Stage 17 - Page 2 - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

bluegoose · 07-20-2006, 04:53 PM

I didn't comment yesterday because I wanted to see the stage for myself first.

What an amazing 2 stages!!! Yesterday, Landis looks like death warmed over. Today, a man on a mission who takes the stage by 5:42!!! I can't wait to watch it tonight to see how it developed.

I felt for Landis yesterday, mainly because I've felt how he looked on several occasions myself. I can possibly buy into the heatstroke/heat exhaustion theory. I initially thought he simply ran out of fuel, but I would have thought that would take more than a day to recover from.

Reagrding yesterdays stage, I was very impressed with the way Pereira rode. He was very calm the entire time and deftly covered all major attacks, aside from Sastres incredible acceleration. Leipheimer showed some guts and impressed me on his attack. I just wish he could have finished it off and put some time into his deficit.

One thing that impressed me most yesterday was Popyvych's descending abilities. That first major descent he put something like 2 1/2 minutes into the chase group. I didn't realize that was possible to distance yourself that much in such a short time. He eventually was gobbled up by the pack, but it was still fun to watch the seconds tick upward on the chase clock.

myboynoah · 07-20-2006, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creekster

The last ITT is hillier and more technical, I believe, than the first one. This should help Landis, if anything. WHat an incredible ride today. Bobke, in a bit of hyperbole, said it was the best individual effort ever in the TdF. Not sure about that, but it is certainyl among the best.

Pereiro has been impressive in Yellow. I hope he sticks on the podium. Sastre has looked to be the strongest rider not named Landis.

I like the heat stroke theory. It certainly fits with what we saw. WHen he cracked yesterday he looked like he suddenly shifted into a compleltely different gear. Arch and Q would have kicked his butt on the last few kilometers. It also explains why he took so much water to cool himself today.

What a fascinating ride. Landis can win and no one, except perhaps the lovely and devoted amber (I was getting a little tired of seeing her), thought he could just 6 hours agao. amazing.

EuroSport was suggesting it was the best TdF comeback, particularly since he did it all on this own. They talked about some guy years ago that took time back to a similar degree, but pointed out he did it among a group of 30.

Agree on Pereiro. I kept expecting him to dump out the back on these climbs the past three days, but he's stuck it out. Sastre too, although he appears to climb better than he descends.

I sat on the edge of my seat the whole race. Landis' punch into the air at the end said it all.

On Landis, they say he plans to try continue racing after this hip surgery. Is that possible? (OK, dumb question after today's superhuman effort, but still makes we wonder.)

bluegoose · 07-20-2006, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creekster

What a fascinating ride. Landis can win and no one, except perhaps the lovely and devoted amber (I was getting a little tired of seeing her), thought he could just 6 hours agao. amazing.

Amber, and of course Robbie Ventura, his coach. I can't wait to hear the hype tonight from him during the post-ride summary. Actually, I can wait. He bugs me from some reason. Not so much in a Chris Carmichael "I'm the greatest coach so buy my training system and food supplement" kind of way. But more in Tony Robbins sort of "Landis is a finely tuned machine, built to destroy the competetion, thanks to my system", hyped-up sort of way.

Now I'm going to go back to being my grumpy old self, and resume kicking cute little puppies, okay.

creekster · 07-20-2006, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluegoose

Amber, and of course Robbie Ventura, his coach. I can't wait to hear the hype tonight from him during the post-ride summary. Actually, I can wait. He bugs me from some reason. Not so much in a Chris Carmichael "I'm the greatest coach so buy my training system and food supplement" kind of way. But more in Tony Robbins sort of "Landis is a finely tuned machine, built to destroy the competetion, thanks to my system", hyped-up sort of way.

Now I'm going to go back to being my grumpy old self, and resume kicking cute little puppies, okay.

I don't think that even Robbie V. thought he could pull this off. It was simply an incomprehensible feat from a physical and a psychological point of view.

07-20-2006, 04:53 PM	#11
bluegoose Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Northern California Posts: 2,919	I didn't comment yesterday because I wanted to see the stage for myself first. What an amazing 2 stages!!! Yesterday, Landis looks like death warmed over. Today, a man on a mission who takes the stage by 5:42!!! I can't wait to watch it tonight to see how it developed. I felt for Landis yesterday, mainly because I've felt how he looked on several occasions myself. I can possibly buy into the heatstroke/heat exhaustion theory. I initially thought he simply ran out of fuel, but I would have thought that would take more than a day to recover from. Reagrding yesterdays stage, I was very impressed with the way Pereira rode. He was very calm the entire time and deftly covered all major attacks, aside from Sastres incredible acceleration. Leipheimer showed some guts and impressed me on his attack. I just wish he could have finished it off and put some time into his deficit. One thing that impressed me most yesterday was Popyvych's descending abilities. That first major descent he put something like 2 1/2 minutes into the chase group. I didn't realize that was possible to distance yourself that much in such a short time. He eventually was gobbled up by the pack, but it was still fun to watch the seconds tick upward on the chase clock.