Will lance win the tour. Ulrich is right on his ass.

Trek1987

Will Lance Armstrong win the Tour De France.

TbosS

My best guess would be that Armstrong willwin from Ullrich. But I think it will be close, so the qualification Lance will kick his ass hardly qualifies.

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gymbob

i think its too close to call - the time trial really suits ullrich but he needs more than 1.07 mins to win, and thats a tough call. ullrichs looking ice cool in interviews though, but i you never know how armstrong will perform when his backs against the wall.

TbosS

Let's hope for Ullrich sake, that Armstrong is out of adrenaline on saturday. Else it won't be a fair battle. ;-)

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Zac

I know alot of people that raced against Lance when he was a kid in Dallas and they all say that when Lance is pissed he channles that to winning a race. I think that he is pretty pissed for all the stuff that has been happening to him lately so he will probably win the TT. Although he won't win it with his usual flair because Ullrich is in awsome form this year and it is relatively flat.

Hels

who care's if it's not a fair battle as long as armstrong beats the german!
does any1 else agree that ullrich only slowed after armstrong had crashed cos tyler was tellin em all

gymbob

"does any1 else agree that ullrich only slowed after armstrong had crashed cos tyler was tellin em all"

absolute rubbish - ullrich was held up by that crash too so technically didnt need to hold back and wait. anyway the crash was armstrongs fault for riding too close to the crowds

claggy

agreed that is rubbish ulrich actually slowed and was looking around for armstrong , hamilton was actually telling basso to slow not ulrich .

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steve

Not a hope in hell!

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tomb

of course ullrich slowed down you could see him sit up and his cadence slow. to think otherwise is idiotic! Remeber when lance waited for ullrich down THAT mountain descent.

steve

Yep I agree, you could spot this fact the second you saw it on TV.

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ilovelucy_02

I believe Lance will win the tour. Last year's tour was so close because of some bad circumstances for Lance (he was sick prior to the tour, he fell in the Dauphiné Liberé, he suffered from dehydration, crash on Luz Ardiden). I think he'll come back stronger than ever in July and dominate the tour like earlier years. The closeness of last year's tour has only motivated him for this year. And in case you haven't noticed, since Armstrong started the tour, Ullrich has always gotten 2nd place. I believe it will be the same way next year.

limerickman

As much as it kills me to say this, I think the Texan will be fully focused for the 04 TDF.
The Texan exhibited last year (2003) that he is susceptible to pressure
though, and I think Ullrich and Beloki can take heart from this.
The thought of winning his sixth TDF will make him more motivated than ever.
The Texan focuses his whole season on the TDF to the exclusion
of everything else.
I believe that if Ullrich took the same approach he would beat the Texan.
Gladly, Ullrich unlike the Texan, views a season as more than three weeks spent in France and does not confine himself to just one event.

Beastt

I agree whole-heartedly. I've watched that bit of video at least 50 times and I don't see Ullrich slowing. I see him at the front of the group still going. That's what Armstrong later said that he saw and my cycling buddy told me that's what he saw as well. Ullrich wasn't slowing but he did look confused like he wasn't sure what to do. Hamilton rode across the apex of a turn to the front of the whole group (Ullrich included), and reminded them all that you don't take advantage of a crash in that kind of situation. That's when everyone slowed. Hamilton should have been given the credit but the commentators were trying to turn it into a feel good story of a returned favor.

On the other hand, comparing Armstrong's crash on Luz Ardiden to Ullrich's crash on the Peyresourde is difficult at best. Lance had minutes over Ullrich in the situation on the Peyresourde and had little to worry about. Ullrich was looking at a possible win if he could put a few seconds on Lance by the top of Luz Ardiden. That doesn't change the gentlemen's (unwritten) rules of cycling but it does create a substantial psychological conflict when trying to decide what to do when the decision might make the difference between first and second place.


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