Lance vs Jan

[McLovin]

Who was your favorite back in `00-`05 era?
Now we know, there are Contador, Schleck, Sky fans, back then this forum did not exist.
I know that all my friends were with Armstrong, I was a solitary Ullrich fan.
No clinic please. Pretend you're in 2004.

 

[jens_attacks]

kaiser ullrich comes first.
then vino(yes i know huh?)
but i definitely supported lance when he came back. those were great moments(especially that 2010 tour prologue when he beat alberto)

2004-jan. but overall, all three of them.great times,great champions of sport

 

[Jan the Man]

My username says it all...

 

[Angliru]

I supported Armstrong initially but something happened during the 2003 Tour that opened my eyes to him. He was being interviewed about the stage to Gap and was commenting on a replay of the action along with Liggett, Sherwin and Roll. Instead of being sympathetic to Beloki's plight (For those that are too young to remember, Beloki had a horrific crash on the descent with Armstrong on his wheel. Conditions were extremely hot, such that the tar on the pavement was softening. Beloki's rear tire exploded, likely from his rim heating up from a combination of the hot pavement and the intermittent braking on the descent, causing him to lose control and ultimately was slammed to the pavement as if propelled by a slingshot, with the most serious of his many injuries being a broken femur.) Instead of being sympathetic to Beloki's plight, Armstrong's comment was that Beloki was riding at a speed beyond his capabilities, thus his crash. Armstrong was too busy reveling in the praise and admiration for his great escape from disaster (Liggett, Roll and Sherwin were blindly in love with Armstrong like many were at that point). All I could think is what a cold-hearted SOB that he was.

From that point on I was rooting for Jan to take him down. Jan was everything that Armstrong wasn't: likeable, humble and human. As one of the forum member's name indicates: Jan Is The Man. I didn't think Vino had the consistency nor the ability in the mountains to do so. Actually I was really rooting for Mayo after his 2003 performance but of course that was never to be.

 

[wwabbit]

Back in 2004, I was watching Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story, where Lance Armstrong made a cameo appearance with an inspiring story. Not knowing anything about pro cycling at that time, I looked up his story on wikipedia and was impressed.

 

[will10]

I supported Armstrong initially but something happened during the 2003 Tour that opened my eyes to him. He was being interviewed about the stage to Gap and was commenting on a replay of the action along with Liggett, Sherwin and Roll. Instead of being sympathetic to Beloki's plight (For those that are too young to remember, Beloki had a horrific crash on the descent with Armstrong on his wheel. Conditions were extremely hot, such that the tar on the pavement was softening. Beloki's rear tire exploded, likely from his rim heating up from a combination of the hot pavement and the intermittent braking on the descent, causing him to lose control and ultimately was slammed to the pavement as if propelled by a slingshot, with the most serious of his many injuries being a broken femur.) Instead of being sympathetic to Beloki's plight, Armstrong's comment was that Beloki was riding at a speed beyond his capabilities, thus his crash. Armstrong was too busy reveling in the praise and admiration for his great escape from disaster (Liggett, Roll and Sherwin were blindly in love with Armstrong like many were at that point). All I could think is what a cold-hearted SOB that he was.

From that point on I was rooting for Jan to take him down. Jan was everything that Armstrong wasn't: likeable, humble and human. As one of the forum member's name indicates: Jan Is The Man. I didn't think Vino had the consistency nor the ability in the mountains to do so. Actually I was really rooting for Mayo after his 2003 performance but of course that was never to be.

I always think, what if Lance had led into that corner on the Gap descent? Beloki was a very serious contender for that Tour. Luz Ardiden with Armstrong, Ullrich and Beloki all still in contention would've been amazing, especially if Beloki had gone with Ullrich on the Tourmalet.

 

[gatete]

Jan of course, my support for Lance ended in 2001

 

[Netserk]

When I started watching cycling (I'm born in 93, so it was in the middle of the LA era) my favourite rider was Der Jan. Even though CSC was the only Danish team in Le Tour, I didn't like their two main captains in that period (Hamilton and Basso). Back then I only saw Le Tour, so Boonen was yet to be my big cycling love I loved the human and humble nature of Ulle. I also liked Vinokourov a lot for the way he rode.

So number 1: Der Jan
Number 2: Vino

 

[williamp78]

I always supported the underdog when i was young. In this case that would have been Jan

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

Neither.

I do like Jan for things like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0y92RZgQjU

Getting back to the road like good old Hennie Stamsnijder.

They were both boring as hell. Stamsnijder too.

 

[Carols]

I was a Lance fan, but by 2003 I was screaming at Jan Beat the B*stard!!!!

 

[Lanark]

I liked Ullrich a lot more. Armstrong was boring, he set his targets, and won them in a mechanical and clinical way.

Ullrich was the young star for whom the world lay at his feet. But he couldn't handle the pressure, and succumbed to the temptations of life. A far more interesting character.

 

[Roderick]

I liked Ullrich a lot more. Armstrong was boring, he set his targets, and won them in a mechanical and clinical way.

Ullrich was the young star for whom the world lay at his feet. But he couldn't handle the pressure, and succumbed to the temptations of life. A far more interesting character.

+ LA was an arrogant son of a ***** while Der Jan seemed a very nice guy

 

[the asian]

There was nobody like Vino. Jan was a humble guy but his riding style didn't excite me as much as Vino.

 

[woodenswan]

but overall, all three of them.great times,great champions of sport

i second that

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Jan was a really nice guy, but there is noone like Vino.
When the going gets ruff, the ruff gets going, and when the ruff is getting ruffer, Vino attacks

 

[jaylew]

I definitely preferred Jan to LA although at some point I started to root for Beloki. Didn't like Basso though.

 

[phanatic]

Picked Lance before reading that it was 2004. Would have been Basso.

 

[matter]

Jan, then other/Vino.
Never was a fan of Armstrong, even before I was aware of al the dubious stuff he was into

 

[Morbius]

Jan for me.
I remember reading 'It's not about the bike' after LA's second win and finding it amazing that someone could put out an autobiography that made me dislike the subject.

 

[movingtarget]

I didn't care for either of them and I care even less now. One was arrogant and the other one was a bore. At least Vino was a loveable rogue ! His English skills went out the window whenever a journalist mentioning doping. Some of Vino's suicide attacks use to remind me of riders like Chiappuci in the eighties. You never knew whether they would work but sometimes they did.

 

[mewmewmew13]

Never. Liked. Lance.

 

[greenedge]

I was raised to support Lance- from the age of 5-7 or so- watching the TDF on highlights.
Basically to me he was the main cycling figure in that time frame- along with McEwan (who is Aussie).

Other riders i remember were Hamilton in 03 and i liked him a lot, McGee/ Cooke, Vino, Rasmussen...

Looking back on it all, the 2003 TDF was very exciting and i thought Hamilton, Ulrich, Vino, Mayo and Beloki all rode superbly.

 

[joeyrobbo]

Between Jan and Lance, Jan everytime.. ignoring the whole clinic issues, it was obvious the kind of guy Lance was, given the way he treated Simeoni, Bassons etc.. shame the majority of people couldn't see past the yellow wristbands..

Vino was by far my favourite cyclist though, loved his "if in doubt, attack" style.. that amazing win in 2005 on the Champs Elysées summed him up for me.

 

[ebandit]

me too

Never. Liked. Lance.

.............me too!............cheered on jan as i favoured any rider

that i hoped would beat lance

Mark L