The Official LANCE ARMSTRONG Thread 2010-2011

[L'arriviste]

Cool, I posted the post of the beast! MUHAHAHA!




I wish I'd have gone for something a bit more diabolic though.

But it's me who's being haunted because I bought http://www.liestrong.org a while ago.

 

[saganftw]

Somewhere between 3 and 5, I would say
But never on the level of AC/Schleck. They were riding in their own league.

Form was obvisiously there (3.ToL, 2.TdS, 4. Prolog) - but we all saw what happenend. Just never ending bad luck.
In soccer they say: "when you have sh** on the foot, you have sh** on the foot"

Of course the haters write him down to somewhere after 15th place - (when they are in a good mood.) But I don´t care - and you shouldn´t, too
When you listened to all the haters, Lance didn´t even start this TdF or pull out. So who cares about them...they go on anyway.

i think LA was destined to fail no matter the placing in GC

lets say he pulled out...the haters would have said ahahahaaa too old to even finish

top 100...ahahahhaaaaa not even top 50...pathetic

top 20...ahaahahaaaa not even top 10...sad,he tarnished his legacy (btw whats up with this legacy BS regarding retired athletes who came back?)

top10...ahahahaaaa not even top 5...fabulous *snap-snap-snap*

top 5...ahahaaahahaa not even podium...juice isnt working?

podium...ahahahaaaa looser,AC,AS were so much better and clean

8th victory...oh noes he diiiint!...obviously doped

i think he was somewhere between 15-20 place w/o crashes,but its just couldashouldawoulda,if you want to hate you ll find your own reason

 

[Cobblestoned]

i think LA was destined to fail no matter the placing in GC

lets say he pulled out...the haters would have said ahahahaaa too old to even finish

top 100...ahahahhaaaaa not even top 50...pathetic

top 20...ahaahahaaaa not even top 10...sad,he tarnished his legacy (btw whats up with this legacy BS regarding retired athletes who came back?)

top10...ahahahaaaa not even top 5...fabulous *snap-snap-snap*

top 5...ahahaaahahaa not even podium...juice isnt working?

podium...ahahahaaaa looser,AC,AS were so much better and clean

8th victory...oh noes he diiiint!...obviously doped

i think he was somewhere between 15-20 place w/o crashes,but its just couldashouldawoulda,if you want to hate you ll find your own reason

You totally broke my concept. 15-20 ?
But your "destinated to fail"-concept looks very nice and realistic. lol
You must be a neutral hater

I don´t see that much riders, who could have ended up better than Lance in the final GC (if all went well - without the flat and bad crash).
I would say AC,AS (for sure) and perhaps Menchov, JVDB or S.Sanchez

But like you said: couldashouldawoulda
In Germany its called "hätte,wäre,wenn und aber"

But my favorite "couldashouldawoulda" for this edition of the TdF is:
"what had happened, if Frank didn´t crash out."

That was a shame. To see the Schlecks work out Contador with alternately attacking, would have been great to see. Just for the action - not because of hating Contador.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Come on that's hash, I actually think that Seatleallstar is right.

a·part
adv.
"At a distance in place, position, or time."

Though I believe the correct turn of phrase would be "apart from", not "apart of", but let's not nitpick.

I think you are giving Seattleallstar credit, where none is due.
His intended meaning, to me, is that it would have become a three-man battle, on more or less equal terms.

I agree that his poor sentence structure and typo, does leave the door open to other interpretation.

 

[flicker]

Even for a fanboy, that must be stretching the fairytale beyond it's breaking point.
He was already behind all the podium placers after stage 3.
Menchov failed to have is usual off day plus, Sanchez and JVdB
had great races.

2nd or 3rd? I'd like to know when the Badger made this bold and wildly inaccurate statement. I'll bet it was prior to stage 3.
Best guess would be 10th-15th.
He had lost his ability to accelerate on the mountains, before the race had started.

No crash had effected his stage 16 effort, where he couldn't sustain an attack, long enough to raise a sweat on Perrick Fedrigo's brow.

He rapid announcement of retirement, should be a clear marker to Lance's aging potential, even for the most blinkered of fanboys.


Delusional. Plain and simple.

What he was only down by what maybe 2 minutes after stage 3. He was ready to rev it up in stage 8 when he rolled his tire and skidded on his back. The whole peloton ganged up on Lance when they heard he was down. The last intentional crash in front of him on stage 8 threw Lances' momentum off. I hope Lance rides some meaningful race next year like the Giro and tears it up. Go Michelob Ultra.

 

[Cerberus]

I think you are giving Seattleallstar credit, where none is due.
His intended meaning, to me, is that it would have become a three-man battle, on more or less equal terms.

I agree that his poor sentence structure and typo, does leave the door open to other interpretation.

You're giving me credit where none is due, I wasn't actually making a substantive point since clearly you interpreted Seatlleallstars meaning correctly. I just thought it was funny that the typo with a bit of bad will opened up this other and far more reasonable interpretation of his words.

 

[Angliru]

What he was only down by what maybe 2 minutes after stage 3. He was ready to rev it up in stage 8 when he rolled his tire and skidded on his back. The whole peloton ganged up on Lance when they heard he was down. The last intentional crash in front of him on stage 8 threw Lances' momentum off. I hope Lance rides some meaningful race next year like the Giro and tears it up. Go Michelob Ultra.

You had your own little alternative universe Tour going on didn't you? I don't recall any "ganging up" or an "intentional crash" taking place. What momentum were you referring to, definitely not forward momentum? He was constantly getting dropped by the primary contenders at pivotal moments in the race.

 

[Publicus]

Lance finished 23rd. The crash on Stage 8 was his fault, so I'm not sure what the point is of pretending that it didn't happen (it wasn't a freak accident; he clipped his pedal).

Let it go. He had a great career. It's over now.

 

[Seattleallstar]

I think you are giving Seattleallstar credit, where none is due.
His intended meaning, to me, is that it would have become a three-man battle, on more or less equal terms.

I agree that his poor sentence structure and typo, does leave the door open to other interpretation.

what is actually funny, is that I taught English to ESL, High School seniors, and GED students for a brief moment in time.

 

[Seattleallstar]

Ok in non fanboy mode now, without the crash I realistically put him at third. It was pretty obvious that AC and Schleck were in a totally different class, but the fanboy in me wonders what if those things didnt happen. Could Lance find the something extra to drive him into their league, it was well with in the realm of his ability and drive to win. Although a point was made during his Stage 16 run he tried several times to pull away but couldnt drop anyone, but it sure nice seeing him try one more time.

 

[cyclestationgiuseppe]

Ok in non fanboy mode now, without the crash I realistically put him at third. It was pretty obvious that AC and Schleck were in a totally different class, but the fanboy in me wonders what if those things didnt happen. Could Lance find the something extra to drive him into their league, it was well with in the realm of his ability and drive to win. Although a point was made during his Stage 16 run he tried several times to pull away but couldnt drop anyone, but it sure nice seeing him try one more time.

He would have gotten 4th, right behind Fedrigo....Oh wait!

 

[L'arriviste]

Had enough of watching coverage of the sinewy old duffer getting dropped (and nothing else)? Here's one I just spotted from the other side of his career:

1993 to be exact.

Source: http://www.bobmina.com/1993_TourDeFrance.htm

 

[Barrus]

Ok in non fanboy mode now, without the crash I realistically put him at third. It was pretty obvious that AC and Schleck were in a totally different class, but the fanboy in me wonders what if those things didnt happen. Could Lance find the something extra to drive him into their league, it was well with in the realm of his ability and drive to win. Although a point was made during his Stage 16 run he tried several times to pull away but couldnt drop anyone, but it sure nice seeing him try one more time.

Well you also need to acknowledge that Armstrong was being dropped on the climbs on that stage, by Fedrigo and some others, none of whom are really part of the heavy hitters. This is a good indicator into his possibilities to follow the real leaders, or anyone in the top 10 to be honest. These possibilities were non-existant, really this was his tour too much

 

[flicker]

You had your own little alternative universe Tour going on didn't you? I don't recall any "ganging up" or an "intentional crash" taking place. What momentum were you referring to, definitely not forward momentum? He was constantly getting dropped by the primary contenders at pivotal moments in the race.

He was revvin up when the sabatoged tire role.d stage 8 second crash. He coulda been contender for mellow johnny. All the crashes and punctures were bought and paid for by evil man vinokurov. otherwis lance top podium in paris. no doubt in my mind. You did see my man Lance in the swiss tour did you not.

 

[Mellow Velo]

He was revvin up when the sabatoged tire role.d stage 8 second crash. He coulda been contender for mellow johnny. All the crashes and punctures were bought and paid for by evil man vinokurov. otherwis lance top podium in paris. no doubt in my mind. You did see my man Lance in the swiss tour did you not.

That would be the race where he finished 44th in the prologue, 11th in the ITT and 7th in the mountain stage, where Andy Schleck was playing with his acceleration?

Another worthless argument.

How and where could Armstrong have taken time from Menchov, without riding all the mountains with Schleck and Contador, given that he was a minute down after stage 3?

Or are you going to extend the "what if" fantasy to include self inflicted flat tyres?

 

[bobs nob]

Ok in non fanboy mode now, without the crash I realistically put him at third. It was pretty obvious that AC and Schleck were in a totally different class, but the fanboy in me wonders what if those things didnt happen. Could Lance find the something extra to drive him into their league, it was well with in the realm of his ability and drive to win. Although a point was made during his Stage 16 run he tried several times to pull away but couldnt drop anyone, but it sure nice seeing him try one more time.

I haven't gone back to read this whole line of thinking so what I say may be a repeat of someone else's views- so apologies beforehand. But 3rd it's pretty nutty. If he was regarded as a serious contender for a podium position do you really think he would have been allowed to go very far in the escape on stage 16.

It's just not realistic that he could have finished 3rd without a crash (that he caused himself, imo due to lack of serious preparation b/c he wasn't taking a high finish at the tdf seriously even since last year.)

 

[hrotha]

Ok in non fanboy mode now, without the crash I realistically put him at third. It was pretty obvious that AC and Schleck were in a totally different class, but the fanboy in me wonders what if those things didnt happen. Could Lance find the something extra to drive him into their league, it was well with in the realm of his ability and drive to win. Although a point was made during his Stage 16 run he tried several times to pull away but couldnt drop anyone, but it sure nice seeing him try one more time.

If his bad form had been caused by his crash, he would have improved as the stages went by. He didn't improve. His performance was consistent before and after the crash. I'll give you that it probably affected his result in the stage when it happened, but nothing more. Without it, Armstrong would have been 10-20, probably 14-17.

 

[Hugh Januss]

When he did finally go for his big stage win (after taking nearly a week off) he couldn't even drop non GC climbers like Barredo and the Little Prince.

 

[flicker]

That would be the race where he finished 44th in the prologue, 11th in the ITT and 7th in the mountain stage, where Andy Schleck was playing with his acceleration?

Another worthless argument.

How and where could Armstrong have taken time from Menchov, without riding all the mountains with Schleck and Contador, given that he was a minute down after stage 3?

Or are you going to extend the "what if" fantasy to include self inflicted flat tyres?

It is all about the investigation. Lance is feigning weakness to novitzky.

 

[indurain666]

When he did finally go for his big stage win (after taking nearly a week off) he couldn't even drop non GC climbers like Barredo and the Little Prince.

Not to mention that mediocre 53 km/h sprint at the end of the day

 

[Ryaguas]

Ok in non fanboy mode now, without the crash I realistically put him at third. It was pretty obvious that AC and Schleck were in a totally different class, but the fanboy in me wonders what if those things didnt happen. Could Lance find the something extra to drive him into their league, it was well with in the realm of his ability and drive to win. Although a point was made during his Stage 16 run he tried several times to pull away but couldnt drop anyone, but it sure nice seeing him try one more time.

Nop nop nop... Lance couldn't have made third nor even in good shape... Menchov was doing great and Samu too... maybe he did "well" in Suisse but here he couldn't have made top 15... he is old and he is not for this runs...

When he did finally go for his big stage win (after taking nearly a week off) he couldn't even drop non GC climbers like Barredo and the Little Prince.

Ufff Barredo e Il Principe Cunego! CLASS! Il Principe is a more hilly stages guy but Barredo is a strong climber! you sound like you are underrating him

 

[WonderLance]

I think we can all agree that lance would have had a solid podium finish if it wasnt for crashing.

Even after his horific crashes where he got grazes and ruined his best jersey that would have put anyone else out of the tour he continued.

Not only that but he was able to get into a break and support his team leader horner in his bid to come on the GC.

 

[La Pandera]

He was revvin up when the sabatoged tire role.d stage 8 second crash. He coulda been contender for mellow johnny. All the crashes and punctures were bought and paid for by evil man vinokurov. otherwis lance top podium in paris. no doubt in my mind. You did see my man Lance in the swiss tour did you not.

Actually no, I was too busy riding my bike.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Haven't read much of this thread, but Armstrong 3rd in 2010? No way. He didn't have the form. The climb up the Tourmalet was a fairly accurate reflection on everyone's form in the Tour and Lance was about 15th, where he would have finished at best this year overall.

I'm not a great Armstrong fan, but I still think that his comeback was worth it. His actual 3rd place from last year was absolutely incredible. When I first heard that he was returning I thought that at his age and after three years out that he would be unlikely to even make the Tour. Yet he made the podium!

 

[Oldman]

I think we can all agree that lance would have had a solid podium finish if it wasnt for crashing.

Even after his horific crashes where he got grazes and ruined his best jersey that would have put anyone else out of the tour he continued.

Not only that but he was able to get into a break and support his team leader horner in his bid to come on the GC.

I like the new Avatar, but it should have wings on it. As for LA's crashes, none looked bad enough to cost him much time or provide and excuse. He had no shot and leaves it to the uninformed to agree with Paul and Phil.