Armstong Abandons TOC?

[_Zipp0_]

http://twitter.com/johanbruyneel

and Chechu..... crashed.

 

[petesam]

ha ha, can't believe it! Ooops. That's surely too obvious to actually have been planned...surely...blo0dy good timing. Adds more speculation to the speculation wheel for sure!

 

[_Zipp0_]

Could it be a season-ender that leads quickly to a second (and permanent) retirement before the sh1tstorm hits Cycletown?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstrong-crashes-out-of-amgen-tour-of-california

 

[Boeing]

Wow the ultimate distraction tactic

 

[sida-mot]

Flandis! Flandis! Flandis!

 

[Boeing]

Johan called Karl Rove and he instituted this plan of action immediately. Sweep his wheel: Next Lance emerges from hospital with support the troops lapel pin......

 

[red_flanders]

So he crashed and rode to the finish.

The quitting and x-rays is a scream. Translated headline, "Armstrong retires from ToC to focus on legal defense".

 

[thehog]

You'd think the drivers side airbag that is his gut would have saved him.

 

[red_flanders]

Anyone ever seen a team retire a key rider from a major stage race before the "x-rays" came back? ****ing hilarious.

 

[asnicol]

You'd think the drivers side airbag that is his gut would have saved him.

lol if it wasn't for Polish chamois-sniffing and taking the brunt of it, it could have been worse!

 

[Mellow Velo]

Obviously a Hollywood stunt double, hired to take the fall.

 

[Rip:30]

obviously a hollywood stunt double, hired to take the fall.

bhahahahahahhahahah!

 

[Animal]

I'm certain that was staged.

No way to predict outcomes of a crash however careful. But he's facing meltdown. Drastic measures were necessary.

 

[the vagabond]

Last report is Armstrong is out of the hospital but Landis is in.

 

[Zerak-Tul]

Lol, subtle tactics being deployed, haha classic..

 

[altark123]

Heard he got hit by a photog motorcycle.....do you really think there is a crash conspiracy?

 

[_Zipp0_]

Who knows at this point???

The timing just seems to make it especially odd.

 

[Angliru]

Johan called Karl Rove and he instituted this plan of action immediately. Sweep his wheel: Next Lance emerges from hospital with support the troops lapel pin......

LOL! Brilliant!!

 

[Angliru]

Who knows at this point???

The timing just seems to make it especially odd.

...and extremely convenient in avoiding the cycling press! Skulk away under the guise of an injured rider unable to complete the stage. Something stinks...

 

[Speedzero]

You'd think the drivers side airbag that is his gut would have saved him.

! Post of the day, Hog. On a day with possibly a record-setting number of posts, I might add.

I would guess (1) the crash was genuine, of the sort that happens all the time, (2) no one was that badly hurt, including LA, but (3) he just wanted out of there and it gave him a reason.

 

[Anonymous]

I think it was AmgenToC that tweeted some pics of the big cut on LA's face. Looks like it was from his glasses because the pic they posted was missing the lens in his Oakleys.

Otherwise he looked okay cuz he got back on his bike. But apparently got off and got in the team car...

Sucks that Stuey abandoned too.

 

[usedtobefast]

...and extremely convenient in avoiding the cycling press! Skulk away under the guise of an injured rider unable to complete the stage. Something stinks...

yeah, just way too obvious. i mean it is laughable in it's scope.

 

[CentralCaliBike]

I was at the start today. I also know the location of the crash, it is treacherous - you lose a lane and there is gravel with a narrow bridge right afterward. I still do not understand why the ToC took that route out of town. The road is so bad that I have only been on it a couple of times in the past several years of riding. There is a much better road that parallels one mile to the south which is the preferred route of travel by the local cyclists going east.

I saw photos of Lances injuries at our LBS; he was bleeding pretty good from the face. I also understood that approximately 65 riders went down as well. While it is always fun to speculate I just do not take this as a faked injury.

We "auto chased" the peloton up the road to the intersection after the crash, other than viewing several ambulances, the peloton appeared to be intact as it passed in front of us.

On a side issue, I did get some great photos at the start today and it looked to me that Andy Schleck was out for a Sunday riding about 200 yards back of the field on the second loop through town. Lance looked fairly serious on the first pass (the only one I got a photo of). As for the rest of the riders, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

 

[Boeing]

Did anyone think to test his blood in the hospital?

 

[Francois the Postman]

Convenenient as it is now, and convenient as it may become with the weeks ahead, I am actually gonna give him a pass on suspicions over the crash.

The longest stretch I can get out of it is that it is inconclusive. The shortest one that he saw an opportunity after an unfortunate event, and took a convenient route out of this mess. I kinda expect this happened as it is sold, wasn't good and decided to call it quits (and I am sure that the background will have pushed any considerations to the contrary out of the way if there were other options).

Without any images of how the crash happened, it is far too easy to let the excitement of the day and "wishful" readings of the incident take the head for one conspiracy ride too many. There is enough damning stuff around. It would be awful if made-up ones started to trivialize the real ones.