Letters to Cyclingnews - July 15, 2005

Joseba Beloki

I am so glad to see Joseba Beloki back. I am from Texas and so am a pretty big Lance fan, but I sure thought Joseba looked good enough to maybe beat Lance. It was a real tragedy for the race the day Joseba crashed. And I have been hoping ever since to see him back at the front. I am so glad he made it. Maybe next year he'll be back at his former level. Too bad Lance won't be around then. I'd love to see that race finished; it would have been a really great race regardless who won.

Ray Joiner

Weatherford, TX, USA
Thursday, July 14, 2005

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Message for Chris Horner

Hi Chris

I'm a fan of yours. I am following your diary on Cyclingnews.com. I used to be a hobby racer (Cat 3) and live in Santa Clara CA. I saw you win at SF Grand Prix and also ride a great race at the worlds in Hamilton. I also saw you on the road a few times when you were training with Webcor in the Bay Area. Congrats on the Tour of Suisse and the Worlds last year (Although I wasn't there in person for those).

I'm glad you finally got to ride the Tour and you seem to be having a solid ride. Great ride today to Courchevel - it looked brutal but you finished ahead of GC guys like Vinokourov and Julich. Good luck for the rest of the Tour. To win a stage would be the icing on the cake.

Hope to see you ride in SF in September,

Steve Peck
Tuesday, July 12, 2005

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Treat Lance like the others

I am just wondering why Lance gets a police escort after each stage. The other riders have to wait in traffic for hours while Lance is getting his massage and dinner. Should he not be treated just like the rest? All of the perks he gets definitely give him an unfair advantage over the rest of the riders.

Linda Berger
Sunday, July 10, 2005

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Lance Infomercial?

I, too, agree that the prominence of Lance in the OLN coverage is a little much; after all, 188 other cyclists started le Tour. However, I am grateful for the popularity of Lance. I remember the 15 minutes of coverage the Tour received on ABC Wide World of Sports during the 80's.

When ESPN started airing the Tour, I thought it was heaven to get 30 minutes a day. If it weren't for Lance increasing the popularity of cycling in the US, I doubt I would be sitting here watching live coverage of the Tour on a Sunday morning. I am willing to put up with the "Lance Infomercial" atmosphere in order to get the wonderful coverage we see. Thanks OLN!

Barbara Beadle

Overland Park, KS
Sunday, July 10, 2005

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McEwen defense

A lot has been made about Robbie McEwen's head on Stuart O'Grady's shoulder, but extreme circumstances call for such actions. If you go back in the sprint before McEwen leans on O'Grady you can clearly see that O'Grady moves left and inadvertently flicks McEwen's right elbow which causes him to steer left and uncontrollably lean right. Because McEwen was slightly behind O'Grady's shoulder he couldn't use his own shoulder to straighten up so he used the next best thing, his head.

Had he slowed down while leaning right he would have surely crashed because O'Grady wouldn't have kept him up. By leaning on O'Grady he was able to straighten his machine and cross the line safely. The problem is he made it look so easy that in turn it looked deliberate. McEwen demonstrated what it takes to be a great sprinter and got relegated as reward. I hope he comes back to win green.

Matt Mega

Richmond, VA
Saturday, July 09, 2005

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Rail lines in the TdF

Cycling at times is one of the most professional of all sports; at other times at its highest level its organisation is incredibly amateurish.

As a race manager if I designed a course for a local bike race that included crossing angled railway lines I know the response I would get. How is it that the TdF can be sent over such angled lines knowing that inevitably several riders will crash as their front wheels get skewed sideways. I can accept that it is not possible for the route to avoid the lines but surely there is a technical solution that sees some packing put in the groove beside the line so the hazard is elimimated.

These riders train for years to ride in this the greatest of all bike races. It is not OK for them to have all this put at risk because they are forced to ride over a dangerous rail crossing.

Kevin Smith

New Zealand
Sunday, July 10, 2005

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Ruse Discovered?

Don't you find it a little strange that NONE of the Discovery team were with Lance on the last climb of stage 8? It was only a cat 2, at 4%. That seemed a bit odd to me, then I read this quote on Cyclingnews.com:

"Paolo Savoldelli was there for a while on the final ascent and told Alessandra Di Stefano of RAI-TV, '...on the final climb, I closed a gap on Vinokourov and could have stayed there but Armstrong told me to back off."

Why did Armstrong tell Savoldelli to back off? That makes no sense to me, unless it's all a ruse to make T-Mobile and others think that they are weak, saving their strength for the more demanding Stage 9. Maybe Paolo was the only one that didn't get the message in that morning's pre-race meeting that they were all supposed to play lame duck on the last climb and make Lance look like he's been isolated. This wouldn't be the first time that Bruyneel has pumped up T-Mobile's hopes by feigning weakness, prompting T-mobile to burn themselves out early.

Discovery may have just done it again before the first decisive mountain stage. Only time will tell if my gut feeling is right, but I think Johan has something up his sleeve again.

Andy Bury

Woodinville, WA
Saturday, July 9, 2005

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Discovery's unanimous breakdown

It seems high coincidence that Discovery, so strong and consistent for so many years, all had off days on a single day. Lance's climbing lieutenants; Chechu, Triki, Popo, Azevedo and Savoldelli all fell back like like they were first-year domestiques. So weak that they failed en masse to protect Lance?

Was it something in their food? Did a legion of irresistible succubae visit them in the night? Or, could this be part of a plan to give them all a break for one more day and let the stage play out on the broad shoulders of a super-strong Lance (oh yeah, I forgot, Lance was having an off-day too), or was it to give all his big-gun rivals something to waste time thinking about and possibly get overconfident about, a la Alpe d'Huez in '01? Or...well, you fill in the blanks (which they were all apparently shooting).

Wes Baki

Green Mountain Falls, CO
Saturday, July 9, 2005

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IS Jan really the man?

Having just seen today's stage (9 July) and I'm a little confused. In my humble opinion Ullrich should have been the next to attack a lone Lance after Vino's attempts, not Klöden. He (Jan) is probably not going to get a better chance with a 2-0 team mate ratio against Lance. Or did T-mobile really think Armstrong would try to hunt down Klöden all by himself? And THEN after that it would be Jan's turn...? Or is he waiting for the alps? Or what? I think he's just hasn't got it, physically or mentally, to beat Lance. And I think we'll see a change of the guard at T-mobile half way through next week.

Magnus Bergström
Saturday, July 9, 2005

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Cycling socks

This is totally random, but I've noticed an alarming increase in long socks among riders in the pro peloton these days. I have also seen this dangerous trend trickling down to riders at local races. In fact, in a recent Cat 3 event, I witnessed a racer wearing black calf-length trouser socks (which immediately conjured up images of my father wearing the same along with denim cut-offs and flip-flops).

Can we all agree that this really tacky fashion trend gets nipped in the bud? Does anyone recall the "dream sequence" at the beginning of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure where he dreams of winning the Tour de France in front of several long-socked fat guys? And I won't even go on to mention Breaking Away. Let's practice some good judgment and relegate this fashion faux pas to a brief and embarrassing blip among the pro ranks (along with gaudy gold necklaces).

Steve Smith

California
Monday, July 11, 2005

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Patrick Lefevre quit your whining

According to the Quick Step boss, in response to Sinkewitz breaking a supposed verbal contract, "I've been in this business for 25 years and never experienced anything like this before." He need only think back a couple of years when he happily benefited from Tom Boonen breaking a WRITTEN contract with US Postal.

Chris Elke

Madison, Wisconsin
Wednesday, July 13, 2005

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Armstrong and class

Much has been said about Armstrong's protection in the peloton by his teammates. Well, every other contender for the GC has the protection of his team, too. Let us remember, that, cycle for cycle, pedal for pedal, Lance must match that of the front man (men). As do his rivals, such as they are. In the final drive for the finish line it is still Lance versus Jan versus Ivan versus Landis versus others, and who has the guts, the ability, the balls, the desire, the chutzpah, to win? Only Lance.

Bob Weidler

Hutchinson, KS, USA
Friday, July 8, 2005

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Leaky Gas?

It may just be a Euro pronunciation, but having spent several weeks in Italy over the last few years, I would find it difficult to believe that the Italians would pronounce Liquigas as anything but "Lickvigas". Nonetheless, Phil and Paul, OLN's resident TDF cunning linguists, insist on applying the moniker "LeakyGas" to the boys in green and blue. Not sure that a fuel company would want to be associated with gas leaks. Or maybe it's like veggie-diesel, but made from members of the alium family: "LeekyGas".

Mark Rishniw

Ithaca NY
Friday, July 08, 2005

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TdF sprint finishes

Could somebody, anybody, please explain to me why any TdF sprint finish with a corner (gasp!) in the last kilometre is derided as dangerous and results in carnage when, in comparison, U.S criterium races usually finish (without issue) in sprints with full lead-out trains on circuits less than 2km long that contain 6-8 sharp corners, including rain, road paint etc? Why do the tour guys have so much difficulty turning?

Kenneth Getchell

Conshohocken, PA USA
Friday, July 8, 2005

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Who is in charge of the UCI?

I remember reading at the start of the season of a public argument at an airport between Hein Verbruggen and Dick Pound, the result of which, if I recall correctly, was that HV was going to step down as head of the UCI in June and DP was going to take over.

I have not heard much on the story for a while, but it is now July and I wondered if HV had stuck to his plan?

Thanks for such an informative and entertaining site.

Ian Ellis

New York
Saturday, July 9, 2005

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Tires and slippery roads

Try riding a tubular that has been left to dry for six years...and you'll fall flat on your face if it's just a bit moist in the air.
Fresh rubber is the best for gripping whatever surface in whatever conditions.

Morgan Larsson

Sweden
Friday, July 8, 2005

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Response to the Vowels of Cycling

Obviously, individually LA is gifted, and is one of the top three (TdF only) riders over the last six years.

But, his team IS a major part of his armamentarium when winning the TdF. Here are two examples:

1. You mention ITTs. Bob, would you feel more energetic if the days prior to your ITT you initiated solo breaks or worked extra hard in TTTs to pull your inferior team closer to LAs? Remember Team Postal/Disco has won the last three TTTs and benefited from the time bonuses too. You will agree that energy used on days preceeding an ITT will diminish your ITT performance; I defy you to tell me otherwise. LA drafting on routine days, or having the strongest team during TTTs, allows him to save energy and then perform better than his competitors in ITTs.

2. Did you watch Stage 8 on Saturday? Was LA happy that his entire team was shelled on a Cat 2 climb? His post race comments are deafening and respond to your theories directly. No teammates, no hiding, no safety. Five mountain stages alone like that and we'll see if LA survives. If he does then I owe you an apology. At least those stages will be even.

Drew Schemmer
Saturday, July 9, 2005

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Little black box

While watching the long breakaway in Stage 5 of Le Tour it was obvious that rider number 153, Salvatore Commesso (Lampre-Caffita), had an attachment protruding from the rear of his seatpost. At first glance it seemed to be one of those old under saddle tool kits but I'm tipping this is not the case, unless the Lampre budget has been seriously curtailed. After some debate the most plausible theory was that it's a battery pack for a prototype Campag electonic shifting system.
Can anyone enlighten us further?

Wes

Perth, Australia
Friday, July 8, 2005

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Recent letters pages

Letters 2005

• July 8: McEwen defends himself, Tires and slippery roads, Random test on Lance Armstrong, French Government dope controls, The Pro Tour and Grand Tours, Tour de France's early finish?, Here we go again!, Thank you, Ed Kriege, Lance Infomercial?, No, the other Merckx!, The Vowels of Cycling, Armstrong's pre-Tour communiqués, Armstrong and class
• July 1: No, the other Merckx!, Armstrong's pre-Tour communiqués, The Vowels of Cycling, Figures of merit - TdF tipping, Lance Infomercial?, Daily Terror, Sydney article, Why Michael Rogers will be awesome with T-Mobile, I love it!, MTB news, Twins
• June 24: Sydney article, Hit and run on cyclists - Australia's new blood sport?, Another fatal hit and run on Australian cyclists, How can Ullrich win the Tour?, Drop Verbruggen, The second American, When the Tour heads up, Droppin' the Kilo!, Kilo or no go, What is Michael Rogers thinking?, Rogers to T-Mobile, For the love of god don't do it Mick!, The first yellow jersey, Horner Impressive, Leave T-Mobile/Fassa Bortolo, renew your career!, Horner's stage win at the Tour de Suisse, Bobby Julich, Daily Terror, Hell on Wheels review
• June 17: Droppin' the Kilo!, Killing the kilo and 500, The kilo, Axing the Kilo?, The track Time Trials, The first yellow jersey, Armstrong and Class, The year of the comeback, Horner's stage win at the Tour de Suisse
• June 10: The year of the comeback, An open letter to Cadel Evans, How Ullrich can win the Tour, USPRO/Liberty, Lance, the Tour and the Giro, Lance and the Tour, Show us your discards Godefroot!, Armstrong and Class, Ivan's training ride, Giro comments
• June 3: Giro comments, Giro excitement vs Tour blah, Ivan Basso, Ivan's training ride, Discovering the future, Jose Rujano, Savoldelli vs Simoni, How Ullrich can win the Tour, Eddy Merckx Interview, Johan Bruyneel, Show us your discards Godefroot!, Improving Pro Tour Team Rankings, Lance and the Tour, Armstrong and class
• May 27: Giro excitement vs Tour blah, Great Giro!, Double or nothing..., Colle delle Finestre and a Cipo farewell, Joseba Beloki, Ivan's training ride, Hell on Wheels, Matt Wittig, How Ullrich can win the Tour, UCI fines, Armstrong and class, Eddy Merckx Interview, The disappointment of Viatcheslav Ekimov, You have let us down Paolo
• May 20: Colle delle Finestre tactics, Rogues, It just keeps happening, Davis Phinney, Joseba Beloki, Australia - number one, You have let us down Paolo, Bettini/Cooke, What's up with pro cyclists these days?, Cipo, Cipo, Cipo, A question about team names, The disappointment of Viatcheslav Ekimov, Go Eki!
• May 13: Hit and run, Bettini vs Cooke, Bettini's Illegal sprint, You have let us down Paolo, Giro, Bettini/Cooke, Cookie's crumble, Bjarne's right: There's only one Jens Voigt!, Jens Voigt and the blind, South Australians protest against hit-and-run death, It just keeps happening, Liberty Seguros, The disappointment of Viatcheslav Ekimov, Go Eki!, Australia - number one, Irresistible in July, UCI weight rule
• May 6: South Australians protest against hit-and-run death, Tyler Hamilton's case, Hamilton and the facts The USADA decision on Tyler Hamilton, Tyler Hamilton, Tyler, Testing and the Virenque Comparison, How do dopers live with themselves?, General view on doping, Hamilton guilty regardless of the facts, Hamilton verdict, Tyler is good going uphill, Hamilton interview, Klöden comments, Tyler H, Simoni, Grazie Mario, Sheryl Crow, or should we say...Yoko Ono
• April 29: South Australians protest against hit-and-run death, Tyler Hamilton's case, Hamilton and the facts The USADA decision on Tyler Hamilton, Tyler Hamilton, Tyler, Testing and the Virenque Comparison, How do dopers live with themselves?, General view on doping, Hamilton guilty regardless of the facts, Hamilton verdict, Tyler is good going uphill, Hamilton interview, Klöden comments, Tyler H, Simoni, Grazie Mario, Sheryl Crow, or should we say...Yoko Ono
• April 22: Lance Armstrong's retirement, W is for Witchhunt, Tyler's mishandling defense, Not for real, is it?, Bad Science, Blood testing issues, Hamilton - finally a decision, Regarding the Tyler Hamilton decision, Tyler Hamilton, Satisfying Verdict for Hamilton Case, How do dopers live with themselves?, Hamilton's case, Tyler Hamilton's case, Hamilton, Hamilton verdict and a call for outside expertise, Tyler Hamilton saga..., Tour de France preview...2006!, Klöden comments, Tour de France Training, The New Dynamic Duo, Sheryl Crow, or should we say...Yoko Ono, Random Musings
• April 15: Glenn Wilkinson, USADA and Hamilton, Bergman; so sad, ProTour leader's jersey, That's a Jersey?, Too many chiefs?, Track World Championships, What do you think?
• April 8: The New Dynamic Duo, Boonen's Hairdo, Viral infections and antibiotics, George Hincapie, What do you think?, Track World Championships, VDB?, A little bit more about blood doping, Blood testing issues
• April 1: Well done Ale-jet, Eyes of tigers..., Viral infections and antibiotics, Let's talk about cycling…, What's worth talking about in cycling?, First Ride of the season, The New Dynamic Duo, Blood testing issues, Sydney Thousand, UCI Pro Tour Grand Theft, not Grand Tour
• March 18: The Forgotten Hero!, Way to go Bobby, Bobby J, Lance has lost the ‘Eye of the tiger’, Blood testing issues and Hamilton, With all Due Respect, All this Lance Talk..., Is Lance getting soft?
• March 11: Blood testing issues and Hamilton, Cycling on TV, In Defence of UCI president Hein Verbruggen, Defending the Pro Tour?, Is Lance getting soft?, Lance has lost the "eye of the tiger"
• March 4: In Defence of the Pro-Tour, Grand Tours back down...for now, Armstrong and Simeoni,Help - what’s on the TV?, Cycling on TV, Lance Defends His Title!, Hamilton movie role downplayed, Blood testing issues and Hamilton, I really don't know when it happened
• February 25: Lance Defends His Title!, Build it and tear it down?, Build, dismantle and donate!, Lance's Hour Record attempt, I really don't know when it happened, Can't get enough!, Dream on
• February 18: Build it and tear it down?, Remember Marco, One Reason I Love Cycling, The ongoing Hour Record Saga, Lance’s Hour Record attempt, Can't get enough!
• February 11: One Reason I Love Cycling, Francisco Cuevas, F-One - Come down to earth Lance!, Armstrong and the Hour, Can't get enough!, Greatest of all time
• February 4: F-One - Come down to earth Lance!, Armstrong and the Hour, Armstrong and Simeoni, Can't get enough!, Help, Greatest of all time Eddy is King, but who is second best?
• January 28: "I am the greatest of all time", Armstrong and the Hour Record, F-One - Come down to earth Lance!, Lance Drug Probe, Armstrong and Simeoni, Can’t get enough!, Help, NBC's 2004 RAAM Coverage, Doping, Crash distance from 1km to 3km, Eddy is King, but who is second best?
• January 21: Professional Cyclists, Der Kaiser's Goals, Jan Ullrich's problem = Lance, Rider of the Year, Crash distance from 1km to 3km, Help, Lance vs. Eddy
• January 14: Der Kaiser's goals, Help, Foreign stage races, Lance vs. Eddy, Tour '05, Rider of the Year, Best bikes for heavy riders, Quick Step helmets
• January 7: Death of Dmitri Neliubin, Der Kaiser’s goals, Rider of the Year, Best bikes for heavy riders, Who's Greater? Come on now!, Virenque "most charismatic"?, Downhilling, Downhill time trial, Trendy cyclists, No flat tyres, Spring classics trip advice, Bettini's trainer
• January 3: Spring classics trip advice, Big Bear ends downhilling, Armstrong and Simeoni, Holding teams accountable, Downhill time trial, Trendy cyclists, Bettini's trainer, No flat tyres

Letters 2004

• December 24 letters - Why are cyclists so trendy?, Business and cycling, Big Bear ends downhilling, Off-bike weight gain, No flat tires, Armstrong and Simeoni
• December 17 letters - Business and cycling, Tom versus Axel , Big Bear ends downhilling, Shane Perkins, Spring classics trip advice, Tyler Hamilton, Phonak and the UCI, Why are cyclists so trendy?, Mark Webber interview, Armstrong and Simeoni, Injured and missing it: an update, Clyde Sefton
• December 10 letters - Why are cyclists so trendy?, Big Bear ends downhilling, Floyd's choices?, Merckx, fit and trim, Pound must go, Spring classics trip advice, Tyler Hamilton, Phonak and the UCI, Punishment: Vandenbroucke vs Hamilton, Prosthetic hip, Armstrong and Simeoni, Dave Fuentes, Homeopathy, Jeremy Yates, TDF coverage for Australia, Weight limits and maintenance, Mark Webber interview
• December 3 letters - Domestiques vs Lieutenants, Tyler Hamilton, Phonak and the UCI, Dave Fuentes, Santa vs Hairy Guy, Why are cyclists so trendy?, Mark French and homeopathy, Shane Perkins, Jeremy Yates, Weight limits and maintenance, UCI regulations, Armstrong and Simeoni, Prosthetic hip
• November 26 letters - Mark French and homeopathy, Two big guns in one team, Tyler Hamilton case, Bartoli's retirement, Dave Fuentes, Shane Perkins, Merckx and Armstrong, Training like Lance, Lance Armstrong, Why are cyclists so trendy?, Phonak gets what it deserves, Armstrong and Simeoni, Bike weight, Spouseless riders, Mary McConneloug, Adam Craig, Mark Webber interview, Santa vs Hairy Guy
• November 19 letters - Tyler Hamilton case, Phonak gets what it deserves, Are you there Mr Coates?, Bike Weight, Merckx and Maertens make up, Heart troubles, Where to find cycling spouses, Mark Webber interview, Lance Armstrong, Where's Greg?, What ever happened to..., Why are cyclists so trendy?, Armstrong and Simeoni, l'Etape du Tour registration, Still Laughing
• November 12 letters - Why Armstrong will ride the 2005 Tour, Scott Sunderland, Why are cyclists so trendy?, Armstrong and Simeoni, Where to find cycling spouses, Lance on Italian selection, Heart troubles, l'Etape du Tour registration, Tour 2005 team time trial, What ever happened to..., Love and a yellow bike
• November 5 letters - Love and a yellow bike, Tour 2005, Where to find cycling spouses, Why are cyclists so trendy?, Lance on Italian selection, Armstrong and Simeoni, Tour of Southland, Construction technique for veloway, Heart troubles, l'Etape du Tour registration, Rahsaan Bahati
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