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#1
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rename the race to "tour de LANCE"
with apologies to the french
amid an estimated 900,000 spectators lining the 10 mile hillclimb: *** L'ALPE D'HUEZ, France (Reuters) - Lance Armstrong seized complete control of the Tour de France on Wednesday with an awesome display of power cycling to win the 9.6-mile individual time trial. The American, bidding for a record sixth overall Tour victory, blasted round the 21 hairpins on the twisting climb to the Alpine ski resort in 39 minutes 41.47 seconds to annihilate his nearest rival Ivan Basso. *** current standings: armstrong, #2 basso at 3'48", #5 ulrich at 7'55" |
#2
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Lance
That guy blows me away! What an athlete!
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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88 '01 VW Beetle TDI '05 Jeep Liberty CRD '89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T '78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110 Oil Burner Kartel #35 http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg |
#3
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I believe that was the first uphill time trial for the Tour, and tailor made for Armstrong. After yesterday's sprint and today's time trial, it's easy to see why Armstrong is where he is, he's probably not the best sprinter, but pretty close, but he sure can flatten out mountains with that pedal rate. Being the last to go today didn't hurt either, since he had the knowledge of what time he had to beat to keep the lead.
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#4
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Thrillbilly, you have spoken to his amazing physical ability. What about tactics? It seems to me that he intentionally grabbed Yellow yesterday so that he could do as MTI said, go last and see what he had to shoot for. Is Lance's supremacy also partly tactics? To what degree?
Bot |
#5
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On a three week "tour" tactics are somewhat fluid, but the consistent plan by the USPS team was to stay in striking range the first week, then put the spurs to the rest of the riders in the Alps, to basically limit the number of riders that would be in position to challenge Armstrong. Basso is a bit of a surprise, but seems to be bringing out the best in Armstrong, who thought that the race was going to be with Ulrich.
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#6
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What's with all the German fans spitting on Lance?
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#7
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The same reason why drunken fathers and sons try to beat up umpires at baseball games . . . beer molecules replacing brain neurons.
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#8
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Here's the evidence:
Survey: 1 in 5 Germans Drink to Get Drunk Wed Jul 21,10:51 PM ET Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo! LONDON - Almost 1 in 5 German adults — or 17 percent — believe the point of drinking is to get drunk, according to a survey released Wednesday.
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Own: 1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles), 1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000, 1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles, 1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles. 2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles Owned: 1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law), 1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot), 1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned), 1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles), 1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep) |
#9
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Maybe they are upset that they'll only be able to drink Bud in the stadium at the World Cup Soccer games this year |
#10
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Now that is a disturbing vision. With the anxiety of World Cup Soccer, and nothing but Budweiser, I would expect the chemical unbalances in their nervous systems to bring about some pretty uniquely nasty behavior. Even with their own Bier soccer sends those guys into a frenzied trance. I was waiting for a street car about 100 yards from a soccer stadium in Munich in the 1960's and thought an airplane was buzzing the area. Turns out it was the fans roaring. Jim
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Own: 1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles), 1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000, 1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles, 1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles. 2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles Owned: 1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law), 1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot), 1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned), 1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles), 1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep) |
#11
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Quote:
Budweiser? I thought Miller was voted "King of Beers"!!??
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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle 2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car 2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver 2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car |
#12
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botnst, the USPS "blue train" teams efforts seems to have been perfectly directly in all the mountain stages. they have used all the team members to extract every ounce of energy and tactical control and advantage on the climbs. lance sitting in on the wheel just waiting until the last necessary moment to strike.
i really think lance wanted to give the win to floyd landis (USPS) today, but in the end would not risk letting another rider take the stage. i even saw LA pushing landis at one point as if to say "go on dude, its yours to take", but in the end, landis just didnt have the legs to sprint after leading LA up the mountain. todays team effort to pace up the climbs at such a speed that ulrich (or anyone else that mattered) could not attack and get a gap on LA was the key to the stage. each and every one of the USPS team members deserve the (7th TdF) victory as much as LA, as it would not possible without the best team surrounding him. they all have had a specific jobs, and have performed them flawlessly. i hope he rewards them well. those damn spectators scare me silly. i cringe every time they pass thru those crazy crowds. i cringe every time they flash the clip of the spectator incident incident from last year. i also heard LA say that it was his fault for riding too close to the edge of the road, and that he cringes every time he sees a spec with a bag. after i was hit and my 300-E was totalled, thats how i frequently feel while driving. |
#13
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Do they really drink Coca Cola? Wouldn't that just make you wanna throw up?
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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman |
#14
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I hope the French are enjoying Lance's total domination.
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#15
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They are laughing all the way to "le banque."
All those fans and tourist are spending plenty of Euros to see Monsieur Armstrong & Co pedal in the countryside and eventually down the Champs-Elysees. On a completely different note on the French economy, the UK has awarded a huge defense contract to provide the English military with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles . . . to a French aerospace company. I suppose Boeing was just too busy . . . |
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