Tour de France 2005

[jobob]

I think that's great, but there you go.

[SadieKate]

I think that's great, but there you go.

What, AG's info or that we're geeks?

SK

Hey, you mean I can buy a bike or car without doing a 4 page spreadsheet analysis?

[jobob]

yes to both

[slinkedog]

Okay, can anyone have a worse race than poor Rasmussen did today? Oy vey, that kid had bad luck and rattled nerves. In the start gate, did you see how his hands were shaking when he adjusted his shoe strap? Well, experience is a good teacher. Hopefully he'll keep on keeping on and have better races in the future. I was very hopeful that he'd be on the podium tomorrow.


Looking forward to a nice parade tomorrow with no crashes!!

[jobob]

Poor guy. You could tell he wasn't all that accustomed to the TT bike, and that was a tough, tough course.

Still, considering how much time he spent not moving forward , he did very respectably indeed !

[jobob]

But, poor Rasmussen aside, that was one thrilling TT !!

Good for Jan to show what he's made of.

Needless to say I was squealing like a little schoolgirl and happy dancing all over the living room over Bobby's ride; Lee was, um, amused

I'll forgive Vino for ultimately blasting Bobby out of the water, he's in contract negociations after all.

Looks like Basso tried a leeetle too hard in the beginning. Eh, there's next year, he'll only get better.

And Lance, whatcanI say. I was expecting something remarkable, as were we all I'm sure, and he delivered in spades.

[emily_in_nc]

Wow, this stage had it all. Lance rode like a man afire, and I was so glad to see him get his stage win to end his 7th Tour (essentially). I was happy to see Jan give it his all and get onto the podium. I ached for poor Michael Rasmussen, though. I'd been rooting for him all along (gotta love an underdog), and to see him crash twice, change bikes several times, and still keep going, wow, he has my respect. I would have been a blithering idiot after all that!

Emily

[SadieKate]

Poor Rasmussen. What a horrible day. I have to think that a TT bike was not the right one for him on such a technical course. And, once your concentration is blown it's all over.

Lance, of course, did his usual superb job, but I was just thrilled to see how well Jan, Bobby, Floyd, Levi and George did. Now, if Basso just hadn't started out quite so fast . . . way to go, jobob, you sent him a KOD, didn't you?

If Jan can keep his form next year, T-Mobile actually rides as a team rather than a collection of prima donnas, and Basso keeps working on his TT skills, we ought to have a large group of boys chasing that yellow jersey next year. It could get really exciting.

[Dogmama]

I'm all for Jan next year. He really deserves it. I was surprised that Basso blew up - I would have thought he had more experience & would be able to judge his body a little better.

Dittos on Rasmussen - poor baby!! And having to wear that silly polka dot jersey on top of it all - can they find something more ridiculous for King of the Mountain? I think not.

Lance - what do you say? Except I still feel sorry for the kids. They seemed quite bewildered when he was on the podium & the whole Sheryl Crow thing stinks. He should have given the flowers, en masse, to his daughters. I can't imagine how it would feel being stuck watching the race with Daddy's girlfriend who is a dim bulb to boot. (Can you tell I'm PMS'ing Big Time here?)

[jobob]

LOL Dogmama, don't hold back, tell us what you really think!

And nope, I re-fuse to take any credit for Basso's blowup, methinks that was his own doing. His time trialing is much better than last year so I'm not complaining, he still has a ways to go but he'll get there, and this time he hung on to 2nd place so I'm quite content.

I was a bit surprised about Levi, I would have thought he'd place higher in the TT. But it was a long three weeks.

Next year is going to be veeery interesting indeed.

[MightyMitre]

LOL Dogmama - I mentioned to my hubby wondering how Kristen Armstrong(?) must have felt seeing her kiddies out for the day with Daddies New Woman.( meeeoowwww)
I notice Lance's mum was there too which was nice.

Actually, I thought it was quite cute to see the kids and it was nice to finally see a more relaxed side of Armstrong. Perhaps people might have warmed to him a bit more if he'd let us in a bit earlier in his career, rather than being so detached and aloof.

Today will be a momentus day as we see Lance ride for the last time in the Tour. I think it's a good thing he's finishing as for me, the Tour has gradually been getting more and more predictable and boring. As he won't be there next year is should be a scortcher and as a sporting event I think the Tour is in need of a breath of fresh air to capture people's imagination again and be a bit more unpredictable.

Finally, and I hate to admit this, but I caught myself being ever so slightly impressed by Armstrongs ride yesterday. To quote a friend of mine, he was riding that bike like he stole it!

Anyway, ramble over. Bye Lance and all the best for the future.

[Dogmama]

LOL Dogmama - I mentioned to my hubby wondering how Kristen Armstrong(?) must have felt seeing her kiddies out for the day with Daddies New Woman.( meeeoowwww)
I notice Lance's mum was there too which was nice.

Ever notice how much Lance's women look like his mother? Hey, Mr Freud....I also wondered how Kiki must have felt. I've seen so many kids displaced because of the current Squeeze that I wish he would have left Ms. Crow along side of the road. But, then she might be in the booth with Bob Roll and I couldn't stand that. I'd have to get my TDF news from Jobob - our totally objective correspondent.

I admit to having tears in my eyes as Lance completed his last ride. Incredible career. Do you think he'll try to break the one hour record?

[snapdragen]

I'm all misty eyed........all it took was Lance getting on the podium with his kids.

[CorsairMac]

OK....is anyone else as mad as I am about the decision to award Vino the 5th place and knock Levi down to 6th??

I don't care that they decided to reinstate the time bonuses - I care that they decided to do it AFTER the race was over. After everyone had crossed the finish line. After everyone thought the GC was locked in and it didn't matter anymore except to make it home safe. I hope Levi and Gerolsteiner protest this and I hope the directors reverse their unfair and way-out-of-line decision.

I was so mad I was yelling at the TV and the poor dogs thought they had done something wrong. Too bad the directors couldn't hear me - I was even cussing in French!!

Corsair "I'm still mad can you tell?" Mac

[jobob]

Darn straight I'm ticked. That was bizzare, bogus, bull-oney beyond words.

Have to admit, as Vino raced for the finish I was joking with Lee that gee, do you think the TMobile management maybe sort of neglected to mention to Vino that he'd get no bonus time for the win? Kind of one last thumbed nose from TMobile to Vino. Oh well, wrong again

There are times when the K of D manifests itself in strange and mysterious ways indeed.

Although I cannot believe that Gerolsteiner will take this lying down - they have a truly legitimate protest here. IMHO of course.