Lance was nearly knocked off his bike by a spectator's bag approaching the final climb. In the best cycling tradition of sportsmanship (and repaying Lance's favor from a couple of years ago), Ullrich waited for Lance to catch up for the final climb. But today was Armstrong's day; he loves those mountain-top finishes.

Vinokourov lost 2:06 to Lance today.

<a href='http://tdf.olntv.com/' target='_blank'>http://tdf.olntv.com/</a>

Good to see Lance extend his lead. It was getting awfully close and still is a close race.

DevilGrad Wrote:Lance was nearly knocked off his bike by a spectator's bag approaching the final climb.

WTF do they think this is, tackling practice?! :mad:

DevilGrad Wrote:Lance was nearly knocked off his bike by a spectator's bag approaching the final climb. In the best cycling tradition of sportsmanship (and repaying Lance's favor from a couple of years ago), Ullrich waited for Lance to catch up for the final climb. But today was Armstrong's day; he loves those mountain-top finishes.

Vinokourov lost 2:06 to Lance today.

<a href='http://tdf.olntv.com/' target='_blank'>http://tdf.olntv.com/</a>

Now that is sportmanship..........

Good Luck Lance and Cudos to Ullrich. :angel:

CHIPPEWA ENEMA Wrote:

DevilGrad Wrote:Lance was nearly knocked off his bike by a spectator's bag approaching the final climb.

WTF do they think this is, tackling practice?! :mad:

The French have always been against Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France. Over the last few years there have been similar instances and he is usually booed or yelled at while he races there. I guess they don't like the fact that Americans are better!

Actually, now that the wire stories are out, it looks like Lance went all the way down.

A few years back, Ullrich went off the road into a ditch during one of the mountain descents, and Lance waited for him. That sort of sportsmanship is fairly typical among the top riders.

Lance has a vocal minority of detractors in France, but there also are hundreds of folks waving the Stars and Stripes every time he leads out a climb. They can't all be tourists.

<a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22659-2003Jul21.html' target='_blank'>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2003Jul21.html</a>

<a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16571-2003Jul19.html' target='_blank'>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2003Jul19.html</a>

I've got it from an inside source that tells me the person who knocked Lance down was a Marshall grad. Those friggin' Herd fans are the bane of the universe.
Sorry I just couldn't let this thread go by without somehow tying in a Herd insult.

Of course not. If it weren't always about Marshall, then the persecution complex might abate. And we couldn't have that happen, even if y'all have to start it. :rolleyes:

Thanks for ruining a perfectly good off-season cycling discussion.

Actually, I'd be surprised if the French were involved in the "bag" incident. The Spaniards (fans) have demonstrated real aggressiveness, and the Americans have their share of nut cases at the Tour as well.

Lance was careful and gracious enough to say that it was partly his fault because he was riding too close to the side of the road.

But, as those of you who have been watching on OLN know, the rider frequently get only a two- or three-foot wide lane through the sea of spectators. It's actually pretty amazing that stuff like this doesn't happen more often.

On the flip side, at the Giro d'Italia, the fans are well-known for giving a little push on the saddle to help their favorite (Italian) riders up the climbs while not extending the same courtesy to their pursuers.

Go Lance!!!

5 straight Tour titles would really get some French folks po'ed!! LOL!

I'd have a helicopter flying three-feet off the ground leading the pelaton. Believe me, those phucking clowns would get out of the way! :chair:

I got to watch the last 30 minutes or so and it was one of the most incredible sporting events I've ever witnessed.

Lance did get his brake lever hooked by a spectator's bag and down he went - taking Iban Mayo with him. Not only did Lance go down hard, his chain came off. Tyler Hamilton saw Lance go down and there is an unwritten rule among professional cyclers that if the leader has a fall, they slacken the pace to let the leader catch up. Lance did the same think in 99 (I think) when Ulrich crashed. Hamilton rode ahead of the pack and motioned for them to slow down and they all did.

Lance had almost caught the group when his feet slipped out of the pedal cleats and I have absolutely no idea how he didn't go down again. Regardless, he caught the main group in a couple of minutes. Once there, Iban Mayo immediately attacked Lance. Lance counterattacked. Mayo stayed on Lance's rear wheel for about 2 minutes and then got the most dejected look I've ever seen. Lance just accelerated away from everyone else with an amazing show of determination.

None of the other cyclers were willing to help Ulrich and he led his group for about the last 5 km. Then, two Euscatel riders tried to pass him near the finish. Ulrich couldn't stop one but held off the other.

Still, Lance just served notice that if you want the yellow jersey, you've got to take it from him the hard way.

MAKO Wrote:Still, Lance just served notice that if you want the yellow jersey, you've got to take it from him the hard way.

How many stages remain?

Five.

Tomorrow is a rest day. On Wednesday, they come out of the mountains on a stage with several difficult climbs, but the last one is 60 km from the finish, so there probably is too much time for the peloton to reel in escapees on the climbs to make escape profitable. Thursday and Friday are flat sprinters' stages, where the leaders are likely to finish in the peloton.

Saturday is the final time trial, and that's where the big battle will take place. Ullrich beat Armstrong by 1:36 in the first individual TT.

Sunday, by tradition, is a victory lap stage, concluding with eight circuits up and down the Champs Elysses. There is zero chance of making up time on that stage.

DevilGrad Wrote:Five.

Tomorrow is a rest day. On Wednesday, they come out of the mountains on a stage with several difficult climbs, but the last one is 60 km from the finish, so there probably is too much time for the peloton to reel in escapees on the climbs to make escape profitable. Thursday and Friday are flat sprinters' stages, where the leaders are likely to finish in the peloton.

Saturday is the final time trial, and that's where the big battle will take place. Ullrich beat Armstrong by 1:36 in the first individual TT.

Sunday, by tradition, is a victory lap stage, concluding with eight circuits up and down the Champs Elysses. There is zero chance of making up time on that stage.

Please forgive my ignorance; I'm somewhat fuzzy on the details of the Tour, but I'm very much enjoying these updates and I've started to follow the race more attentively than I ever have before. What is the distance on the final time trial?

I don't think Ulrich has much of a chance of beating Lance now. Lance proved today that no one is going to beat him in the mountains. Ulrich's only shot is in the individual time trial. Now, admittedly, Ulrich beat Lance by 1:36 in the first individual TT but Lance had, by his own admission, a horrible day because he became dehydrated. He is too good to make that mistake twice. Remember, Lance still finished 2nd in that TT and he called it a disastrous day. He'll be completely ready, physically and mentally for the final one.

Not saying that it's totally out of Ulrich's grasp but I'd lay at least 4-1 odds on Lance at this point.

Saturday's time trial will be 30.38 miles and fairly flat. The first time trial was half a kilometer shorter but much more rolling. Ullrich still rode it in under an hour, though. :eek:

My guess is that Saturday's winner will finish in around 54 minutes.