Lance's crash yesterday

[Moose McKnuckles]

God, I love the way you Americans speak!

Hey, it took me awhile to learn the lingo. I'm not actually American born.

 

[riobonito92]

If you race bikes, you crash. It is normal.

But you crash more and fall worse, all other things being equal, when you are under more pressure and as you get older. Armstrong is not unlike many many other pros and amateurs who realised it was time to quit when this started to happen.

 

[ricara]

It's the Mechanic's Fault!

Lance said, “We came into that round-about before the Col de la Ramaz. I clipped a pedal and then my tire rolled off and the next thing I was rolling along the ground at 60-65kph.”

MY TIRE ROLLED OFF???

A properly glued tire should never roll off. I say it was the mechanic's fault. Sure Lance was tired and distracted about the upcoming jail time. That explains clipping your pedal like a Cat. 4 racer. But just because your bike jumps sideways a few inches doesn't mean that your tire should roll.

But I agree that it gave him a good excuse. On one of the video interviews at the VeloNews website, Chris Horner said they busted **** to bring him back to the peloton, then they were able to bring him to the front of the group. And then he just gave up and started pedaling backwards.

I think he knew he wasn't going to finish in the top group. To him that would have been an embarrassment. I think he figured it was better to finish way, way back "due to a crash" than it would have been to be 18th on the stage and lose 3 minutes because he couldn't climb as well as the others.

And what's up with that "Lance crashed three times!" garbage that they keep spewing. He went around the first crash in the grass. The second crash was real (and due to a bad gluing job). The third time he locked up his brakes and bumped into someone who really did crash. That does not qualify as three crashes in my book.

 

[theyoungest]

Exactly, Lance really crashed once, as did Evans, who I seem to remember did pretty well later on.

 

[SoNiK4]

Just curious, has anyone here ever busted their a$$ at 60-65kph, gotten back on their bike and just kept hauling it to catch the next group then to be dropped once you got back on cause maybe the fall took out of you more than you thought?

Yeah, me neither.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Just curious, has anyone here ever busted their a$$ at 60-65kph, gotten back on their bike and just kept hauling it to catch the next group then to be dropped once you got back on cause maybe the fall took out of you more than you thought?

Yeah, me neither.

I hate to break it to you skippy, but I doubt any of us are actually ProTour cyclists either.

 

[red_flanders]

And what's up with that "Lance crashed three times!" garbage that they keep spewing. He went around the first crash in the grass. The second crash was real (and due to a bad gluing job). The third time he locked up his brakes and bumped into someone who really did crash. That does not qualify as three crashes in my book.

They feel compelled to make excuses because Versus and the sycophantic commentary team have made him their raison d'etre.

Of course he didn't crash 3 times. He crashed once. And he screamed at some poor schmo from Cofidis for running him off the road after the first incident. Then he bakes a corner because he took the wrong outside line and was pressing to keep up. You don't pedal going around the edge of a curb, you wait an extra second to pedal through.

He bit it because he's under pressure.

 

[SoNiK4]

I hate to break it to you skippy, but I doubt any of us are actually ProTour cyclists either.

Well skippy, what does that have really have to do with it?

Just because someone is a ProTour cyclist, does that mean they are excused from the laws of gravity, and from the trauma of a fall at that speed? Get real.

 

[RedheadDane]

I doubt that had much to do with the crash. If you race bikes, you crash. It is normal. Armstrong's statement indicates that he was suffering before the crash and feeling out of place. That is a statement of someone who is not having fun and dreading the suffering that he knows is coming.

I never said the quote was related to the "crash". Just that Lance told Matti he's getting too old.

And what's up with that "Lance crashed three times!" garbage that they keep spewing. He went around the first crash in the grass. The second crash was real (and due to a bad gluing job). The third time he locked up his brakes and bumped into someone who really did crash. That does not qualify as three crashes in my book.

+ someone took a headdive over his back-wheel...

 

[richwagmn]

Well skippy, what does that have really have to do with it?

Just because someone is a ProTour cyclist, does that mean they are excused from the laws of gravity, and from the trauma of a fall at that speed? Get real.

I think he's saying that none of us are pro tour cyclists. Just a guess...

 

[ricara]

Just curious, has anyone here ever busted their a$$ at 60-65kph, gotten back on their bike and just kept hauling it to catch the next group then to be dropped once you got back on cause maybe the fall took out of you more than you thought?

Yeah, me neither.

No, man. When I got my first "real" racing bike with sew-ups, it was used. The tires weren't glued on and I was so green I didn't even know that sew-ups were supposed to be glued on!

So a week later, when I rolled my first tire (and last! -- I learned about proper gluing techniques in a big hurry) I broke my wrist.

And I'll repeat my question. Does the knucklehead that glued Lance's tire still have a job?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Just curious, has anyone here ever busted their a$$ at 60-65kph, gotten back on their bike and just kept hauling it to catch the next group then to be dropped once you got back on cause maybe the fall took out of you more than you thought?

Yeah, me neither.

So how do you explain a guy like Gesink, riding with a broken ulna, can still finish 3rd?
But Lance can't keep up with the best 50 after bruises and road rash...

Right

 

[python]

there is only explanation - gesink is a man (maturing perhaps still) and armstrong is a pussy (old and overbloated).

 

[Mellow Velo]

The fanboys who are currently cursing Lance's bad luck and blaming his crash for inability to match the pace of his younger and more agile opponents are conveniently forgetting one fact.

He would not have won 7 Tour's but for one fall.
In 2003, Josebo Beloki was in the form of his life and Lance was at his lowest form level.
Beloki was already turning the screw in the Alps, before Lance's debacle at Cap Decouverte.

A crash on the melting tarmac into Gap. Tire comes off.
Beloki never got up and was never the same rider.
Now that was real bad luck and great fortune for Lance.

Moral of the story? Stop whining and accept that over the years, he's had a lot more good breaks than bad.

 

[Mont Ventoux]

The bigger they are, the harder they....

You gotta believe in Karma.

This egomaniac's luck is running out.
The facade is crumbling, the Pharmastrong pillers of his empire are showing big cracks, and his weak foundation on which he built his career is washing away in an ocean of evil and filthy greed...

This guy has shown zero mercy or care for cyclists who've fallen before him, instead being the first to call them out for " not knowing how to ride a bike".

Can't really find any sympathy for someone who left the sport on a high (albeit, a pharmaceutically enhanced high) only to return to feed that incessantly hungry ego 3 years later and disrupt an already established team built around a Tour winner- Alberto.
What a shameful and self-servicing "come-back".

What does he expect, that the cycling Gods well pave his way with good fortune?

He's lucky enough that he didn't crack his head on that curb...and that's where his luck will end.

Hog and uniballer will very likely concoct some plan for the remainder of the Tour, look for a typical Pharmastrong Foundation morally bankrupt manoeuvre.

My sympathies to all the LA-fanboys who had to witness such a huge fall from grace...stay tuned, more tumbling to come.

 

[131313]

Just curious, has anyone here ever busted their a$$ at 60-65kph, gotten back on their bike and just kept hauling it to catch the next group then to be dropped once you got back on cause maybe the fall took out of you more than you thought?

Yeah, me neither.

Actually, I have been in that exact scenario, including having two teammates drop back to pace me back up. That's why I find so many of the comments here so ludicrous. The result was the same, by the way.

Yesterday, there was about a minute gap to make up in about 5 to 7K's. The peloton was in full throttle thanks to Team Delusional...err...Team Sky. Then Astana hits the front when the climb starts. There was no chance. I doubt that Armstrong in his absolute prime would have fared any differently. These were pretty much impossible circumstances.

Comparing it to Evan's crash 6K's into the race is just silly. Completely different circumstances, and you can't judge someone's injuries by looking at them.

On the other hand, the LA fanboys don't do themselves any favors by completely fabricating 2 other "crashes" that didn't actually happen, just because it fits their narrative of their fallen hero.

 

[ricara]

Can't really find any sympathy for someone who left the sport on a high (albeit, a pharmaceutically enhanced high) only to return to feed that incessantly hungry ego 3 years later and disrupt an already established team built around a Tour winner- Alberto.
What a shameful and self-servicing "come-back".

Word on the street is that the reason he did it was to raise money for a gubernatorial run in Texas. That takes at least $20 million. I guess Sheryl spent too much of his money. Either that or he didn't want to tap into his Swiss bank accounts -- they look at campaign finances pretty closely....

 

[King Of Molehill]

Lance doesn't seem to have the form to overcome all his bad luck. That said, like some of the other posters, I think it is unfortunate to see him dropped out of the GC this way. He may have gotten ridden off of wheels either way, but it is hard to know now.

The way he was riding previous to this stage suggested otherwise so I would have been very surprised if he would have been dropped otherwise. I'd say not. And to be clear I'm not a Lance fan or a hater either I just like a good bike race. Assuming Lance recovers or isn't otherwise injured my suspicion is that he will still make something of this race and maybe, just maybe, teach Levi something called 'attacking' (although I doubt it will happen ;- )

 

[SoNiK4]

there is only explanation - gesink is a man (maturing perhaps still) and armstrong is a pussy (old and overbloated).

Man is flesh and blood, agreed, but so is pussy.....but I digress.

We can only speculate what we think LA felt or didn't feel when he fell, depending on how he landed etc, etc.

He has had unbelievable luck over his career with regards to falls and other problems in general.

I've had friends fall at 25mph, get back up and continue racing no problem (obviously nothing seriously wrong).

Have also had someone clip my back wheel at 17mph and go down. Result?

Broken collarbone (requiring surgery), 2 broken ribs and a punctured lung. No riding for him after that fall...straight to hospital. You just never know how a fall will affect a person, that's all I'm saying.

 

[pedaling squares]

Exactly, Lance really crashed once, as did Evans, who I seem to remember did pretty well later on.

I didn't see Evans's crash but he didn't make it sound like a big deal. After seeing his crash I can hardly fault Armstrong for being cooked and unable to hang with the lead pack. I didn't expect him to do well in the big mountains this year but stage 8 was not the kind of stage that I expected would result in him being dropped. I think the crash and the chase just did him in.

there is only explanation - gesink is a man (maturing perhaps still) and armstrong is a pussy (old and overbloated).

Sure a broken arm sounds worse than mere road rash but you have to think that Armstrong took a hell of a beating in that crash. A broken arm can be severely debilitating or simply painful. Sliding on the ground at speed can drain the energy out of you in the short term.

 

[editedbymod]

As Jean-Francois Bernard reminds us in today's Equipe, luck - good or bad - really has nothing to do with it. Staying upright is a question of concentration, placement and bike handling skills all of which seemed to desert Armstrong on Sunday. Excuses include saddle sore/banged up hip/bonking but definitely not pressure of being under federal investigation.

 

[dolophonic]

Also if Lance was really in good form he would not have been sitting behind the Uskatel riders that binned it. He and his teammates would have been setting the tempo to limit his losses not sitting on the wheel of riders that had been dropped.
This just reinforced the perception that he threw in the towel.
Clipping your pedal in a corner is not really the kind of thing you see a TDF contender do.
Pressure .. either makes diamonds or bursts pipes...

 

[Benotti69]

maybe next year he can ride the TdF for Euskaltel...

 

[Ninety5rpm]

Actually, I have been in that exact scenario, including having two teammates drop back to pace me back up. That's why I find so many of the comments here so ludicrous. The result was the same, by the way.

Yesterday, there was about a minute gap to make up in about 5 to 7K's. The peloton was in full throttle thanks to Team Delusional...err...Team Sky. Then Astana hits the front when the climb starts. There was no chance. I doubt that Armstrong in his absolute prime would have fared any differently. These were pretty much impossible circumstances.

Comparing it to Evan's crash 6K's into the race is just silly. Completely different circumstances, and you can't judge someone's injuries by looking at them.

On the other hand, the LA fanboys don't do themselves any favors by completely fabricating 2 other "crashes" that didn't actually happen, just because it fits their narrative of their fallen hero.

An outstanding post among some very good ones. It wasn't the crash itself that took it out of him; it was the effort to catch up with the peloton group when they were going full gas. Horner helped and later did better, but his assistance was in getting LA to the front of the peloton from the back. He had been waiting up to that point, so his effort wasn't as much.

And yes, the other two "crashes" were inconsequential.

 

[Broken Spoke]

Just curious, has anyone here ever busted their a$$ at 60-65kph, gotten back on their bike and just kept hauling it to catch the next group then to be dropped once you got back on cause maybe the fall took out of you more than you thought?

Yeah, me neither.

There are plenty of examples in this race and previous versions of guys getting well busted up in crashes and finishing stages with determination. Did you not watch stage 2 where Hansen broke his collarbone and then came back to the front to drive the train for Cavendish? Gerrans finished the stage yesterday with a broken arm, Van de Velde rolled home on stage 3 with busted ribs...

I was frankly astonished to see Armstrong pack it in and ride to Avoriaz like it was a cafe run. It wasn't his "a$$" that got busted in that crash - it was his head.

Soft.