Jimmy Higgins

On Day One, a large accident left American Tyler Hamilton with a broken collarbone and another rider out of the tour. Day Two nearly saw a cyclist get decapitated by a following vehicle when the cyclist got caught up with a camera motorcycle.

Today, Beloki will leave the tour with a badly broken leg, which nearly took out Lance Armstrong in the process. Beloki, who finished 2nd last year and was 2nd this year will be missed. It was a horrific crash.

What is amazing is that Tyler Hamilton is 5th, just about a buck 30 off the pace, with a broken collarbone. What an athlete!!!

But my condolances to Beloki. This Tour loses much with him gone. I hope this Tour calms down. Go Armstrong!

Hugo Holbling

You're right: it's been a brutal tour so far, and not just in terms of accidents - witness the awesome assault of the US Postal guys on Sunday when they left Virenque and almost everyone else trailing in their wake when blasting up l'Alpe d'Huez. It's a real shame about Beloki, particularly since Ullrich no longer seems to have anything in him (here's hoping i haven't spoken too soon...).

I wonder if Vinokourov has enough to beat Armstrong this year?

cloudyphiz

it sucks that beloki's out, i'm glad he didn't take armstrong out with him when he fell. looks like he couldn't handle the descent like lemond could.

seems like ullrich is out of the hunt, and vino is the only guy with a solid shot of catching lance. one thing's for sure, this will be a much closer finish than we've seen in recent years... it should be great to watch.

-gary

Jimmy Higgins

I wouldn't say quite that. Armstrong was of the opinion that Beloki was going all out on an already dangerous decent. His tire got caught in melting pavement and it was friction that caught him. He did a valiant job trying to save the bike, but the tire popped and may even have loosened from the holder. Its really nuts. Beloki and Armstrong could have just held back, taken the advantage of finishing 2nd and 3rd and moved on. Yo don't think like that to win, though.

Silent Acorns

I'm not so sure of that. It's far too early to tell since the real race won't begin until Friday's time trial and the much tougher races in the Pyranees, especially the one on Monday. Check this out for the last three climbs on Monday:

Km 94.0 - Col d'Aspin - 12.3 km climb at 6.4 % - 1e Cat
Km 124.5 - Col du Tourmalet (st�le Jacques Goddet) - 17.1 km climb at 7.4 % - H.C. Cat
Km 159.5 - LUZ-ARDIDEN - 13.4 km climb at 7.6 % - H.C. Cat

Much more difficult than anything in the Alps.

What kinda pisses me off is that the last time-trial on the next to last day is a team trial. In a close race, that's the best chance for the second place guy to catch up. The idea that a close race could be decided by who has the better teammates (or most remaining) really irks me.

Jimmy Higgins

True, but it won't be that close. Armstrong has this in the bag.

Kthulhu

If you are a Lance fan (like me) then you have nothing to worry about as Jimmy Higgins has said. However I have heard the U.S. Postal team being described as the N.Y Yankees of cycling (able to buy the best team possible) then, as a die hard Boston Red Sox fan myself, I can feel your pain if you are a fan of a different cycler.

~The Thing that Should Not Be

JetBlckNewYr03

I've never really payed that much attention to cycling. For some reason I've started to take interest in it though. I haven't watched that much of the Tour de France this year.

Anyway, I posted to see if any of you cyclers out there knew how much a starters bike is. I would appreciate if any of you could tell me. Thanks.

Jimmy Higgins

Well its not like USPS Team has Ullrich, Armstrong, Beloki, and McEwan etc...

USPS has a overall great team, but make no mistake, Lance is making it to the front on the mountains in large part due to himself.

matthias j.

I care to object. I think he's pulling an Indurian this year. Strong team (Heras could win the Tour if he had USP riding for him instead of Armstrong), just try to follow in the mountains and win the tour in the time trials. I hope time proves me wrong, this Tour could use some excitment apart from favorites making spectacular crashes.

I'm longing for Sunday and Monday, thousands of basques cheering for Mayo and Zubeldia