I don't see Lance abandoning; that's not his character. Clearly his performance since Sunday hasn't been great; he's been riding alone, not in obvious support of Levi. Hard to read exactly what that means. He may need a few days of mental regrouping before going at it with his usual determination. Don't forget he fell hard @ 60KMH; his body isn't likely @ 100%. When/if he can, I think he'll support Levi; may even go for a stage win. The rest of the GC contenders may even let him, given he's out of contention. Contador will wear yellow in Paris; he's clearly climbing better than Schleck & can TT beter as well. Hard to figure who'll be the third person on the podium. Levi has a shot at that. The team GC is very important to the sponsor (even tho it gets little press compared to the 4 jerseys) and Radio Shack is currently #2 in that. Lance won't fail his sponsor, no way. Don't forget Lance makes big $$ from his endorsements; he'd screw all that up by being less than his best & trying as hard as he can to perform well. I'd guess him to lead a breakaway on a sprint stage (one of the last ones),and try to stay away for the stage win, like Chavanel has, that'd be his best shot @ a stage win.
-----Original Message----- >From: [email protected] >Sent: Jul 16, 2010 4:34 PM >To: Gyros <[email protected]> >Subject: [Gyros: 16054] Lance's Tour...what might we expect? > > >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] Build 'em & Ride 'em On a 29r 313 W Juniper Ave Wake Forest, NC 27587 -- 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]
