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No Merci
He's da man!
Like Eddy said, "gifts are for birthdays."
"The only other rider left with a chance to shine Thursday was France's Richard Virenque, who took advantage of the five climbs to secure a record seventh King of the Mountains jersey."
WOW!!!"King of the mountain jersey"
It's like a tie in a football or hockey game,"Kisssin' yer sister."
Ruthless? Damn straight!
The final two minutes of the stage this morning are something I will never forget. Lance is a friggin' cyclin' God.
More power to 'em. Those wussie French and Germans need a good humiliation. No consolation. No apology. You Lose. You Get Nothing. Good Day, Sir.
Wow...wow...wow...someone please explain to me how Lance has come back to beat the 9 minutes or so he lost after the 2nd or 3rd day.
Psyche!
This reminds me of Munich and Jesse Owens. Go Lance!
Maybe it's time to take out an ad in one of France's newspapers that reads "Vintage WWII French Military Rifles For Sale: Like New Condition, Never Fired, Only Laid Down Once"
A ruthless Lance Armstrong refused to allow his rivals a consolation stage victory as he came from behind to outsprint German Andreas Kloeden in the last few meters of the 127-mile 17th stage of the Tour de France Thursday.
Here's what the official TdF site says:
Moments after Lance Armstrong claimed his fourth successive mountain stage win in the 2004 Tour de France he echoed the sentiment offered to him on the podium by Bernard Hinault. “Perfect! No gifts.” That’s what one of the five five-time Tour champions told the rider who is about to win a sixth title. The Texan had been asked if thought he deserved to inherit the moniker of ‘The Cannibal’, the nickname given to Eddy Merckx who had an insatiable appetite for victories. And Lance was quick to respond, “No.” But that doesn’t mean he’s prepared to offer any other riders the chance to win a stage that’s within his reach.“I’ve given gifts in the Tour de France and very rarely has it ever come back to help me. This is the biggest bike race in the world,” said Armstrong. “And I want to win. No gifts.” One rider, however, was given the go-ahead to try as hard as he could to win the stage. Floyd Landis is the master’s apprentice. And today The Boss – as Armstrong has become known over the past five years – wanted the 28-year-old to enjoy the sweet taste of success at the Tour. Even if Floyd was able to achieve that, it could not have been called a gift.
Since joining the US Postal team at the start of 2002 Landis has demonstrated that he’s a capable team player. He’s usually strong on the early sections of the high mountains and is then content to get to the finish as best he can. His job description isn’t to be in front at the top of vicious climbs like the Col de la Forclaz or the Col de la Croix-Fry – the two which were tackled by the peloton in the final 50km of stage 17 – but that’s where Floyd was. As he led an elite group of five over the final summit, Armstrong turned to Landis and asked, “How bad do you want to win a stage of the Tour de France?
“Real bad,” came Floyd’s reply.
“How fast can you go down a hill?
“Real fast!
“So,” concluded Armstrong, “run like you stole something!Landis didn’t need any more prompting. Like a bullet out of a gun he was gone. Real fast was no exaggeration. But, alas poor Floyd, he’s not the only one who had the nerves and the energy to ride that way. On a day that concluded with a 13 kilometer descent Jan Ullrich was another man who doesn’t believe that there’s any place for gifts in the Tour. The German was part of the five man crew that crested the Croix-Fry climb ahead of a peloton that had been shredded from the first of the five mountains in the 204.5km stage. Floyd had never stolen anything. And in the end it was Ullrich’s compatriot and team-mate, Andreas Kloden, who did attempt to pinch the victory. Sprinting ahead of Armstrong, Landis, Ullrich and Ivan Basso in the final kilometer the German champion held a solid lead with 100m to go. But Lance chased down that bullet and, with a matter of meters remaining, shot past Kloden to win a fine sprint.
Stage 14 might not have finished at the top of a climb, but it was certainly a tough day in the mountains. Armstrong’s might have beaten Kloden may have been in a sprint but the victory set up on the cols of the Savoie. These factors are important to recognize because it means that Lance Armstrong has become the first rider in the history of the Tour to win four successive mountain stages. The Cannibal is a title he may deserve, but he can’t take that from Merckx. Anyway, The Boss suits Armstrong. He dictates terms in the race he loves and the rest the peloton can sort out the minor prizes between them.
I think Jan (when he talked to Lance and Lance gestured ahead) asked/told Lance to extend a gift to him for a stage win. I'm certain that Lance told him if he wanted it he would have to win it. But Lance also knew that Kloden had to be tired of carrying Jan's fat ass up the Alps and this time was personal. Kloden broke and that's when it became a race.
Jan's overrated extacy fueled celebrity just met Texas grit and training. F him and f the German fans that spit on Lance. History will remember Lance while Jan is selling used cars.
Suck it up race fans, The Boss just said, "You're fired," to the Keiser.
It's called racing. Only the French could object to winning.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my Tour de France 2004 list. *Warning: This may be a high-volume ping list at times during July 2004.
Pretty incredible. Lance just bloody exploded in the last few meters.
Team Virenque (Quick.Step)
Photo ©: Caroline Yang