# No Gifts?



## rollinrob (Dec 8, 2002)

In the past Lance Armstrong has mentioned that he was not going to "gift" any stages to anyone anymore. After watching todays stage it looks like he gifted the stage to Valverde. Any thoughts?


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## wongsifu_mk (Mar 5, 2002)

*Nah.*

The Spaniard just had a little more dynamite left than Armstrong, I think. He won fair and square. Armstrong knew what we was going up against.


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## MisJG (Feb 27, 2004)

That comment came on the heels of a very rude Pantani comment where Pantani wouldn't cop to the fact that Lance was trying to hold with Tour tradition and CLEARLY gave him a stage. I think Lance has mellowed since then and also has come back to the realization that "You win the day, I win the Tour" is the motto of all the great champions. Lance probably figures that anyone who can hang with him on a stage like today's deserves a little something-something.


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## wheezer (Sep 21, 2004)

*wasn't that last year's tour?*

after basso's first stage win, lance beat him the next day and said after the finish, "no more gifts," implying that basso's win was just that. in any case, it seems to me like that was specific to that tour and that today's stage was clearly a "gift" to valeverde. lance was getting the yellow, valeverde did his pulls and was the only one of the four who hung in until the end, so it was only right that they split the spoils.


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## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

rollinrob said:


> In the past Lance Armstrong has mentioned that he was not going to "gift" any stages to anyone anymore. After watching todays stage it looks like he gifted the stage to Valverde. Any thoughts?


I haven't seen the stage yet, but Valverde has quite the reputation as a sprinter, even a half way decent bunch sprinter. So unless he was totally in the red and Armstrong was well below his limit there wasn't much chance of him outsprinting him.


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## RocketDog (Apr 9, 2005)

From what I've read they were both quite strong at the finish. Isn't Valverde a very good sprinter for a guy who can climb? I wonder if Lance didn't even bother trying.

edit: Darn it Dwayne! I was in your draft but couldn't make it into the 11 to get my post in first.


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## wheezer (Sep 21, 2004)

*Lance knows his etiquitte*

it would have been greedy for him to take the jersey _and_ and stage, regardless of how strong valeverde was.


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## StormShadow (Feb 27, 2005)

wheezer said:


> it would have been greedy for him to take the jersey _and_ and stage, regardless of how strong valeverde was.


Maybe not. Lance knows now that if he has a bad day Valverde can put time into everyone.


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## mb168 (Jan 3, 2005)

wheezer said:


> after basso's first stage win, lance beat him the next day and said after the finish, "no more gifts," implying that basso's win was just that. in any case, it seems to me like that was specific to that tour and that today's stage was clearly a "gift" to valeverde. lance was getting the yellow, valeverde did his pulls and was the only one of the four who hung in until the end, so it was only right that they split the spoils.


I thought it was later when he was going to let Floyd take a stage and then Kloden attacked. He was way out ahead and Lance was gonna let him go then he thought about the Germans spitting an screaming on Dhuez during the TT and "a few loogeys in the face" and decided no gifts, "Not today."


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## goose127 (Jun 9, 2004)

*It was not a gift*

I think Lance eased up, but only because he knew that Valverde could outsprint him at that point. Lance made a move on all three of them at about 300M and Valverde was right there. It probably makes little sense to push anymore since it is day one in the big mountains and no sense in looking foolish by losing while clearly putting forth max effort.


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## mr meow meow (Jan 29, 2004)

*the win was important to Lance*

so I don't think he gifted it. the time bonus for the winner would have been well worth the effort.


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## CFBlue (Jun 28, 1999)

Could Lance have held Valverde off at the end? Maybe. Was it worth the effort for him? Nah. He's been there and done that enough. It was a big accomplishment for Valverde though.


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## harlond (May 30, 2005)

*Not a gift*

I watched it and I don't think Lance gave Valverde anything. Lance tried to get away from Valverde,couldn't do it, went for the sprint, Valverde came around easily, Lance bowed to the inevitable and just made sure he was on Valverde's wheel so he got the same time. That's how I saw it.


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## Spunout (Aug 12, 2002)

No gift. Watch Valverde in last year's Vuelta, he can sprint at the top of mountains as well as on the flats. Lance knew that he could never beat him in the sprint. Rather than trying to play him too much and lose more than a few seconds in the last few hundred metres, better to lead him out fast and get back in his wheel to finish on the same time.


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## mtbykr (Feb 16, 2004)

*Lance*

I think that everyone is forgetting one important factor---------------------and that is that Lance pulled the 4 of them up the mountain till the end. Every time that Lance asked for help and someone else pulled; the pace sucked and Lance would have to go out ahead again. I think that Lance could have won, but do to this and the fact that Valverde is an excellant sprinter who has been doing nothing but staying on his wheel the whole climb; it was not worth the energy that might result in a loss anyway.

After the stage Lance was hunched over his bike after spending so much energy wrecking the dreams of a lot of other riders. He wanted to make a statement today as tommorow is a tough day but ends with a decent and not a climb---------------today was the day


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## mtbykr (Feb 16, 2004)

*Sprint*

One more thing, I think that Lance sprinted in the end to gain some time on Rassmussen. Whether or not he was going to beat Valverde, he gained some time on Rassmussen in the final sprint since he is now #2 in the GC!


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## timmyrm (Feb 7, 2005)

it was not a gift, lance attacked first from behind to go for the stage win. valverde was able to follow then sprinted with a few meters left. i think lance attacked too early, good timing on valverde's sprint, lance even offered his hand to congratulate valverde when they reached the line. yellow for lance, stage win for a great ride from valverde


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## snowman3 (Jul 20, 2002)

mr meow meow said:


> so I don't think he gifted it. the time bonus for the winner would have been well worth the effort.


That's what I think as well. It wasn't a gift out of nicety, I'd guess Lance wanted the time bonus as its still pretty early in the game. A lot can still happen. As other's have said though, he probably realized it would have been real tough and still a gamble to go for the win. So he chose not to kill himself for the time bonus. That's different than a "gift" though.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

rollinrob said:


> In the past Lance Armstrong has mentioned that he was not going to "gift" any stages to anyone anymore. After watching todays stage it looks like he gifted the stage to Valverde. Any thoughts?


what's interesting is this shirt for sale on trek's website
<img src="https://bontrager.com/images/products/medium/263523.jpg">


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## unchained (May 8, 2002)

Delete


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*Valverde has a great finish*

he's one of the only guys (Cunego being another) who can sprint at the end of a climb. But Valverde got the same benefit as did Weening. The rider they were working with was more concerned over time than the stage so both sat on in the final K or so and had the advantage at the line.


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## unchained (May 8, 2002)

*What stage were you watching?*



rollinrob said:


> In the past Lance Armstrong has mentioned that he was not going to "gift" any stages to anyone anymore. After watching todays stage it looks like he gifted the stage to Valverde. Any thoughts?



When Lance looked back he knew he couldn't win. He gave it his all but couldn't drop Valverde. If you can't drop Valverde he will come around you in a sprint, esp. an uphill one like this where he can probably beat anyone in this years tour.

I guess you people have never heard of Valverde. At the moment he is probably a better all-around racer than Lance. 9/10 times he will beat Armstrong in a sprint. And he races to win from Spring until Fall. He almost won Paris Nice. But I guess you have never heard of that race.


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## mtbykr (Feb 16, 2004)

*Ok*



unchained said:


> When Lance looked back he knew he couldn't win. He gave it his all but couldn't drop Valverde. If you can't drop Valverde he will come around you in a sprint, esp. an uphill one like this where he can probably beat anyone in this years tour.
> 
> I guess you people have never heard of Valverde. At the moment he is probably a better all-around racer than Lance. 9/10 times he will beat Armstrong in a sprint. And he races to win from Spring until Fall. He almost won Paris Nice. But I guess you have never heard of that race.


I agree, except for the fact that all things even in a mountain finish i would not say 9/10. if roles were reversed and he had been pulling Lance up the climb, i don't think he wins if Lance wants to win. The fact remains that Lance was concerned with the time and GC. However due to the fact that he did all the work in the climb to keep that pace up, and that him winning was not assured, i think he gave the stage away. Now this is not a knock on valverde, just saying the reason they were in that position was becuase he benefited from Lance's wheel throughout the final climb!


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## wheezer (Sep 21, 2004)

*Fwiw*

FWIW, from the New York Times:

"Armstrong did everything but win the stage. He finished second, in a two-man sprint, to Alejandro Valverde, a Spaniard with the Illes Baleares team, obviously slowing at the end to let Valverde cross the line first."


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

*row call*

No gift.


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## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

wheezer said:


> FWIW, from the New York Times:
> 
> "Armstrong did everything but win the stage. He finished second, in a two-man sprint, to Alejandro Valverde, a Spaniard with the Illes Baleares team, obviously slowing at the end to let Valverde cross the line first."


What do you think the odds are that the sportwriter who typed that up knows his a*s from a hole in the ground when it comes to cycling? 

Often it can appear that a rider "obvious slows" in the end to allow someone else to win, when it simply is they've had their go and have nothing left or they simply realize the futility of continuing the sprint.

If you don't know cycling you might think Museuuw let PvP win the Ronde a few years ago when the two of them came to the line with VdB. I mean he sat down before crossing the finish line and obviously slowed, therefore he must have let PVP win, right?


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## wks9326 (Apr 24, 2004)

*Not A Gift*

As others have said he made his final attack on the riders that where still with him at 300 meters to go. Valverde stayed with him and perfectly timed the winning counter attack.


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## unchained (May 8, 2002)

mtbykr said:


> I agree, except for the fact that all things even in a mountain finish i would not say 9/10. if roles were reversed and he had been pulling Lance up the climb, i don't think he wins if Lance wants to win. The fact remains that Lance was concerned with the time and GC. However due to the fact that he did all the work in the climb to keep that pace up, and that him winning was not assured, i think he gave the stage away. Now this is not a knock on valverde, just saying the reason they were in that position was becuase he benefited from Lance's wheel throughout the final climb!



I agree that Lance did most of the work after Pop. led him out. However, Mancebo was working hard and one point, and the others shared as well. I can't really blame the others for not sharing equally because they are leary of Armstrong attacking.

Valverde did close down the attack by the PolkaDot jersey, and did work at other times.

Basso and Levi each rode along to the finish, having to work by themselves and didn't loose that much time. There is not as much advantage to drafting on a hill, but it helps to have someone pacing you.


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## TelluRider (May 5, 2004)

*It didn't look like a gift to me*

It looked to me that Lance tried to win with his final attack in the last 300m. He even looked back to make sure he dropped everyone only to see Valverde was still with him. Lance didn't have the gas to win after that.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

*Word.*



Dwayne Barry said:


> What do you think the odds are that the sportwriter who typed that up knows his a*s from a hole in the ground when it comes to cycling?


I agree completely. This sub-standard writing from the N.Y Times clearly has a lot to do with a lack of cycling knowledge, but it probably has a lot to do with the myth of Lance. For lots of people, especially the general public who thinks the Tour is the only race of the year, Lance can do no wrong. He lost? He must have let up. He couldn't lose. No way. 

Myself, I find it hard to believe that Lance would suddenly become a benevolent Indurain, gifting stages, especially after how his gift to Pantani wnet over, and last year's sheer domination.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*Nice PvP Johann reference*

yes Johann popped, that's why he sat. LA was quite complimentary of Valverde, said we see the future of cycling. Valverde had a tactical advantage but he played it right. congrats


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## mtbykr (Feb 16, 2004)

*i agree*



unchained said:


> I agree that Lance did most of the work after Pop. led him out. However, Mancebo was working hard and one point, and the others shared as well. I can't really blame the others for not sharing equally because they are leary of Armstrong attacking.
> 
> Valverde did close down the attack by the PolkaDot jersey, and did work at other times.
> 
> Basso and Levi each rode along to the finish, having to work by themselves and didn't loose that much time. There is not as much advantage to drafting on a hill, but it helps to have someone pacing you.



I agree------------i think we both agree, but are just coming at it from different angles! Lance did the majority of the pacing (he even said so in an interview afterwards) And every time he tried to let someone else take over the pace hurt and he had to jump back up. now if that was intentional or unintentional by the other 3 it doesn't matter----------it played into valverde's favor and i think if lance knew that he could def win he would have...but he was tired, and valverde is a great sprinter and won the day! and of course lance paid him the great complents

Tommorow should be fun!


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## Reith (Jul 10, 2005)

Gift. Gift. What a bunch of hot air. The guy lost the sprint. Its bike racing. End of story. 

I think I am going to start a thread on how Lance's turds smell like roses. I bet 9 out of ten will agree. My god people.


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## mtbykr (Feb 16, 2004)

*I don't agree*



Reith said:


> Gift. Gift. What a bunch of hot air. The guy lost the sprint. Its bike racing. End of story.
> 
> I think I am going to start a thread on how Lance's turds smell like roses. I bet 9 out of ten will agree. My god people.



Lance didn't lose a sprint. (again imo) 300 meters out he attacked knowing rassmussen couldn't stay up becasue of his previous attack and to see if anyone would stay with him. once he say valverde on his wheel he didn't sprint. lance did all the work to get them there so he was tired, and valverde played everything right and deserved to win!

All is good in the world!


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## Einstruzende (Jun 1, 2004)

If all Lance was concerned about was putting time into others, why wouldn't he have went for the win and gotten an extra 8 seconds over what he got? If you recall, 8 seconds has decided a tour before...


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## Reith (Jul 10, 2005)

*Agree*



mtbykr said:


> Lance didn't lose a sprint. (again imo) 300 meters out he attacked knowing rassmussen couldn't stay up becasue of his previous attack and to see if anyone would stay with him. once he say valverde on his wheel he didn't sprint. lance did all the work to get them there so he was tired, and valverde played everything right and deserved to win!
> 
> All is good in the world!


I agree, there was no sprint. In fact, Lance was not even riding his bike. Lance is so special that he was able to "mind float" his bike through the air and make it look like bike riding. Then, he didn't want to, or try to, win the stage because he knew that x=c-98%@6degress of Kevin Bacon. 

The dude lost the stage.


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## mtbykr (Feb 16, 2004)

*Here we go again*



Reith said:


> I agree, there was no sprint. In fact, Lance was not even riding his bike. Lance is so special that he was able to "mind float" his bike through the air and make it look like bike riding. Then, he didn't want to, or try to, win the stage because he knew that x=c-98%@6degress of Kevin Bacon.
> 
> The dude lost the stage.





> If all Lance was concerned about was putting time into others, why wouldn't he have went for the win and gotten an extra 8 seconds over what he got? If you recall, 8 seconds has decided a tour before...


Hey there guys, why don't you try reading my posts before speaking from your butt! Watch the expanded coverage tonight and then watch previous stages that lance sprinted to win (last year passing basso or kloden for instance) He did all the pulling and pacemaking up the last 7k or so, every time he dropped back or asked someone else to do it ---------the pace crumbled (whether intentionally or not) and lance was forced to go back out front. now knowing that rassmussen was spent since he tried to attack and looked bad and wanting to gain time on him lance attacked (also trying to see if valverde would come with him or not) after valverde was right there on his wheel (where's he'd been for the last 7k) and the fact that he was spent and not sure he could win a sprint with a great sprinter like valverde, he didn't sprint.

like it or not that's what happened in the end: there is a vast difference between lance riding up attacking and looking back and sprinting! I hate to repeat myseft, but please at least read my post before you respond and sound stupid!


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## Reith (Jul 10, 2005)

mtbykr said:


> Hey there guys, why don't you try reading my posts before speaking from your butt! Watch the expanded coverage tonight and then watch previous stages that lance sprinted to win (last year passing basso or kloden for instance) He did all the pulling and pacemaking up the last 7k or so, every time he dropped back or asked someone else to do it ---------the pace crumbled (whether intentionally or not) and lance was forced to go back out front. now knowing that rassmussen was spent since he tried to attack and looked bad and wanting to gain time on him lance attacked (also trying to see if valverde would come with him or not) after valverde was right there on his wheel (where's he'd been for the last 7k) and the fact that he was spent and not sure he could win a sprint with a great sprinter like valverde, he didn't sprint.
> 
> like it or not that's what happened in the end: there is a vast difference between lance riding up attacking and looking back and sprinting! I hate to repeat myseft, but please at least read my post before you respond and sound stupid!


I read your posts. I also read Paul Sherwen's comment:

"Armstrong wanted to win the stage, but couldn't outfox the new kid on the block, Alejandro Valverde. The Spaniard is a special rider who can climb and sprint -- two attributes which rarely go together in professional cycling. Usually an athlete has one or the other. For that reason, I think Valverde is a name we will mention a lot in the future."

I also read Bob Roll's comment:

"In the sprint, Alejandro Valverde got the better of Lance by a little, tiny bit. But the GC is litany of despair for everyone else in this field. The wienerschnitzel is bitter indeed.

Finally, I watched the race. Bottom line, Lance lost despite trying to win. 

You can write whatever you want, but the man does not crap ice cream and he did not give up 8 seconds because he wanted to.


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## mtbykr (Feb 16, 2004)

*Oh well*



Reith said:


> I read your posts. I also read Paul Sherwen's comment:
> 
> "Armstrong wanted to win the stage, but couldn't outfox the new kid on the block, Alejandro Valverde. The Spaniard is a special rider who can climb and sprint -- two attributes which rarely go together in professional cycling. Usually an athlete has one or the other. For that reason, I think Valverde is a name we will mention a lot in the future."
> 
> ...


i am tired and human (like lance) so mabey i did say something i didn't mean too. but i don't ever remember writing that i though lance gave the stage away because he didn't want it. i am sure he did for the team if nothing else becuase of how they performed today. but due to the circumstances: him doing all the work up the climb, valverde being on his wheel the whole time, valverde coming with him on the attack to drop rassmussen, and the fact that valverde is a great sprinter. all of these things played a part and i believe (again my opinion) that these factors coupled with the fact that he didn't know if he could beat valverde (who he gave great praise) made him not sprint,,,,or to use the words of paul sherwen "not use everything he had left under the hood" 

if he had tried to win it like last year with basso or kloden, then the result may be different---------but we will never know!


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## Reith (Jul 10, 2005)

mtbykr said:


> i am tired and human (like lance) so mabey i did say something i didn't mean too. but i don't ever remember writing that i though lance gave the stage away because he didn't want it. i am sure he did for the team if nothing else becuase of how they performed today. but due to the circumstances: him doing all the work up the climb, valverde being on his wheel the whole time, valverde coming with him on the attack to drop rassmussen, and the fact that valverde is a great sprinter. all of these things played a part and i believe (again my opinion) that these factors coupled with the fact that he didn't know if he could beat valverde (who he gave great praise) made him not sprint,,,,or to use the words of paul sherwen "not use everything he had left under the hood"
> 
> if he had tried to win it like last year with basso or kloden, then the result may be different---------but we will never know!


Yea, but don't you think my "mind float" comment was funny?

It looked like he tried to win and did not, that is all I think. He may have worked ten times more than Valverde, he may not have. Valverde won. Scoreboard. We don't need to debate who is better because we all know the answer.


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## KrisKees (Jul 2, 2005)

Einstruzende said:


> If all Lance was concerned about was putting time into others, why wouldn't he have went for the win and gotten an extra 8 seconds over what he got? If you recall, 8 seconds has decided a tour before...



not in the last six years.


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## KrisKees (Jul 2, 2005)

Reith said:


> Yea, but don't you think my "mind float" comment was funny?
> 
> It looked like he tried to win and did not, that is all I think. He may have worked ten times more than Valverde, he may not have. Valverde won. Scoreboard. We don't need to debate who is better because we all know the answer.




I agree with your last comment. I know the LA haters dont want to swallow it but the scoreboard has LA at 21 plus stage wins and six straight tours. If you want to talk scoreboard........


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## izibo (Jul 2, 2004)

I don't think it was a gift, nor do I think Lance just simply lost.

His main goal was to put more time on people, and Valverde simply rode his wheel the last 500m and easily shot by him at the end.


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## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

mtbykr said:


> Lance didn't lose a sprint. (again imo) 300 meters out he attacked knowing rassmussen couldn't stay up becasue of his previous attack and to see if anyone would stay with him. once he say valverde on his wheel he didn't sprint. lance did all the work to get them there so he was tired, and valverde played everything right and deserved to win!
> 
> All is good in the world!


Of course he didn't lose a sprint he had just attacked full-bore for the previous 30 seconds trying to shake everyone. What kind of sprint would he have had anyway after that effort? Valverde was tucked right in getting all the benefit of that draft and perhaps just as strong anyway. Valverde easily went by him when he kicked, that's when Armstrong looked back to see if anyone else was there. You can't gift someone something they've already taken.


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## Utah CragHopper (May 9, 2003)

MisJG said:


> That comment came on the heels of a very rude Pantani comment where Pantani wouldn't cop to the fact that Lance was trying to hold with Tour tradition and CLEARLY gave him a stage.


Crikey, nice revisionist history. What actually happened was that after the stage Armstrong couldn't live with the fact that people might think Pantani legitimately beat him, so he started spouting off to the press about giving Pantani the stage. Not just a break with tradition but a total lack of class. If you are going to give someone a stage, you don't devalue it, in effect, by telling people the other guy didn't deserve the win. Pantani was rightfully offended and the war of words began.


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## cyclesoflife (May 8, 2005)

According to Phil Liggett (if you were listening carefully to the race coverage) Armstrong has 22 Stage Wins, though I am not sure if it was his illness or his overexuberance for Lance that caused him to include Stage 10 as a stage win for Armstrong.


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## harlond (May 30, 2005)

*Depends*

If it was Samuel Abt, who has covered cycling in Europe for ages, pretty good, anybody else, pretty bad. And from that sentence, I would guess it was someone else, because I sure didn't see it that way.



Dwayne Barry said:


> What do you think the odds are that the sportwriter who typed that up knows his a*s from a hole in the ground when it comes to cycling?


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## wheezer (Sep 21, 2004)

*hense*



Dwayne Barry said:


> What do you think the odds are that the sportwriter who typed that up knows his a*s from a hole in the ground when it comes to cycling?
> 
> Often it can appear that a rider "obvious slows" in the end to allow someone else to win, when it simply is they've had their go and have nothing left or they simply realize the futility of continuing the sprint.
> 
> If you don't know cycling you might think Museuuw let PvP win the Ronde a few years ago when the two of them came to the line with VdB. I mean he sat down before crossing the finish line and obviously slowed, therefore he must have let PVP win, right?



hense the "FWIW" in the header.

and to an earlier post, what the fack is a "row call"?


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## KeeponTrekkin (Aug 29, 2002)

*At the risk of adding my 2 cents...*

Both Lance and Valverde rode great races. They had different goals. Lance's primary goal was to put a lot of time into the GC contenders and he achieved it in great style. Valverde's was to win the stage, which he did. Did Lance want to win the stage? Of course, but not at the expense of his other goal. To achieve his primary goal, as MTBYKR says, he had to pace the lead group in the final climb. Even at the low speeds of climbing (compared to riding on the flat, not compared to my climbing speed!), it's easier on someone's wheel, with the small draft. None of the others in the LA group shared Lance's goal of putting time into the GC contencers so it's no wonder they didn't want to push the pace as he did; therefore, he rode lead and until the final sprint, only the 3 riders stayed with him.

LA knew well that Valverde was the biggest threat for the stage win and did the best he could. His final breakaway sprint from the back of the pack of 4 was well timed and took advantage of the terrain and a gap. But, it wasn't enough. Valverde simply had greater reserves and used them well. Whether he was making a 100% effort at the line isn't that material; he got passed by Valverde's final sprint.

If LA had wanted the stage win more than he wanted to bash the GC contenders, I think he'd have ridden a different race with a slower pace, allowing his team to lead him to the finish sprint, saving his energy for the final confrontation with Valverde.

For me, the finish speaks volumes about both riders and their different goals and strategies; it's not about who is a better rider. LA wants to be first to the Champs Elysee. Valverde wants to make his mark, but at 3:16 behind LA in GC, he knows this is not his year for GC (although he's ahead of Jan, so I guess it's not his year either!) FWIW, most commentators think he will be back and we'll see a lot more of him. For us fans, that's great.


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## wheezer (Sep 21, 2004)

*change of heart*



Dwayne Barry said:


> What do you think the odds are that the sportwriter who typed that up knows his a*s from a hole in the ground when it comes to cycling?
> 
> Often it can appear that a rider "obvious slows" in the end to allow someone else to win, when it simply is they've had their go and have nothing left or they simply realize the futility of continuing the sprint.
> 
> If you don't know cycling you might think Museuuw let PvP win the Ronde a few years ago when the two of them came to the line with VdB. I mean he sat down before crossing the finish line and obviously slowed, therefore he must have let PVP win, right?



the new york times writer *obviously* had a change of heart. his description of yesterday's finish has been changed to:

"Armstrong did everything but win the stage. In a two-man sprint to the finish line, he _seemingly_ slowed at the end to let Valverde cross the line first."

(italics added)

LMAO!


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