Good thing I'm not a prgnosticator...well, actually, I never said I expected Tyler Hamilton or Jan Ullrich to beat Lance Armstrong, just that I kinda hoped one of them would.
Instead, Hamilton had to abandon on Saturday because of a back injury. I heard this news just as I flipped on the tv Saturday morning and was shocked...after the pain he endured last year?...but he explained in his diary that this year's injury was completely different, he just couldn't move the pedals. I now have my fingers crossed that he heals in time for the Olympics.
And Ullrich...on Sunday, he said (or rather, the English translation of his diary said...I know enough German to see that it isn't always a literal translation) that Lance is simply unbeatable this year, and on Monday he sounded pretty resigned:
Maybe the yellow jersey is out of reach now, but there are still two more places on the podium to be decided. What's to stop me getting on the podium? Nothing - I'll take a day-to-day approach to things and try, as much as possible, to get up there. Let's see where this approach brings me.
I haven't been reading the German news (it takes me too long to translate, and I'm barely keeping up with the English-why does the Tour come during my busy month?) so I don't know how bad Jan is getting hammered for his lack of fitness and preparation there. I've seen him slammed by Bernard Hinault and pretty much dismissed by Johan Bruyneel. And...I guess if you want to beat someone with such meticulous training methods as Armstrong, you gotta be willing to apply that same level of training.
I caught the last 10 km of today's stage on a rebroadcast when I got home (I love OLN) and Ullrich didn't look bad. But he didn't look as cool as Armstrong, sitting there in the big chain ring...
Maybe Ivan Basso can hold on. And I certainly don't mean this as any kind of hope...I'm finding myself sliding back into the Lance camp, actually...but things happen. Fortune favors the prepared, but less-good riders can have good days, great riders can have bad days, and, well, there's a reason they actually go out and do the race instead of just figuring out who the winner will be on paper, right?
Posted by Nic at July 20, 2004 05:10 PM