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.
History made AGAIN! Lance Armstrong # 7.
Lance wins the ITT stage!
Break out the champers!!
Rasmussen last across the line at 1:19:33.34 (77th overall).
Lance was loafing - he lost 12 sec to Jan from the last check!
Basso finishes 1:31 behind Ullirch, a safe margin into Paris.
Proof's in the pudding! And skerry comes in somewhere further back.
Exactly a great way to finish the last real stage of your racing career.
1. Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel
2. Ivan Basso (ITA) -4.42
3. Jan Ullrich (GER) T-Mobile -6.21
4. Francesco Mancebo (SPA)
WOW! It is hard to believe that Armstrong is that much better than the rest.
USA USA USA USA
BTW - Lance's mom is a babe. Sweet.
Unofficial finish -
Lance Armstrong - 1:11:46.030
Jan Ullrich - 1:12:09.090
Alexander Vinokourov - 1:13:02.560
Bobby Julich - 1:13:19.130
Ivan Basso - 1:13:40.330
Floyd Landis - 1:13:48.200
Cadel Evans - 1:13:52.020
George Hincapie - 1:14:11.930
Francisco Mancebo - 1:14:37.310
Vladimir Karpets - 1:14:51.670
Selected other notables -
Yaroslav Popovych - 11th (1:14:55.240)
Levi Leipheimer - 14th (1:14:59.310)
Michael Rasmussen - 77th (1:19:33.340)
And Levi the USA successor to Lance may move into the top 5 depending on the times of Vino and Evans.
Lance was loafing - he lost 12 sec to Jan from the last check!
Continuing the GC with 4th -
Francisco Mancebo -9:59
Levi Leipheimer -11:25
Alexander VinoKourov -11:27
Michael Rasmussen -11:33
Cadel Evans -11:55
Floyd Landis -12:44
Oscar Pereiro -16:04
Not to be too catty, but didya notice Linda (LA's Mom) looks younger than Lance's current old lady, whatsername?
THANK YOU NUTMEG for running the TdF threads again this year. What would we do without you?
with a VERY conservative work ethic. Interesting
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