TdF 2004
Ah! The Tour is back. I know everyone is watching it on OLN and following on the Tour web site.
One poor guy broke his collar bone warming up for the Prologue.
Beloki never fully recovered from his broken hip from the last tour and then his ONCE team evaporated when ONCE pulled out. Jan Ullrich looks ready to race.
Lance is looking to be on top of course. You never know what's going to happen but ... it's his race to lose.
One poor guy broke his collar bone warming up for the Prologue.
Beloki never fully recovered from his broken hip from the last tour and then his ONCE team evaporated when ONCE pulled out. Jan Ullrich looks ready to race.
Lance is looking to be on top of course. You never know what's going to happen but ... it's his race to lose.
Comments
Originally posted by groverat
Will any of these guys we participating in any olympic events?
Yes many of them will be. I don't know if Lance is on the team or not.
Go go go Virenque!!!
</patriotism>
(sorry...)
Originally posted by The One to Rescue
<patriotism country="france">
Go go go Virenque!!!
</patriotism>
(sorry...)
Virenque :
great fighting spirit ...
... low IQ
Originally posted by Powerdoc
Virenque :
great fighting spirit ...
... low IQ
I must confess that you're 100% right on that one (the worst one being Laurent Brochard : that guy is the dumbest person in France, i swear!)!
PiiL?
I am forgetting names . . . help me out.
You Europeans know we have PAVED ROADS these days right?
Originally posted by Scott
Mayo is a Basque(?) rider that was considered a possible to unseat Lance. From the news flashes it reads like his team wasn't able to keep him in the front of the pack on a risky racing day. So, there was a crash before the cobblestone roads and Mayo never caught back up (weak team again?)
You Europeans know we have PAVED ROADS these days right?
Paved road is the signature of the famous one day race Paris Roubaix. This road tend to disappear, and in fact should have disapearred without cyclism.
However, I will never do any cyclism on this kind of road, especially a rainy day.
BTW when I was at the prologue last year we were hanging out in a section that was slight downhill into some smoother cobblestones. Those guys hit that stuff pretty hard. I have photos.
Originally posted by bunge
A Wired article about the equipment Lance is using this time around.
So, is he going to win again?
Originally posted by pfflam
So, is he going to win again?
I think he's got a good chance. I'm not all that excited about him doing it, but I do think he will.
In 2004 there is a new rule for the team time trial. For the 91st Tour de France, the organizers have made the adjustments to ensure that the collective effort doesn't greatly hinder the hopes of an individual rider and to enhance the anticipation of the entire contest.
The change, however isn't entirely new. In fact, it's a return to the formula that was applied in 1984, which assigned delays using a predetermined chart and not the actual times of the teams.
As unsual, a team's time will be recorded on the fifth rider to finish. But the deficits will be in compliance with a predetermined chart. The maximum deficit for the last team will be limited to three minutes. The breakdown is as follows:
2nd place - maximum loss 20seconds
3rd - 30 seconds
4th - 40 seconds
5th - 50 seconds
6th - one minute
7th - one minute 10 seconds
8th - one minute 20 seconds
9th - one minute 30 seconds
10th - one minute 40 seconds
11th - one minute 50 seconds
12th - two minutes
13th - two minutes 10 seconds
14th - two minutes 20 seconds
15th - two minutes 30 seconds
16th - two minutes 35 seconds
17th - two minutes 40 seconds
18th - two minutes 45 seconds
19th - two minutes 50 seconds
20th - two minutes 55 seconds
21st - three minutes.
Have anyone been following the last days? Piil has been in the Tête de course for over 40% of the race this year