don't make as much money as in the states...so the incentive should be a bit
less, but true nevertheless.
great race though. started watching it every year from that moment
on...
On Mon, 23 Jul 2001 04:10:42 GMT, The Black Cat =^..^=
>>I think anyone who races the Tour De France is an amazing athelete.
>>Unfortunately they don't get enough credit. Especially in North
>>America.
>Lance is beginning to turn that around.
>Greg LeMond was virtually ignored even through he, too, had to
>overcome a life-threatening medical crisis (he was accidentally shot
>by his brother-in-law) and came back to win the most exciting tour
>ever when he won the maillot Jaune (sp?) in a time trial on the
>event's final day by a scant 8 seconds -- the closest finish ever...
>And outside the cycling community, he remained almost unknown...
> >They said the same thing about Greg LeMond. Wonder if it might be a
> >coincidence that they're both Americans.
> >Lance Armstrong is an absolutely amazing human being.
> I think anyone who races the Tour De France is an amazing athelete.
> Unfortunately they don't get enough credit. Especially in North
> America.
An Olympic road race medal is a relatively unimportant title in cycling
compared to winning the Tour . Winning the latter gives a rider instant
respect among his peers and a place in cycling's history books . I have a
book in the house entitled "Kings of the Road" about the great races and
riders of the past few decades and no-where is the Olympic road race
mentioned.
Despite this , the US has managed to produce a few classy road racers with
Lemond and Armstrong obviously shining brightest . Armstrong has seemed
invincible this year which goes to demonstrate that uses his head to train
for the races which count . He probably studied the route of the Tour when
announced back in November and worked out what kind of preparation he would
need for his third Tour win . Ullrich on the other hand probably stuck to
the same old routine and helped himself to all the sausages and cakes he
could eat .
As much as I hate seeing a Yank beat us at what is a European sport , I
can't help respecting the guy for his achievements .
AT
> Anybody who knows about the sport would agree with that, but they would
also
> agree that the people with the most money are the for mostly the ones at
the
> top. It's normal, it's the same in motorsport.
At the highest level this is true, but everyone goes through the lower
levels to get to the higher ones. A good lower-level racer with a $1-2k
bike will always beat the wannabe with the $4-5k Colnago (ferrari of
bikes...just look at their website, if anybody wants to get me one of those
I would be very happy). In motorsports it's much different; it's easier to
buy your way into being good at the lower levels...just go ahead an buy some
more hp. Once the cyclist proves himself then he gets all those yummy pills
and shots which = hp. :-)
Jon
> > >They said the same thing about Greg LeMond. Wonder if it might be a
> > >coincidence that they're both Americans.
> > >Lance Armstrong is an absolutely amazing human being.
> > I think anyone who races the Tour De France is an amazing athelete.
> > Unfortunately they don't get enough credit. Especially in North
> > America.
> I remember reading last year , possibly on rec.bicycles.racing that most
> American people value an Olympic cycling title above that of winning Le
Tour
> which demonstrates the understanding of the average Yank regarding cycling
.
> An Olympic road race medal is a relatively unimportant title in cycling
> compared to winning the Tour . Winning the latter gives a rider instant
> respect among his peers and a place in cycling's history books . I have a
> book in the house entitled "Kings of the Road" about the great races and
> riders of the past few decades and no-where is the Olympic road race
> mentioned.
> Despite this , the US has managed to produce a few classy road racers with
> Lemond and Armstrong obviously shining brightest . Armstrong has seemed
> invincible this year which goes to demonstrate that uses his head to train
> for the races which count . He probably studied the route of the Tour when
> announced back in November and worked out what kind of preparation he
would
> need for his third Tour win . Ullrich on the other hand probably stuck to
> the same old routine and helped himself to all the sausages and cakes he
> could eat .
> As much as I hate seeing a Yank beat us at what is a European sport , I
> can't help respecting the guy for his achievements .
> AT
Don't forget to watch the next stages this week (the last) the mountains are
done with but the flat stages generally make for spectacular arrivals, like
10 guys coming at 60-70 kph in the last 250 meters.
Especially interesting since O'grady (Australia, anybody home ?) has the
green jersey (points ranking) and Zabel (Germany) who has won it the last 5
times wants it back...
ok, over with rec.bicycle.tour de france and back to this f....k nascar 4
who won't run online with a patched exe file !!!
Along with him, the tour is missing Virenque, Pantani, Zule, and one other
rider (top rider for many years from Belgium, I think) that made it more
interesting than it is this year.
David G Fisher
(Bye virenque and pantani) and
>Especially interesting since O'grady (Australia, anybody home ?) has the
>green jersey (points ranking) and Zabel (Germany) who has won it the last 5
>times wants it back...
Ben
> Along with him, the tour is missing Virenque, Pantani, Zule, and one other
> rider (top rider for many years from Belgium, I think) that made it more
> interesting than it is this year.
> David G Fisher
> (Bye virenque and pantani) and
> > everybody knows that Armstrong is better, so it's not really fun
anymore,
> > until Armstrong starts to go down and the next guy comes around...
David G Fisher
> David G Fisher
> (Bye virenque and pantani) and
> > everybody knows that Armstrong is better, so it's not really fun
anymore,
> > until Armstrong starts to go down and the next guy comes around...
That is a sure sign of what my wife calls 'Dave Disease'
I can think of a 1000 details about a subject, but ask me the name and I
blank....then later, without effort it will magically surface...
see a doctor :)
dave henrie
Bjarne Riis from Denmark. Not
David G Fisher
> > For some reason his name just came to me.
> That is a sure sign of what my wife calls 'Dave Disease'
> I can think of a 1000 details about a subject, but ask me the name and I
> blank....then later, without effort it will magically surface...
> see a doctor :)
> dave henrie
> Bjarne Riis from Denmark. Not
> > Belgium. Still can't remember the sprinter's name.
> > David G Fisher
David G Fisher
> > What is the name of the fantastic (and flamboyant) sprinter who won a
few
> > stages in the tour last year? Each year he would win some flat stages,
and
> > then retire from the tour in the mountains.
> > Along with him, the tour is missing Virenque, Pantani, Zule, and one
other
> > rider (top rider for many years from Belgium, I think) that made it more
> > interesting than it is this year.
> > David G Fisher
> > (Bye virenque and pantani) and
> > > everybody knows that Armstrong is better, so it's not really fun
> anymore,
> > > until Armstrong starts to go down and the next guy comes around...
> Along with him, the tour is missing Virenque, Pantani, Zule, and one other
> rider (top rider for many years from Belgium, I think) that made it more
> interesting than it is this year.
> David G Fisher
> (Bye virenque and pantani) and
> > everybody knows that Armstrong is better, so it's not really fun
anymore,
> > until Armstrong starts to go down and the next guy comes around...
David G Fisher
> > What is the name of the fantastic (and flamboyant) sprinter who won a
few
> > stages in the tour last year? Each year he would win some flat stages,
and
> > then retire from the tour in the mountains.
> > Along with him, the tour is missing Virenque, Pantani, Zule, and one
other
> > rider (top rider for many years from Belgium, I think) that made it more
> > interesting than it is this year.
> > David G Fisher
> > (Bye virenque and pantani) and
> > > everybody knows that Armstrong is better, so it's not really fun
> anymore,
> > > until Armstrong starts to go down and the next guy comes around...