[OT] Any Tour de France Fans out there?

[johnnype]

I'm a bigger fan of the Vuelta a Espana, but that's because I used to live in Madrid. At the time it was a very big deal in Spain. I can only imagine it still is but I hear nothing about it here in San Francisco, CA. As a result I don't really follow the sport anymore.

It'd be nice if I could see an ocasional soccer mach here but very few people know what I'm talking about when I mention The Real Madrid. Oh well...

 

[johnsemlak]

It'd be nice if I could see an ocasional soccer mach here but very few people know what I'm talking about when I mention The Real Madrid. Oh well...

I can imagine. I'm a big soccer fan too. I'm more of a Man United fan, though.

Wouldn't San Fran have a large Latin population that follows soccer?

 

[johnnype]

Wouldn't San Fran have a large Latin population that follows soccer?

Yes, it does. Just last week we had a couple south american national teams play exibition games in the city but I can't say I follow those leagues.

The Champions Cup, The EuroCup, The Spanish league and the World cup is about it for me.

 

[Christian Walker]

Re: US Postal win team time trial!

Speaking of US Postal, any thoughts on Heras' chances for a top 5 finish in the Tour, perhaps a podium spot?

I think that will depend on Simoni and Beloki. Beloki was really strong in the mountains last year, and Simoni is in good form. On the other hand, Simoni lost a lot of time today and Heras has got to be feeling pumped up. I think Lance will do everything he can to help Heras, so who knows? And we can't forget Ulrich! He's on a road to redemption and he is very, very motivated to put his drug suspension (recreational/non-performance) behind him.

I'm going to err on the side of caution and say:

1 - Lance
2 - Beloki
3 - Simoni
4 - Ulrich?
5 - Heras

 

[Christian Walker]

I'm a bigger fan of the Vuelta a Espana, but that's because I used to live in Madrid.

The vuelta is awesome. It's truly the grand tour that features the skinny man at his best. All those 5' 9", 150 lb. cyclists doing so well in a professional sport makes me mist up with pride.

"I, too, am a skinny man! I salute you!"

 

[EOL]

Re: Re: US Postal win team time trial!

I think that will depend on Simoni and Beloki. Beloki was really strong in the mountains last year, and Simoni is in good form. On the other hand, Simoni lost a lot of time today and Heras has got to be feeling pumped up. I think Lance will do everything he can to help Heras, so who knows? And we can't forget Ulrich! He's on a road to redemption and he is very, very motivated to put his drug suspension (recreational/non-performance) behind him.

I'm going to err on the side of caution and say:

1 - Lance
2 - Beloki
3 - Simoni
4 - Ulrich?
5 - Heras

If nothing else I would switch the places of Simoni and Ullrich. Simoni lost 2:19 to Ullrich today and will probably lose at least another two minutes with each time trial* which means he's got nearly 6 minutes to make up in the mountains. If Ullrich had shown any signs of weakness I might be inclined to give Simoni an outside chance, but Ullrich was incredibly strong today, taking huge pulls at the front and dragging the team in in third -place even after they'd lost two people.

In other words I'd bet good money that Simoni will not finish higher than Ullrich. Course I'm the guy that thought Hamilton would finish on the podium , so you should take whatever I say with a certain amount of caution...

*I arrived at this number by comparing Ullrich and Sevilla's times from the tour two years ago and spotting Simoni a minute just to be cautious.

On a side note, are you going to be at GenCon Christian? If so stop by my booth (#1441).

 

[johnsemlak]

my picks for now...

1 Lance
2 Beloki
3 Ulrich
4 Heras (though I hope he nicks third position)

 

[Christian Walker]

EOL: Sadly, I won;t be making it to GenCon. Maybe next year...

RE: Stage 5. Whoa! Petachhi (sp?) is on fire. 3 stage wins so far and 3 in the Giro. I never thought I'd see Zabel so outmatched.

 

[johnsemlak]

I'm listening to Friday's Stage at work.

Wow, what a move by O'grady, he's put himself back in the green jersey picture. I hope he hangs on and wins the stage, though with a 2-3 minute lead with more than 20 km to go, it's unlikely.

 

[Christian Walker]

I'm listening to Friday's Stage at work.

Wow, what a move by O'grady, he's put himself back in the green jersey picture. I hope he hangs on and wins the stage, though with a 2-3 minute lead with more than 20 km to go, it's unlikely.

They were so close to winning! Another one for Petacchi! Crazy fast, like Super Mario in his heyday.

Still more crashes than I'd like. Definite result of a lack of strong sprinting teams to lead a long train into the finish. I almost miss the Telekom freight train.

Six guys in a row, Zabel tucked in seventh, two more behind him to fend off wheelsuckers. It kept the peleton strung out, which meant fewer sprint crashes. Oh well.

How weird was that to see the Yellow Jersey foing back to the team car for drinks?