd behind Armstrong. Then again, maybe his attack succeeds and he is victorious. Beating Armstrong just once makes all of his second place finishes impressive. It just seems Ullrich is not willing to put it all on the table. He has the reputation of slacking in training and he is no longer aggressive on the bike.

Finally, I stand corrected about Basso. I have not seen him go after Armstrong either. Well at least we have Vino and Kloden and now hopefully Valverde.

me too would like to see more atacks from either riders including ullrich and i think he will atack in the pyrennees he usually looses the tour in the first mountain stage and then gets better at the last week and lance knows that thats why he said to valverde,rasmussen and mancebo to work with him cause he thinks ullrich will catch those guys in the pyrennees and the time trial.

nonameboy said:

me too would like to see more atacks from either riders including ullrich and i think he will atack in the pyrennees he usually looses the tour in the first mountain stage and then gets better at the last week and lance knows that thats why he said to valverde,rasmussen and mancebo to work with him cause he thinks ullrich will catch those guys in the pyrennees and the time trial.

Yeah, I think Lance was saying "work with me if you want to finish at least 2nd and 3rd."

What do you all think are Valverde and Rasmussen's chances of finishing up there with Lance?

And what about Ivan Basso? I think he's more of a threat than Ulrich. I am disappointed with Vino's performance today. Do you think over confidence got the better of him? Hopefully he'll be able to bounce back tomorrow. I hate when they make it too easy for Lance.

David_Zen said:

Yeah, I think Lance was saying "work with me if you want to finish at least 2nd and 3rd."

What do you all think are Valverde and Rasmussen's chances of finishing up there with Lance?

And what about Ivan Basso? I think he's more of a threat than Ulrich. I am disappointed with Vino's performance today. Do you think over confidence got the better of him? Hopefully he'll be able to bounce back tomorrow. I hate when they make it too easy for Lance.

I'm still waiting for Ulrich, Kloden, Vino or Basso to attack! Wait, I think here it comes, no.......wait, they cant attack with their tongues on the ground and their eyes popping out of their heads!

How about some 'props' for LA. He smashed the feild to pieces, and led every rider up that climb at an insane pace!

Can ANY of you Ule apologists give credit where it is due????

Mtventoux said:

I'm still waiting for Ulrich, Kloden, Vino or Basso to attack! Wait, I think here it comes, no.......wait, they cant attack with their tongues on the ground and their eyes popping out of their heads!

How about some 'props' for LA. He smashed the feild to pieces, and led every rider up that climb at an insane pace!

Can ANY of you Ule apologists give credit where it is due????

you americans(not all)are such frontrunners you only care about a sport if the americans are the best in it i bet if armstrong wasnt that good you yanks would´nt give a damn about him and when he retires you guys will probably stop watching cycling.

Ullrich suffered a bruised rib from Sunday's accident and some injries at his legs after almost losing his life a week before. Well, then try to climb such a mountain at full speed with a bruised rib.. one could see he had problems to breathe. Despite this injury he only lost two minutes and was placed before guys like Heras, Vinokourov, Botero, Menchov, Karpets, Mayo or Moreau. At least he showed a lot of heart, he should get more respect for that. Vino, Heras, Mayo were the one who disappointed. Maybe he can be back on track till Pyrenees.
Concerning attacks: Ullrich does not attack as many times as Vino for example but you can't say he doesn't attack. In 2003 he attacked in Pyrenees and at Col de Madeleine, in 2004 he attacked in the Alpes but CSC brought Lance back. Maybe we all wish him to attack more, but name any rider despite Vinokourov that attacked Lance more often in the last years, Basso does not even try to.

Where did you find that Ullrich only has four total victories?
1x Tour de France
1x Vuelta
1x Tour de Suisse
2x Time Trial World Champion (2001, 1999)
1x Olympic Road Race
1x HEW Cyclassics
1x Junior World Champion

Yes we can. Lance was incredible. He will win the Tour by a country mile, he's that strong. It was already clear after the ITT. And lets take into account the result today came on the back of defending against the 3 pronged atack by the T Mobiles all on his own - OK he let Kloden loose, but sure, why wouldn't he. Kloden's not going to win a tour.
His performances show absolutely no weaknesess at all. Its almost superhuman what he does.

Mtventoux said:

I'm still waiting for Ulrich, Kloden, Vino or Basso to attack! Wait, I think here it comes, no.......wait, they cant attack with their tongues on the ground and their eyes popping out of their heads!

How about some 'props' for LA. He smashed the feild to pieces, and led every rider up that climb at an insane pace!

Can ANY of you Ule apologists give credit where it is due????

wolfix said:

In America we do not produce great races, just great TDF racers. France in July has become a showcase for American riders. There will be others.

And it's too bad. I'd love to see a great American Stage Race. I sure miss the Tour du Pont. I saw the finish of that one back in 92 or 93 when they came to Beech mountain. I guess we can't be bothered shutting down our precious roads for a few hours just for a bike race....😎

If I were infinately wealthy, which I'm not, I'd set out organizing this...

L

Why doesn't Jan now try to make the best of what's left of his career, assuming he's got say 2-3 years left?

Is another top 5 finish in the next couple of years in the TDF (taking into account his age that a podium place might from now be very very difficult) really any satisfaction for someone of his standing in cycling?

Why not concentrate on one of the other tours where he might have a better chance of winning? Why not the Giro next year? It would be nice way to finish his career - with a Giro victory. He could even go to the tour afterwards, and take whatever placing that comes, knowing that he can always fall back on his Giro exertions as an excuse.