TdF Stage 12

[VTskibum]

Armstrong finally starting to break from Ulrich and Hamilton, todays stage kicks ass!!

[Artie Fufkin]

Amazing stage, my f'ing OLN Audio covg cut out right when Basso and Armstrong began the sprint. It looks like Hamilton, Ulrich and Heras are not the ones the Lance has to worry about. Tommorrow should be intense, but how much will Lance have for Stage 13.

I will definitely have to find a bar and tv tonight and watch the replay.

Edit: Top 20 GC

1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 51.51.07
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal p/b Berry Floor 5.24
3 Sandy Casar (Fra) Fdjeux.com 5.50
4 Richard Virenque (Fra) Quick Step-Davitamon 6.20
5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 6.33
6 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC
7 Francisco Mancebo Pérez (Spa) Illes Balears - Banesto 6.43
8 Jakob Piil (Den) Team CSC 6.53
9 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 7.23
10 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 8.11
11 Jose Azevedo (Por) US Postal p/b Berry Floor 8.35
12 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 8.50
13 José Enrique Gutierrez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 8.51
14 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 8.57
15 Jose Luis Rubiera (Spa) US Postal p/b Berry Floor 8.58
16 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 9.01
17 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 9.11
18 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Domina Vacanze 9.25
19 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 9.42
20 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 9.46

[Ski Monkey]

Originally posted by VTskibum
Armstrong finally starting to break from Ulrich and Hamilton, todays stage kicks ass!!

Damn, where was ulrich, hamilton or any of the others?

[SLCFreshies]

Holy wow, that was exciting.

Although it was great that Armstrong put time on all his big rivals, I was surprised he couldn't lose Basso. Also, all the Postals exploded on the climb too--and it's not even the hilly day yet!

Tomorrow will be very interesting.

EDIT: Ullrich was 2:30 back without bonuses, and Hamilton was further back.

EDIT 2:
Standings

1) Voeckler 51:51:07
2) Armstrong +5:24
3) Casar +5:50
4) Virenque +6:20
5) Kloden +6:33
6) Basso +6:33

16) Ullrich +9:01
17) Julich +9:11
20) Hamilton +9:46

[ulty_guy]

i love to see heras get crushed by 3 minutes after all the talk that he could compete. pffft.

GO LANCE.

p.s. riis has been saying for a while that basso is getting better and better. the other one that could be very dangerous as well is german road champ andreas kloden. he seemed have a lot of fight in him today.

[Crinkle]

Originally posted by SLCFreshies
Holy wow, that was exciting.

Although it was great that Armstrong put time on all his big rivals, I was surprised he couldn't lose Basso. Also, all the Postals exploded on the climb too--and it's not even the hilly day yet!

Tomorrow will be very interesting.

EDIT: Ullrich was 2:30 back without bonuses, and Hamilton was further back.

the postal guys were all used up pushing the pace for Armstrong during the second half of the race trying to break down the competitors.

Looks like Hamilton didn't have a good day he was in the back of the pack early in today's stage.

Today was exciting for sure. Ulrich got BURNT. I think Armstrong is just setting himself up for the upcoming days. Will be interesting tomorrow for sure.

tomorrow:

[IBISguru]

God damn oln audio suuuuuuuucks!!! Do I have to start taping these and watching them at night....

Man Lance is a machine. Can't wait to see tomorrow's stage.

[Plakespear]

FKNA what a stage. It sucks that I don't have OLN. I called my bud up to let him know I was coming over tonight to watch the stage on OLN.

[Artie Fufkin]

Is that one of the LA Foundations Live Strong bracelets on Basso's right hand? If so maybe Lance let him have the stage in exchange for supporting a worthy cause. Actually, I think I have seen the bracelets on alot of riders.

[Trackhead]

Wonder if JA will no longer be the focus of his team. Perhaps Kloden?

[fondigley]

Finally, we have some interesting stages to watch. There is no telling what could happen tomorrow, but today was definately sick. Lance seemed to show the rest of the riders who is the boss. I also noticed the USPS team always had a man where Ulrich was. They were keeping track of the big dogs, but nobody was flinching, I think that is why Lance held back from the stage win. He realized he gained a few minutes on his main rivals and was just being a good sport.

[ulty_guy]

the big question is how basso will bounce back tomorrow after putting out so hard today.

[SLCFreshies]

My favorite part was 2/3rds up the climb when Voeckler was feeling probably the worst he's ever felt on a bike, Virenque rode up to him, calmed him down, and led him for a while up the hill.

No reason for Virenque to do any of that, but I think Voeckler has really impressed everybody with his ride this tour. I know I didn't think Voeckler would be able to keep the yellow for this long, especially through 2 mountain stages.

EDIT: And Basso looked pretty good up that climb, maybe even a little better than Armstrong.

[Woodsy]

I just want o go on record saying its COMPLETE HORSESHIT LeMond is giving the doping allegations more legs in the French press
Lemond in Le Monde via Denver post

[VTskibum]

Originally posted by SLCFreshies
My favorite part was 2/3rds up the climb when Voeckler was feeling probably the worst he's ever felt on a bike, Virenque rode up to him, calmed him down, and led him for a while up the hill.

No reason for Virenque to do any of that, but I think Voeckler has really impressed everybody with his ride this tour. I know I didn't think Voeckler would be able to keep the yellow for this long, especially through 2 mountain stages.

EDIT: And Basso looked pretty good up that climb, maybe even a little better than Armstrong.

Guessing it was b/c Voekler's also the French Champion with the Yellow Jersey and he's supposed to support him b/c of it (since Virenque is obviously French also).

[Cosmic Bandito]

Originally posted by ulty_guy
the big question is how basso will bounce back tomorrow after putting out so hard today.

From listening to the web-cast, it didn't sound like Basso was ever in trouble today. Lance was out of his saddle, and Basso wasn't.

Additionally, it appears that CSC is as strong a team in the mountains as USPS. If CSC can get Sastre tp pull for Basso, this could get very interesting.

[ulty_guy]

yup, csc is strong, but different to postal. where postal will drag people along to their death, csc could try to break lance with a quick saestre attack, make him chase, and then let basso clean him up.

[Big E]

Originally posted by Woodsy
I just want o go on record saying its COMPLETE HORSESHIT LeMond is giving the doping allegations more legs in the French press [address removed to protect the innocent] story from LeMond in LeMonde via Denver Post[/URL]

Nevermind, nothing to see here...

[glademaster]

Personally, I think both Basso and Lance looked very good today, but Lance was by no means on the attack. He rode hard, but did not put in an all out effort to blow apart the peloton like he has in previous attacks. I could see Lance attacking hard on the final climb tomorrow with Rubiera, Noval, and some of the other Spanish climbers on USPS pulling him along. The real surprise to me today was how well George Hincapie climbed and pulled USPS through the big peaks. I never thought of him as much of a climber, but his performance today was impressive to say the least.

My prediction is Lance wins tomorrow with Basso in sencond place sprinting out for time bonusses with Hamilton or maybe Heras, they both just had bad days today, they'll live to fight again, as will Ullrich. It's shaping up to be a great tour.
VIVA LANCE!!

-Ben

Edit: [antijinx]

[Woodsy]

Originally posted by Big E
Nevermind, nothing to see here...

thanks e that old URL was a cheesy hallmark card a client sent me

[Artie Fufkin]

Interesting, from CyclingNews.com:

As for Armstrong, who won here in 2002, the 32-year-old American said he had allowed Basso to win the stage because he is trying to help the Italian's mother in her fight against cancer.

"He's a hell of a good guy," Armstrong said. "We've been friends for a long time, and off the bike we're trying to work a little bit on his mom's situation, to try and see if she can win the fight against cancer.

"It's pretty special for me to have been out there with him, and the past week we haven't spoken about the race, we've spoken about his mom. It was a pleasure for me to let him (Basso) win, and he deserved to win. He was super strong."

[onehotchili]

Originally posted by Artie Fufkin
Interesting, from CyclingNews.com:

As for Armstrong, who won here in 2002, the 32-year-old American said he had allowed Basso to win the stage because he is trying to help the Italian's mother in her fight against cancer.

"He's a hell of a good guy," Armstrong said. "We've been friends for a long time, and off the bike we're trying to work a little bit on his mom's situation, to try and see if she can win the fight against cancer.

"It's pretty special for me to have been out there with him, and the past week we haven't spoken about the race, we've spoken about his mom. It was a pleasure for me to let him (Basso) win, and he deserved to win. He was super strong."

I read the same thing... sounds like Basso acknowledges that Lance still had a lot more in his tank if he really wanted to win the stage. But it sounds like Lance is saving some juice for tomorrow.

Also, I got my 30 Yellow Bands in the mail yesterday. I've been handing them out like candy to co-workers who are psyched to wear them. Check it out www.wearyellow.com

[InspectorGadget]

Originally posted by Artie Fufkin
'It was a pleasure for me to let him (Basso) win, and he deserved to win. He was super strong.'

That explains it for me. I was a little taken aback watching Lance sit on Basso's wheel when it looked like he could have taken the stage win.



I've taken to wearing two LIVESTRONG bands at once. Yesterday - at my part-time REI job - I had an attractive lady ask me [cute lady voice] "Are those the Lance Armstrong bracelets I heard so much about? Do you sell them hear? [/clv] I said yes they are and no, we do not. Being the full service guy that I am, I offered her one of mine.

The look on her husband's face when he commented on my giving his wife jewelry was priceless.

[Cornholio]

I think, frankly, that this tour has been boring as hell so far.

That said, I'm very excited for the next week!

I've had a great time watching this Voekler kid and his upstart BB team, though. I love how tenaciously they're hanging on to the Jersey. Did I read somewhere that the WHOLE TEAM are Tour rookies?

Richard Vierenque rode up to Voekler today and gave him the ol' pat on the back, then led him back up to the peleton. Nice to see.

[InspectorGadget]

edit: Forgot to mention my - now redundant - praise for Virenque and the tenacious effort to hold the yellow jersey by Voeckler and team.

The Tour definitely got more exciting today, but more rain???