TDF Stage 14

[Stu Gotz]

A New Start for the Stage 14 thread.

Stage 14:

Someone please explain this to me. Use humor, as logic won't work.


http://www.letour.fr/2005/TDF/LIVE/us/1400/index.html

This is the 2nd time they did this. It is about as dumb as it gets.
3 riders, all capable, not working together as a team to send one to the podium.

And thus, Lance holds the Yellow.

Me, I fucked up the VCR again, and missed it.
I guess I am a dumbass too.

[Artie Fufkin]

Due to some mid July skiing, I missed the live coverage and caught a portion of the afternoon coverage, it had already blown apart at that point and Lance, Jan, Floyd, Kloden, etc were all together. The Disco crew had already peeled off. It looks like Lance rode a smart race, with a nice kick at the end to drop Basso, and gave himself some breathing room in the GC. Burly effort by Georg Totschnig.

Vino can't be too pleased, he takes off and is reeled in by his two teammates. Tmob has issues.

Another good showing by the Americans, I'd like to see Levi or Floyd on the podium, but they could be too cooked.

Results
1 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 5.43.4(38.491km/h)
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 0.56
3 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 0.58
4 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1.16
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 1.31
6 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems
7 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 1.47
8 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
9 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 2.06

General classification after stage 14

1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 55.58.17 (43.32 km/h)
2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 1.41
3 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 2.46
4 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.34
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 4.45
6 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 5.03
7 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne
8 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 5.38
9 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 7.09
10 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 8.37


Tomorrow should be amazing, riders can attack Lance, but at this point none of the contenders look capable of gaining time on him. Unless he cracks, Lance can wrap up the 7th tomorrow.

[biggins]

Um, lance just showed hes the tits today. No team? Fine, I'll do it my myself- he says.

Ya cyant hold im' no ya cyant touch im'.

[Artie Fufkin]

Stage 14:

Someone please explain this to me. Use humor, as logic won't work.


http://www.letour.fr/2005/TDF/LIVE/us/1400/index.html

This is the 2nd time they did this. It is about as dumb as it gets.
3 riders, all capable, not working together as a team to send one to the podium.

And thus, Lance holds the Yellow.

Me, I fucked up the VCR again, and missed it.
I guess I am a dumbass too.

That was a pretty sad sight, Kloden and Ulrich motoring to catch and pass Vino. I am not sure what that was about, the only thing it accomplished was saving Lance and the others some effort by pace setting.

Vino needs to leave TMob and head to Disco, as has been rumoured for awhile. Vino has the skills and the killer instinct that Jan lacks, and the structure of a team like Disco could be a benefit.

But most of the teams in the Tour are not like Postal/Disco, they don't have one defined leader and base their gameplan on how the race develops. Postal/Disco are one of the best teams ever because the main objective is known and there has never been any question on who the leader is in the Tour.

Edit: Just watched the beginning of the climb, He did it twice, Jan paced Armstrong back to Vino. Dumbass. Maybe Jan is transferring to Disco next year. You would think that three TMob riders could put the hurt on Lance.

Amazing, Lance let's Jan, Floyd etc get a gap, then bridges it solo, making it look easy.

[TeleAl]

Tmob has issues.

Yup. That sums it up.

Glad to hear you got skiing.