Last big woo hah at Tour de France! TT to Besancon nearing its end.

[HuckleB]

Yeah, there's the race for Green tomorrow, but today is the last day for Ullrich to go after a stage, or for Kloden to pounce on Basso's 2nd place in the GC.

Right now, it looks like Armstrong is going to take yet another stage.

And Karpets has taken the White Jersey off the back of Thomas Voeckler.

Damn.

[HuckleB]

1. Kloden's gained 31 seconds on Basso at 35 km.

20 to go, and Basso only had a 62 second lead over Kloden at the start of the day. It looks like Ullrich will miss the podium for the first time in his career.

[oostevo]

2. "Yeah, there's the race for Green tomorrow"

Yeah, there's the race for Green tomorrow

But that's the only exciting part left. The climber's jersey has already been won, and the rest of the race is the Lance parade.

Anyone you're cheering for in the green competition?

[HuckleB]

3. THOR!!!

Though I admit that I like McEwan, too. Thor's just too great of a story, and has been for the past couple years.

[HuckleB]

4. Armstrong wins his fifth stage of 2004 Tour.

Kloden takes over second in the GC, but Basso will be on the podium in third.

I hate to say it, but I was actually pulling for Ullrich today, after Armstrong's childish stunt during yesterday's stage. I guess discipline and determination don't necessarily come with maturity. One must earn each personality trait through hard work on each, or so Armstrong's example shows.

[AngryAmish]

5. What was the stunt?

I do not know much about bike racing.

[HuckleB]

8. Here you go:

http://www.velonews.com/tour2004/news/articles/6653.0.html

[DenverDem]

6. Armstrong protected the field from a guy who disrespects the sport.

Lance was congratulated by the peleton after he pulled the schmuck back.

<http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/shared/sports/tourdefrance/2004/24tour.html>

[HuckleB]

7. You just believe everything Lance says?

You are incredibly wrong about this one. Take the blinders off.

He did to Filippo Simeoni exactly that which the more rabid elements of the press have done to him: acted as the judge and jury. Further, because Armstrong can, he also acted as the executioner, something the journalists whom he rants about cannot do to him.

Armstrong does not know what Michele Ferrari taught Simeoni; he has no basis for calling Simeoni a liar. By doing so, he is playing the same role as Greg Lemond when Lemond unjustifiably accuses Armstrong of doping. Interestingly, it's OK for Armstrong to stand up for himself, but, for some reason, Simeoni must stand down simply because Armstrong is a better cyclist.

On Friday, Armstrong became that which he supposedly hates. Worse, he abused his power as the undisputed Tour Leader to take it even further. This is a sad time for cycling and cycling fans.

[AngryAmish]

9. I have to disagree

Again, I do not know much about bike racing. I am sure there are cultural things in racing I do not understand. However, I have had several years to notice human nature.

Lance Armstrong right now is "The Man." When you are "The Man" you get to act like "The Man." Babe Ruth called his shot. Michael Jordon would go out of his way to humiliate a rookie if the rookie was anything less than fawning. You don't even want to know what Michael Irvin did.

In the immortal words of Ric Flair, if you want to be the Man, you have to beat the Man. This guy was disrespecting Armstrong, and Armstrong beat him down. That is the way it works in sports.

[HuckleB]

10. Give me a break.

That's like saying, George Bush is the President, so he can do whatever he wants. Sorry, as Spiderman teaches :) , with power comes responsibility. Armstrong chose to act like a teenager who "was dissed." Nevermind that Simeoni did nothing to Armstrong and said nothing about Armstrong until he was unjustly attacked by Armstrong out of the blue.

This was an act of juvenile nonsense, nothing more, and "the man" is not an argument.