Le Tour

[coolhand]

did anyone see the team time trial today?

it was the best in years.

Discovery Channel is as strong as ever but CSC and T-Mobile are very strong.

it will be a great tour :thumbup:

[Wheel-Nut]

If Lance doesn't crash he will have #7 wrapped up after this weekend.

[oddlycalm]

Agreed, once again the team time trial was a seriously good race with CSC and Discovery so close and Zabriske's unlucky fall just outside the 1km line.

oc

[RacinM3]

Holy crap I could NOT believe that last night.....so many amazing occurences...

* Discovery slowly accelerating through the time trial, just like last year.
* Discovery 2 seconds slower than CSC in the last time check before the finish
* Zabriskie only had a 2 second lead over Armstrong.
* Zabriskie crashes for what seemed like no reason.
* CSC leaves Zabriskie for dead.
* CSC crosses the line 2 seconds (!!!) behind Discovery, which would have put Armstrong and Zabriskie in a tie for the Tour lead.
* The amazing occurrence of the new rule where if you crash within 1 KM of the finish, you still get the team time. Zabriskies' crash was only about 1.5 KM from the finish!

Man, I felt really, really bad for David as he rode to the finish, alone. What a heartbreaker.

But you couldn't have written a better script - if you had, it wouldn't have been believable. Sometimes I guess truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

[oddlycalm]

For those that want to get the results as soon as they happen here's a link.
Velo News (http://velonews.com/)

oc

[coolhand]

Holy crap I could NOT believe that last night.....so many amazing occurences...

* Discovery slowly accelerating through the time trial, just like last year.
* Discovery 2 seconds slower than CSC in the last time check before the finish
* Zabriskie only had a 2 second lead over Armstrong.
* Zabriskie crashes for what seemed like no reason.
* CSC leaves Zabriskie for dead.
* CSC crosses the line 2 seconds (!!!) behind Discovery, which would have put Armstrong and Zabriskie in a tie for the Tour lead.
* The amazing occurrence of the new rule where if you crash within 1 KM of the finish, you still get the team time. Zabriskies' crash was only about 1.5 KM from the finish!

Man, I felt really, really bad for David as he rode to the finish, alone. What a heartbreaker.

But you couldn't have written a better script - if you had, it wouldn't have been believable. Sometimes I guess truth is indeed stranger than fiction.


the team time trial is brutal.

alot of teams where leaving teammates in the dust. I dont know how that effects team dynamics, but it is rough mentally to get left behind

[RacinM3]

Yeah, leaving teammates behind is a common practice in the team time trials.....not so common when the teammate is wearing the yellow jersey, and he crashed (didn't suffer fatigue). Seems some people are questioning CSC's not leaving one man behind to help him get to the line. If I remember right, they crossed with 7 riders. They could have instructed one to stay back, considering how close to the line they were.

[IlliniRacer]

Robbie McEwen doing his best Tony Stewart impersonation

http://www.velonews.com/images/details/8385.11696.f.jpg

[FCYTravis]

Heck with the sprints... I can't wait until they get in the mountains :cool:

There's absolutely nothing more riveting to me than a climbing breakaway through the spectacular Alpine scenery... no finesse, no sleek aero, just raw sheer human endurance.

Watching Lance utterly destroy the field on L'Alpe d'Huez last year was the pinnacle of cycling.

[coolhand]

Heck with the sprints... I can't wait until they get in the mountains :cool:

There's absolutely nothing more riveting to me than a climbing breakaway through the spectacular Alpine scenery... no finesse, no sleek aero, just raw sheer human endurance.

Watching Lance utterly destroy the field on L'Alpe d'Huez last year was the pinnacle of cycling.

i think this year Lance is as strong as ever, but i think the field is stronger than the last 2 years. Lance is going to have to run down a few more breakaways than usual.

My bet. one of the 3 T-mobile threats needs to have a successful breakaway to make up time lost in the time trials. Kloden or Vinikourov. I think Ulrich will be more conservative, but might need to do a surprise to beat lance

[RacinM3]

Stage 10 was a classic, one by one they dropped until there were two. What a race! I could almost feel the pain just watching. And tomorrow, a 2600+M climb!

Tour DAY Frayance 05! (credit: Bob Roll).

[IlliniRacer]

Tour DAY Frayance 05! (credit: Bob Roll).

:rofl: :rofl:

I've even caught myself saying it now! :gomer:

[oddlycalm]

Stage 10 was a classic, one by one they dropped until there were two. What a race! I could almost feel the pain just watching. And tomorrow, a 2600+M climb! Yeah, that's one that I won't forget for a long time. Watching one guy after another crack and fall away was quite a buildup to the final approach to the finish. Almost like a movie script.

Vino winning stage 11 today was a yawn because he wasn't even able to catch up to his team mates let alone Armstrong. Seeing Jens Voigt dropped today after not being able to make the time cut illustrates the problem of burning all ones matches on a single stage win. The field is beginning to get whittled down to the real contenders. Valverde is starting to look like podium material. Rasmussen has been incredible in the mountains but he won't be a factor in a time trial.

oc