Stage 17 - 19
The past 3 days of racing have been pretty much the same day in and day out. Team Discovery is content to let breakaways leave the peloton as long as it only contains riders that won't affect Lance's standing in the GC. Then as other teams start to realize that the breakaways will affect one of their riders in the GC, they come to the front of the peloton to set the necessary pace to reel the breakaways back in. So all in all, Lance has had a very comfortable three days of the tour. In addition to that he has also taken over second place for the most days in Yellow of all time! On Wednesday he surpassed Bernard Hinault who had worn the yellow for 78 days in total. Now that Lance holds second place in this category there is only one rider who's done it more times. Eddy Merckx, arguably the best Tour rider ever, wore the yellow in 96 stages of the Tour de France. If all goes according to plan, Lance will retire with a total of 83 days in yellow. It's funny that Lance has no qualms with being the most winningest Tour rider of all time but when asked if he'd ever go for the record of the most days in yellow, "That's Merckx title" was all Lance answered.
With two Stages left in the Tour de France the big question has become, "Will Lance win a Stage"? We won't have to wait long to get our answer. Tomorrow's Stage 20 is the individual time trial, and this is where Lance excels. Wait, don't we say that about every stage of the Tour??? Alright, speed is just another one of the things that makes Armstrong such an indomitable Tour rider. But Stage 20 is pretty much the last stage for riders to make up time on their rivals. If you want to stand in one of the three available positions on the podium in Paris Sunday, then the time trial is the day to make it happen. So tomorrow decides the winner of the 2005 Tour de France and determines whether Lance Armstong will be the only rider to ever have won 7 times. It's almost like Christmas, I don't think I'll be able to sleep!
General Category:
1) Armstorng
2) Ivan Basso 2' 46"
3) Michael Rasmussen 3' 46"
4) Jan Ullrich 5' 58"
5) Francisco Mancebo 7' 08"
With two Stages left in the Tour de France the big question has become, "Will Lance win a Stage"? We won't have to wait long to get our answer. Tomorrow's Stage 20 is the individual time trial, and this is where Lance excels. Wait, don't we say that about every stage of the Tour??? Alright, speed is just another one of the things that makes Armstrong such an indomitable Tour rider. But Stage 20 is pretty much the last stage for riders to make up time on their rivals. If you want to stand in one of the three available positions on the podium in Paris Sunday, then the time trial is the day to make it happen. So tomorrow decides the winner of the 2005 Tour de France and determines whether Lance Armstong will be the only rider to ever have won 7 times. It's almost like Christmas, I don't think I'll be able to sleep!
General Category:
1) Armstorng
2) Ivan Basso 2' 46"
3) Michael Rasmussen 3' 46"
4) Jan Ullrich 5' 58"
5) Francisco Mancebo 7' 08"
posted by TexasDan at
7:37 PM
