**Official** Tour de France/Lance thread **Official**

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: freegeeks

I don't remember which mountain stage it was; the stage with two riders about 20 minutes ahead of the main pack at the finish...
Watching that stage with my son allowed me to explain a lot about the strategies involved to him. (or rather, just watching the two leaders allowed me to explain the strategies on the simplest level.) That showed a lot of class when they shook hands with 1 kilometer to go and it became a race to the finish.

To the person who suggested they'd just ride fast, a group of riders can ride much faster over a longer distance than any individual in the group would be able to maintain by himself.

well it wasn't really 20 minutes

No, it really was 20 minutes......numbers on the right are time gaps.

Results
1 Jakob Piil (Den) Team CSC 5.09.33 (42.54 km/h)
2 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco
3 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 0.49
4 Damien Nazon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 2.07
5 Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
6 Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis, Credit Par Telephone
7 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto Domo
8 Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) iBanesto.com
9 José Enrique Gutierrez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 5.06
10 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 21.23
11 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo
12 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom
13 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Vini Caldirola-So.Di
14 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team Bianchi
15 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Saeco
16 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Jean Delatour
etc

The stage you mention is the one with Ullrich. Most professional cyclists have a lot of respect for each other

That was a couple years ago, but it happened two days ago) the above results. Piil and Sacchi broke away from the small group they were in, worked together to establish their lead, shook hands, and then sprinted for the win. Piil even led out the sprint and still won. It was really cool.

Sacchi:

"When Piil made his final attack from the breakaway group, I looked around to see if anyone was interested in chasing him. Apparently they were not, so I decided to go after him alone. It was very hard, and I rode flat out to chase him. That is why I reached out my hand to him with 1500 metres to go. I wanted to thank him for the good fight. I knew he was a better sprinter than I, so I tried to get him in front of me, but it didn't work out today. It would have been nicer if I had won, but I can live with this defeat."

 

[freegeeks]

No, it really was 20 minutes......numbers on the right are time gaps.

Results
1 Jakob Piil (Den) Team CSC 5.09.33 (42.54 km/h)
2 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco
3 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 0.49
4 Damien Nazon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 2.07
5 Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
6 Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis, Credit Par Telephone
7 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto Domo
8 Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) iBanesto.com
9 José Enrique Gutierrez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 5.06
10 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 21.23
11 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo
12 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom
13 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Vini Caldirola-So.Di
14 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team Bianchi
15 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Saeco
16 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Jean Delatour
etc


Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The stage you mention is the one with Ullrich. Most professional cyclists have a lot of respect for each other
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


That was a couple years ago, but it happened two days ago) the above results. Piil and Sacchi broke away from the small group they were in, worked together to establish their lead, shook hands, and then sprinted for the win. Piil even led out the sprint and still won. It was really cool.

Sacchi:

Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When Piil made his final attack from the breakaway group, I looked around to see if anyone was interested in chasing him. Apparently they were not, so I decided to go after him alone. It was very hard, and I rode flat out to chase him. That is why I reached out my hand to him with 1500 metres to go. I wanted to thank him for the good fight. I knew he was a better sprinter than I, so I tried to get him in front of me, but it didn't work out today. It would have been nicer if I had won, but I can live with this defeat."

OOppps - you are right. I was thinking about the Ullrich - Armstrong battle a few years back.

Anyway, I can't wait until sunday-monday. Seeing them from so close is simple amazing

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: freegeeks

No, it really was 20 minutes......numbers on the right are time gaps.

Results
1 Jakob Piil (Den) Team CSC 5.09.33 (42.54 km/h)
2 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco
3 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 0.49
4 Damien Nazon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 2.07
5 Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
6 Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis, Credit Par Telephone
7 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto Domo
8 Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) iBanesto.com
9 José Enrique Gutierrez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 5.06
10 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 21.23
11 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo
12 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom
13 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Vini Caldirola-So.Di
14 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team Bianchi
15 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Saeco
16 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Jean Delatour
etc


Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The stage you mention is the one with Ullrich. Most professional cyclists have a lot of respect for each other
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


That was a couple years ago, but it happened two days ago) the above results. Piil and Sacchi broke away from the small group they were in, worked together to establish their lead, shook hands, and then sprinted for the win. Piil even led out the sprint and still won. It was really cool.

Sacchi:

Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When Piil made his final attack from the breakaway group, I looked around to see if anyone was interested in chasing him. Apparently they were not, so I decided to go after him alone. It was very hard, and I rode flat out to chase him. That is why I reached out my hand to him with 1500 metres to go. I wanted to thank him for the good fight. I knew he was a better sprinter than I, so I tried to get him in front of me, but it didn't work out today. It would have been nicer if I had won, but I can live with this defeat."

OOppps - you are right. I was thinking about the Ullrich - Armstrong battle a few years back.

Anyway, I can't wait until sunday-monday. Seeing them from so close is simple amazing

No kidding. I got to see the Olympic road race, TT and some of the velodrome events back in 1996 here in town. It was pretty amazing. I also caught bits of Omloop Het Volk years ago while visiting Belgium and Holland. Was fun to hang with the locals, watch the race, and munch on frites and beer.

You better take some pics of the stages you see and post them for us, dammit!

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: freegeeks

No, it really was 20 minutes......numbers on the right are time gaps.

Results
1 Jakob Piil (Den) Team CSC 5.09.33 (42.54 km/h)
2 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco
3 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 0.49
4 Damien Nazon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 2.07
5 Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
6 Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis, Credit Par Telephone
7 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto Domo
8 Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) iBanesto.com
9 José Enrique Gutierrez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 5.06
10 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 21.23
11 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo
12 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom
13 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Vini Caldirola-So.Di
14 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team Bianchi
15 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Saeco
16 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Jean Delatour
etc


Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The stage you mention is the one with Ullrich. Most professional cyclists have a lot of respect for each other
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


That was a couple years ago, but it happened two days ago) the above results. Piil and Sacchi broke away from the small group they were in, worked together to establish their lead, shook hands, and then sprinted for the win. Piil even led out the sprint and still won. It was really cool.

Sacchi:

Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When Piil made his final attack from the breakaway group, I looked around to see if anyone was interested in chasing him. Apparently they were not, so I decided to go after him alone. It was very hard, and I rode flat out to chase him. That is why I reached out my hand to him with 1500 metres to go. I wanted to thank him for the good fight. I knew he was a better sprinter than I, so I tried to get him in front of me, but it didn't work out today. It would have been nicer if I had won, but I can live with this defeat."

OOppps - you are right. I was thinking about the Ullrich - Armstrong battle a few years back.

Anyway, I can't wait until sunday-monday. Seeing them from so close is simple amazing

No kidding. I got to see the Olympic road race, TT and some of the velodrome events back in 1996 here in town. It was pretty amazing. I also caught bits of Omloop Het Volk years ago while visiting Belgium and Holland. Was fun to hang with the locals, watch the race, and munch on frites and beer.

You better take some pics of the stages you see and post them for us, dammit!

hmmm...frites and beir! i also like the super fresh fried fish available at the belgium and dutch markets.
:beer::beer::beer:

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: yamahaXS

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: freegeeks

No, it really was 20 minutes......numbers on the right are time gaps.

Results
1 Jakob Piil (Den) Team CSC 5.09.33 (42.54 km/h)
2 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco
3 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 0.49
4 Damien Nazon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 2.07
5 Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
6 Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis, Credit Par Telephone
7 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto Domo
8 Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) iBanesto.com
9 José Enrique Gutierrez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 5.06
10 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 21.23
11 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo
12 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom
13 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Vini Caldirola-So.Di
14 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team Bianchi
15 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Saeco
16 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Jean Delatour
etc


Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The stage you mention is the one with Ullrich. Most professional cyclists have a lot of respect for each other
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


That was a couple years ago, but it happened two days ago) the above results. Piil and Sacchi broke away from the small group they were in, worked together to establish their lead, shook hands, and then sprinted for the win. Piil even led out the sprint and still won. It was really cool.

Sacchi:

Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When Piil made his final attack from the breakaway group, I looked around to see if anyone was interested in chasing him. Apparently they were not, so I decided to go after him alone. It was very hard, and I rode flat out to chase him. That is why I reached out my hand to him with 1500 metres to go. I wanted to thank him for the good fight. I knew he was a better sprinter than I, so I tried to get him in front of me, but it didn't work out today. It would have been nicer if I had won, but I can live with this defeat."

OOppps - you are right. I was thinking about the Ullrich - Armstrong battle a few years back.

Anyway, I can't wait until sunday-monday. Seeing them from so close is simple amazing

No kidding. I got to see the Olympic road race, TT and some of the velodrome events back in 1996 here in town. It was pretty amazing. I also caught bits of Omloop Het Volk years ago while visiting Belgium and Holland. Was fun to hang with the locals, watch the race, and munch on frites and beer.

You better take some pics of the stages you see and post them for us, dammit!

hmmm...frites and beir! i also like the super fresh fried fish available at the belgium and dutch markets.
:beer::beer::beer:

I think I ate my body weight in frites, beer, and mussels while I was over there.

 

[Fausto]

Changed the thread title and added a crapload of links in the first post.

 

[freegeeks]

No kidding. I got to see the Olympic road race, TT and some of the velodrome events back in 1996 here in town. It was pretty amazing. I also caught bits of Omloop Het Volk years ago while visiting Belgium and Holland. Was fun to hang with the locals, watch the race, and munch on frites and beer.

LOL

I live in Ghent, the departure city of Omloop Het Volk. It amazes me that you know about that race. I went seeing Omloop het Volk this year to see one of our boys win the race.

Well, if you guys ever come back, we can go cycling. I live just 20 miles from the hill zone where a lot of the classic races take place. It's fun to race on the Belgian blocks and see other cycling amateurs almost dying on the 20% slopes.

After the hard work we can munch on frites and beer

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: freegeeks

No kidding. I got to see the Olympic road race, TT and some of the velodrome events back in 1996 here in town. It was pretty amazing. I also caught bits of Omloop Het Volk years ago while visiting Belgium and Holland. Was fun to hang with the locals, watch the race, and munch on frites and beer.

LOL

I live in Ghent, the departure city of Omloop Het Volk. It amazes me that you know about that race. I went seeing Omloop het Volk this year to see one of our boys win the race.

Those of us in the states that are into cycling follow all the races. We just have to do it online as we only get TV coverage for the bigger stuff. I dragged my wife to go see it as I knew it'd be my only chance for a while to see one of the spring classics in person.

Well, if you guys ever come back, we can go cycling. I live just 20 miles from the hill zone where a lot of the classic races take place. It's fun to race on the Belgian blocks and see other cycling amateurs almost dying on the 20% slopes.

You're on. I'll bring my trusty Merckx (with Motorola paint job).

After the hard work we can munch on frites and beer

Mmmmm.....frites......beer.....

/drool

 

[freegeeks]

You're on. I'll bring my trusty Merckx (with Motorola paint job).

you must have some Flemish genes. I have no other explaination.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: freegeeks

You're on. I'll bring my trusty Merckx (with Motorola paint job).

you must have some Flemish genes. I have no other explaination.

It's possible. That would explain my need for mass quantities of good beer as well.

 

[Stark]

wow. Ullrich really turned the heat up on Lance today. This is the closest tour I've ever seen.

Go Lance!

 

[GiLtY]

Lance Armstrom leading by 34 seconds now. Go Lance Armstrom!

--GiLtY

 

[Entity]

Ullrich is only 15 seconds back now -- Lance is looking human after all.

Rob

 

[boyRacer]

That's ok... he didn't look too bad... this year's just looks like it will be really close. Stage 13 tomorrow... but I'm waiting for Stage 15... :Q

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: boyRacer
That's ok... he didn't look too bad... this year's just looks like it will be really close. Stage 13 tomorrow... but I'm waiting for Stage 15... :Q

You mean stage 14 tomorrow...

Rain is being forecast, which should give Lance an advantage.

<crosses fingers>

Go Lance!

 

[Miramonti]

Sometimes lance has sandbagged the competition but I'm not sure about this year tho...maybe his divorce has taken a toll on his training the past year.

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: boyRacer
That's ok... he didn't look too bad... this year's just looks like it will be really close. Stage 13 tomorrow... but I'm waiting for Stage 15... :Q

You mean stage 14 tomorrow...

Rain is being forecast, which should give Lance an advantage.

<crosses fingers>

Go Lance!

Yes... my mistake...

 

[Fausto]

Today's stage is (IMO) going to be the decisive mountain stage of the tour. Look for all the big guys to throw down the gauntlet today.

I can't wait.

 

[CPA]

Lance kicks major A$$ today!

I'm not a big bicycle racing fan, but I always keep an eye on Lance and the Tour. Today's run was what makes Lance the greatest American athlete today. The guy falls again, but instead of putting his head down and calling it quits, gets back up and crushes the field. Go Lance!

 

[Angrymarshmello]

bahahahaha....today's lesson: don't piss Lance off....after falling twice (once and then almost again) he storms back and breaks loose on everybody.....Goooooooo Lance!!

 

[BigSmooth]

Ullrich will have to do something spectacular to win now. Vinokourov is out.

 

[boyRacer]

The leaders showed great sportsmanship by waiting for Lance when he crashed... this is one awesome tour as of late

 

[Siddhartha]

So is Armstrong ahead by 67 seconds?

 

[mpitts]

.

 

[Izzo]

yeah, Vinokourov got his ass handed to him. I'm glad to see Lance fight back. I was getting a little worried with all of his negative assessments of his health and legs.

So what's the scoop with the last time trial? Is it mostly flat, a tough climb, good for sprinters, or good for climbers, etc.? (i.e. is it possible for Ullrich to catch up?)