Lance wins

[geoatl]

Lance won today in Rome Georgia. The Lion King won yesterday. They head to the mountains tomorrow....Big time bike racing in Georgia. Sure beats the heck out of watching the peanuts grow!!!!! wooohooooooo!!!!

[bcm119]

I'll bet half the reason he won was that he was scared of getting caught up in a last minute pile-up. He was staying way up front and probably figured what the hell, I'm here. Apparently there were some pretty sketchy corners in the finishing circuit.

Don't forget the TT today at 4 pm eastern!

[TmcDet]

I'll bet half the reason he won was that he was scared of getting caught up in a last minute pile-up. He was staying way up front and probably figured what the hell, I'm here.


I think you are correct here

It really surprises me, I even made a comment to a friend this morning that I thought George would be the one Postal would try to set up to win this tour. I still kind of have that feeling but then again maybe Postal is wanting people to get that feeling.

[BumbleBeeDave]

<<U.S. Postal Services' Lance Armstrong finishes Stage 3 of the Tour de Georgia in first place in Rome, Ga. Thursday, April 22, 2004. (AP Photo/Rome News-Tribune, Ryan Smith) >>

[Climb01742]

wouldn't it be cool if lance's altered training schedule/regime was actually getting him in better shape? maybe its not having the emotional weight of a divorce on his shoulders, or a renewed determination, or a different training routine, or who knows, maybe its the donuts :) but lance seems to be having a good spring so far. i for one am happy for him. go lance.

[bags27]

And partly, Lance still has a hard time not trying to win when he's close to the front. That's just instinct.

That picture reminds me of an article in the NY Times just before the TdF a few years back, where the author referred to cyclists' arms as "pencil thin." Lance must be packing number 4 lead.

[Climb01742]

is it just me, or does lance's cleat position look further back than normal? granted, it's a bit hard to tell in the photo, but it looks like there is a lot of the front of the shoe's sole showing, suggesting that maybe lance positions his pedal further back. a position, if i remember correctly, the jerk advocated.

[Andreu]

Looks like the cleats are on his heels they're so far back.
What advantages are there to this position?

[Sandy]

Great observation. I didn't even notice the shoes or the cleats. They really do appear very far back.

Sandy

[bags27]

Some get more power from cleats back far, others do it to avoid hot foot. Some people even drill holes in their shoes to get them back further.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . of your optical delusion!

BBDave

[TmcDet]

I still think they are back pretty far on his feet....almost looks like the back of the pedal is at the middle of where the arch would be

[mavic1010]

they may be farther back, but not as much as u would see/think.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2004/apr04/georgia04/index.php?id=stage2/JD_tdg_stg2_7

[TmcDet]

they have to extend out farther so they can come to more of a point and cut the wind better (ok that is just bull but the again who knows)

[TmcDet]

but then I don't guess that is a real surprise...I think that will put him in the yellow jersey too

[geoatl]

The leaders Jersey is PEACH

[jerk]

lance's cleats are set so the pedal spindle is about a third of the way back on the shoe.........where the jerk recommends everyone puts their cleats....


but holy mother of merckx, did you guys see that? LANCE ARMSTRONG...the best climber of his generation the best time trialist of his generation wins a bunch sprint.....the jerk knows cipo, petacchi, zabel, boonen, freire etc. etc. weren't there but some of the best local crit sprinters were and wow, never in a million years would the jerk have predicted this.....

jerk

[saab2000]

..... but LA has sprinted in the past. In 1994 when he was World Champ he won a stage of the Tour in a sprint against about 10 guys.

The interesting thing is that these big dogs can in fact go real fast when they want to. I saw a series of photos once showing Big Mig mixing it up in the Giro once in a bunch sprint. It was remarkable. Also, Garzelli is often at the front even in bunch sprints and even Marco Pantani was occasionally in the top 10 in huge mass field sprints in the Giro.

But I would not have predicted this one either.

By the way, Mr. Jerk, the frame whose design you looked at appears to be a winner. I have the bike built up and it seems to be my best ever bike. It handles well. I have only ridden it about 3 times so far, so I cannot say for sure how it will be in the long term, but I think it is a real winner.

[TmcDet]

lance's cleats are set so the pedal spindle is about a third of the way back on the shoe.........where the jerk recommends everyone puts their cleats....
jerk


could you please elaborate on this a bit? I thought the cleat was suppose to centered about the ball of the foot

[Bruce K]

While I am no expert, it seemed to me that whether Lance won/wins the Tour of Georgia was/is not necessarily the point of his participation. But he definitely had to make some sort of statement during his participation.

Yesterday was a pretty emphatic statement as to his race readiness at this time.

If he chooses to be magnanimous and allow someone else to ultimately win the event, nice gesture. If he retains the peach jersey and wins this thing even better.

I have to believe Jan and some of the other TdF contenders are watching this one pretty carefully and so far have got to be a little concerned about what they are seeing.

It should be an amazing TdF.

BK

[dbrk]

As the resident knuckle-draggin Neanderthal who still uses clipsn'straps on a slew of bikes (and also uses both the SPD-L and Times of yore), perhaps a little perspective on foot position, spindles, and historical transformations.

BackThen the foot was generally more forward into the pedal than current clipless notions create, especially with the predominance (author's note: _unfortunate_) of the KOPs position which puts the ball of the foot generally on the spindle. By placing the cleat further rearward the ball of the foot is forward of the spindle some, a position that much more clearly resembles the BackThen spot. It has the added advantage of avoiding hot foot issues. In the past year I've had a very nasty case of plantair fasicitious (sp., sorry about that) and coming further forward helps. So what Lance is doing puts him on his clipless pedal more like how you fit with toe clip. I use medium Christophe with one spacer, so a size in-between medium and large.

For me not only is this foot position more comfortable, it also puts me behind the spindle, a place I much prefer to be. For Lance the issue is power and speed, right? So comfort as a means of creating speed may not be as remote a combination as we might think.

Anyway, ourpal jerk makes a world of sense even if I don't.

dbrk

[Tom]

I'm sure there are other forces at play, but methinks sliding foot forward on pedal is kinda like sliding butt back on bike.

[froze]

I think the Postal Team is practicing a little psychological warfare to try to make the other teams at the TDF feel inconfident. I still think Lance won't win this year; I think Tyler Hamilton will be the man to watch because of what happened to him last year, I think Tyler will be on a mission because he has something to prove and he wants to spank Lance bad; but strange things can happen at the Tour.

[Climb01742]

bobby julich has been having a very good spring in europe. arguably better than tyler's spring. and lance beat bobby by a minute in yesterday's TT. i like tyler as much as anyone. but i think lance is still to be favored. this weekend's L-B-L will be a good guage of where tyler's fitness is. as will lance's rides the next two days in the georgia mountains. let the debate rage. :p

[saab2000]

...about whether or not LA will win the Tour. Bobby Julich has a lot to prove this year and Tyler very little. I think Tyler could well be a player. IMHO Julich will not be a factor in the Tour, though I could see him in the top 15 and a stage victory would not be a surprise. Clearly he has the ability for a major ride, but has been a somewhat inconsistent performer.

Anyway, he is having a great year.

LA knows what he needs to do to win the Tour. Ullrich is looking more and more like someone in trouble. There are only a 2 more months to get into shape and thusfar he has exhibited no fitness whatsover. But he is no idiot either and in years past has had bad form until the Tour and then finished 2nd. He is the biggest pure talent in cycling, IMHO.

It is my opinion that Haimar Zubeldia and Iban Mayo will be major factors in this year's Tour. Heras could also play a role.

I also see Simoni doing something more than last year.

I know 2 guys in the Georgia race and one of them will finish in the top 15. Watch out for Adam Bergman. He is young, unknown and very talented. I think he may not be unknown forever.

[Ozz]

It's even money on whether Tyler will crash out....

No disrespect intended, but that guy needs to stay upright to have a chance!