TdF stge 1 Monaco ITT, 15.50 km

[Anonymous]

One thing that we most forget is that Lance has already won. He still creating the biggest swindle a second time around.

He's already banked 3 million from turning up to races alone probably another 10 from Nike, book deals etc.

Regardless of who wins they'll never earn that sort of cash......... what pleasures me most is that even thou he'll finish 23rd 27 minutes down there are people who are stupid enough to invest in him with their money and time..... what a joke.

Hats off to Lance... he's got the ball to take the money and run....... but for now bike racing please.

There, fixed that.

 

[Amsterhammer]

One thing that we most forget is that Lance has already won. He still creating the biggest swindle a second time around.

He's already banked 3 million from turning up to races alone probably another 10 from Nike, book deals etc.

Regardless of who wins they'll never earn that sort of cash......... what pleasures me most is that even thou he'll finish 23rd 27 minutes down there are people who are stupid enough to invest in him with their money and time..... what a joke.

Hats off to Lance... he's got balls to take the money and run....... but for now bike racing please.

You sure like to do your handle justice, huh?

This is the topic about today's stage. Your n'th little anti Lance diatribe really has no business here. Now why not run along, there's a good fellow, and start your own 'I hate Lance' topic in the general forum.

 

[Parrot23]

Menchov looked totally cooked. Is this the di Luca's "revenge" as it were (ie. Menchov had to turn himself inside out to beat him)?

Wondering because Levi is not toast and neither is Nibali, and what about Pelizotti? On a climbing TT normally he would do better, so maybe he's also paying the Giro podium price too. Looks like it's a high one.

I have to say, I still don't quite believe Cancellara. I remember how Zabriskie TT'ed when he was at CSC. These claims about a threat overall make me wonder about too easy a belief. But delighted he's not being beaten by a Schumi. How anyone believed that last year, I don't know.

 

[Anonymous]

Menchov looked totally cooked. Is this the di Luca's "revenge" as it were (ie. Menchov had to turn himself inside out to beat him)?

Wondering because Levi is not toast and neither is Nibali, and what about Pelizotti? On a climbing TT normally he would do better, so maybe he's also paying the Giro podium price too. Looks like it's a high one.

I have to say, I still don't quite believe Cancellara. I remember how Zabriskie TT'ed when he was at CSC. These claims about a threat overall make me wonder about too easy a belief. But delighted he's not being beaten by a Schumi. How anyone believed that last year, I don't know.

Yea, Potatohead wasn't fooling anyone.

 

[BroDeal]

Menchov looked totally cooked. Is this the di Luca's "revenge" as it were (ie. Menchov had to turn himself inside out to beat him)?

Wondering because Levi is not toast and neither is Nibali, and what about Pelizotti? On a climbing TT normally he would do better, so maybe he's also paying the Giro podium price too. Looks like it's a high one.

You can always count on something going wrong for Menchov at the Tour. I think he just had a jour sans. He will now proceed to ride fine the rest of the Tour, but the loss today will rob him of any chance of winning.

Cancellara may be able to hold on for quite a while, but he will eventually crack. The question is does Riis allow him to bury himself trying to limit his losses and thus become less useful for supporting Andy Schleck. I think Cancellara will pay Schleck back for fading away at the TdS.

 

[Amsterhammer]

You can always count on something going wrong for Menchov at the Tour. I think he just had a jour sans. He will now proceed to ride find the rest of the Tour, but the loss today will rob him of any chance of winning.

..is almost certainly the right answer. Breukink said tonight that Menchov had no excuses other than that it was simply an 'off day'. He also said that Gesink would continue to have a free role in the team. Menchov stays leader.

 

[whiteboytrash]

You sure like to do your handle justice, huh?

This is the topic about today's stage. Your n'th little anti Lance diatribe really has no business here. Now why not run along, there's a good fellow, and start your own 'I hate Lance' topic in the general forum.

Where do I put the "Cancellara from the Saxo Bank team in yellow" thread ?

The knife cuts deep.

 

[Parrot23]

By the way, where are Ninety5rpm and BYU123?

On his Twitter vid. in the car post the TT, when asked how he felt he did, Lance first changed the subject twice and only then discussed his TT. From the whole vid, I think the day is not what he expected. I think he wanted to surprise to the upside (his effort looked total 100% to me, no doubt about it).

 

[BroDeal]

By the way, where are Ninety5rpm and BYU123?

They are crying their eyes out underneath their bedroom posters of The Lance. BYU is angry because he spent a small fortune on tissues and lotion in preparation for the Tour.

 

[TourLeTour]

Cancellara may be able to hold on for quite a while, but he will eventually crack. The question is does Riis allow him to bury himself trying to limit his losses and thus become less useful for supporting Andy Schleck. I think Cancellara will pay Schleck back for fading away at the TdS.

Cancellara and Riis are both very professional, and Cancellara is amazing as a rider. I think he will hold it for a while, but let it go when it is too hard to hold, and still work like a demon for Andy. I note that Riis did say he would like to hold it for the whole trip this year, sounds to me like this is all part of the plan.

 

[Amsterhammer]

They are crying their eyes out underneath their bedroom posters of The Lance. BYU is angry because he spent a small fortune on tissues and lotion in preparation for the Tour.

Not that I can answer for them, but they might be partaking of a life, unlike us sad ****s.

As a card-carrying, but realistic fanboy, I'm not at all disappointed by Lance losing a mere 22 seconds to the man everyone says is 'the' man. I certainly never expected him to come close to winning today.

 

[BroDeal]

Not that I can answer for them, but they might be partaking of a life, unlike us sad ****s.

That could be. I did four hundred plus miles in the last five days plus the occasional trail run and I am too freaking tired to go out today like I planned. It sucks too because mentally I am pretty stoked.

 

[joeags]

Remember that the video feed and the on screen time information comes from the master Tour feed that everybody gets. They've said this many times in past races that they are just prisoners at times to the feed.

I am Anti Versus.

The clock was off, sometimes the French timer showed up in the picture, they did not stop the clock at the intermediate line, they did not show the intermediate times of the people (even major contenders) at the intermediate line (they had to GUESS their times),

How do you expect them to make any money? You think that they're getting lots of dough from Bbox telecom and Rabobank? Of course there's going to be tons of commercials, but on the bright side, we'll get to see the last 20-30 minutes of all major climbs commercial free.

too many breaks (it's cycling, ads are on the jersey's of riders, no more commercials required),

Only taking about what 95% of the viewing public cares to hear. How many millions of Americans are posting online about cycling, and how much they hate Lance? Not happening. I agree, it is overboard, but they're only talking about what sells on tv.

too much yapping about Lance while knowing squat about other riders (erm not knowing Kreuziger's TT abilities, expecting Grabsch to be in the mix today?)...

Trying to be too flashy on TV (their own computerized fancy little screens with 'info') does not work if the general content of the show is really poor...And even then, they couldn't get the tech right.

Embarrasing

 

[Bala Verde]

Remember that the video feed and the on screen time information comes from the master Tour feed that everybody gets. They've said this many times in past races that they are just prisoners at times to the feed

It never ever seems to be a problem for the Dutch, Belgian and italian channels I have watched. They often just keep the french screens, timers and other panels instead of "versus-fying" it.

How do you expect them to make any money? You think that they're getting lots of dough from Bbox telecom and Rabobank? Of course there's going to be tons of commercials, but on the bright side, we'll get to see the last 20-30 minutes of all major climbs commercial free.

Sporza and NOS have no commercials, and non stop chatter from decent commentators for over 3 hours...NO COMMERCIALS! Pretty good system huh

 

[BroDeal]

Sporza and NOS have no commercials, and non stop chatter from decent commentators for over 3 hours...NO COMMERCIALS! Pretty good system huh

My issue with the commercials is that half of them are promos for Versus itself. They advertise for a program while you are watching it. It makes no sense. Add in the intros and exits to every commercial break, and that is a lot of time wasted.

 

[Bala Verde]

My issue with the commercials is that half of them are promos for Versus itself. They advertise for a program while you are watching it. It makes no sense. Add in the intros and exits to every commercial break, and that is a lot of time wasted.

I taped it, and tuned in a good 45 minutes later (was watching Williams v. Williams in London)... I almost caught up with the live show when I fast forwarded through every commercial bloc. That means, I'll watch the show delayed by approx an hour so I don't have to waste time on those silly promos

 

[joeags]

Interesting on both notes. I won't say anything about the "versus-fying" it as you so put it, as they definitely do that, but cut them a bit of slack!!!

As for commercials... Vs has to pay for the NHL coverage somehow...!!!

Thanks for the follow up; I guess I'm just trying to say that I'm happy to be able to watch a tv feed, instead of relying on the internet viewing from my HTPC on the plasma, and am fine with the trade-offs!

It never ever seems to be a problem for the Dutch, Belgian and italian channels I have watched. They often just keep the french screens, timers and other panels instead of "versus-fying" it.

Sporza and NOS have no commercials, and non stop chatter from decent commentators for over 3 hours...NO COMMERCIALS! Pretty good system huh

 

[Bala Verde]

Interesting on both notes. I won't say anything about the "versus-fying" it as you so put it, as they definitely do that, but cut them a bit of slack!!!

I'm spoiled I know. It's just because it compares so badly with what I was used to...

 

[Anonymous]

Interesting on both notes. I won't say anything about the "versus-fying" it as you so put it, as they definitely do that, but cut them a bit of slack!!!

As for commercials... Vs has to pay for the NHL coverage somehow...!!!

Thanks for the follow up; I guess I'm just trying to say that I'm happy to be able to watch a tv feed, instead of relying on the internet viewing from my HTPC on the plasma, and am fine with the trade-offs!

and finally they are using real HD. took them long enough. monaco looked great on a cloudy day.

 

[joeags]

Just read Versus may be using their own information boxes and no feeds due to the HD nature of the broadcast. Sorry if my previous information was wrong... climbing back into my hole.

 

[Animal]

That could be. I did four hundred plus miles in the last five days plus the occasional trail run and I am too freaking tired to go out today like I planned. It sucks too because mentally I am pretty stoked.

That's the way to plan your training/racing schedule!

The opposite way to the pros. A downtime during July. It's the way I always used to arrange my year when I was racing.

 

[runninboy]

I am not one of Lances fans but i gotta say i think his tt is a little suspect.
I think this is some more gamesmanship, i deal with actors & he is a bad one.
Like the time he was "in trouble" years ago, please.
This whole thing of contador being the leader, yeah right. Now you have Kloden, Levi &AC all supposedly stronger than LA because of a short tt,
so when push comes to shove are you gonna try & mark LA too?
"No he can't even tt anymore let him go"
this is like Bruyneel sending riders in a break just to get ahead of the pack, then get "dropped" to work with the teammates bridging up to them.

If you don't designate LA as team leader ok, but you reinforce it by a weak TT. As other people have mentioned his cadence was slower. Why? because he was weak or maybe holding back. Did you notice how many times he sat up on the down hill? If he was going all out you really think he would freewheel in a short tt?
Then you add in the post race interview with frankie that he was more than happy to give. If he truly was weak, I think he would be doing a little more posturing. And then afterwards would say it was part of the strategy to keep the focus on him. Remember he is an egomaniac, which contributes to his bad acting.
Remember Hinault attacking Lemond? Yeah that was all about helping Greg.
It was when he lost but if Hinault would have won there would have been a different story, all part of a strategy then, same thing now.