I have a different take. I’ve been really impressed with Lance’s team first attitude since he crashed. Since then he’s done nothing but reiterate he wants RadioShack to win the team competition and work to move Levi up. They are in a tight battle with Caisse for the overall team competition. According to the cycling news tracker, on one of today’s early climbs Lance buried himself leading the peloton up a 10km 3% climb to keep two Caisse riders close. They did the that uphill stretch at 30 mph with Lance on the front. (I saw Horner confirm that too talking about how hard Lance worked today.) Even on the day Lance crashed when Horner stayed back with him, Lance sent Horner up the road for placing in the team competition. To me it seems like Lance is doing domestique work during the ride then spinning to the finish to prepare for the next day. And he seems very relaxed, cracking smiles, cutting up, making fun of Kloden and cracking jokes with Frankie. And RadioShack took over the team lead today by 21 seconds.
And I think Levi still has a chance to get the 3rd place spot. He’s in 6th place 1:21 behind Sanchez and can make that up in the time trial next Saturday. The problem is Menchov is also ahead of him in 4th place and Menchov can time trial fairly well. On Fri, Jul 16, 2010 at 7:15 PM, mary dorsey <[email protected]> wrote: > I was hoping he would work for Levi, but I thought Levi was too far behind > to catch a podium finish; but I'm a bit behind as the TWC cut off my stage > watching last night. I need to catch up tonight to see if Levi has a chance > and if Lance is really brooding. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Bux > Sent: Friday, July 16, 2010 7:06 PM > To: North Raleigh Cyclists (Gyros) > Subject: [Gyros: 16059] Re: Lance's Tour...what might we expect? > > > For me, if Lance would truly work for Levi and help to get him into > the 3rd spot on the podium I would feel he really went out on top > showing that he was not only a great champion but a class act and team > player. Unfortunately based on his interviews that I have seen and his > riding the last 2 days, it seems he is brooding as a sore loser and is > not willing to bury himself for the greater good of the team. Time > will tell, just my take so far, I think the federal investigation is > also weighing on him, seems like that is going to get ugly....... > On Jul 16, 4:34 pm, <[email protected]> wrote: >> Being a true Lance fan it pains me to see how his Tour hopes have come > undone. The reasons are many and a bit complicated, but suffice it to say > even the most pessimistic predictions of his chances to win would have been > much too lenient. >> >> Now, Lance fans are left to wonder what to expect of him. Will he work for > Levi, and, if he does what exactly would he be working towards? Levi cannot > make up the time deficit on Schleck and Contador, barring tragedy. Is it > worth using the entire team to help Levi to a possible podium finish? >> >> I really thought that Lance still feels as though he can do something > special in his final tour, and, this would mean winning a stage and wearing > yellow one final time. But, he has lost time to the main field in the last 2 > stages, which is not a great sign. If he is in good form you would think > that he would at least stay in contact with the main field. Yesterday, he > lost 29 seconds to the main field on a sprinters stage. Why would he do > this? Are you going to tell me that Lance cannot stay with the peloton in > the final miles of a sprinter's race? >> >> And, he was well behind in today's stage. I cannot rationalize this. It is > unimagineable that Lance would drop out of the tour...but, he certainly is > not riding like someone who is into it. >> >> I am hoping that Radio Shack is focusing on a particular stage for Lance > to win, but I am unable to see which one that would be. Scheck and Contador > will be fighting it out in the Pyrenees, so those stages will be difficult > to win...the sprinters will be gearing up for the final sprint stages, and I > can't see Radio Shack setting him up for a win in a sprint stage; and, > Contador will have much more at stake in the final Time Trial and will > certainly outride Lance. >> >> Right now, what is Lance riding for? His motivation has always been to > win; can he handle just going through the motions and waiting for this thing > to end? >> >> Or, is he going to do something very special? >> >> I am hoping that he gives us something pretty quick! Today he left without > talking to any reporters, which he has not done thus far. Please, oh God of > cycling, do not provide us with the worst case scenario which has Lance > quitting the tour. >> >> Give him a stage win. > > -- > You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] > > -- > You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] > -- You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected]
