Recent content by Rbudman

I don't like his chances, though the time trial does suit him better than any of the real favorites. I think that if he can make it to the second rest day in yellow then it is worth talking about. He will likely lose time on the tourmalet summit finish but should be able to peg some back in...

I dont know why there are so many haters on the Columbia jersey, I like it. The AG2R jerseys and shorts are truly hideous. Euskaltel has always managed to make orange look really good. I personally am usually a fan of the simpler jerseys and do not like something too busy. The Aqua...

26 seems absolutely nuts! especially with the course they designed for next year and all of those complicate cobbley courses early on. I do not see increasing the number of teams increasing the competativeness of the race as if they just take the best 20 or 21 teams in the world, the remaining...

Just to ad a little variety to the conversation, I am going to break a little from the premise and nominate a guy who never stood on the tour podium but can definitely be in the conversation for greatest all around rider not to win the tour or great grand tour rider to never ride great in the...

Everyone seems to be saying the same things and it looks like it is true. AC is virtually unbeatable without the course designers helping out the competition in some way. Certainly, AS cannot beat AC on next year's course. The only place I see Andy possibly taking time is in the early stages...

NO BOBKE (Bob Roll)???? I know he was never a great rider but as ambassador for the sport I think he at least deserves an honorable mention NO??

I would pick a stage in the pyrenees. A great classic stage is one that takes in several big passes. Start somewhere near Foix, cross the Col de Port, the col de portet d'Aspet, the Ares, Pyresourde, Aspin and finish at La Mongie. Similar stages have been used before. In 2004 going over the...

ABSOLUTELY!! I posted nearly the same exact statements on a different thread this afternoon. This team looks very very good and are a good mix of younger guys who will only get better and older guys who can teach them how. This team could win a grand tour next year. Maybe not the Tour because...

I LOVE PHIL!!! If he were a religion Id convert! that being said; on stage 5 or 6 Tom Boonen fell in the rain and Phil stated: "It looks like tom is having more trouble with white lines." awesome!!

I think far and away the best stage win was Haussler. take into account the conditions, the course and how far from the line he was when he went; nothing comes close. Seeing Brice Fielleu hold off everyone at andorra was pretty cool too.

Have an additional question along the same lines. Is Lance the first to finish on the podium 8 times. I believe that Zoetemelk, Ullrich and Poulidor each did it 7, can anyone confirm if Lance is the first to 8.

I would LOVE to design a Tour that is all about who has the strongest team and who can protect their riders the best. Unfortunately to do this correctly, the first thing you need to do is neuter the Pyrenees. -- The tour starts with a traditional prologue in Pau. (5-8K's something like...

I definitely agree and a few more things to think about with this team: 1. BOTH of their top 10 finishers are under 25 -- Roman is only 23. 2. Ivan Basso will almost certainly ride the tour next year and is the kind of rider who could be dangerous still. 3. Pellizotti concentrated on the...

Why should he care about the doping concerns? If he is not doping the best thing (for himself and for cycling) to do is just move past them. As for his dominant performance being attributable only to doping, that is a load of crap. Let's look at the facts: 1. You are talking about a guy...

JB ****ed?? Not the Postal/Discovery way?? don't really know how you can say either of those. JB wants to win the Tour, if he does it with in-fighting on the team even better because then he is the guy (as far as the press is concerned) that kept it together and made it work. As far as the...