irish Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 while in a race in Spain and fractured his collarbone. He'll need surgery. Just saw this run across the bottom of ESPN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilthorp Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 WOW!!!! AMAZING!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 I wonder if this will have any impact with him competing in the Tour de France. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Runt Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 WOW!!!! AMAZING!!! I've got his back up. Now I can start him in the Tour de France. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 I've got his back up. Now I can start him in the Tour de France. That was smart of you to handcuff the best biker. Shouldn't be too much of a drop-off in production. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I wonder if this will have any impact with him competing in the Tour de France. I'd think that even if he's able to ride in the tour (he's got 3 months....slight possibility), it'll deep-six his training and take him from GC to domestique. Plus Astana's roster is so loaded they'd be better off fielding someone who's in prime shape to help Contador win it* as opposed to giving Lance a lifetime achievement roster spot. * - assuming that Tour organizers aren't still grinding an ax against the organization Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Agent Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Didn't he retire? Is this a charity race? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 Didn't he retire? Is this a charity race? http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=4008306 Lance Armstrong will have surgery for a broken collarbone that will interrupt, but not necessarily derail, his preparation for the Tour de France this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 (edited) I'd think that even if he's able to ride in the tour (he's got 3 months....slight possibility), it'll deep-six his training and take him from GC to domestique. Plus Astana's roster is so loaded they'd be better off fielding someone who's in prime shape to help Contador win it* as opposed to giving Lance a lifetime achievement roster spot. * - assuming that Tour organizers aren't still grinding an ax against the organization I read in that ESPN article I linked that a week after having surgery, Armstrong can begin training again on a stationary bike. un-retired. As Chavez mentioned above, he's on team Astana -- who really is formerly-Team Discovery, formerly Team USPS. He wasn't really the team leader except by history. Contador is the real GC contender, tho Lance was 1a. Lance un-retired mostly to continue promoting "Livestrong", his cancer foundation thingy. Yeah I was reading about Contador and how he's like the new elite standard in cycling after Lance retired but that Armstrong was going to battle him for the #1 spot on the team. Edited March 24, 2009 by irish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 Not directly or intentionally. For those not familiar with cycling, you have nine guys on a team. One or two focus on the GC (overall winner competition), then you've got one or two specialists who focus on the "King of the Mountain" (climbing) title, the sprinter's title, and then if you've got an up and comer, the rookie title. Sometimes, the GC contender is also the KoM guy. Regardless, you've got 4-6 guys who help the various title contenders. If you want to be any good as a team, you've always got two guys going for GC and you designate some of the "soldiers" (domestiques) to help one GC and some others to help the other GC. It's not mutually exclusive for both Lance and Contador to both be going for GC. After stage 18, you've usually got a clearer picture and sometimes, one of the GC contenders who isn't in the top 10 or so relegated to assist the other guy, per team manager's instructions. So, it's not really a battle between the two for GC, they'll both be given the full opportunity to challenge opposing teams. As I said, Lance is really there cuz he's promoting Livestrong and also cuz he's bored with retirement. If Lance drops out of contention, he will pull for Contador. Lance has sacrificed plenty of stage victories for teammates before, so it won't be a shock if he becomes an uber-domestique... tho that roll will be to lead Contador up a difficult climb, as opposed to dropping back to get water and food... they've got kids to do that. TdF keeps me sane between the NFL draft and pre-season Great info! I was not aware of most of the finer details in cycling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 (edited) Clarification from my understanding of cycling.... For those not familiar with cycling, you have nine guys on a team. I think most bigger teams probably have close to 20; only 9 per team are allowed to ride in most competitions. Very often the elite teams will have one squad racing at whatever Classic or minor tour is going on in Europe and one racing elsewhere (Aussie, the US, Asia, Africa). One or two focus on the GC (overall winner competition), then you've got one or two specialists who focus on the "King of the Mountain" (climbing) title, the sprinter's title, and then if you've got an up and comer, the rookie title. Eh, I've always felt that the top teams, like CSC, don't waste time with the KoM or points spamshirts - they are looking to land the GC. Anything else is gravy. As such, they had two, maybe three guys who could've been GC contenders but in the end Sastre was the guy who they settled on and devoted all their energy to running Cadel Evans into the ground. Andy Schleck got the best young rider, but stuff like that is gravy. Lesser teams will concentrate on getting the lesser spamshirts - after teams need sponsors, and sponsors need airtime. And when your guy is up on the podium getting the green or polka-dot jersey every day (not to mention face time as they fight to defend the jersey), that's some nice airtime. I know some who said that Lotto f*cked Cadel Evans last year by riding Robbie McEwen (not long ago the most dominant sprinter in the biz) in the TdF instead of someone who could've defended Evans. Lance has sacrificed plenty of stage victories for teammates before, so it won't be a shock if he becomes an uber-domestique... tho that roll will be to lead Contador up a difficult climb, as opposed to dropping back to get water and food... they've got kids to do that. TdF keeps me sane between the NFL draft and pre-season Armstrong would make on heck of a road captain. A big reason for his success was that as gifted as he was physically, he always seemed to have a good sense of when to drop the hammer (like his famous look back at Ullrich). EDIT - SASTRE, not Valverde.... Edited March 24, 2009 by Chavez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 The most subtle, but most critical part of a race are the attacks on a steep climb. Lance is the best ever at it. The tactics CSC used on the Alpe d'Huez last year were just masterful. Just an example of how even a possibly great rider can fall flat with a weak team around him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 And the TdF is the top of the pyramid in the sport. It's so big that guys will ride with broken or dislocated collar bones, wrists, and ribs and huge stitched up gashes in the body after crashes just for the honor of finishing the race. Back in the day I guess the Lantern Rouge - the last guy to finish in the TdF - got a bit of acclaim. That has sort of been squelched the past few decades, but it was sort of a "Mr Irrelevant" title - tongue firmly in cheek but the appreciation for the accomplishment was sincere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Oh, just an update for those who hadn't heard - Armstrong is planning on riding in the Giro d'Italia 5 weeks. Prognosis is a 4-6 week recovery so he's treading a thin line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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