where is Lance?

[george]

Right after Lance retired he said that he will still be a part of the team, that Johan is his best freind, that he will ride in the team car to advise and support riders...Where is he...

[gdw]

Training for Leadville.

[saab2000]

Prolly drinking beer somewhere.

The team don't necessarily want him around. Those were just nice words which also meant, "I won't let the door hit me in the a$$ on the way out! See ya!"

At this point Lance is better off without the Tour and the Tour is better off without Lance.

If he were still racing he'd be in the yellow jersey today.

[Fixed]

http://www.cedarfallsragbrai.org/bluestraveler.shtml
cheers
cedar falls is pretty cool place imho
cheers

[SWorks4me]

Right after Lance retired he said that he will still be a part of the team, that Johan is his best freind, that he will ride in the team car to advise and support riders...Where is he...

in the grand scheme of things...who really cares? The team doesn't need the distraction.

[mikki]

I personally miss Lance in the Tour and wonder what it would be like with him still racing but in a cleaner tour....just figments of my imagination, ah well. Would he still dominate or was he at his top and going over the hill when he retired? We'll never know...

Except for all the damages to riders not being able to stay upright, I am having a good time watching this tour. Must say that although I want Discovery of course to dominate, since that isn't happening I find myself just routing for great riders, whatever team they are on. (kinda favoring Vinnie...he's amazing)

I wonder how many more bikes the LBS around the country sell during the tour?

[Grant McLean]

I personally miss Lance in the Tour and wonder what it would be like with him still racing but in a cleaner tour....just figments of my imagination, ah well.


It was Sunday's tour stage that reinforced how much i'm glad Lance is done.
The "dynasty" syndrome wears very thin, in any sport, after a while.

Sport is exciting when it's unpredictable. I'm glad Michael Schumacher is
retired too. Bring on the new generation! Mix it up, and make the racing
spontaneous again! I think i'd rather watch poker on TV than the last
4 or 5 of the Lance tours.

g

[SoCalSteve]

Running somewhere with Matthew McConaughey or shtupping some wanna be starlet...

More power to him!

Just sayin'

Steve

[J.Greene]

I agree G,

I also appreciate Lance more as an athlete every year even if he was doped. He was the rare athelete that we see once in a generation. But I'm glad he is gone and putting on the pounds like the rest of us.

JG


It was Sunday's tour stage that reinforced how much i'm glad Lance is done.
The "dynasty" syndrome wears very thin, in any sport, after a while.

Sport is exciting when it's unpredictable. I'm glad Michael Schumacher is
retired too. Bring on the new generation! Mix it up, and make the racing
spontaneous again! I think i'd rather watch poker on TV than the last
4 or 5 of the Lance tours.

g

[m_moses]

Sport is exciting when it's unpredictable.That's what I'm digging in this year's tour. The race is still wide open.

[SWorks4me]

I wonder how many more bikes the LBS around the country sell during the tour?

Don't ask the Trek concept stores...they are hung with a ton of last year's inventory.

Sales usually hit a plateau for the summer by June. Most stores see an increase in traffic...not so much "higher end" bike sales. A lot of " is that out yet" questions.

[bigbill]

I saw him driving a team car during the Giro team time trial. He didn't wave back.

[Grant McLean]

I also appreciate Lance more as an athlete every year even if he was doped. He was the rare athelete that we see once in a generation. But I'm glad he is gone and putting on the pounds like the rest of us.

JG

I appreciate what a Lance, Michael Jordan, or Michael Schumacher did,
but as a fan of "sport", personally i have no real emotional investment
in these champions. Call me a contrarian, but isn't cheering for the guy
who totally dominates the competition just a little bit too obvious?
I like a good underdog story.

g

[Larry]

Be sure to read Rasmussen's interview comments. Velonews.com
He basicly said, "......with all due respects, there really is not
a Lance or Jan in this tour."
....noone around that can be a threat both in the time trials and the
mountains.
He is sounding confident. His cadence was amazing on Sunday's
mountain stage.

Lance will be seen sometime during the tour. I would bet that it will
be in the team car climbing the Pyrenees. Sipping :beer:

[darylb]

I appreciate what a Lance, Michael Jordan, or Michael Schumacher did,
but as a fan of "sport", personally i have no real emotional investment
in these champions. Call me a contrarian, but isn't cheering for the guy
who totally dominates the competition just a little bit too obvious?
I like a good underdog story.

g


Not to contrary, but at one point Lance was the underdog to cancer. I for one am not too cool to like Lance or Michael or Tiger. I guess it is the commitment to be better every day that I am intrugued by. I think it is much harder to continue to be the best than to win when you have nothing to lose.

On the other hand, I do enjoy a good David beats Goliath story once in a while. :)

[shanerpvt]

Andreas Klöden looked fresh yeasterday when he had to wait for his leader. Pretty good in the TT also. I think he might benefit from the presure of the team being on Vino. We will see how he climbs in the Pyrenees.

[Grant McLean]

Not to contrary, but at one point Lance was the underdog to cancer. I for one am not too cool to like Lance or Michael or Tiger. I guess it is the commitment to be better every day that I am intrugued by. I think it is much harder to continue to be the best than to win when you have nothing to lose.

I too was rah! rah! go Lance! the first couple of years,
but enough already. After about five, it was time for someone else to
have the ball for a while.

g

[darylb]

I too was rah! rah! go Lance! the first couple of years,
but enough already. After about five, it was time for someone else to
have the ball for a while.

g


Dont get me wrong, I am seriously enjoying this tour. Last year it almost seemed like no one was really sure what to do and now they are coming into their own as teams again.

I liked the precision with which Lance and his teams rode the tour but I also love the way the tour is re-inventing itself.

[shaq-d]

not impressed by schumacher; he had the best car in F1, bar none, for most of those years. ayrton senna another story.

lance kicked butt, jordan, etc. it does get kinda boring to see those guys win over and over.

but the guy who i don't mind seeing pwnage over and over is roger federer.

sd

[Elefantino]

Running somewhere with Matthew McConaughey or schtupping some wanna be starlet...
I try not to think that he actually schtupped her. Rather that he get caught hooked up to an EPO machine than ruining his reputation altogether as one who vacationed in Paris.

I prefer to think the best: That, rather, he is schtupping Tory Burke, the NYC fashion designer … who, oddly, looks like Sheryl Crow … who, oddly, looks like Kristin Armstrong … who, oddly, looks like Lance's mom.

I'm just sayin …

[Larry]

I miss the Lance Armstrong Dream Team. Those team time trials were simply amazing. Like a steaming locomotive across the plains.
Perfectly coordinated. They just looked more efficient than the other teams.

Just remember......Lance had guys like Heras, Hincappie, Landis (I think that is right), Rubiera, and others pulling him up the steep mountains.......
until the moment of truth. Then it was all over! The way this seemed to be planned was with perfect execution.....yes, Postal/Discovery had it all.

And.....do not forget that they had a huge budget. Whenever they needed
new talent, they paid the big bucks to reel them in from another up and coming team. Remember, it's pro sports. So the team was loaded with big time players, and that is huge in Lance's unprecedented 7 TDF victories.
He may have had a reserve in his tank for number 8. Lance and the team
are missed and not missed, because they were just better, and the other teams new the facts.....they all played second fiddle to the Dream Team.

[97CSI]

If he were still racing he'd be in the yellow jersey today.Without a doubt.

in the grand scheme of things...who really cares? The team doesn't need the distraction.Lots of folks.....including me. But, do agree that they team does not need the distraction.

[saab2000]

not impressed by schumacher; he had the best car in F1, bar none, for most of those years. ayrton senna another story.

lance kicked butt, jordan, etc. it does get kinda boring to see those guys win over and over.

but the guy who i don't mind seeing pwnage over and over is roger federer.

sd

Whoa there Nellie!!

I used to be an F1 junkie, starting about the time Senna died. So I will admit to not seeing him at his best. But don't dis Michael Schumacher. He and Lance were very similar.

They both did what needed to be done. Very analytical. Why did MS have the best car? Because MS was hyper detail oriented and only went to Ferrari because they made the committment to have the best car, best crew chief, best strategy, most testing, etc. MS brought the level of Ferrari up to the top with his obsessive compulsive attention to detail.

Same as Lance.

But MS was also the best post-Senna driver out there. Every year there were pretenders and in his pre-Ferrari days some would beat him. Like Damon Hill. But sometimes his car was a decent, but not dominant car. But he was the best driver. If it rained you just got to see a Michael Schumacher driving demonstration as he passed everyone and then paraded to the victory.

He not only had the best car and team, he was also the best post-Senna driver by a long shot.

Just sayin'...... :D

IMHO, the only one who was just as good was maybe Coulthard and sometimes Jacques Villeneuve. But they couldn't elevate their teams to the level of MS with Ferrari and besides, MS was a better driver anyway.

[Steelhead]

Don't ask the Trek concept stores...they are hung with a ton of last year's inventory.

Sales usually hit a plateau for the summer by June. Most stores see an increase in traffic...not so much "higher end" bike sales. A lot of " is that out yet" questions.


The new plastic Madone is creating quite a buzz at the larger Trek shops.

[Kevan]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19932308/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19585070/