[Percival]

Question:

After what we saw yesterday between Andy and Berto on that mountian stage, its obvious that they are 2 very special riders. That said, in his PRIME, would Lance have dropped them both yesterday?

 

[Salsa_Lover]

Lance who ?

 

[OldEndicottHiway]

No. Perhaps if the stars were aligned just right, but LA has said on more than one occasion their climbing talent (specifically Cont) is above that of anyone he had to face in his 7 Tour wins.

But watching him and gape-mouthed Hoover (Jan) battle it out throught the years was a hoot. Good times.

 

[terzo rene]

doped or clean? Clean the answer is no.

 

[Percival]

No. Perhaps if the stars were aligned just right, but LA has said on more than one occasion their climbing talent (specifically Cont) is above that of anyone he had to face in his 7 Tour wins.

But watching him and gape-mouthed Hoover (Jan) battle it out throught the years was a hoot. Good times.

Hello there.

Good point, I agree that LA didnt face this sort of competition during his run, training technology now being what it is, AS and AC have certainly taking things to another level.

I do wonder if they dope though, but again, as many say here, they all do, so who knows.

 

[Percival]

Well I dont know how to answer the doped or clean question, I always wanted to believe LA wasnt doping but I dont know.

The question now is, does AS and AC dope?

 

[leadag]

the yardstick is..

the yardstick is Rasmussen. He raced against LA in his last campaign, and then against conti the following year....

LA seemed to have a slight upper hand on him in climbing during whichever year was LA's last win.... (although, the TT was a different story!)

The following year el'chicken was finally able to crack Conti, prior to his ejection...

So, ignoring lot'sa variables, i'd say they would have been fairly close.

 

[mmoose]

First mtn top stage of a tour, bad weather, LA from 2000/2001 might be able beat both up a finishing mountain. Any other time, my money would be on AC/AS.

(Pure speculation...I'm not a fanboi. But LA seemed to really hit the first mountain finish with his full punch. Hit hard before the climbers really get the mountain legs going. After that it was just holding serve and limiting losses gainst the better climbers. This deep into a tour, he would always have a bad day or just hang on...never would have been able to win Thursday's stage)

 

[thesmokingman]

AS and AC may have the the edge in the mountains, but where they certainly without doubt fall short is brains. AS/AC will learn a lot through their years and at the end, end up where LA is now facing a new group of green and physically better contenders. Oh how the circle of life turns...

 

[ttug]

Oh Come On

LA is now 38, he cant climb like he did, he cant TT he cant recover, he is OLD. He KNOWS he is old, he has stated he is old, his career in cycling at this level is done.

He has 7 TDF overalls in a row. There is NOTHING to feel sorry about NOTHING.

 

[Crank-a-Roo]

But Merckx can beat all 3 of them on a steel 10 speed bike.

 

[MrDomino]

LA is now 38, he cant climb like he did, he cant TT he cant recover, he is OLD. He KNOWS he is old, he has stated he is old, his career in cycling at this level is done.

He has 7 TDF overalls in a row. There is NOTHING to feel sorry about NOTHING.

To compare him to Michael Schumacher who came back to Formula 1, I think that both of them realized that they're old and probably never going to win the TdF/F1 Driver's Championship again but they have passion for what they're doing and need to be on a bike/in an F1 car because they miss it so much when they're not.

Or maybe it's just a midlife crisis....

 

[yater]

Lance is still FAST. Try racing him on a mountain bike. He destroys the pro field here in Tx...and elsewhere. It's fun to watch. It makes me realize how fast the pro tour guys are.

 

[thesmokingman]

To compare him to Michael Schumacher who came back to Formula 1, I think that both of them realized that they're old and probably never going to win the TdF/F1 Driver's Championship again but they have passion for what they're doing and need to be on a bike/in an F1 car because they miss it so much when they're not.

Or maybe it's just a midlife crisis....

Spoonface hasn't lost his edge though, he's still a pain in the ass to pass. Now if Brawn could get him and Nico a car that wasn't so slow...

 

[Percival]

Interesting comment, do you seriously think all 4 in their prime, LA, AS, AC and Merekx, but Merekx on the old steel very heavy ten speed and the others using todays tech, Merekx beats them?




Thats like saying Conners or Mac could beat Sampres with a wooden racket or Ben Hogan would beat Tiger with wooden shaft clubs.


I dont know...is it the tech or the talent? Little of both I am sure.

I am certain Russel would mop the floor with any player today with him wearing chuck talyors and they wearing Nike Airs.

 

[Percival]

Lance is still FAST. Try racing him on a mountain bike. He destroys the pro field here in Tx...and elsewhere. It's fun to watch. It makes me realize how fast the pro tour guys are.

True, without the crashes Lance would likely podium this TdF, I am sure of that.

 

[Percival]

I dont know where to find the info but how could we compare TdF overall times of guys like Merekx and LA, AC etc. Would this give us some idea if Merekx could even comptete with his eras technology against the riders of today on their high tech bikes?


Its interesting to ponder.


In golf for example, Hogan was shooting the same scores as Woods is today on most of the same courses and he was using wooden shafts, however, the courses are longer today because of the technology so I am not sure how to compare that.

 

[bas]

Question:

After what we saw yesterday between Andy and Berto on that mountian stage, its obvious that they are 2 very special riders. That said, in his PRIME, would Lance have dropped them both yesterday?

it would be close to AC/AS this year. AC lost a step or 2 this year.

There is 1:40 back to menchov. LA could have held that wheel last year.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/cycling/tour-de-france/standings/yellow-17.html

But you have to realize, this was a brutal tour this year. Definitely for *pure climbers*.

I think LA would have hanged.

 

[bmxhacksaw]

But Merckx can beat all 3 of them on a steel 10 speed bike.

^this^

 

[sanrensho]

At least we didn't have to watch Lance and Jan being warm and fuzzy with each other. There was some real rivalry and psychological maneuvering going on, mixed with healthy respect.

I will puke if we have to look forward to several years of the Andy/Bert rivalry-slash-buddyfest.

It's way too nice.