Posted on 07/21/2006 1:49:41 AM PDT by Aeronaut
Daily coverage of the Tour de France.
Didn't take long for the escape to be established w/ the 'right' players, there wasn't any of the back-and-forth between the pack & breakaway before the peloton approved of the lead group. Looks like everyone knows what's supposed to happen today - rest for the GC contenders.
No shiite, iggie! I saw several reviews / diaries where they mentioned, in awe, the power and speed that Landis was generating yesterday.
I will check it out.
For me today is a recovery day as well. What an awesome rush yesterday was. Floyd has stamped himself firmly into Tour lore no matter what happens tomorrow, and if he wins this thing Yesterday's ride will be talked about for years.
Floyd Landis yesterday put himself in rare company. His ride will be remembered right next to the best rides of Eddy Merckx, bernard Hinault, Greg Lemond, and Lance Armstrong.
When people point to great comebacks/breaks they will always mention Floyd's Stage 17 right next to Lemonds Paris TT, Armstrongs 7 min run and hide TT, Miguel Indurains 35 min L'Alpe D'huez, and Armstrongs amazing destruction of Jan Ullrich on L'Alpe D'huez.
Today's going to be pretty ho-hum.
Levi is in the break because he wants to keep his place in the Top 10. He knows he is going to tank it in the TT tomorrow.
vision, where is that yahoo link with the ticker that you gave me yesterday?(I think I forgot to thank you for it, sorry!) I like it better than the one I'd been using at bicycling.com. THANKS!
never mind. found it!
For those who are Golf Fans -- Tiger Woods did the golf version of Floyd's ride today, as he decimated the Royal Hoylake course and has taken a 3 shot lead in the British Open. So much for all the "Tiger is dead" stories.
I watched the 5 to 7 PM EDT coverage after knowing Floyd blew the race apart. Except for the last half hour it was mostly commercials. Not impressed with OLN but they are the only game in town. Watching Bob Roll talking with his hands is very enjoyable. OutLANDISh - go Floyd!!
'morning, BaBa! What place in the Top 10? Do you mean Top 20?
Can anyone figure out why Saunier Duval-Prodir is leading the peloton?
Maybe they just want the TV exposure today or something?
Maybe because their jerseys are partly yellow they think they are on Landis' team?
Uh. yeah.
I forgot about Levi's Hincapie-like performance yesterday.
Current Overall Standings
1. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B. 3248.6km in 80:08:49
2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 00:12
3. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, at 0:30
4. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, at 2:29
5. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, at 3:08
As they they performed in Stage 7
(Times listed are actual times and not relative to other riders' performances)
2. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 01:02:44
8. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 01:03:26
11. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:03:32
18. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 01:03:54
23. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., 01:04:24
With similair splits the GC heading into Paris would look like this
1. Landis
2. Sastre :52
3. Perreiro 1:10
4. Kloden 2:41
5. Evans 3:26
Giving that this TT is 5KM longer and also a little hillier, seems to point to Floyd actually doing slightly better than those splits.
Velonews suggested earlier today that some of the minor teams would probably be the ones expected to do the work today as the Leaders teams protected and rested. Might be why Saunier is up there --- May also be a way for the sponsor to get some TV exposure.
The manager of the Bouygues Telecom team was recently interviewed by a France Television reporter. Jean-Rene Bernaudeau was asked why Saunier Duval was chasing and what he believe the chances of Jerome Pineau were should the escape succeed.
“The Saunier Duval-Prodir team is riding at the head of the peloton because David Millar’s escape bid failed and this is a form of punishment," said Bernaudeau.
I was surprised by I believe the Tour Director - he compared Landis to Eddy Merckx (specifically his ride through the pyrenees).
I mentioned yesterday that I think Landis' ride yesterday is in my Top 3 all-timers, right behind Lemond's TT into Paris in 1989, and Lance's climb on Hautacam in 2000 (in my mind, that's where LA's Tour dominance started).
I meant to thank you for your opus yesterday, commish, you helped me identify a lot of the stuff I was feeling about Floyd's disaster the day before. I too wanted him to do Lance-like things, knowing full well that they're as different as can be personality-wise, that Landis has shiite for a team this year, and it's just a completely different Tour this year. Well done, and thanks!
You do realize that Landis is now the same age as Lance when Lance started his streak? I doubt that anyone can duplicate LAs streak (as they said about Indurain, too! :), but he's coming into his prime as a racer now. If only he can transcend that hip thing!
His ride will be remembered right next to the best rides of Eddy Merckx, bernard Hinault, Greg Lemond, and Lance Armstrong.
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