http://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/LIVE/us/1400/classement/IMG.html On the other hand, Landis is currently ninth in the King of the Mountains (polka dot jersey) with Leipheimer 15th, Hincapie 40th and Zabriskie 57th. Landis may yet contend here - or he may sit back and do just well enough to make sure he's in yellow at the end of the final stage. STAY TUNED
Originally posted by CRZhttp://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/LIVE/us/1400/classement/IPG.html In other meaningless American news, Hincapie currently sits 15th in Overall Points (white jersey) with Landis 25th, Zabriskie 60th, Vandevelde 61st and Leipheimer 63rd.
http://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/LIVE/us/1400/classement/IMG.html On the other hand, Landis is currently ninth in the King of the Mountains (polka dot jersey) with Leipheimer 15th, Hincapie 40th and Zabriskie 57th. Landis may yet contend here - or he may sit back and do just well enough to make sure he's in yellow at the end of the final stage. STAY TUNED
I feel I should point out that the points classification is actually the green jersey - the white jersey goes to the best young rider (leader on overall time for riders born after 1/1/81).
I can't see the polka dot jersey going to anyone who is currently outside the top five in that competition (while Landis will happen to pick up points here, he only wants the yellow jersey and so won't be bothered to chase down the points for the smaller climbs as well that he'd need).
And it is basically Rasmussen's for the taking right now - De Le Fuente got left behind on the final climb of the last stage, so I can't see him picking up too many points in the Alps.
Originally posted by CanardI feel I should point out that the points classification is actually the green jersey - the white jersey goes to the best young rider (leader on overall time for riders born after 1/1/81).
Sheeeeeeeeeeeit. I'm wrong again. At least you knew what I MEANT. ;-)
Floyd Landis is back in yellow after the first day of climbing! He's got ten seconds on former leader Oscar Pereiro. Levi Leipheimer moves up to 9th overall, 6'18" behind. Today's winner, Frank Schleck, was the sole rider from Luxembourg in the Tour. YOU CARE. Four more riders have dropped from the Overall Standing (bringing that total to 24) and we're down to 152.
Schleck's team did a great job for him and he finished it off well. Landis looked very good. I think he'll win. I think Cadel Evans was exposed a bit. He doesn't seem to have an explosive burst in him when someone breaks away. Boonen retiring gives McEwen 45 points on his nearest challenger. One thing I just don't understand is the guys who feel the need to run along beside the riders. One guy last night tripped and almost fell into the wheel of the guy he was running next to.
Rasmussen dominated this stage, taking back "his" polka dot jersey. The man lives for that shirt.
Too bad for the Rabo team that their main guy for the standings couldn't keep up with some of the big guns, as Menchov lost precious seconds and might not be able to get on the podium now.
But what about Landis..damn..that must have hurt.. And despite Leipheimer going on the offense for once it seems like there won't be an American tour winner this year.
Pereiro is back in the yellow jersey and we have a tour that is more exciting than it has been in a long time.
Don't get me wrong, I got a lot of thrills seeing Armstrong murderize his opponents, but this is new and lots of fun.
Man, one climb too many today. That was some brutal TV to watch (when I'm supposed to be working) and you could just see it in Landis' face. I wonder if things will be just as crazy tomorrow, or if the tanks are empty. Could LEIPHEIMERMANIA be running wild at Col de Joux-Plane? (Probably not. That Rasmussen's a MONSTER)
Blimey did Landis look pale crossing the line. His face had no colour in it whatsoever.
Pereiro being gifted that 30 minute advantage on stage 13 is now looking like one of the biggest mistakes the peloton could have made.
However, he is not the best time trialler in the world - I would expect Sastre and Kloden to eat up at least a minute of his lead in the TT on Saturday, meaning he cannot afford to lose much more than 50 seconds on the final Alpine stage tomorrow.
I couldn't believe it. It was bizarro world, Landis had no extra burst and Cadel Evans made the jump to get with Oscar and Kloden. It will be interesting to see if anyone important makes an attempt to break away tonight. I don't see how it would be humanly possible for Rasmussen to go with them today, but surely someone has to test out Pereiro.
Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you... And just like that, it's a race again.
smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated (Holds; June 18, 2006) While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.
Originally posted by Texas KellyAnd just like that, it's a race again.
Damn, that was insane. Landis was not supposed to be able to do that. I have to take my words back now as he suddenly is the #1 contender again. Insane..just freakin insane..
While I'm quite sure many people on this board wanted Landis to just blow away his rivals on every single stage a la Armstrong, I'm glad he did it this way instead, as it's making for much more compulsive viewing!
On a side note, who is doing the commentary for the Tour in the US? The only time I've been in the States during the TDF (2001) the commentators were Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen - the guys who have done that job for UK TV for probably more than 20 years now. I don't know whether that was a one off or whether they are used every year by both sides of the Atlantic.
Originally posted by CanardOn a side note, who is doing the commentary for the Tour in the US? The only time I've been in the States during the TDF (2001) the commentators were Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen - the guys who have done that job for UK TV for probably more than 20 years now. I don't know whether that was a one off or whether they are used every year by both sides of the Atlantic.
Liggett and Sherwen still do commentary on this side of the pond.
"Teach children that they have great potential because they are human." -Warrior
Originally posted by CanardOn a side note, who is doing the commentary for the Tour in the US? The only time I've been in the States during the TDF (2001) the commentators were Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen - the guys who have done that job for UK TV for probably more than 20 years now. I don't know whether that was a one off or whether they are used every year by both sides of the Atlantic.
Liggett and Sherwen still do commentary on this side of the pond.
More accurately, they handle the live coverage, while during the "enhanced prime" replay we are blessed by (noted cycling expert) Al Trautwig and (sometimes actually kinda entertaining if a bit hyperbolic) Bobke Roll
I always assumed Liggett and Sherwen just did it for Australia and possibly the UK. They always seem to concentrate on Aussies in the field and the occasional Pommie.
Originally posted by MercI always assumed Liggett and Sherwen just did it for Australia and possibly the UK. They always seem to concentrate on Aussies in the field and the occasional Pommie.
I think that's just because there's always a really good crop of Aussies in the field (certainly more so than there ever are Brits!)
The reason I brought it up was because until I watched the Tour in the States (ironically, while I was there on a cycling holiday), I'd only ever heard them on the 45 minute highlight daily show we got in the UK - I didn't realise they did live commentary for the full five (or however many) hours each day.
For the past three years however, we have now started to get the weekend stages covered live and get at least an hour of highlights on a weeknight. Which is good news, because until that happened, our only choice for live coverage was Eurosport and I'm not sure I could sit listening to Sean Kelly's monotone voice for that long!
We get them nightly here. Usually coverage starts at around 10:30 through until stage finish at about 1:30 am. They can get a bit repetitive, but they are generally entertaining for the whole time.
Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you... And Landis has done it. He'll have nearly a minute lead over Pereiro going into Paris tomorrow.
smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated (Holds; June 18, 2006) While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.
The ceremonial final stage bothers me. If I'm a rider, why don't I just burn rubber to make up as much time as I can, and/or win? It's like golfers not playing the 72nd hole of a major out of 'respect' for the leader.
Scene: Mark DeRosa's brain. The year is 2005. Part of Mark DeRosa's brain: Come on, another position change? One day it's second base, the next day right field, now it's third? Why, I oughta go into Buck's office and throw his talking fish on the floor! Other part of Mark DeRosa's brain: Hold on, other part of the brain. We're making $500,000 this year. Last year we made $725,000. All for playing a damn kids' game. This is, as they say in Brainland, a no-"us"-er. We're not going to complain. Part of Mark DeRosa's brain: You're right, dude. Let's go back to looking at this crazy porn Teixeira gave us!
Former Italian football great, best known in the US for his stint with the New York Cosmos, Giorgio Chinagila, passed away 1 April following a heart attack.