- Jul 2, 2009
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Earth Tribe said:Publicus said:Indeed. But I don't think people expected him to beat FB in the time trial and quite possibly break the all time power record for climbing. People knew he was the man to beat, but this was not yet known. He did bonk in the Paris Nice, don't forget. He wasn't as invincable before the tour as he now seems after it.
I do think winning seven tours does give you a little more something than any old rider coming back to race, and this must have been clear to everybody including AC, who chose to stay in a team packed with LA's old crew. This is the real world we're dealing with. But I think we're going round in circles now. I take your point.
Publicus said:It keeps money flowing into LAF and indirectly his pockets. And keeps his sponsors in the press.
Earth Tribe said:I don't think 15% is the difference.
Once a pro rider is up to their peak power and form, nothing is left to do to improve but lose weight. That's why the pros are always going on about that issue. However, unfortunately, if you lose this weight before you are up to your top level - which is not a problem for most pros, since they have already done that bit - it can hit your power a lot.
We also know that TT power is one of the last things to go in pro-riders. So putting all this together, and taking into account that LA was a great TTist in his glory days, i think in theory he has the potential to improve quite a bit in this area - more so than in his climbing. Thus we remove much of the TTT factor that LA benefited from this year. That was really my point.
Publicus said:Earth Tribe said:(1) The article and quote was just before the TdF. But Bruyneel did favor Lance after the incidence on Stage 3.
(2) AC's form was known. Quite well. Everyone knew he was the man to beat. Won the Spanish TT championship. Toyed with Cadel at the Dauphine (sorry Aussiecycle). As for Lance, I don't begrudge him returning to race and gauging his form, but it was 2005 any more. He hadn't won. AC had won EVERY GT he had entered in the past two years. Every one of them. AC had been winning ALL YEAR. Lance, not so much. It's one thing if AC faltered on the road and Lance had the form and was there to take over. But that's not what happened. He was counting his past wins to earn him the current leadership. That's some pretty pathetic *** from a champion of his stature.
(3) Let's stay focused chief, we were talking about the 2009 racing year, not 2005.
(4) Apologies, I am a lawyer so it tends to slip into my forum discussions pretty easily.
BroDeal said:I think we need to factor in that Andy S should be a lot better next year. He will spend a lot of time working on his time trial because of the long ITT in next year's Tdf; and in this year's last ITT, he was a mere 15 secs behind Armstrong. Does anyone see Armstrong improving more than Andy?
thehog said:If Tiger Woods is shagging everything from Las Vegas to New York then I'll believe anything!
kurtinsc said:While I expect A. Schleck and Contador to beat Lance handily... where does the belief that Lance will get worse from this past year come from?
We all know the team will sacrifice for him... because that's what he demands from a team. And we know many of those guys are pretty strong riders. I don't see any reason he wouldn't be in the mix for 3rd again next year.
BikeCentric said:Nibali might be good too.
Earth Tribe said:Why do you believe this given we know Armstrong was a better time trialer than most of these riders? I don't understand your reasoning.
kurtinsc said:I just don't see everyone else gaining much ground on Lance.
kurtinsc said:I expect the battle for the last podium spot to be between Frank, Lance, Wiggins, Evans and a couple of others... I don't see all of those guys simply jumping past Lance like many expect.
ravens said:QUESTION What happened to thread tags?
Earth Tribe said:When that moment came, Armstrong then accepted Contador was the stronger rider and domestiqued for Contador. So lets get the record straight.
Timeless said:Mmm...I appear to have missed that. Did he carry water for his team leader, or sacrifice his own strength when pacing his leader? When did this happen?
Mellow Velo said:I seem to recall Lance snatching a water bottle that was destined for Contador, from his grasp. Does that count?![]()
BroDeal said:I think we need to factor in that Andy S should be a lot better next year. He will spend a lot of time working on his time trial because of the long ITT in next year's Tdf; and in this year's last ITT, he was a mere 15 secs behind Armstrong. Does anyone see Armstrong improving more than Andy?
thehog said:Armstrong was plugging his book on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night, and in the typical 'talking sports without really talking sports' way, dropped a few shots at his old teammate, and reigning Tour de France champion, Alberto Contador.
"It wasn't a great relationship. We're not having any tapas later on."
"He's a good rider. Whatever." "We've got our own team." "We're divorced."
richwagmn said:This is what I don't understand about the LA will improve next year and these others guys won't theory. AC is in his prime years and AS is just getting there. Surely these too will also improve by at least as much as LA if not more.