Watching The Tour de France 2009

south pacific · **Posted:** Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:16 am

Watching this today.

I have to say, now that Lance Armstrong is in this, it's a much more interesting race...even if he's not the favorite anymore.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/jul/04/tour-de-france-lance-armstrong-monaco

Stage 1: Monaco - Monaco (15.5km)

1. Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland, Team Saxo Bank, 19 minutes 32 seconds
2. Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, 18 seconds behind
3. Bradley Wiggins, Great Britain, Garmin - Slipstream, 19 sec
4. Andreas Kloeden, Germany, Astana, 22 sec
5. Cadel Evans, Australia, Silence - Lotto, 23 sec
6. Levi Leipheimer, United States, Astana, 30 sec
7. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic, Liquigas, 32 sec
8. Tony Martin Germany, Team Columbia - HTC, 33 sec
9. Vincezo Nibali, Italy, Liquigas, 37 sec
10. Lance Armstrong, United States, Astana, 40 sec

It's pretty surprising he made the top 10 in a speed time trial, at age 37.

DMB04 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:48 pm

Definitely! His Twitter has become more interesting now...

Flying Rabbit · **Posted:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:07 am

DMB04 Wrote:

Definitely! His Twitter has become more interesting now...

Yeah, his posts about getting massages while listening to Grizzly Bear have substantially subsided.

I'm rooting for Levi. He's probably the reason I'm watching.

timmyjoe42 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:33 am

I thought Lance was banned from France.

south pacific · **Posted:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:22 am

DAY 2

1 Fabian CANCELLARA 4:49:34 -
2 Alberto CONTADOR 4:49:52 00:18
3 Bradley WIGGINS 4:49:53 00:19
4 AndrÃ©as KLÃ–DEN 4:49:56 00:22
5 Cadel EVANS 4:49:57 00:23
6 Levi LEIPHEIMER 4:50:04 00:30
7 Roman KREUZIGER 4:50:06 00:32
8 Tony MARTIN 4:50:07 00:33
9 Vincenzo NIBALI 4:50:11 00:37
10 Lance ARMSTRONG 4:50:14 00:40

BRIGNOLES, France (AP)â€”Lance Armstrong just wanted to stay out of trouble on a scorching day one rider felt was better suited for baking bread.

British sprinter Mark Cavendish won the second stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, with Armstrong finishing safely in the pack and Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland keeping the leaderâ€™s yellow jersey. Cancellara captured the opening time trial a day earlier.

Cancellara has an 18-second lead over 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador of Spain. Bradley Wiggins of Britain is third, 19 seconds behind. Armstrong, the seven-time champion, is 10th, 40 seconds back.

Tyler Farrar of the United States finished second and Romain Feillu of France was third in the 116-mile route from Monaco to Brignoles. .

Armstrong is making a comeback to the Tour four years after retiring. The 37-year-old Texan said his strategy for this leg was â€œjust avoid trouble and get in the rhythm of the race.â€

DMB04 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:46 pm

I love how Lance rocks SRAM red on his bikes!

neuroboy · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 10:38 am

sorry to insert this into the running tour updates, but lance armstrong is kind of a jerk. i just read this story and he's apparently been displaying some really erratic behavior recently.

Bill Gifford Wrote:

When he was at the top of his game, Armstrong demanded total loyalty and subservience from his teammates. That's not what Contador is getting from Lance. Take Monday's stage of the Tour de France, when Armstrong ordered his teammates to ride hard on the front, leaving Contador behind. It worked, almost: The tactic not only showed Contador who is boss, but it nearly helped earn Armstrong another yellow jersey on Tuesday's stage. If Armstrong had gotten the yellowâ€”no matter that he stepped on his teammate's back to get itâ€”it would have marked a triumphal completion of his comeback, finishing the self-created narrative arc upon which every successful politician builds his career. In less than a year, he's transformed himself from tabloid joke to cancer-conquering messiah. And if he does enter politicsâ€”after a year of fighting the press, demonizing enemies, and fending off personal scandalâ€”at least he'll be well-prepared.

harry · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:57 am

He's #2 now... if he wins this it will be one of the great sports stories of our time... I don't understand how he can be competing at this level given his age.

Elvis Fu · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 12:03 pm

I like the Radio Birdman commercials.

neuroboy · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 12:59 pm

harry Wrote:

He's #2 now... if he wins this it will be one of the great sports stories of our time... I don't understand how he can be competing at this level given his age.

showergate!

Flying Rabbit · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:16 pm

neuroboy Wrote:

sorry to insert this into the running tour updates, but lance armstrong is kind of a jerk. i just read this story and he's apparently been displaying some really erratic behavior recently.

Bill Gifford Wrote:

When he was at the top of his game, Armstrong demanded total loyalty and subservience from his teammates. That's not what Contador is getting from Lance. Take Monday's stage of the Tour de France, when Armstrong ordered his teammates to ride hard on the front, leaving Contador behind. It worked, almost: The tactic not only showed Contador who is boss, but it nearly helped earn Armstrong another yellow jersey on Tuesday's stage. If Armstrong had gotten the yellowâ€”no matter that he stepped on his teammate's back to get itâ€”it would have marked a triumphal completion of his comeback, finishing the self-created narrative arc upon which every successful politician builds his career. In less than a year, he's transformed himself from tabloid joke to cancer-conquering messiah. And if he does enter politicsâ€”after a year of fighting the press, demonizing enemies, and fending off personal scandalâ€”at least he'll be well-prepared.

He's been pretty honest about this since the beginning. He's always said that if a teammate looks like they could win it, he'd back down, otherwise, he's full-tilt boogie.

I'm a little biased because I completely have a mancrush on him, but seriously, if he can get it done, then I say do it. If Contador could've won he'd be pushing forward.

neuroboy · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:46 pm

Flying Rabbit Wrote:

neuroboy Wrote:

sorry to insert this into the running tour updates, but lance armstrong is kind of a jerk. i just read this story and he's apparently been displaying some really erratic behavior recently.

Bill Gifford Wrote:

When he was at the top of his game, Armstrong demanded total loyalty and subservience from his teammates. That's not what Contador is getting from Lance. Take Monday's stage of the Tour de France, when Armstrong ordered his teammates to ride hard on the front, leaving Contador behind. It worked, almost: The tactic not only showed Contador who is boss, but it nearly helped earn Armstrong another yellow jersey on Tuesday's stage. If Armstrong had gotten the yellowâ€”no matter that he stepped on his teammate's back to get itâ€”it would have marked a triumphal completion of his comeback, finishing the self-created narrative arc upon which every successful politician builds his career. In less than a year, he's transformed himself from tabloid joke to cancer-conquering messiah. And if he does enter politicsâ€”after a year of fighting the press, demonizing enemies, and fending off personal scandalâ€”at least he'll be well-prepared.

He's been pretty honest about this since the beginning. He's always said that if a teammate looks like they could win it, he'd back down, otherwise, he's full-tilt boogie.

I'm a little biased because I completely have a mancrush on him, but seriously, if he can get it done, then I say do it. If Contador could've won he'd be pushing forward.

that was just an excerpt. . . check out the whole story. . . strange behavior.

Flying Rabbit · **Posted:** Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:35 pm

neuroboy Wrote:

Flying Rabbit Wrote:

neuroboy Wrote:

sorry to insert this into the running tour updates, but lance armstrong is kind of a jerk. i just read this story and he's apparently been displaying some really erratic behavior recently.

Bill Gifford Wrote:

When he was at the top of his game, Armstrong demanded total loyalty and subservience from his teammates. That's not what Contador is getting from Lance. Take Monday's stage of the Tour de France, when Armstrong ordered his teammates to ride hard on the front, leaving Contador behind. It worked, almost: The tactic not only showed Contador who is boss, but it nearly helped earn Armstrong another yellow jersey on Tuesday's stage. If Armstrong had gotten the yellowâ€”no matter that he stepped on his teammate's back to get itâ€”it would have marked a triumphal completion of his comeback, finishing the self-created narrative arc upon which every successful politician builds his career. In less than a year, he's transformed himself from tabloid joke to cancer-conquering messiah. And if he does enter politicsâ€”after a year of fighting the press, demonizing enemies, and fending off personal scandalâ€”at least he'll be well-prepared.

He's been pretty honest about this since the beginning. He's always said that if a teammate looks like they could win it, he'd back down, otherwise, he's full-tilt boogie.

I'm a little biased because I completely have a mancrush on him, but seriously, if he can get it done, then I say do it. If Contador could've won he'd be pushing forward.

that was just an excerpt. . . check out the whole story. . . strange behavior.

Lance's Twitter Wrote:

lancearmstrongOn the massage table. Listening to Iron and Wine.

south pacific · **Posted:** Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:30 pm

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2009/news/story?id=4355437

MONT VENTOUX, France -- Alberto Contador all but sealed his second Tour de France title Saturday, keeping the yellow jersey after a punishing mountain ride in the next to last stage. And almost certain to join him on the podium is Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong, a seven-time champion in his first Tour since 2005, held off attacks from his closest challengers in the dreaded climb up Mont Ventoux to hold third place. The 37-year-old Texan arrived in a small group that included Contador, his Astana teammate, and second-place Andy Schleck of Luxembourg.

Armstrong, coming out of 3Â½ years of retirement, wanted a higher finish in cycling's showcase race but he knew it wouldn't be easy.

"Hey, I can't complain. ... Coming out here and getting on the podium with these young guys, it's not so bad," he said.

The only thing keeping Contador from adding to his 2007 Tour title is a ceremonial ride into Paris on Sunday. The finale is a flat stage that traditionally doesn't feature breakaways, meaning only an accident can prevent the Spaniard from going down the Champs-Elysees as the winner.

"This Tour has been very difficult," he said. "Even if it could have looked easy from the spectators' point of view, there have been some moments when I doubted about victory."

shiv · **Posted:** Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:58 pm

i'm voting SP from now on.

Watching The Tour de France 2009

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