Armstrong claims solo Nevada victory

[Alpe d'Huez]

If he wanted to promote the race he could show up to be an honorary commissioner and help start the race, pose for photographs, sign autographs, and give interviews to the local paper and news - then have his picture taken with the race winner and say good things about him. He doesn't need to fly out there in his private jet, then go stomp all over Cat 1's and pro's making $15k a year, some of whom probably slept the previous night in a van.

Greg Lemond won the race at 18, before he even headed to Europe. There were a few races Greg did have a go at in the US during his peak racing years. The Coors' Classic, Tour du Pont (both akin to ToC of today), and a few others where he mostly rode in support of other riders, the ABC Classic comes to mind, on the Coors' Light team in the mid-80's. Not quite the same.

 

[Anonymous]

Rest assured... they don't take the money.

In Gila none of the pros took any money , it was filtered down to the other riders.. You have to assume its exactly the same for this, and the TT they did the other day..

 

[this_is_edie]

In Gila none of the pros took any money , it was filtered down to the other riders.. You have to assume its exactly the same for this, and the TT they did the other day..

well yes and no. They did not take any prize money at Gila and gave it back to the race organization, not to the other riders. And the organization did not change the way that prize money was awarded. So if a rider finished second behind Leipheimer, he still got the $$ for second place, even if Leipheimer gave the winnings back.

For example, in stage 1, Leipheimer got $390 for winning and Baldwin (who was reputedly not being paid by Rock Racing) got $75 for 3rd place.

 

[pmcg76]

Everyone seems to think the Astana guys racing is a plus for these races but the real losers have been the small time US BMC Racing team, a Division 2 team, they raced unbothered in the US until the Astana guys showed up at Gila and the rule concerning Div 1/2 teams races in non-UCI races was brought to the fore.

Now a US team with US riders are unable to race in most US races whilst three top names of the sport can mess around in Mickey Mouse races when they should be racing in Europe. Dont care, not right, I dont mind one of them showing up at a small race and racing but three of them is a team.

What is actually happening is a US sponsor is now unable to have their team race in the US, yeah, really good for US cycling. I didnt see too many on here mourning when the Tour of Altoona was cancelled. Way to go Lance, Lvei, Horner.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I'm not an American, not an Armstrong-fan and follower of the sport since my very early youth. And I'm 'afraid' Armstrong is going to win the Tour. I've just never seen Contador performing on Armstrongs level. Contador won his grand tours with small differences. Armstrong was .. well, a level or two too strong.
And even after 3 years of absence and a bad preparation, he finished 12th in the Giro... If he planned it in the same maniacal way as in his 7 years of Tour rulership, nobody will stop him, not even Contador.

 

[Anonymous]

well yes and no. They did not take any prize money at Gila and gave it back to the race organization, not to the other riders. And the organization did not change the way that prize money was awarded. So if a rider finished second behind Leipheimer, he still got the $$ for second place, even if Leipheimer gave the winnings back.

For example, in stage 1, Leipheimer got $390 for winning and Baldwin (who was reputedly not being paid by Rock Racing) got $75 for 3rd place.

anybody confirm this?

if it's so it stinks. not that i blame lance/levi.. there must be some reason.. i can't imagine any reason they'd have to not want the riders to get it if they aren't taking it.

 

[Kennf1]

The shameful Greg Lemond won it before too.

Yep, three times in a row by age 19.

 

[Archibald]

that they operated as a team and didn't win it on their own just shows them to be petty...

 

[Anonymous]

that they operated as a team and didn't win it on their own just shows them to be petty...

it just gets sillier and sillier.

 

[greenjersey]

That did not stop him from taking race start money everyone assumed would go to his cancer foundation and putting it in his pocket.

LA hater?

 

[Mr.DNA]

not that i blame lance/levi..

Yeah, don't do that! That would mean you agree with the "haters."

 

[BroDeal]

LA hater?

Anybody that points out that Armstrong claimed he was returning for cancer awareness but is personally profiting immensely from his return must be a hater. The truth is hate. Black is white. War is peace. All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.

 

[greenjersey]

Anybody that points out that Armstrong claimed he was returning for cancer awareness but is personally profiting immensely from his return must be a hater. The truth is hate. Black is white. War is peace. All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.

How many other PRO cyclists aren't taking a salary??
A 7-time TDF champ has the right to endosements... if LA wins then the fight against cancer wins!

 

[Bala Verde]

How many other PRO cyclists aren't taking a salary??
A 7-time TDF champ has the right to endosements... if LA wins then the fight against cancer wins!

I just checked the law (yes all of it, go to lexisnexis.com), and seriously, it did not define the rights of the subgroup "7-time TdF winners"...

 

[hulkgogan]

I think the bigger question is whether basing yourself in another timezone is good preparation? Jet lag can take a week to recover from. In the few weeks before the Tour, I'd want that week.

Also, there's this anal mantra that a lot of racers follow about doing exactly what has worked in the past. And as far I can recall, Lance based himself in Europe for every other Tour.

 

[richwagmn]

How many other PRO cyclists aren't taking a salary??
A 7-time TDF champ has the right to endosements... if LA wins then the fight against cancer wins!

What? Cancer is cured if LA wins a TDF????? Gimme some of what you're smokin' please.

 

[richwagmn]

I think the bigger question is whether basing yourself in another timezone is good preparation? Jet lag can take a week to recover from. In the few weeks before the Tour, I'd want that week.

Also, there's this anal mantra that a lot of racers follow about doing exactly what has worked in the past. And as far I can recall, Lance based himself in Europe for every other Tour.

Plus this is the first time he's raced the Giro before the tour. How will he respond in his second grand tour? Works great for some, not so well for others.

 

[BroDeal]

What? Cancer is cured if LA wins a TDF????? Gimme some of what you're smokin' please.

I hear the high is nice but it takes off twenty IQ points.

 

[Ninety5rpm]

I think the bigger question is whether basing yourself in another timezone is good preparation? Jet lag can take a week to recover from. In the few weeks before the Tour, I'd want that week.

Also, there's this anal mantra that a lot of racers follow about doing exactly what has worked in the past. And as far I can recall, Lance based himself in Europe for every other Tour.

Well, it's still over a week until the Tour. Isn't he flying to Europe any day now - giving himself the week of jet lag recovery?

Lance's preparation is highly scientific. He already knows he'll be 2 kilos lighter for the Tour than he was at the Giro. Did you read Horner's blog about the day of the Nevada City classic? They minimized time spent away from high altitude by flying west in the morning, racing, and flying back to CO that day. Plus he's exuding the kind of confidence I have not seen since, well, '05. Form is form and he's already shown at the Giro that his age has not changed the characteristic of getting relatively stronger during a 3 week race.

Obviously none of us know for sure what's going to happen, but he sure appears to be much more dangerous today than he appeared a month ago. A month ago it still seemed like a "well, we'll see how it goes" type of thing. Now it seems serious. Even Contador says he sees Lance as competition.

Contador might be a bit stronger, but Lance seems smarter, and that can more than make up for the difference (as it did with Ulrich).

The 15.5 km Monaco prologue, with significant climbing, will be very interesting and very revealing about relative conditions among the contenders, who will go all out and I'll bet the top 5 prologue results will be a pretty close match of likely top 5 overall results three weeks later. So if Lance beats Contador, he'll insist on being the leader and getting Alberto's support in the mountains. If he loses to AC, but not by much, then he'll probably insist on continuing to delay the leader decision until the first mountain stages. If he loses by a significant margin, I'm sure he'll concede that his role this time is to help AC win.

 

[Amsterhammer]

What? Cancer is cured if LA wins a TDF????? Gimme some of what you're smokin' please.

You are either -

a. as thick as two planks
b. being deliberately obtuse in an unsuccessful attempt at humor or
c. dissing Lance's fight against cancer.

I sincerely hope the answer is b.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Y'all izn't frum theze parts, iz ya?

 

[rhubroma]

I hear the high is nice but it takes off twenty IQ points.

Make that 50, and the real problem is adiction one suffers from smoking that bad stuff...

 

[rhubroma]

Y'all izn't frum theze parts, iz ya?

I look like this cause my bother is also the father of my kids and I'm the daughter of my mom who is also my aunt, just like my dad is also my uncle and is the grandaddy too of my other two boys.....