He's At It Again: Lance Armstrong Misses The Yellow

[EagleD]

I love the "Is golf a sport?" threads. Athletes can play golf, but it's not necessary to be an athlete to play golf. I forget his name, but didn't a dude win a major championship last year while smoking cigarettes between holes? Mmmmmm, nothing says, "finely tuned athlete" like a cigarette.

Then again Charlie Huff chain smoked b/w innings. But knuckle ballers aren't athletes either.

Golf is a skill, not a sport. It probably helps to be physically fit (as it does in every day life) but it's not necessary. Just look at John Daley.

[EagleGreen]

"Lance Armstrong is a better athlete than Michael Jackson and I hope he rocks the TDF" - Todd Dodge

[EagleGreen]

And by the way, Mean Joe is easily the greatest athlete. WYFGCGB?

[LongJim]

I read some article a few years ago about Armstrong, where the guy interviewing him went out in the west Austin hills to ride with him for a few miles. The author of the piece considered himself to be in fairly good shape, and wanted to conduct some of the interview while riding.

At one point, (if you've ever been out west of Austin on the hills, you'll understand) the author became winded, and was having trouble keeping up with Lance as he began climbing a hill. Remember, Lance isn't breathing hard, and is answering questions as they ride. The author is winded enough that he can't work his way up the hill at Lance's pace. So, Lance puts his hand on the author's back, and as they continue to talk and ride, he pushes the guy up the hill while riding his own bike and answering the guy's questions.

Armstrong is definitely in my top 5.

[Censored by Laurie]

Armstrong is definitely in my top 5.

1. Lance Armstrong

2. Michael Phelps

3. Michael Jordan

4. Tiger Woods (Rudy, thats an athlete.)

5. Roger Federer

[FirefightnRick]

Switzerland's Cancellara Retains Split second lead Over Armstrong in Tour de France after stage 6.

Rick

Edited July 9, 2009 by FirefightnRick

[greenminer]

I think I read a while back somewhere that Lance's lung capacity is abnormally larger than the average, like 10 - 15%?

It's always curious to see little physical "tweeks" that can take an athlete over the top.

Andre Agassi was one of the games all-time best at returning serves. I remember reading as a kid in tennis mags an interview of his mom, saying even when he was a kid his focus and concentration were unbelievable. As an infant he could focus - absolutely fascinated for hours - on the toys hanging/circling above his crib.

Pete Sampras - with one of the best serves - has a wrist that can rotate an extra few degrees?

CBL's blood smells of cologne.

[Censored by Laurie]

Michael Phelps is double-jointed allowing for remarkable rotation on his stroke and his toes a slightly webbed.

[UNTLifer]

I think I read a while back somewhere that Lance's lung capacity is abnormally larger than the average, like 10 - 15%?

It's always curious to see little physical "tweeks" that can take an athlete over the top.

Andre Agassi was one of the games all-time best at returning serves. I remember reading as a kid in tennis mags an interview of his mom, saying even when he was a kid his focus and concentration were unbelievable. As an infant he could focus - absolutely fascinated for hours - on the toys hanging/circling above his crib.

Pete Sampras - with one of the best serves - has a wrist that can rotate an extra few degrees?

CBL's blood smells of cologne.

John Holmes had a big pecker.

[FirefightnRick]

Contador, Astana teammate strikes in duel with Armstrong at Tour during stage 7.

“It was a fine day,” he said. “I think overall we’re fine. Yesterday I said I expected him to assert himself in the race.”

The stage was a far cry from Armstrong’s heyday, when he racked up seven straight Tour wins from 1999 to 2005. Back then, he stamped his dominance from the first encounter with the mountains.

“I didn’t expect a demonstration like, you know, some of the other years on the first climb days,” the 37-year-old Texan said. He said the headwinds prodded many riders to seek shelter in the bunch.

Stage winner Brice Feillu of France reacts on the podium after the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 224 kilometers (139.2 miles) with start in Barcelona, Spain, and finish in Arcalis ski resort, Andorra, Friday July 10, 2009.

Stage winner Brice Feillu of F…

AP - Jul 10, 2:49 pm EDT

“We’ll have plenty of days at the end of this Tour where there’s only a couple of guys together,” he said.

There's a new battle being waged, but this time for Lance, it's against one of his own teammates, Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour winner, who seems to have decided to challenge Armstrong for the leadership of the Astana team. Armstrong is now in third overall, 8 seconds back, with Contador 2 seconds ahead of him. Oh, and the dude that has had the yellow jersey the past several days, Cancelara, he's now 5 and a half minutes back and 39th overall. That's the difference a climber can make over a sprinter when this race gets to the Pyreneese mountains.

Rick

Edited July 11, 2009 by FirefightnRick

[Censored by Laurie]

Contador, Astana teammate strikes in duel with Armstrong at Tour during stage 7.

There's a new battle being waged, but this time for Lance, it's against one of his own teammates, Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour winner, who seems to have decided to challenge Armstrong for the leadership of the Astana team. Armstrong is now in third overall, 8 seconds back, with Contador 2 seconds ahead of him. Oh, and the dude that has had the yellow jersey the past several days, Cancelara, he's now 5 and a half minutes back and 39th overall. That's the difference a climber can make over a sprinter when this race gets to the Pyreneese mountains.

Rick

If one of them secures yellow it could be over for the other...or it could spark HUGE controversy. Typical ediquite in the tour dictates that you don't chase a teammate with yellow.

[FirefightnRick]

Armstrong Still 3rd in Tour de France

Remember the guy I spoke of earlier that lead in stages 3 thru 6, Cancelarra?, after 3 days in the mountains he's now in 89th position and over 39 minutes behind.

CBL

If one of them secures yellow it could be over for the other...or it could spark HUGE controversy. Typical ediquite in the tour dictates that you don't chase a teammate with yellow.

Hey, you want to talk about a major $hit storm brewing. I had wondered how this team came together, and thought it odd that Lance Armstrong and so many of his Team Discovery Channel/U.S. Postal teammates(7 in all), plus his manager Johan Bruneel came together to race for the nation of Kazakhstan(capital city is Astana). Not only is Armstrong riding for free but his payment seems to be just to simply be allowed to promote cancer awareness and his LiveStrong program. I didn't know that team Astana is coming off of a year ban from the Tour De France because of a major doping scandal. Their top rider, Alexander Vinokourov and another teammate got busted and was banned for two years. He's scheduled to be released from his ban on July 24th and claims he's coming back. The team also had financial troubles earlier in the year and staff and riders only started to get paid last month after not recieving their checks for two months. Bruneel seems to have the team on the right path, but according to who ever is updating Wikipedia, Vinokourov is vowing to come back, take over the team and kick all the Discovery Channel/U.S. Postal service riders and staff off and replace everyone with Spanish and Kazakh riders. The thing is, Bruneel holds his own license, and had it not been for him(according to Wiki) this team wouldn't even exist today.

Check it out here, it's a good read and explains a bit about what CBL mentioned above.

Rick

[gksmith]

For big Lance Armstrong fans, this is a tough race to watch this year.

Lance is not the Lance that won 7 TdF. He is playing the roll of suporter instead of leader. Astonia is a VERY strong team and there are 4 riders that can win the TdF including Lance. However, playing like a team all the riders have to ride to support one rider. Alberto Contador is the early pick as leader of the team. Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloden are also capable of leading the team into Paris.

Today was the last day in the Pyrenees. July 21 is the start of the Alps. Maybe the question will be answered before then. If not, definately after.

[FirefightnRick]

Armstrong teammate Alberto Cantador takes the lead, probably for good.

Lance's 37 year old body finally showing it's age I suppose? He's now in second place, 1:37 seconds behind Cantador, and 9 seconds ahead of Brit Bradley Wiggins.

Lance Armstrong: “I suffered. It was very hard. I was a little bit on the limit at the bottom, I think everybody was a bit on the limit…Alberto showed he is the best rider in the race.”

Armstrong has all but handed the yellow in Paris to Contador, saying “The race, for me that’s not possible. When somebody has so much pressure on him and shows he is the best you can’t deny it. Hats off to him.”

..... “There might be people out there that expect me to ride like I did in 2004-2005, that’s not reality. If I do another year, and I get a season under my belt, maybe I’ll get that race condition back. But right now, I didn’t have it.”

Armstrong can now concentrate on helping his teammate complete this race, get a huge win for their team and possibly finish on the podium as well, which to me still would be just an amazing accomplishment after a 4 year layoff?

Rick

Edited July 20, 2009 by FirefightnRick

[CMJ]

At 37, with that layoff, it's remarkable he is still so near the top IMHO.

[FirefightnRick]

BOURG-SAINT-MAURICE, France -- Alberto Contador rode hard to keep the Tour De France's yellow jersey in the Alps on Tuesday, while teammate Lance Armstrong produced a dazzling burst of speed to remain in second place.

Apparantly Armstrong is still willing to fight to the end. It was amazing when he got up off the saddle to close that 30 second span today on the last 5% climb. Afterwards during interviews he sounded much more positive than yesterday. Incredibly, his Team Astana has a very good chance to finish in Paris 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Rick

[EagleGreen]

Pretty cool. I'd like to see him go for it, but I think he is working for the 1st place guy to win. Good stuff.

[adman]

Armstrong teammate Alberto Cantador takes the lead, probably for good.

Lance Armstrong: “I suffered. It was very hard. I was a little bit on the limit at the bottom, I think everybody was a bit on the limit…Alberto showed he is the best rider in the race.”

Armstrong has all but handed the yellow in Paris to Contador, saying “The race, for me that’s not possible. When somebody has so much pressure on him and shows he is the best you can’t deny it. Hats off to him.”

..... “There might be people out there that expect me to ride like I did in 2004-2005, that’s not reality. If I do another year, and I get a season under my belt, maybe I’ll get that race condition back. But right now, I didn’t have it.”

He's Rope-A-Doping. Not to be confused with the other doping that occurs in cycling.

[FirefightnRick]

Armstrong holds onto his third place this morning during the painful climb of Mt. Ventoux. He will join teammate Alberto Cantador on the podium tomorrow in Paris, along with Andy Schleck. The Schleck brothers attacked all day in an effort to bring brother Frank Schleck up to third ahead of Armstrong but to no avail. At one point Lance looked at Frank and shook his head "No". Pretty funny. During his interview Armstrong was asked how he felt? He said "I felt pretty good, all I had to do was stay with Frank, and I had the legs to do that". When asked about finishing third, not first, he said "Not bad for an old fart, to come in here and finish with these kids".

Indeed.

Rick

[FirefightnRick]

Finishing third, Armstrong prefers Team Radioshack to Contador

PARIS, France — Lance Armstrong admitted on Sunday he did not celebrate teammate Alberto Contador's Tour de France triumph, preferring instead to go for drinks with the backers of his future outfit, Team Radioshack.

The 37-year-old finished third overall after Sunday's 21st and final stage at 5:24 behind Contador who built an unassailable lead after Saturday's climb up to Mont Ventoux and rode to Paris in the yellow jersey.

But rather than dine with his Astana team-mates on Saturday night to celebrate Contador's victory, seven-time champion Armstrong said he dined elsewhere.

"To be honest, I went out for dinner with the Radioshack guys and I had a few extra glasses of wine than I would have normally done," said Armstrong when asked about Astana's celebrations after the team won the yellow jersey.

Rick

[keith]

Trivia question....don't just google it either...Why is the leader's shirt yellow?

Keith

[CMJ]

Trivia question....don't just google it either...Why is the leader's shirt yellow?

Keith

If I recall, it had something to do with one of the original sponsors of the race. Like their color was yellow or something?

[keith]

Very close CMJ....anyone else able to expand on this?

Keith

[keith]

If I recall, it had something to do with one of the original sponsors of the race. Like their color was yellow or something?

I heard from the judges and they are accepting this answer. Good work!

As I understand it, the race was started as a publicity stunt by a struggling Paris sports newspaper, L'Auto. The paper itself was printed on yellow paper and that's how we ended up with the whole yellow jersey bit.

Keith