Stage 8: Station des Rousses - Morzine-Avoriaz 189km

[Thee_chisa]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/8808770.stm

demise of larry

 

[Larrybud]

Watch the "crash," Francis. Armstrong did not even attempt to avoid it. He just slowed down and, gently got off, and walked around afterward. He was looking for a way to punk out and took the opportunity what it presented itself.

I thought you were off for a ride? You were going to ride with such force today. Your buddyboys are waiting at Starbucks with your latte. You can probably get in at least 5 miles today.

 

[Anonymous]

Of course nothing would make you angrier if he quit. You need a couple more weeks lance bashing. If he quit you'd only have a day or two.

I'm sorry, have you posted about ANYTHING but your **** love for you singled balled fraud of a hero? I have. You stupid fanboys and your lack of connection with the concept of irony.

 

[roundabout]

de Weert

Hesjedal rode well, but no top 10 for him this year

 

[saganftw]

Watch the "crash," Francis. Armstrong did not even attempt to avoid it. He just slowed down and, gently got off, and walked around afterward. He was looking for a way to punk out and took the opportunity what it presented itself.

yes i can even imagine his thinking...driving at lets say 40 km/h...in front of him euskaltel guy falls down,and in whisker of a second LA is thinking "o great here is a crash,lets not avoid it and use it as an excuse for not being in form"

hatred for a rider is one thing,but saying any rider intentionally crash into other is just ridiculous

 

[BroDeal]

Hope rides again.

I'm doing it for them.

Hope dropped again.

 

[Publicus]

yes i can even imagine his thinking...driving at lets say 40 km/h...in front of him euskaltel guy falls down,and in whisker of a second LA is thinking "o great here is a crash,lets not avoid it and use it as an excuse for not being in form"

hatred for a rider is one thing,but saying any rider intentionally crash into other is just ridiculous

He definitely wasn't going 40 kmh. He had already quit by then, so this is actually moot.

 

[bobs nob]

Of course nothing would make you angrier if he quit. You need a couple more weeks lance bashing. If he quit you'd only have a day or two.

If he quits, I wonder if some of his teammates might start remembering things that they have been paid to forget. He owes it to them, in more ways than one. But let's just leave it at being a good teammate, OK?

 

[Larrybud]

I love your adam myerson quote. It's just so virile. It makes you seem like a macho, macho, macho man. But I'm sure you're a cat 1 boy. Your name defines irony.

 

[I Watch Cycling In July]

He should quit - quitting is for ever.........

 

[ulrikmm]

I will only have a modicum of respect for Armstrong IF he stays in the race and rides for the team. If he quits, I will confirm everything I have said about him. He likes to talking about "quitting is forever." Well, not quitting when you are not winning shows real character. Quitting because you have no chance to win shows that you are a weak person.

I agree. But the coming days will show whether the old texas ranger has real guts.

Cadel Evans certainly has impressed me over the last 2 years. Evans is a fighter, even when things are not going his way. Evans deeply deserves his current success and has my deepest respect.

 

[ScottyMuser]

Interesting day today, although the climbs weren't really that hard. And AS went away when it was the shallowest gradient - the kind of patch where Contador has hisotircally been slightly weaker tyhan Schleck et al.
The key is when they start going up real mountains (big cat 1 and Hc rather than long, but small cat 1s) what happens vis a vis Contador, Schleck and Evans.
And for thoser saying the 10 secs today is a big difference - only between Cadel and Schleck. Lets not forget that on the prologue, Schleck lost 40+ secs over km (and that was 1 of his best TTs ever!), so he could well lose plenty on contador. Whereas Evans has always TTed poorly in the last week, so unless Evans can stay 30 secs ahead before the TT it will he will probably lose a little time on Conatdor.

Also, for those saying the nullifying of stage 2 has helped Schleck stay ahead of the other rivals - well thats just plain BS. The peloton (as is usual) waited for him (and others) when they all fell due to oil on the road, yes, but once that happened, the only thing the nullfying did was help Petacchi, Cav et al - the sprinters teams (the only ones wanting to make a race of it) were never going to distance Saxo, Astan et al on the finish. Yes, it was probably not the correct thing to happen, but it did NOT advantage Saxo in anyway, as it was only the *sprint* that was nullfiied.

Today a similar thing happened with many riders falling early (include LA, CE) and the peloton slowing to allow them back on - and then again when LA fell for the 2nd time before the climb they again waited for him before resuming with the racing. Just because he clearly is not good enough any more to stay with the pace on a small climb doesn't mean they hadn't waited for him etc.

 

[Climbing]

But who the hell cares about Armstrong?
Camon we talked about him for an eternety... now it's over, leave space to the new guys!
Kreuziger looked strong enough to follow Sanchez and Schleck, but when he saw he couldnt go alone kinda waited for Basso, like not wanting to let him lose time, watching back a couple of times.
But maybe I'm wrong and simply he didn't have the strengh to follow them.
What do you think?

 

[BroDeal]

I thought you were off for a ride? You were going to ride with such force today. Your buddyboys are waiting at Starbucks with your latte. You can probably get in at least 5 miles today.

I did more than 350 miles during the first seven days of the Tour. Let me guess. You were too busy shining your Trek in front of the TV. I expect we will see a barely used Trek on eBay later today.

 

[jaylew]

Andy picked the absolute perfect time to attack. AC had just covered a couple of attacks, including a particularly brutal one from Gesink. That said, he certainly doesn't seem to be on his top form.

All in all, almost a perfect day for me:

AC strong but Andy and Cadel looking like they are going to make him work for it.
The WC in the yellow jersey.
Armstrong and Wiggins out / Menchov, Gesink, Levi, Kreuz, Sastre still in.
4 of my fantasy guys finish at the front.
Sammy looking strong.

I just wish Horner had been able to ride his own race.

 

[editedbymod]

He should quit - quitting is for ever.........

I think he can get the word cancer 13 times into his "I'm leaving the Tour" statement.

 

[RedheadDane]

Not Armstrong's day, huh? Gotta say; I LoL'ed of Breschel's head-dive over Armstrong's wheel...

 

[zapata]

here's a picture for the australians; a yellow bmc with the WC-stripes on it:

http://twitpic.com/24ex1d

good stage today. unsure if contador really showed weakness at the end, but if he did, it might make for an interesting race. too bad it's overshadowed by the armstrong-debacle.

 

[hfer07]

I'm glad we the fans finally are witnessing the LA chapter being closed and buried-so lets get into the race
Congrats to ASchleck-very smart move & well timed attack.
Congrats to superdomestic Navarro- I thought he even was going to contest the win- He's a beast!!
AC showed some weakness today-& it wasn't about tactics at all-I wonder if Andy had gone earlier he could have followed at all.....
Evans now in yellow needs to loose that jersey the first chance he has-otherwise he'll repeat the 08 mistake and this time than ever, he has a concrete chance to surprise the world.

Overall the race now is on and great to see it going through in a fierce battle.

 

[Big Doopie]

...today looked like normal armstrong.

the one from 1993-96.

no ability to recover.

losing a dozen minutes in one mountain stage.

this is probably what he would have done his whole career without ferrari and the complicit uci.

that is why he is the worst of frauds.

 

[Larrybud]

I did more than 350 miles during the first seven days of the Tour. Let me guess. You were too busy shining your Trek in front of the TV. I expect we will see a barely used Trek on eBay later today.

Love ya broDeal. Been fishin' for that quote. Finally cast the proper lure. Thank you and good luck.

 

[ad9898]

Well as far as Armstrong goes, today reminded me of Indurain in '96, every dog has it's day, and just as Indurain had his day up to Les Arcs, so today was Armstrong's.

He's been a great Tour rider, it will show character if he doesn't quit.

 

[Wallace]

Remember all that talk about what a weak team Astana is, and how Radioshack got all the good riders. That was so long ago...

It'll be interesting to watch RS ride for Levi. Horner seems to be the second strongest rider on that team, then Kloden. I could see Levi finishing in the top five, if the team works 100% for him. I don't see Levi getting ahead of Menchov though, and certainly not Contador, Evans or the Schlecklet. Basso is still a big question mark for me. The last few days of the race should be fun.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Armstrong is Rocky, but without the Hollywood ending.
Should have stayed retired, but the myth was well and truly KO'D, today.

 

[bobs nob]

[/thread]

We are descending into mindless yapping. More than willing to take it to the LA thread. But it's time to get it outta here.

But as for the stage, what is AC's strategy henceforth? I am a little concerned. Not to make excuses for him, but...

I was wondering ever since after Floyd's allegations if some riders pulled back on their program while others stuck to plan A which would create some 'odd events'. I am really not trying get too much in the clinical/muckraking zone here but it's been on my mind for quite a while.