Posted on 07/22/2005 10:14:20 PM PDT by nutmeg
Stage 20 - Saturday, July 23: Saint-Etienne - Saint-Etienne ITT, 55 km
The showdown! All things being equal (and even with a few inequalitites) the individual time trial should provide a great spectacle at the end of a gruelling three weeks - Armstrong thrives in this race against the clock, and his dominance is well documented. But if we have a situation like 2003, this could be the clincher for the leader going into the stage, or it could provide the challenger with a whisker of hope. Here's hoping the weather stays fine and we get Ullrich out firing and witness Basso's improvement in time trialling, which has also been well-documented. The distance suits Armstrong, but the undulating terrain suits Ullrich's ability to push the big gears and power along. A surprise may be in the works, but chances are it'll come down to these two, regardless of where they are on GC - but it's also likely they'll both be at the pointy end of the field.
Lance down 7 sec at 17 km. Rasmussen flat tar.
Basso (next year's champ) is 7 seconds ahead of LA!Rasmussen flat! OMG. The gods are just against that poor guy!
Both Sherwen and Liggett never miss a chance to praise Ullrich. I guess they're always trying to put some salve on the wounds that Lance has gouged into Ullrich over the years.
Could Ullrich pass Rassmussen for the podium slot in Paris?
What bad luck for Rasmussen
he has now
Point de chronomètrage - km 17 155riders
Last rider : 001 ARMSTRONG (USA, DSC) - 2e à 00' 07"
1- 021 BASSO (ITA, CSC) 00:25:41
2- 001 ARMSTRONG (USA, DSC) 00:25:48 07"
3- 011 ULLRICH (GER, TMO) 00:25:58 17"
4- 019 VINOKOUROV (KAZ, TMO) 00:26:10 29"
5- 044 EVANS (AUS, DVL) 00:26:20 40"
Poor Ras - fell down and now a flat... Lance is going to pass him, much less Jan.
Easily - even w/o the bad luck Ras has had. Jan put about 2:05 into Ras in the Prologue (11 miles.)
He already did so on the road before Rasmussen's flat. Indeed, he made up most of the time (1:53) in the first 17 km.
Ullrich +0.01 over Rasmussen for the Bronze!
He is a great rider. I think it is more a case they build up a rivalry and drama only to see Lance do something amazing in the last 1/3 of the TT.
Speaking of beasts, where is Tu-ray-zah?
It's that old Kerry magic. JINX!(Lie down with losers, wake up with second in the ITT)
Armstrong may pass Rassmussen on the road.
No may about it.
Another bike change for Rasmussen.
Poor Rasmussen! Phil just said he is on his 4th bike change. What a nightmare for him!
Do you really want Lance to suffer the fate of Rasmussen?
Kerry will again come in second, or more simply put, 1st loser!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.