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.
Here in Sweden I think Eurosport will send it. Can you get that channel over there?
Outdoor Life Network (OLN).
Channel 608 if you have DirecTV.
I wish.
My Dad was telling me today that the year Greg Lemond won he was behind by something like a minute going into the final stage - so if it tightens up a little bit after the time trial you never know.
"In 1989, American Greg LeMond overcame a 50-second deficit on the final day to defeat two-time defending champion Laurent Fignon of France by eight seconds."
Read more here:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/cycling/2003-07-17-lemond-tour_x.htm
It's already over. Go trade some bonds.
He's taking off at 16:22 local time. I think there's currently a 6 hour difference (maybe 7? ET what time is it there?) so either 9:22 or 10:22 central. Add and hour to that for the finish...
Your current leader:
1 Luke Roberts, AUS (CSC) 59.23
Oops, pulled intermediate timing, should have been:
1- 025 ROBERTS (AUS, CSC) 01:15:33:910
Thanks... It's 14.52 at the moment in Oslo, and we are on central European time like Paris.. Just got up. Big party yesterday....
LOL... great pic! Hubby and I are watching...
Thanks for that picture! I'm looking at that bike trying to figure out how they manage to ride it.
Semper Fi
Ah well, let's not think about that this morning.. ;-)
Looks like a difficult TT course. A REAL race of truth today.
All these commercials are driving me nuts. I hope they have long segments when the big guns are out.
You and me both.
Man, I can't stand self-righteous creeps like that.
I was on that thread last night... unbelievable, nasty comments by people who obviously have no idea what they're talking about. It was a feeding frenzy of Lance-bashing, and so many comments were based on lies and/or rumors (as usual). ("He left his wife and kids for Sheryl", "he gave himself cancer with steroids", etc) Nice to have so many saints here at FR isn't it?
Glad you're still with us... ;-)
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