04/24/24
July 21, 2004
David Millar - A cautionary tale: Anyone interested in cycling should read this article from the Guardian (UK).
Bugger. As in clunk click, every trip, I should use a spellchecker for even the shortest posts.
posted by Fat Buddha at 04:16 AM on July 21, 2004
That's a sad story. Seems his team bears a lot of the blame for his demise. Surely it's got to be counter-productive in the long term to push your riders to such extremes.
posted by squealy at 04:33 AM on July 21, 2004
Wrong thread I know, but Armstrong today was just awesome, and that is not a word I use lightly. I swear, at the finish, I just sat there, disbelieving, slack jawed, like a person from Wolverhampton.
posted by Fat Buddha at 04:18 PM on July 21, 2004
squealy, you know it's all about the now. They can always get a new lead rider next year for next year. FB, I was quite surprised by the aggressiveness of the AP headlines today: Armstrong Destroys Basso, Hits Out at Fans. Destroys? Though if Basso was really up for the challenge he wouldn't have been nearly 2:30 behind, over 7% longer time.
posted by billsaysthis at 04:55 PM on July 21, 2004
Bill, I like Basso, and really hoped he would sustain the challenge, but Armstrong killed him. Just imagine the indignity of starting 2 minutes ahead, on a killer mountain, and seeing your nearest rival not only catch up but move effortlessly away! I don't know if you saw any of it, but Armstrong maintained an extremely high and seemingly effortless cadence from start to finish. He has better rhythm than the Pope and Bing Crosby combined. The game is over, I cannot see where Basso can come back, unless Armstrong has a seriously bad day, which is highly unlikely. At least Basso had the good grace to smile about it afterwards, unlike Ullrich who suggested that if he hadn't been ill at the start of the race, he would be leading. Incidentally, Armstrong's time was the second ever fastest time up the hill after Pantani, who of course had completed a whole stage before the climb commenced, which suggests that Pantani was on some mighty fine medicine.
posted by Fat Buddha at 05:10 PM on July 21, 2004
Velonews had a great intro to their live coverage today: "When Fausto Coppi won the first stage to the Alpe in 1952, at the end of a 266km stage, he averaged 18.654 kph for the finishing climb, which was still unpaved. This year's winner will probably average about 23.5 kph." 
Friday, July 4, 1952, 10th stage, Lausanne to l’Alpe d’Huez (266 km). The Alpe welcomes its first Tour, and a love affair begins. Fausto Coppi devours the 14km of switchbacks in 45 minutes, 14 seconds. I think it's amazing that Coppi's time in 1952 was not too far off the times today, especially considering that the route was unpaved and it was at the end of a 266km stage! I missed the last few riders (stupid work), so I didn't get to see the riders I was most interested in. Thank God for Velonews' live coverage and video on the OLN/TDF site.
posted by dusted at 05:45 PM on July 21, 2004
They used to have 266km stages?
posted by billsaysthis at 10:24 PM on July 21, 2004
266km is nothing compared to some of the brutally long stages of the early Tours. A lot of the stages were over 400km long 24-hour+ rides over unpaved roads with no mechanical help. The 1919 race is considered the most difficult ever, with all 15 stages over 300km and one stage 482km long (that's 300 miles). It was so hard that only ten riders finished. There's lots of Tour history here and here, but neither site has been updated in a while. The Trek Tour FAQ has a nice mix of old and new trivia.
posted by dusted at 11:55 PM on July 21, 2004
you're right dusted, some of the really early Tours had monster stages with no support vehicles or anything. I believe they started following riders in cars later on because some of the guys were cheating by hopping on trains to complete large portions of the stage. Lance taking today's stage and adding a few more secs on Basso shows just how incredible he is. I bet a lot of the peloton hopes he retires soon so they'll have a chance.
posted by JohnSFO at 10:40 AM on July 22, 2004
Yeah, today's riders are such pampered wusses, ain't they? I kid, I kid. Lance is killing these people. He could win this race until he's 50 if he wanted at this rate, he's so much better than everyone else. It's incredible.
posted by chicobangs at 10:54 AM on July 22, 2004
Obviously this is one time we don't need to debate sport or not!
posted by billsaysthis at 05:39 PM on July 22, 2004
It is becoming a familiar tale, as the sad and lonely death of Marco Pantani ilustrates. If you haven't read Rough Ride by Paul Kimmage, it's worth a look.