Lance Armstrong

[Ben Dover]

Is Lance about to achieve that which very few manage? I for one hope he does. But it will not be easy.
Good luck Lance

what is he doing? and what the doofus are yiu talkin' 'bout? is he gonna learn to sing good?

[brink]

Hey I feel so thrilled that I get to pick out the tattoo man as a TROLL!!!!!! I love that term!

[brink]

I haven't heard anything further after the bike pile up, is he okay? I sincerely hope he makes it again here's to first place!

[Ben Dover]

Welldone Brink, I was beginning to think that nobody in the USA had heard of one of America's outstanding athletes

[Ben Dover]

Brink, having just trawled through some French websites, I think Armstrong is in 12th place, 19 seconds behind the leader. His strength is his time trialing and mountain climbing. So at this early stage, he is looking good.

[brink]

He has always done very well in the Mountain biking part, that is where he is the strongest. I'm looking forward to him winning again this year!

i have never heard of lance armstrong the bike rider. i think i got him mixed up with lance bahs of nsync. hey,nobodys' perfect man. i dont mind being called a troll 'cause i'm 5'0 tall anyhow. Yeah,i flipped by the bike race for bout a second while channel surfing. if its that good that people talk it up on line,maybe i'll watch next time. i'm out!

[Ben Dover]

Just a quick up date on Lance. Yesterday was the Team Time Trial stage. Lance's team (US Postal Service) won the stage. Catapulting Lance into second place overall 1 second behind his team mate, Columbian, Victor Hugo Pena. In fact the US team occupy the fist 8 places.
A couple of small facts: Victor is the first Columbian ever to wear the leaders yellow jersey. Today is Lance's 29th birthday, (I think). Another American, Tyler Hamilton, was a victim of the first stage pile up, and has been riding with a broken collar bone. Tyler is lying in 39th place.

[Ben Dover]

To quote Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, 'I was mis-informed'
It was not Lance's birthday yesterday, it was Victor Hugo Pena who hit 29.

[gwen snyder]

go Lance!

[brink]

I hear that overall Lance is in second place! This must be so nerve wracking for him. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Ben Dover]

It is make or break time, yesterday (Saturday) the race hit the Alps, it is on the BIG climbs where the race is won & lost.
Lance is still in second place, however he has lost time. He was 1 second behind the leader, but after yesterday his deficit is now 2 minutes & 37 seconds. That in the Tour de France is a large gap. Sadly I missed it on the TV yesterday, and forgot to set my video. However, today the race finishes on L'Alpe d'Huez, a big big climb, this is where Lance has to stamp his authority. I won't miss this one. By the way, the current leader is Richard Virenque, a very good climber, he won yesterday's stage, Lance was 15th some 4 mins 6 secs behind Richard. I am rooting for Lance, but it ain't gonna be easy, good luck, mate

[brink]

What are you doing up at 3:00 A.M.

[brink]

Lance is in FIRST by 40 seconds on stage 8. how many more to go?

[Ben Dover]

Lance is indeed leading by 40 seconds. However, still some work to do. He has to consolidate his position today over some pretty vicious climbs. The opposition will be puting him under a lot of pressure today.
Thereafter the key stages are stage 12 (Fri 18th) a time trial stage, Lance is an outstanding time trialist and should do well. Stage 15 (July 21) a mountain stage in the Pyrennees. Stage 19 final time trial. If Lance is still leading after stage 15, he should win the event. There are 20 stages in all. The finish is on Sunday 27th July in Paris on the Champs-Elysees.
The man to watch is yesterday's stage winner, Iban Mayo he beat Lance by 2mins 12secs, if he does that again today.....
For my money yesterday's hero was Tyler Hamilton. He stayed with Lance on the climbs and finished in 7th place, is now 6th overall 1:52 behind Lance, all this with 2 fractures in a collar bone. Well done, mate.
The time here is 11am.

[Ben Dover]

Lance is still grinding it out, after stage 9 his lead was cut down to just 21 seconds. He was somewhat lucky to avoid an accident. Whilst coming off the last climb and within a couple of miles of the finish, Lance and another rider, Joseba Beloki, were chasing down the stage leader when beloki lost it, locked his rear wheel slid sideways, the rear tyre flipped off and Beloki hit the deck. (These guys come off these hills a speeds up to 60 mph) Lance veered to the left to avoid hitting him and shot into a field. They were approaching a left hairpin. Lance rode across to the road, cutting out the corner. He had to dismount and leap over a ditch, remount and carry on. It was just as well there was no ditch where he went off the road. By the time he regained his composure he was amongst a large group of riders. He put the hammer down and finished 4th on the day. He lost some time but is still in quite a strong position.
The next few days are over flat terrain and shouldn't give Lance any trouble, barring accidents. The next big stage is Fridays Time Trial. I feel he will do it and cement himself into cycling history.
Sadly Beloki fractured a femur and suffered 2 fractures to an arm.

[Ben Dover]

Thank you very much Oma, I appreciate your comments. Most sports can be exciting at various times, at other times we can wonder what all the fuss is about.
I made no post re: Thursday's stage as it was over a flat course and very little happened to worry Lance. Apart from Arnold Schwarzenegger turning up to present the jerseys.
However yesterday was a different story. It was the first of 2 long individual time trials. This is Lance Armstrong's strong suit. He started the day just 21 seconds ahead of the field. Lance has dominated the time trial in the past, but he has appeared vulnerable this year. So this was a big day.
In this stage each rider is on his own, no team mates to take the strain. Each rider starts at 2 minute intervals and rides as hard as he can, in this case for 29 miles.
The last man in the field starts first, the leader starts last, that was Lance.
I have ridden a few time trials in my day, and was over the moon the cover 25 miles in under an hour. Even happier when I cracked 2 hours for 50 miles. I was working on beating 4 hours for 100 miles when I hung the wheels up.
These boys are on another planet.
The winner was Jan Ullrich who covered the 29 miles in 58 mins 32 secs. Lance was 2nd in 1 hour 8 secs. Only his second time trial defeat in 8. Ullrich was 6th overall at 2mins 10secs behind Lance at the start. He is now 2nd, 34secs behind Lance who is still in the lead.
The race now heads for 4 very tough days in the Pyrenees, these are going to be make or break time for Lance Armstrong. The first day is 122 miles climbing to 4,500 feet. If he is to win his 5th Tour De France and join the truly greats he has to do it over the next 4 days. By the way, Tyler Hamilton did a superb ride yesterday to haul himself into 4th place just 2mins 59secs behind Lance Armstrong. I do like to see athletes excell at sports not generally associated with their country.

[Ben Dover]

Somehow Lance Armstrong is hanging on in there. He had a tough day yesterday in the Pyrenees. 5 hours & 17 minutes of hard riding, over some steep terrain. When a rider attacks, if that rider is a danger to the race leader, the onus is on the leader to respond, the other riders will not help. This happened to Lance yesterday, not unexpectedly, Lance did what he had to do and did it well. The effort takes it toll.
His main danger, now, is Jan Ullrich a past winner of this great race. On the final climb of the day and within a mile of the finish, Jan attacked, he was 34 seconds behind Lance and needed every second he could get. Initially Lance was unable to respond, however he did not panic and maintained his cadence. If Ullrich came in the first three he would get a time bonus. Therefore he did not have to beat Lance to the line by more than 34 seconds to take the lead. Ullrich in fact was 2nd on the day, this garnered him 12 seconds time bonus therefore he needed to beat Lance by 23 seconds to take the lead by 1 second. Lance came in 4th, 7 seconds behind Ullrich. Lance Armstrong is hanging on as only a true champion can, his lead is now only 15 seconds. He has to put some time into Ullrich over the next 3 days, because if Ullrich can win the next time trial as he did 2 days ago he will win this Tour De France. Lance has a lot to do.
Yesterday's winner was one Carlos Sastre who finished the day in 5 hours 16 minutes & 8 seconds. For some reason that evades me, as he crossed the line he put a babies dummy (comforter) in his mouth
On a personal level, today (July 20th) is my and my wife's 33rd wedding anniversary

[brink]

How exciting for you and your wife, 33 years that is getting to be a very rare feat these days. Congrats to you both, you are both very lucky!

[Ben Dover]

Thank you very much Brink. You are right, we are lucky, we picked the right partner all those years ago. We have worked hard at the relationship. It has been a very good 33 years.
I have just watched todays stage of the tour on TV. Lance played a cagey game in as much as he let dangerman Jan Ullrich stay on the front on the long drags up the high climbs. The idea being to try and tire Ullrich out a little for the next 2 days in the Pyrenees.
Lance finished 11th today 1min 24secs behind the winner, who is so far behind on general classification not to worry Lance, who is still 15 seconds ahead of the field. This after 61 hours of racing.
Congratulations to American Ben Curtis, who has just won the Open golf championship here in England.

[Ben Dover]

Thank you Oma, 'preciate it, 'preciate it.

At the start of yesterday's stage (stage 15) just 18 seconds seperated the first 3 riders, after 60 plus hours of racing. Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich at 15 secs and Alexandra Vinokourov a further 3 secs back. That was about to change!

This was a tough day with some BIG climbs finishing on Luz-Ardiden, a long hard up hill finish, 99.5 miles from the start. Jan Ullrich attacked on the first climb of the day Armstrong was equal to it and the main contenders stayed together. The place to make the BIG move is on the final climb. If you get away on the first climb, you will be caught on the descent, time and energy wasted. A couple of lesser riders broke away and stayed out front for most of the day. All eyes were on the main 3.
On the final climb the action really started. This is an 11 mile drag climbing about 5700 feet. Iban Mayo attacked and Lance responded and brought him back, Armstrong himself attacked, very hard, this was make or break. Ullrich was unable to respond and it looked good for Armstrong. Then disaster struck. On these big climbs the road is lined with spectators waving flags and shirts as the riders pass, as Lance was rounding a right curve he was a little too close to the crowd and the shoulder strap of a spectators bag hooked his handle bar bringing Lance down, Mayo, who was on his wheel, hit Lance and came down himself. Ullrich, who was some little distance back, managed to avoid them. Armstrong got up, but his chain was off, he took a few seconds to re attach it and took off after the leaders. He had a team mate with him who could pace him back to the bunch. Whilst pulling hard on the pedals to get back to the leaders, Armstrong pulled his right foot out of his pedal, crotch and crossbar met, (ouch) and Lance was lucky not to hit the deck again. He regained his composure and balance and got on with it.
We have to give great credit to Jan Ullrich, he could have just tanked away and may well have won the stage by some margin and possibly the race itself. But no, he waited for Armstrong to re-join and continued where they had left off. This was the last big climb, Armstrong attacked again, this time nobody could stay with him and he motored away. Ahead of him was a rider, Sylvain Chavanel, who had been off the front all day and would have won the stage. Normally the big boys would let him win, he was no danger to them and this would be a big day in his cycling life. Sadly it was not to be. Armstrong needed every second he could get, plus the 20 second win bonus. He caught and dropped Chavanel, giving him a conciliatory pat on the back as he went past.
Lance won the stage by 40 seconds gaining the 20 seconds bonus on the way, Ullrich was 3rd he picked up 8 seconds bonus. After all the mathmatics was done Lance Armstrong now leads the event by 1 min 7 seconds from Ullrich, Vinokourov is out of contention some 2 mins 45 seconds behind Lance.
This was Armstrongs 16th stage win in all his Tours de France, and an important one.
Today is a rest day. One more day in the Pyrenees, over a couple of stiff climbs with a long flattish run to the finish. Lance should come out of that with his lead intact. Then it is all down to the time trial on Saturday, I can't wait

[Ben Dover]

Oma, not dumb questions at all. I am a Brit, and I do not understand American football.

This race is the cycling equivalent of 'Superbowl', 'The World Series', Soccers 'World Cup' etc. The race lasts 3 weeks, there are 20 stages plus a Prologue time trial. The shortest stage is the Prologue, this year 6.5 km a little over 4 miles. These guys will ride at well over 30 mph. The prologue is the first event to determine which rider will wear the race leaders Yellow Jersey for the first stage.
The shortest of the main stages is 49 km which is an individual time trial where each rider rides alone against the clock, the French call the time trial 'The Race Of Truth' The longest stage is 230.5 kms.
There are 22 teams of 9 riders, the teams have to qualify, during the season, to be invited to ride the event. The race starts and finishes in Paris, it always finishes on the Champs-Elysees. This year the total distance will be 3427.5 kms.
There is a team called US Postal, the team leader is Lance Armstrong, a Texan, he has won the Tour the last 4 years. He is hoping to win this year and become 1 of only 5 riders ever to win 5 tours. a BIG BIG achievment if he can do it, I think he can.
The race does cover most of France. It really gets exciting when it hits the Alps and the Pyrenees, the big long climbs sort out the men from the boys.
There are various classifications, the main one is the overall winner (the Yellow Jeresey). There are team classifications also. In any team there is normally only one rider who could win the race, the riders ride for him to give him every chance of winning. This year the prize money to the winner is 400,000 euros? A lot of money in any ones language. The winner will not keep that, he will give it to his team, as a thank you for helping him. He will make a lot of cash through sponsorship etc during the coming year. This is a massive carnival that rolls through France and is quite a spectacle, there are millions of people lining the route in the towns and villages as it rolls along. It is quite a sight.
I know France is not Americas favourite place at the moment, however if you can ever get to France, it is a beautiful country and the people are very friendly, I think you would love it. I hope this answers your questions.
Please excuse any mistakes in this post, I am running late and do not have time to proof read
PS the race finishes this Sunday (27th)

[Ben Dover]

Oma, you are very welcome. Just one correction to make. There have been only 4 people to win this great race 5 times. Should he do it, Lance will be the fifth.
Also he will be the 2nd to win 5 times in a row.

[Ben Dover]

No change after yesterdays stage (16). The man of the day was Tyler Hamilton, American, who has been riding since stage 1, with 2 fractures to his right, I think, clavicle.
There were 2 really big climbs after which was a long run to the finish.
There was a break of some 15 riders who took off before the 2 big climbs, they were no danger to the leaders, so were allowed to get on with it. However Hamilton had other ideas. He chased the group down, no mean feat, he picked this group of riders up on the first big climb. He then attacked on the 2nd climb, one of the steepest of this tour. He rode away and spent 95 miles riding alone flat out. At one point he was almost 6 minutes ahead of the field.
One or two teams got worried about this, particularly Alexandra Vinokourov's as this could jepordise his 3rd place. The chase was on.
A very large bunch of riders can move far faster than a lone rider. So there was every chance that they could reel Hamilton in. It was not to be. Hamilton is a class act and maintained his cadence and rode to a brilliant lone win some 1 Min 55 secs ahead of the field. This leaves Hamilton in 5th place overall some 6m 35s behind Armstrong who still leads by 1m 7s from Ullrich. If Hamilton is gain a podium finish in Paris, he will have to beat Vinokourov by over 4 mins in Saturdays time trial. He will beat him, but not by that much.
Either Armstrong or Ullrich will win this Tour, that will be decided on Saturday. In the last TT Ullrich beat Armstrong by 1m 36s. Armstrong has only 1m 7s advantage. It is gonna be good.
The French have been calling Hamilton the 'King of Pain' they certainly admire him.