Posted on 07/19/2006 9:15:41 PM PDT by nutmeg
Stage 17: St. Jean de Maurienne to Morzine-Avoriaz -200.5km
Course: This is almost identical to the stage in 2000 when Marco Pantani attacked on the first climb (the 15km, 6.4-percent Saisies) and forced Armstrong's U.S. Postal squad to chase for 100km over the Aravis, Colombière and Châtillon climbs to the foot of the day's main obstacle: the mighty Col de Joux-Plane (11.7km at 8.7 percent). It was partway up the Joux-Plane that Armstrong bonked and could only watch as Ullrich and others rode away from him, and he conceded almost two minutes by the finish in Morzine.
History: Morzine has seen 13 finishes of the Tour, including that one six years ago, which was the last time the ultra-steep Joux-Plane was climbed in the Tour. The only Tour winner to win a stage into Morzine was Pantani, who scored a solo victory here in 1997, the year before he won the Tour. Morzine's mountaintop neighbor, Avoriaz, has seen stage wins by two other Tour champions, Lucien Van Impe and Bernard Hinault.
Favorites: If riders are still battling for podium spots, then the Joux-Plane climb and descent suits Leipheimer and Landis. But it's more likely that a long-distance break will succeed, giving a rider like Michael Rasmussen a chance to win the stage and the King of the Mountains competition.
Graphics by CyclingNews.com
LoL. With the "suffering on the Iron Cross" comment yesterday & your haiku there, they're going to have to come out with a new, revised edition of that "Dancing on the Pedals:The Found Poetry of Phil Ligett" book!
17:21 CEST
Pereiro was probably regetting his "Let him go, he'll die in the hills" tactic on the Col des Saisies. But he still leads the classification by 11 seconds from Sastre and 31 to Landis.
He put 1:10 on Sastre, and an ungodly amount on Perreiro Sio in the first time trial.
With over 2 minutes on Kloden, Floyd is right back in the drivers seat for Saturday.
Tomorrow whould be interesting. Will Kloden and T-mobile try to attack, or will everyone behave and wait for Saturday?
And on Sunday - racing 'til the end!
'Boss, I do not think that word means what you think it does!" LOL!!!
Holy Cow! Floyd looks fresh as a daisy! I think the angels must have been pedaling for him today.He looks ready to go for another spin!
Heheh.
Phil is Phab;)
Can anyone else in contention allow Landis to be within 2' going into the ITT? They'll have to attack, unless there are other team goals to be met.
Didn't Lance have like a 1:20 lead going into Paris on one of his tours and no one bothered to attack?
1'20" is pretty compelling, esp w/ the typical short parade route into Paris
Amazing effort today.
I am speechless.
What is amazing is that Floyd has done this his way too. he did not break the backs of his teammates like others have done. Yes, he used them on the first climb, but then it was all Floyd Landis, and Saturday if he is to win, it will be all Floyd Landis.
It has been said many times that he didn't have the killer instinct to shred his team to pieces for himself. Well he found a way to do it without doing that.
Course: Although there are Cat. 2, Cat. 3 and Cat. 4 climbs in the middle section of this 197km stage from the Alps through the Jura mountains to the Saône Valley, the whole course is on wide routes nationales. The stage is likely to open with constant attacks before a breakaway establishes itself on the hills in the middle part of the stage. The last 50km are almost completely flat before the 400-meter final straightaway in the northern part of Mâcon. More
I'm sitting in my chair and still can't believe what I just saw.
I've been thinking all day - now, this is gonna make people sit up & take notice of this Tour's 'forgotten stage', tommorow's. I bet it won't just be the sprinters out there trying to snag the last few points!!
TT's are a total 'inside job' (as was Landis' ride today)
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