Comments on: Coronation Hugs http://velolasource.com/velorant/2006/07/23/coronation-hugs/ where phil and paul left off Sat, 19 May 2012 06:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 by: fausto http://velolasource.com/velorant/2006/07/23/coronation-hugs/#comment-16 Sun, 23 Jul 2006 17:22:40 +0000 http://velolasource.com/velorant/2006/07/23/coronation-hugs/#comment-16 There are very few rules in grand tour cycling. It's a little like frontier justice: whatever someone can enforce gets enforced. When the peloton has a true patron, like Armstrong, he gets to make the rules he can enforce. For the first two or three years, Lance won by winning. In the later three or four, he won by enforcing a set of rules that favored him greatly, the most notable of which was that only the last climb of the day counts. With a strong team, Lance was able to enforce that rule. Frank's right that Lance did not get loved by the peloton for his iron rule. Floyd won on the kind of guts that makes people love you--hell, he's just one of the guys who happened to take a risk that paid off. Good for him! This was a great tour. Anyone who is downgrading Floyd's victory because the putative favorites were not present should be made to ride El Tour de Tucson in tight denim shorts. Rule number one is the John Allis Rule: you race the race you are in. Floyd won. Frank is also right that the same putative favorites may be absent for sometime. Ullrich: game over. Basso: let's hope there was a mistake there; he's the only rider that seems to have some possible excuse. Tyler Hamilton: lifetime suspension for that lying sack of s&%*t. Discovery needs to find a team leader, and they will probably need to import one. I'm not as sanguine about Popo as Frank is, but it's still early. In any event, the team will need to be seriously re-jigged in order to be competitive. I don't think it's realistic for George to ride his guts out for someone other than Lance; the spark won't be there. Great teams just can't change leaders. Look at Renault in the 80s, then La Vie Claire, and Toshiba. You think you should be able to slot in the new leader to the old machine, but it never quite works. As for Levi, well, he finished with something still in the tank, which proves he's a complete loser. Deep down, I believe he's saving it to defend his title at the Tour of Germany. I shouldn't be so bitter: that's his level of racing, and I hope he wins again. George Hincapie is a classics rider; there's no shame in that. Zabriskie is a huge talent with a bright future. He did much better in the hills this year and could certainly develop into an all-rounder. As for Floyd, he's the anti-Lance. He did as much for cycling this year by throwing out the Lance rule book as Lance did by writing it. I wish him luck in his hip operation, and I hope he comes back next year and that--at least for a while--we see the kind of parity in the peloton that makes for unpredictable, exciting racing. There will be another patron soon enough, but I hope not too soon. There are very few rules in grand tour cycling. It’s a little like frontier justice: whatever someone can enforce gets enforced. When the peloton has a true patron, like Armstrong, he gets to make the rules he can enforce. For the first two or three years, Lance won by winning. In the later three or four, he won by enforcing a set of rules that favored him greatly, the most notable of which was that only the last climb of the day counts. With a strong team, Lance was able to enforce that rule.

Frank’s right that Lance did not get loved by the peloton for his iron rule. Floyd won on the kind of guts that makes people love you–hell, he’s just one of the guys who happened to take a risk that paid off. Good for him!

This was a great tour. Anyone who is downgrading Floyd’s victory because the putative favorites were not present should be made to ride El Tour de Tucson in tight denim shorts. Rule number one is the John Allis Rule: you race the race you are in. Floyd won. Frank is also right that the same putative favorites may be absent for sometime. Ullrich: game over. Basso: let’s hope there was a mistake there; he’s the only rider that seems to have some possible excuse. Tyler Hamilton: lifetime suspension for that lying sack of s&%*t.

Discovery needs to find a team leader, and they will probably need to import one. I’m not as sanguine about Popo as Frank is, but it’s still early. In any event, the team will need to be seriously re-jigged in order to be competitive. I don’t think it’s realistic for George to ride his guts out for someone other than Lance; the spark won’t be there. Great teams just can’t change leaders. Look at Renault in the 80s, then La Vie Claire, and Toshiba. You think you should be able to slot in the new leader to the old machine, but it never quite works.

As for Levi, well, he finished with something still in the tank, which proves he’s a complete loser. Deep down, I believe he’s saving it to defend his title at the Tour of Germany. I shouldn’t be so bitter: that’s his level of racing, and I hope he wins again. George Hincapie is a classics rider; there’s no shame in that. Zabriskie is a huge talent with a bright future. He did much better in the hills this year and could certainly develop into an all-rounder.

As for Floyd, he’s the anti-Lance. He did as much for cycling this year by throwing out the Lance rule book as Lance did by writing it. I wish him luck in his hip operation, and I hope he comes back next year and that–at least for a while–we see the kind of parity in the peloton that makes for unpredictable, exciting racing. There will be another patron soon enough, but I hope not too soon.

]]>