Tour de France 2004

Who I hope will be on the podium:

1. Tyler Hamilton
2. Jan Ullrich
3. Lance Armstrong

Who I think will be on the podium:

1. Jan Ullrich
2. Lance Armstrong
3. Tyler Hamilton

"Lance has never been known to be gracious in defeat. Lucky for him, such moments have been rare. Let's see, we have heard excuses of bonking and dehydration, or, when the time lost was small something like ""if that's all he (Ullrich) could out into me, then I have nothing to worry about."" So, Heras, a loyal domestic and champion of his own right leaves the team, and Lance diminishes Heras' contributions to US Postal.

In a sense Lance is correct. There were times when Heras was not present, but over the years there were important times when he was there to support Lance. This fact should not mar Heras' abilities and contributions, rather, it underscores Johan Bruyneel's belief that a team cannot have enough good climbers, hence Heras and Pena and Ruberia. But even this trio of climbers was not seen as enough, so last year, when Beltran was available, US Postal signs him as well. A very smart move, as it was Beltran who provided the support to Lance at critical moments during last year's Tour, especially the devastating lead up the lower part of Alpe d'Huez. A strong argument can be made that had Beltran stayed with Bianchi, Ullrich would have won last year's Tour.

Anyway, 2004 promises to be as exciting as 2003. For the Alpe d'Huez time trial, will we see the riders with the second (Armstrong), third (Ullrich) and forth (Mayo) best times ever recorded on this climb competing head-to-head. Throw Heras, Beloki and Hamilton into the mix and we will see a compelling time trial.
This stage is on Wednesday, July 21, so I expect Blondies will be packed with cyclists. The final ITT is the following Saturday; this looks like a Water Street Bar evening to me. Friday July 16 and Saturday July 17 will see mountain top finishes in the Pyrenees; Blondies Friday and Water Street Bar Saturday? I can't wait."

"He also says this: ""He said the team considers Heras a good friend, but also revealed that he urged him to make the move to Liberty Seguros. ""He got a great opportunity and we told him to take it. Really there's no hard feelings, and I like the group we have.""

I think he's just straight shooting and just giving his assessment. Nothing personal about Heras I think Lance just isn't a gusher. I noticed he didn't get all crazy w/ praise about Tyler this year either even tho he had one of the most remarkable years ever for an american cyclist. And to be honest Roberto, aside from 3 or 4 fantastic rides and a top 5 back in '00, has yet to show his worth as a contender in the tour. The Vuelta and the Giro aren't nearly as tough as the Tour. Personally he's one of my faves up the Alp d'Huez this year.

Lance is a is a world class champion and has a world class (probably necessary) ego to match."

Blondies? What about the Water St. in Brooklyn??

I wish La would just ride.

Any way - it looks to be quite a TdF in 04. T-Mobile has so much talent, it may be too much: Ullrich, Zabel, Vino, Evans, Botero and Salvodeli!!

I think you picked the top 3 though, but the order ... ????????

Considering the massive amounts of beer and food the 50 of us went through last year that big night Blondies might have to start training bartenders (a B-eer SIG) to be ready to serve us.... (a $500 bar/food bill, pathetic)

I'll just be happy if we have another great tour and let the best racer end up on the podium. Last summer was a lot of fun

"Lance may not have been rude, per se, but he did damn Roberto with some faint praise. Essentially he's saying, ""I could have won those tours without Heras.""

Imagine a former supervisor said the following about you in public: ""I've got no hard feelings about him leaving, and wish him well. He performed well enough, but was not crucial to the company's success. Indeed, he was out sick, and therefore unable to contribute, for some key presentations""

I think that Lance's hypercompetitive personality prevents him from being more generous.

He is gracious to Jan, but will never concede defeat to an opponent's merit.

Should be an incredible Tour. Let's hope all the contenders stay clear of early mass crashes."

"Jonathan,

I take issue with you taking issue with me taking issue with Lala taking issue with Heras. Now ... what were we discussing … oh yes -

La is a world class athlete - with little class. Yes, being at his level of competition requires lots of ego. He has that for sure, but handles it poorly. His left handed ""compliments"" seem more like telling Heras to **** - off. Yes, other sports talk smack much harder. But that does not relieve Lala of selfish ingratitude. Not a gracious human being.

I view Lala as an ingrate. A killer cyclist – but an ingrate.

""Straight shooter"" ??? Rude Texican is more like it. Seeing him speak, I wonder how much is rehearsed with his PR people. Remember, gotta keep that endorsement $$ rolling in. Image consciousness too – especially after his domestic strife diverges from the way he has been marketed.

It’s not about the bike – it’s about the $$ and HIS ego.

And, he’s buddies with George Dubya. Boy-o-boy!!

Anyhoo, ’04 should be one heavy-duty brawl of a bike season. And strangely enough, I’ll be rooting for Lala – but only during the actual race. Off the bike, well … you know what I think.

Rgds, JP
"

"No athlete, or any public figure for that matter, will let the world (press) in on any weakness they may be feeling. It would boost the morale of the other key riders/teams he's up against. Rude may be an overstatement, but what do you expect him to say? ""Without Roberto I'm done for, give the yellow jersey to Jan. I may as well start acting!"" His ego will allow himself to justify those wins with or without certain team members, but remember he shares quite a bit of money with his domestiques- so he KNOWS their value."