Text 34442, 53 rader
Skriven 2006-07-24 21:10:00 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555.1)
  Kommentar till text 34366 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Le Tour
===============
Hello Ward.

24 Jul 06 09:58, you wrote to Ross Cassell:

 >> Another freaking steenkin American has won the Tour De France
 >> DAMMIT!!

 WD> Indeed, it proves the point that many have been making for a while ...
 WD> there are no great cyclers anymore and "no" Lance was not great
 WD> either.

Be that a it may be, I have seen every stage in full except the prologue and it
was the most interesting Tour I have seen in years.

I would have liked to see a European as #1 in Paris for achange, but Floyd
Landis' victory was fully earned. On Thursday night everyone thought he had no
chance when he broke down on Alp d'Huez and then next day he made a spectacular
come back on the climb to the jou-Plane, making up for almost all the time he
lost. He than consolidated the victory in the individual contre le montre on
Saturday. Magnificant!

While in the past years it was almost a given from the start who eas going to
win, this time with all the favorites elminated before the start, it was an
open ending until a day before the finish. I truly enjoyed it.

 WD> It has become a specialised matter with the Tour, the classics, the
 WD> semi-classics and the world championship all in their own class. These
 WD> days a rider may be good at something, but not anymore in everything.

 WD> For that reason Lance never excelled in the classics nor the
 WD> world-championship, for that reason Floyd does not excel in them
 WD> either.

And we will still have to see if he can do it again next year or if he will be
a one day fly like Bjarne Riis...

Other than that, we should note that standing in the yellow yersey on the
Champs Elysee is not the only thing that matters. There is also the competition
for the green yersey and the polka dot. I particularly enjoyded the stage (#16)
where Rasmussen secured both the polka dot *and* the stage victory. Chapeau!

All in all the Dutch team did not do bad either with four stage victories. And
good old Boogy is still a top all rounder.

Yes, it was a great race!

Cheers,


Michiel

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