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In an interview yesterday, Rasmussen acknowledged his poor TT ability and said he'd need to create a "buffer" in the mountains in order to secure a spot on the podium. I wouldn't be surprised to see him attack on Tuesday, given that will be his last chance to gain any time. I'd say Basso's got 2nd locked, but it will be interesting to see if Rasmussen can hang on to 3rd.
Since he's with CSC through '09 we'll see what they do.Quote:
Originally Posted by bklyntrayc
Olaf Ludwig was a good sprinter back in the day. Didn't know he went into managing a tier one team.Quote:
Originally Posted by Plakespear
Jan Ullrich won the Tour racing for Deuch-Telecom, T-Mobile's predecessor (That was the year that Bjarne Riis was shooting for his second win, but he crapped-out, winning the TdF bicycle distance-hurl- what jersey do you get for that? -in the process, and Jan took over). Jan did race recently for Bianchi for a season or two.
BTW, I've yet to see a single highlight or any coverage of this year's race. Still, KICK some a$$ Chris and Axel!
stepping out on a limb aren't we :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by bagtagley
Basso will be the overall favorite by just about everyone especially now with a few million more euro's to spend in the off season with the new contract. The strong get stonger.
They actually have a pretty decent team for their budget. Zabriskie is a stud and received great mental experiences this year and will be back next year. Jen's just came down with an illness after a great effort in grabbing the Yellow. Julich is 16th or so and has had a decent Tour but has been missing from the support. I think Carlos Sastre has had a weaker Tour than normal but remember CSC has been two men down the last week of racing and someone has to carry the burden.Quote:
Originally Posted by bklyntrayc
Interesting thoughts that if things hold as is an American will have worn the Yellow Jersey every stage except one...Jen Voigt of CSC. Discovery and CSC will be the only teams to have worn the Yellow. The US riders overall are having a great Tour.
Hooray for George!
What a great race! I seriously couldn't be any happier than seeing George off the front and winning a big-time stage in the tour.
Just to add to the T-Mobile discussion, I'm disgusted with them
Thanks for the notes above all, some interesting viewpoints.
One thing is for sure, even a dumbass (like me) knows
you don't reel in your own rider.
My only thought to consider was maybe Vino wasn't playing along the team line.
I'm not sure what went down with them, but they surely lost the race.
Lost, as in they defeated themselves.
Glad to see George win one!
He (and team Disco) certainly deserves some name fame.
Quote:
Originally Posted by InspectorGadget
Not to keep bumping this stage, but it was probably one of the best for the US in the tour, and probably one of the better ones in general. I came across these comments from Lance about George, just showing how important Hincapie has been to Lance's career:
From the Paceline.com -
Emotions of George's win:
"Clearly huge for him. A guy who is so helpful to me in all the Tours and has been a great friend of mine for 16-17 years, the highlight of his career, and really, to me, shows what kind of a rider he is. I said the other day a guy who can nearly win Paris-Roubaix, second this year, arguably always up there, always one of the best in that race and come to the Tour and go to the top of the Galibier with the best climbers in the world and win a stage like he did two days ago against the best climbers in the world. Nobody does that in cycling any more. That's impressive."
How has George inspired him over the years?
"He's a steady influence in my life and in my racing career. He's the guy whose always been around, he's the guy that when I have really, really bad days, he's always there as a calming source in the bus or in the day. I remember very well 2003 when many days it didn't look like I wasn't going to win the Tour…George was always there just with a little lift, a little encouraging word, a little gesture, some bit of optimism that was important for me."
What has his loyalty meant to him over the years?
"Loyalty is a tricky word in cycling - this is the ultimate free agent sport. Guys come and go…he's always believed in the team, believed in the program we have and in cycling, that type of loyalty is hard to come by. I'm a big believer in finding a team, building a team, staying with that team…you find a place, you're happy, you stay. And he's the same way. We're similar in that way."
This is from Landis on Eurosport...seems polar opposite to what was reported above by Artie
In Tuesday's look Inside the Tour, Floyd Landis laments Lance's lack of friends, Dane Michael Rasmussen climbs more than mountains, and George Hincapie gets a vote from none other than Lance Armstrong for one day winning the whole Tour de France shebang.
"In general, it's very difficult to be friends with your boss," Phonak rider Floyd Landis said in French sports daily L'Equipe, reminiscing on his time spent in Lance Armstrong's "company," a word the 29-year-old American uses with an intentional corporate connotation.
"Armstrong oversaw the team like the CEO of a company. He saw the Tour de France as a business and he was our boss," said Landis, who raced for Armstrong with U.S. Postal between 2002 and 2004.
"In most teams, friendships exist. But in that team [U.S. Postal, now Discovery Channel], with someone who literally puts himself in the role of the boss, you can't go all the way to friendship."
"I'm not convinced that Armstrong has ever had that kind of relationship with a teammate, not even with George Hincapie, who he's known since he was 17 years old," Landis continued.
"Friendship can't exist when you're giving orders and directing the other members of the team. Mind you, it's not necessarily a negative thing. It's thanks to that mentality that Lance has been able to win so many Tours de France."