Lance to ride tour again. can he make 7?

[Don't panic]

Armstrong finally decided he is still in.
Is he still the top dog? who are the best alternatives?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...ur.de.france.1st.ld.writethru.0259/index.html

Armstrong to ride in Tour de France, seek seventh win

PARIS (AP) -- Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will attempt his seventh consecutive win in cycling's most prestigious race this summer.

Armstrong's schedule "will include this summer's Tour de France, where he will go for a seventh straight victory,'' his Discovery Channel team said on its Web site Wednesday...

 

[KCK]

Armstrong finally decided he is still in.
Is he still the top dog? who are the best alternatives?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...ur.de.france.1st.ld.writethru.0259/index.html

Well looks like I can skip watching the Tour again this year. Armstrong is killing the Tour by winning it every year. For me the most exciting Tour was the one in 89 when 4 riders all had a chance to win and the lead changed something like 8 times between the top 4 riders. when there is little to no question about who will win ( and the racing is dull also due to one team pretty much dominating things) I see little point in even watching the Tour.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

lance is incredible, but has also had the good fortune of riding with an incredible team. it's important that discovery surrounds him with a solid core of specialzed riders for the different parts of the race.

i think he can do it. i know i'll be pulling for him.

did anyone see him on oprah last week? when he said he was going to go for the 7th i just about fell off my chair, i didnt think he was going to.

 

[miloblithe]

As long as those steroids keep working, he'll do fine.

(Just had to say it).

 

[gwuMACaddict]

As long as those steroids keep working, he'll do fine.

(Just had to say it).

no, you definitely DIDN'T have to say it. show me one test out of the thousands that Lance has taken that proves definitively that he has used performance enhancing drugs.

 

[jxyama]

As long as those steroids keep working, he'll do fine.

(Just had to say it).

nice.

whether or not lance can win is mostly up to his competitors. lance will be well prepared and will be difficult to beat. ullrich has to get not only serious in his preparations but make sure he has good teammates. basso and mayo, being young, will have the most potential to grow into serious contenders, but also need to prove that their past few years were not fluke. ditto for kloden. will beloki make a comeback?

for the sake of excitement, i hope it's a close tour. for the drama, vuelta has been better the last few years...

 

[gwuMACaddict]

will beloki make a comeback?

doubt it, if he does, it won't be much of a threat... i think the old postal team really showed that winning a tour has a lot to do with who you surround yourself with. the young riders you mentioned will be tough to beat, but i think the team strength could ultimately make the difference...

lance will have to continue to nail his time trial stages though

 

[Lacero]

How hard can it be to win Tour de France? Put me on a bike and I'll win it for as many times as I feel like it.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

i'm really at a total loss for some of the crap that is being posted today...

 

[jxyama]

i'm really at a total loss for some of the crap that is being posted today...

me too. i guess it's a side effect of the increased media coverage and bandwagon cycling fans in one of the most ignorant countries in the world, the USA, when it comes to professional cycling.

basically, lots of lance fanboys who think the tour is all there is to bike racing.

 

[KCK]

no, you definitely DIDN'T have to say it. show me one test out of the thousands that Lance has taken that proves definitively that he has used performance enhancing drugs.

Of course that is part of the problem. First there are designer steroids that can't be tested for ( aka the BALCO type drugs). Even if someone is taking regular old steroids there are methods to avoid detection. The drug takers are always ahead of the drug testers since you can't test for something until you know people are taking it and find out exactly what "it" is.

Then again steroids aren't the drug of choice for someone in Lance's position. Lance would be more interested in taking something like EPO to increase the number of red blood cells. Now one way Lance can get the same affects as EPO while not taking the drug is to sleep in his high altitude tent at night. Personally I think this is almost the same as taking EPO since it is achieving the same affect, boosting the red blood cell count above what it would be naturally.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

what bugs the heck out of me is that cycling is one of the most policed sports in the world (i wish baseball would take a hint). accusing anyone of doing drugs is insane, if they were, they'd be banned.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

Then again steroids aren't the drug of choice for someone in Lance's position. Lance would be more interested in taking something like EPO to increase the number of red blood cells. Now one way Lance can get the same affects as EPO while not taking the drug is to sleep in his high altitude tent at night. Personally I think this is almost the same as taking EPO since it is achieving the same affect, boosting the red blood cell count above what it would be naturally.

good freaking grief folks- they TEST FOR THESE THINGS! tyler hamilton anyone? or maybe the old jan ullrich? wow...

honestly... if you don't know what you're talking about, go spam some other thread...

 

[craigdawg]

Well looks like I can skip watching the Tour again this year. Armstrong is killing the Tour by winning it every year. For me the most exciting Tour was the one in 89 when 4 riders all had a chance to win and the lead changed something like 8 times between the top 4 riders. when there is little to no question about who will win ( and the racing is dull also due to one team pretty much dominating things) I see little point in even watching the Tour.

I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that he'd win just because he's entering it. He has to train, train, train in order to put him in a good position to win. In years past he admittedly would start focusing on next year's Tour the day after he won. I don't know if that focus is there just yet. Hell he was at the Grammys Sunday. But I would never bet against him.

Personally I'd rather see him ride (and win) the Giro d'Italia. Merckx won it five times! Then maybe I'd be able to watch on TV here in the US.

 

[KCK]

good freaking grief folks- they TEST FOR THESE THINGS! tyler hamilton anyone? or maybe the old jan ullrich? wow...

honestly... if you don't know what you're talking about, go spam some other thread...

How do you test for a designer steroid that no test has been invented for yet?? Have you ever heard of masking agents? They are coming up with new ones all the time which again make the tests useless. considering I've been involved with bicycle racing for over 20 years I think I have an idea what I'm talking about.

Yea and what Tyler Hamilton was doing should have been undetectable if his team doctor hadn't screwed up and given Tyler the wrong bag of blood.

 

[Lacero]

I wonder what Jose Conseco has to say about this?

 

[craigdawg]

Sadly bicycle racing will always have the spectre of a drug scandal hanging over it. That's reality.

Still, athletics is (are?) entertainment--that's why it's on TV right--and I will no doubt be entertained by watching Lance race in the Tour.

 

[emotion]

see where we go wrong with all these sports is we're not thinking futuristically enough.

we should have super-olympics (super-cycling, super-football) where anything goes and you get thrown out for not having performnace enhancing substances in your blood stream.

the viewing figures would be immense



i'm sure the advertising potential would be massive too

 

[stcanard]

ullrich has to get not only serious in his preparations but make sure he has good teammates.

I still think Ullrich/Kloeden blew it last year by essentially competing against each other. Had one of them sacrificed himself for the other, the way Hincapie/Eki etc do for Armstrong every year the race would have been far more interesting.

Instead they gave him another easy victory.

 

[miloblithe]

no, you definitely DIDN'T have to say it. show me one test out of the thousands that Lance has taken that proves definitively that he has used performance enhancing drugs.

I think you should have put this in both bold face and all caps, otherwise your indignation isn't quite clear enough.

This is just part of reality in modern sports: speculation, and a long continuum of legal to semi-legal to illegal performance enhancers.

 

[KCK]

see where we go wrong with all these sports is we're not thinking futuristically enough.

we should have super-olympics (super-cycling, super-football) where anything goes and you get thrown out for not having performnace enhancing substances in your blood stream.

the viewing figures would be immense



i'm sure the advertising potential would be massive too

And the life span of the Athletes involved would be much shorter than normal.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Lance should win again - strongest team leader of one of the the strongest teams.

It's amazing what he's done, and I belive that it was without drugs - people are so damn cynicanical nowadays (though its hard not to be, I'll admit).

I haven't been following the sport as much lately, ever since I stopped riding regularly ( I NEED to start doing that again ). I was a fan of "Super Mario" and Ullrich, but Lance has overshadowed them all.

My problem is that Lance only rides the Tour, so I only get to watch him in one race every year.

 

[baby duck monge]

My problem is that Lance only rides the Tour, so I only get to watch him in one race every year.

that also seems to be the problem every other rider has. they don't really like the fact that he is only competitive once a year and can just do specialty training while they are all out racing all the time. oh well.

 

[KCK]

that also seems to be the problem every other rider has. they don't really like the fact that he is only competitive once a year and can just do specialty training while they are all out racing all the time. oh well.

That is the reason I don't think Lance can be considered the greatest bicycle racer of all time. Others may not have as many overall Tour wins but I'm more impressed the riders who have gone out an won the Tour the Giro and the World Championships in a single year.

 

[stcanard]

This is just part of reality in modern sports: speculation, and a long continuum of legal to semi-legal to illegal performance enhancers.

Well, if it's a reality in modern sports, why don't you mention it in every baseball/basketball/football/hockey thread that shows up in these forums?

If it's a reality, and needs to be accepted, why bother mentioning it at all?