Mountain-top finish wows fans! Tour de France & drug controversy update.

[HuckleB]

Ivan Basso outmaneuvered Lance Armstrong at the end to win the stage, but Armstrong dropped all his rivals. Now we're waiting to see how much time he gained.

[HuckleB]

1. Huge day for Armstrong.

He gains almost four minutes on the leader, Voeckler, moreover he puts over a minute on Mayo, 2:30 on Ullrich and Julich, and 3:30 on Hamilton.

Armstrong is now in second in the GC, 5:24 behind Voeckler.

[HuckleB]

2. Armstrong 'dismayed' by LeMond accusations

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040716/ts_alt_afp/cycling_tour_usa_lemond_040716135617

[HuckleB]

3. Interpersonal problems with team Phonak?

One wonders why two Phonak riders were up with the lead peleton, finishing 2:30 ahead of Tyler Hamilton, rather than helping the team leader on the climb. Something's not right.

[AngryAmish]

4. I'm not a bike racing guy so I have a question

It is my understanding that Armstrong wins the TDF in the mountains. Is the guy ahead of him a climber?

[HuckleB]

5. Voeckler can climb, which is why he's hung on for this long.

He's not quite up to Lance's level yet, however. Or so the conventional wisdom goes, and his team is not of the caliber of US Postal. Certainly, Lance had it on him today, though I've not bought entirely into the conventional wisdom, as Voeckler is young and has had a great year. Sure, he came from nowhere, sort of, but that's typical history in cycling.

Tomorrow will tell a lot. Can Lance do it two days in a row, like he did in '02? Or will Voeckler be able to stick with him? If he does, it's going to get very interesting next week in the Alps.

[HuckleB]

6. OK. Now back to the race.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/sports/sportsspecial/16CND-TOUR.html

[HuckleB]

7. Pyrénées look smaller to Julich this time

http://www.velonews.com/tour2004/news/articles/6589.0.html

[DemoTex]

8. Armstrong's team member George Hincapie is my neighbor.

Go Team Armstrong!


Hincapie

[alfredo]

9. I don't think Lance really cared to win the stage. He just wanted to

gain time on Ullrich, Hamilton, and others. Basso is good, but still young. It seems that you have to have a few years experience under your belt to handle the stress of this race.
I could be wrong.


I think the individual time trial next week (stage 16) will seal the deal. It is only 15.5 Km (9.6 miles) but it is straight up L'Alpe D'Huez.

[HuckleB]

10. Tyler Hamilton fans. Time to put your rally helmets on!

If only I had a picture.