Tour de France

[Kevmag]

I'm not into cycling and I don't follow this event that closely (just read the highlights really), but Lance is just dominating the field. 3:48 over all lead and just won his second consecutive leg. This guy is a machine. If he wins this event, there is a strong argument that he just might be the most dominate athlete ever.

[cphilip]

Yes he is in his best element of the race now. the hills. If he has it there he will win it. And it appears he has it.

One of his teammates and best freinds is from here in Greenville SC. Lance comes here to train in the mountains of NC and SC.

Another thing I did not know till today was that he is dating Cheryl Crow.

[1stdeadeye]

Go Lance Go.

Robin Williams did a hilarious spoof of the French Complaining about his performance enhancing drugs. His response," It was chemotherapy you arseholes!"!

[punkncat]

If (when) he wins this Tour he will be one of three who have won six. Eddie Merxx , and I can't think of the other guys name are the others.

As far as I know , no one has ever won 7.

I would like to point out something though. There are riders within the field that are as strong or stronger than Lance , but simply don't have the strength of the US Postal team to back them up. Many of the miles being ridden by Lance are in the draft of his teammates. Not trying to knock his accomplishment , but w/o his teammates he would be in a whole different situation.

[MagKid04]

It sucks, I don't have oln so i miss paintball stuff and this. Anyway anyone hear about usps ditching them? i thought i heard that and they're going to be sponsored by discovery channel :confused:

[FooTemps]

It's true what punkncat said. Without the US postal team, Lance would be probably on par with other riders like Tyler Hamilton and Jan Ullrich. It's just that over the years, Lance built an awesome team that usually dominates the pace of the main group so if they step it up enough, the whole peleton just falls back and people start dropping like flies. I was hoping Jan Ullrich was gonna take down Armstrong but it isn't gonna happen IMO. :(

[Chojin Man]

I would like to point out something though. There are riders within the field that are as strong or stronger than Lance , but simply don't have the strength of the US Postal team to back them up. Many of the miles being ridden by Lance are in the draft of his teammates. Not trying to knock his accomplishment , but w/o his teammates he would be in a whole different situation.

Did you see stage 16? He killed everyone on a solo ride. Sure his mates help him out, but no one else is as strong as he his in the mountains.

[ß?µ£ §mµ®ƒ]

I think it would be more of an honor to be a team mate than try to win by yourself and get no recognition. The teammates also help from crashes, forming a barrier/ " Protective Bubble"

Look early on in Le tour de france, there are those people that are "sprinters" they win the flat stages only and drop out by the hills. They ride a different race to win the stages because each day is its own race,

Lance Just Wins it All :cheers: :dance: :rofl:

[bofh]

Did you see stage 16? He killed everyone on a solo ride. Sure his mates help him out, but no one else is as strong as he his in the mountains.

on stage 16 he did solo the hill about a minute faster than anybody else. And over two minutes faster than his closest opponent. Lance is also an awesome solo time trialest. And awesome in the mountains. and well, a solo time trial in the mountains, you do the math.

That all being said, the US postal team is the strongest team there, and they really work as a team far better than any other team on the tour. They are there to support Lance and nothing else.

Many of the riders in the Tour could/might have/are a real threat to Lance this year. But after the last stage, I'd bet not.

[ShooterJM]

If (when) he wins this Tour he will be one of three who have won six. Eddie Merxx , and I can't think of the other guys name are the others.

As far as I know , no one has ever won 7.


Are you sure?

I'm pretty sure Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault Miguel Indurain and Eddy Merckx each won five.

Indurain is the only person pre-armstrong to win five in a row.

The Cannibal Merckx is pretty much the best rider ever, but didn't win a 6th. He did however win a bunch of other races in the same year he won the tour. And at one point, I think, wore the yellow, green, AND polka dot jersies!

No one has won six, yet. :bounce:

[wimag]

yes if he wins he will be the only person to win the tour 6 consecutive times.

After his domination on the time trial yesterday he slammed german fans.
In a post race interview he said something along the lines of that german fans lining the road were screaming and spitting at him along the way. He saidthey were a disgrace.

[Mango]

He is such an amazing athlete. Just to give you an idea of why he is so good, aside from the psychological aspect, he has an almost freakishly high VO2 max. Your VO2 max measures the volume of oxygen your body can consume while exercising at max capacity (or aerobic fitness). So "VO2 max" is the maximum amount of oxygen, expressed in milliliters, you can use in one minute, per kilogram of bodyweight. Most charts have anything above 50-60 as "high" - Lance is an 83.8... almost unheard of in the Excercise Physiology world. I had mine measured and scored a 48 and was happy, until I saw what he scored.

[punkncat]

Did you see stage 16? He killed everyone on a solo ride. Sure his mates help him out, but no one else is as strong as he his in the mountains.

Yes , but you consider a guy who mile after mile is riding in the draft of his teamamtes conseving energy will have more to expend during the times that count. There are many riders who are making extrodinary efforts on their own. Look at the French kid who wore the jersey most of this Tour. He has recieved no help at all from anyone and managed to do as well as he did. Now what if he was riding in somones draft saving 40% of his energy...where would he be now? See what I mean?



Are you sure?

I'm pretty sure Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault Miguel Indurain and Eddy Merckx each won five.

Indurain is the only person pre-armstrong to win five in a row.

The Cannibal Merckx is pretty much the best rider ever, but didn't win a 6th. He did however win a bunch of other races in the same year he won the tour. And at one point, I think, wore the yellow, green, AND polka dot jersies!

No one has won six, yet.

No I am not positive. Just what I was overhearing on the TV while watching.

Greg Lemond won five. I am sure there are more. The french guy he was competing against won five also I think.

I am pretty sure that a few people have won six but no one has won seven.

[bofh]

Greg Lemond won five. I am sure there are more. The french guy he was competing against won five also I think.

I am pretty sure that a few people have won six but no one has won seven.

LeMond has won Three.

No one has won Six. Indurain was the only other person to win five in a row.

Lance is going for Six overall, AND Six in a row.

[punkncat]

HERE (http://www.letour.fr/2004/us/index.html) is the "official" site.

So far I am not seeing a "history" page , but I am gonna cast around for a minute. I don't think I was imagining what I heard , but you know how that is.....


Found the history HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France#List_of_overall_winners) and I stand corrected concerning the # of wins.

Lets see if this will work...
http://en.wikipedia.org/upload/timeline/5cf8e9b17a1c4b16e27cb10c96815b0f.png

[bofh]

HERE (http://www.letour.fr/2004/us/index.html) is the "official" site.

So far I am not seeing a "history" page , but I am gonna cast around for a minute. I don't think I was imagining what I heard , but you know how that is.....


Found the history HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France#List_of_overall_winners) and I stand corrected concerning the # of wins.

Also on the tdf site, under retro on the left side, le tour 1903. You can search all the previous winners and what stages they won.