i was just wondering of any of you are into bike racing but i like it a little but mainly because there is a portugese guy in 6th and has been there for the past few stages and even before

he was in 8th at first then 6th for a few stages then went down to 10th after single trials then 11th after that he went to 8th and now hes been in 6th for the past few stages, he is racing wonderfully



Overall standings:

1. Lance Armstrong (U.S.) U.S. Postal 62 hrs 53 mins and 36 secs

2. Joseba Beloki (Spain) ONCE 4 mins 21 secs behind

3. Raimondas Rumsas (Lithuania) Lampre 6:39

4. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spain) ONCE 8:50

5. Francisco Mancebo (Spain) Ibanesto.com 10:54

6. Jose Azevedo (Portugal) ONCE 11:11

7. Santiago Botero (Colombia) Kelme 11:31

8. Roberto Heras (Spain) U.S. Postal 11:41

9. Levi Leipheimer (U.S.) Rabobank 13:00

10. Ivan Basso (Italy) Fassa Bortolo 14:02

11. Oscar Sevilla (Spain) Kelme 14:10

12. David Moncoutie (France) Cofidis 15:06

13. Richard Virenque (France) Domo Farm Frites 15:58

14. Carlos Sastre (Spain) CSC-Tiscali 16:31

15. Stephane Goubert (France) Jean Delatour 18:34

16. Andrei Kivilev (Kazakhstan) Cofidis 19:08

17. Michael Boogerd (Netherlands) Rabobank 19:15

18. Massimiliano Lelli (Italy) Cofidis 19:12

19. Tyler Hamilton (U.S.) CSC-Tiscali 19:39

20. Beat Zberg (Switzerland) Rabobank 20:27

21. Unai Osa (Spain) Ibanesto.com 21:19

22. Nicolas Vogondy (France) FDJeux.com 21:21

23. Axel Merckx (Belgium) Domo Farm Frites 21:36

24. Jean-Cyril Robin (France) FDJeux.com 24:31

25. Jose Luis Rubiera (Spain) U.S. Postal 25:39

26. Haimar Zubeldia (Spain) Euskaltel 26:08

27. Ivan Gotti (Italy) Alessio 26:11

28. Piotr Wadecki (Poland) Domo Farm Frites 28:43

30. Bobby Julich (U.S.) Telekom 29:06


i will keep this thread updated after every stage;)

post your comments:crazyboy:

Yeah, there's a couple of us that like this sport (me, Grassy, Mirun). We had a cycling thread but it got deleted by some hack... :(

We were discussing the issue of doping in cycling, whether that was a common thing or not, and the irony is that Ullrich got a suspention of 6 months for that.

About the Tour, what can we say? Armstrong is so much in another level that it's even scary. I'm starting to wonder if the guy isn't driving one of those motorcycles with pedals...
:mambo:

G'anda Zé! We only have one guy in the biggest bycicle race of the world but at least we can say that he's damn good. First time there and always on the top 10? Not everyone can brag about accomplishing such a feat. The funnt thing is that José is so humble... He's just a great guy, really is. Best of luck to him! :)

Originally posted by INFESTA
About the Tour, what can we say? Armstrong is so much in another level that it's even scary. I'm starting to wonder if the guy isn't driving one of those motorcycles with pedals...
:mambo:

Armstrong is by far the best . . . he's virtually the Schumacher of Cycling.

Although i think he's an exceptional athlete (vocab for ya ;)) and i just love it how he can ride straigh past someone who'd try and sprint off him on a climb :)

how much do they get?

I love the Tor de France! I'm watching it every day, but I can never see the finish, because then I'm off to work. Oh well there's always the "Tour Journal" in the evening. My favorite teams are US Postal Service and Rabobank. I love Lance Armstrong and I support the guys from Holland of course. Boogerd will do something nice in the Alps I reckon. (If USPS let's him). The yellow jersey is safe for USPS I think. They only team that are closest to USPS are ONCE but just ain't good enough. USPS just RULEZZZ the peloton (how do you call that in english?). Nobody dangerous to Armstrong is allowed to go away far enough. Sometimes they can go a bit ahead but then Lance just accelerates in the mountains, and they're brought back easily. It's not really exciting, but Armstrong will quit in 2004. Then he has had the opportunity to win 6 yellow jerseys in a row and that will make him the best cycler ever. Indurain and some other guy both have 5.

Great win today by Boogerd! What a hero! Congrats, mhflierman! :)
Armstrong showed again that he comes from another planet and José Azevedo is now 4th overall!!!!!! And he even had to push his leader, Beloki!

Our football NT never made me this proud, I can tell you!

Oh, and that other guy is just Eddie Merckx, the best rider ever!!! I rate him above everyone else. I also think that Indurain is better than Armstrong, since he had stronger opposition (Bugno, Zulle, Melchior Mauri, Claudio Chiappucci, Toni Rominger, etc.).

yup heres the official standings


2002 Tour de France Standings
Overall standings:

1. Lance Armstrong (U.S.) U.S. Postal 68 hrs 43 mins and 22 secs
2. Joseba Beloki (Spain) ONCE five mins 06 secs behind
3. Raimondas Rumsas (Lithuania) Lampre 7:24
4. Jose Azevedo (Portugal) ONCE 12:08
5. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spain) ONCE 12:12
6. Francisco Mancebo (Spain) Ibanesto.com 12:28
7. Santiago Botero (Colombia) Kelme 12:37
8. Roberto Heras (Spain) U.S. Postal 12:54
9. Levi Leipheimer (U.S.) Rabobank 13:58
10. Ivan Basso (Italy) Fassa Bortolo 15:04
11. Carlos Sastre (Spain) CSC-Tiscali 16:27
12. Michael Boogerd (Netherlands) Rabobank 17:32
13. David Moncoutie (France) Cofidis 18:53
14. Richard Virenque (France) Domo-Farm Frites 20:35
15. Massimiliano Lelli (Italy) Cofidis 24:11
16. Stephane Goubert (France) Jean Delatour 25:04
17. Tyler Hamilton (U.S.) CSC-Tiscali 25:50
18. Nicolas Vogondy (France) FDJeux.com 25:58
19. Unai Osa (Spain) Ibanesto.com 26:35
20. Andrei Kivilev (Kazakhstan) Cofidis 26:39
21. Jose Luis Rubiera (Spain) U.S. Postal 29:46
22. Axel Merckx (Belgium) Domo-Farm Frites 32:08
23. Ivan Gotti (Italy) Alessio 33:42
24. Beat Zberg (Switzerland) Rabobank 33:52
25. Jean-Cyril Robin (France) FDJeux.com 34:18
26. Nicki Sorensen (Denmark) CSC-Tiscali 35:36
27. Dariusz Baranowksi (Poland) Ibanesto.com 36:34
28. Alexandre Botcharov (Russia) Ag2R 37:51
29. Laurent Brochard (France) Jean Delatour 38:30
30. Dario Frigo (Italy) Tacconi Sports 41:06

I aint' following Tour de France lately. Great work, WuR WyDe HuStLa. :cool:

thanks...ill update it after the stage tomorrow;)

YES! Great stuff by Boogerd. This was THE stage of this year's tour. It had three climbs of the ..... category. (Dunno the english word). Anyway great for Michael great for cycling. Lance's reaction after the stage was great as well. Lance and the dutch tour correpondent, Mart Smeets, are pretty good friends so Lance is always kind enough to talk him, he said Goddamnit in dutch and was full of praise for Michael. He said that he really tried but just couldn't get there, and taht it was amazing that Michael pratically did it by himself the entire stage.

About what Hugo said. I don't know id Indurain was better then Armstrong. Back then I wasn't really into cycling, but Indurain obviously is one of the greatest. I don't think that back then there was better or more competition, I think that Armstrong just outclasses them all. He's good at everything and he's got the most amazing team to support him. If you look at Heras and more of USPS members, they all would have been teamleaders if they weren't riding for Armstrong and USPS.

Originally posted by mhflierman
About what Hugo said. I don't know id Indurain was better then Armstrong. Back then I wasn't really into cycling, but Indurain obviously is one of the greatest. I don't think that back then there was better or more competition, I think that Armstrong just outclasses them all. He's good at everything and he's got the most amazing team to support him. If you look at Heras and more of USPS members, they all would have been teamleaders if they weren't riding for Armstrong and USPS.

Well, Heras and Rubiera are good, but the first one hasn't been able to stay with his leader in the last few races. Rubiera has been great, though. I think ONCE has been doing a better job, the only difference is that they don't have a talented guy like Armstrong. Azevedo could easily be a team leader in 80% of the pro teams, for instance.

The american is definitely amazing, but he really hasn't good opposition. Actually, there is a more talented guy, in Armstrong's wise words, but he's a lazy b!tch and now is getting suspended for the next 6 months. Other than Lance, he's the only guy truly out of the ordinary.
Pantani is the best climber ever, but he's already too old for it. He did something that even Armstrong can't do - winning both Le Tour and the Italian Volta in the same year!

These two were the only serious opposition that LA had during his reign, while the guys in the list that I mentioned in the other post were worthy of a Cycling Hall-Of-Fame, if there was one.

Indurain was really amazing. I have somewhere a fact sheet with his body characteristics, and that guy is a super-man. It was something like: his lungs are xx larger than a regular human, which allows him to breath more xx cm3 of air than his peers. Some said that he came from the planet XYZligon.:D If he did, I'm sure that the people in his planet only travel by bike!!

Originally posted by INFESTA
Indurain was really amazing. I have somewhere a fact sheet with his body characteristics, and that guy is a super-man. It was something like: his lungs are xx larger than a regular human, which allows him to breath more xx cm3 of air than his peers. Some said that he came from the planet XYZligon.:D If he did, I'm sure that the people in his planet only travel by bike!!

WOW that's nice to have indeed as a cycler. :D. Besides the dutch tour reporter I mentioned we also have an ex-pro with him. Erik Breukink he used to ride for ONCE as well and was really good in the personal time ..... again I don't know the english word for this, but you know what I mean, Botero won it this year, Indurain was the master in it. Anyway back to Breukink, he used to ride for ONCE, his best overall classification was third, after Zulle and Indurain I think. Not sure though. Boogerd's best classifictaions was 5th, I hope he can climb a few places this year and that he will end within the top ten, but I don't think so, we're now just on our way to Paris. We've had the tough stuff.

this is amazing...9 of the top 10 are together in one group including azevedo:D

UPDATE: heres the standings


2002 Tour de France Standings
Overall standings:

1. Lance Armstrong (U.S.) U.S. Postal 72 hrs 50 mins and 25 secs
2. Joseba Beloki (Spain) ONCE 5:06 behind
3. Raimondas Rumsas (Lithuania) Lampre 7:24
4. Santiago Botero (Colombia) Kelme 10:59
5. Jose Azevedo (Portugal) ONCE 12:08
6. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spain) ONCE 12:12
7. Francisco Mancebo (Spain) Ibanesto.com 12:28
8. Roberto Heras (Spain) U.S. Postal 12:54
9. Levi Leipheimer (U.S.) Rabobank 13:58
10. Carlos Sastre (Spain) CSC-Tiscali 14:49
11. Ivan Basso (Italy) Fassa Bortolo 15:04
12. David Moncoutie (France) Cofidis 17:12
13. Michael Boogerd (Netherlands) Rabobank 17:32
14. Richard Virenque (France) Domo Farm Frites 22:40
15. Massimiliano Lelli (Italy) Cofidis 24:56
16. Unai Osa (Spain) Ibanesto.com 24:57
17. Stephane Goubert (France) Jean Delatour 25:04
18. Tyler Hamilton (U.S.) CSC-Tiscali 25:50
19. Andrei Kivilev (Kazakhstan) Cofidis 26:39
20. Nicolas Vogondy (France) FDJeux.com 26:43
21. Jose Luis Rubiera (Spain) U.S. Postal 29:46
22. Ivan Gotti (Italy) Alessio 34:27
23. Dario Frigo (Italy) Tacconi Sports 36:04
24. Dariusz Baranowksi (Poland) Ibanesto.com 37:19
25. Axel Merckx (Belgium) Domo Farm Frites 37:31
26. Nicki Sorensen (Denmark) CSC-Tiscali 37:41
27. Beat Zberg (Switzerland) Rabobank 38:24
28. Laurent Brochard (France) Jean Delatour 38:30
29. Alexandre Botcharov (Russia) Ag2R 43:14
30. Jose Enrique Guttierez (Spain) Kelme 46:36

great work WuR WyDe HuStLa:) ;)

So today was the personal time trial (maybe this is the correct english name for it :p). Armstrong showed that he in fact is still very much capable of riding a time trial. He really destroyed the others. Our commentator said that Armstrong was very pissed after the first time trial, he (armstrong) said that he'd been riding in the wrong gear, he was riding to light. So he shifted a few blades heavier (still light though) and there he was, first and how?!

I was also very pleased for Boogerd, he always hated time trials and feared them. He used to puke (damn, disgusting) all the time. This time he didn't and finished 13th, very, very good.

That dude Azevedo was a bit disappointing in the time trial, but I really like this guy, he's going to be good, so will Ivan Basso (wears the white jersey).

Well, Azevedo is not that great when it comes to ITTs. However, I think he did a great job and I'm very proud of him. Finishing 6th on the greatest bycicle race of the world, especially on his first ever Tour de France, is not for everybody.

Armstrong -> Superman. :mambo:

2002 Tour de France Standings
Overall standings:

Lance Armstrong of the U.S.A won the 2002 Tour de France. These are the final standings:

Overall standings:

1. Lance Armstrong (U.S.), U.S. Postal 82 hrs, 5 mins, 12 secs
2. Joseba Beloki (Spain), ONCE -7:17
3. Raimondas Rumsas (Lithuania), Lampre -8:17
4. Santiago Botero (Colombia), Kelme -13:10
5. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spain), ONCE -13:54
6. Jose Azevedo (Portugal), ONCE -15:44
7. Francisco Mancebo (Spain), Ibanesto.com -16:05
8. Levi Leipheimer (U.S.), Rabobank -17:11
9. Roberto Heras (Spain), U.S. Postal -17:18
10. Carlos Sastre (Spain), CSC-Tiscali -19:05
11. Ivan Basso (Italy), Fassa Bortolo -19:18
12. Michael Boogerd (Netherlands), Rabobank -20:33
13. David Moncoutie (France), Cofidis -21:08
14. Massimiliano Lelli (Italy), Cofidis -24:56
15. Tyler Hamilton (U.S.), CSC-Tiscali -28:36
16. Richard Virenque (France), Domo Farm Frites -28:42
17. Stephane Goubert (France), Jean Delatour -29:51
18. Unai Osa (Spain), Ibanesto.com -30:17
19. Nicolas Vogondy (France), FDJeux.com -32:44
20. Nicki Sorensen (Denmark), CSC-Tiscali -32:56
21. Andrei Kivilev (Kazakhstan), Cofidis -33:41
22. Jose Luis Rubiera (Spain), U.S. Postal -36:43
23. Ivan Gotti (Italy), Alessio -40:16
24. Dariusz Baranowksi (Poland), Ibanesto.com -43:04
25. Dario Frigo (Italy), Tacconi Sports -43:15
26. Laurent Brochard (France), Jean Delatour -44:02
27. Beat Zberg (Switzerland), Rabobank -44:29
28. Axel Merckx (Belgium), Domo Farm Frites -45:39
29. Jose Enrique Guttierez (Spain), Kelme -50:59
30. Alexandre Botcharov (Russia), Ag2R -51:52

Mountain standings:

1. Laurent Jalabert (France), CSC-Tiscali 262 pts
2. Mario Aerts (Belgium), Lotto-Adecco 178
3. Santiago Botero (Colombia), Kelme 162
4. Lance Armstrong (U.S.), U.S. Postal 152
5. Axel Merckx (Belgium), Domo-Farm Frites 121
6. Joseba Beloki (Spain), Once-Eroski 115
7. Michael Boogerd (Netherlands), Rabobank 113
8. Richard Virenque (France), Domo-Farm frites 107
9. Carlos Sastre (Spain), CSC-Tiscali 97
10. Raimondas Rumsas (Lithuania), Lampre-Daikin 96

Team standings

1. ONCE 246 hrs 36 mins 14 secs
2. U.S. Postal Service -22:49
3. CSC-Tiscali -30:17
4. Ibanesto.com -34:06
5. Cofidis -36:19




i think jose has teh potential...as infesta said finshing top 6 in the top bike race in the world is not something that happens by mistake or luck...he was VERY consistent going from 4th between 11th and spending most of his time between 5-6th is a VERY good sign...cant wait till next year
:D

Lance Armstrong is unbelievable. I would have bet against him because of the odds, and the fact that he is getting older and all, but there's just no way he would lose?!?! 7 minutes behind going into the mountains? No problem, he'll make it up in ONE DAY!?

On a side note, how pathetic is it that the American team is sponsored by the Postal Service?

Originally posted by INFESTA
Yeah, there's a couple of us that like this sport (me, Grassy, Mirun). We had a cycling thread but it got deleted by some hack... :(

We were discussing the issue of doping in cycling, whether that was a common thing or not, and the irony is that Ullrich got a suspention of 6 months for that.

About the Tour, what can we say? Armstrong is so much in another level that it's even scary. I'm starting to wonder if the guy isn't driving one of those motorcycles with pedals...
:mambo:

G'anda Zé! We only have one guy in the biggest bycicle race of the world but at least we can say that he's damn good. First time there and always on the top 10? Not everyone can brag about accomplishing such a feat. The funnt thing is that José is so humble... He's just a great guy, really is. Best of luck to him! :)
Yeah, i was one of the main ppl in that thread. Im a HUGE cycling Fan. AS far as Jan goes, lets not go chaning the facts. He was cuaght taking drugs, but NOT performance inhancing drugs. He was taking Ecstacy!
As far as the tour goes, how good was Robbie McEwen!! Finally after years of going so close with O'Grady, McEwen wins us the green jersey!! Cant wait till Cadel races the tour, I really think he'll be the first winner after Lances reign.
Cheers
sKIp_E

next year, armstrong won't win the tour, this will be...Jan Ullrich!! :p if Jan is not injured and is on the top of his condition, I think he 'll be able to rivalize in mountain, and if there will be many sun, like this year...he will be unbeatable (invincible), because he's the best when the sun is very hot, and with his "wundert" team the Team Telekom...he 'll win the tour with no difficulties...it will be a nice tour, because this year...there were no suspens, beloki and rumsas are certainly good racing cyclist, but they really can not compete in front of champions like Jan and Lance, they fight for the podium, whereas Jan and Lance fight for the final victory sur les Champs Elysees!!! ;)

Nah, Beloki will win it next year.

Originally posted by Hilts
next year, armstrong won't win the tour, this will be...Jan Ullrich!! :p if Jan is not injured and is on the top of his condition, I think he 'll be able to rivalize in mountain, and if there will be many sun, like this year...he will be unbeatable (invincible), because he's the best when the sun is very hot, and with his "wundert" team the Team Telekom...he 'll win the tour with no difficulties...it will be a nice tour, because this year...there were no suspens, beloki and rumsas are certainly good racing cyclist, but they really can not compete in front of champions like Jan and Lance, they fight for the podium, whereas Jan and Lance fight for the final victory sur les Champs Elysees!!! ;)

Look, in the previous cycling thread, I said that I am a huge Jan fan, and that I (and Lance does too for that matter), rate him as the most talented cyclist in the world. However, he wont win a tour against Lance, whilst Lance is taking the race seriously and in peak form. Jan doesnt have the discipline to get himself into good enough form by tour time, and even when he does, he wont beat Lance in the tour de france, ill explain why.
Jan is stronger then Lance, and up the mountains, can just set a quick tempo forever. When in form, he is also as good, if not a better time trailer then Lance. However (and look I used to always say an inform Jan would beat Lance too, but look at last, year, he was near form, and wasnt near beating Lance in thr tour de france, he can beat him in other races though), Jan wont beat Lance in the tour de france, simply because of his style. Lance can accelerate, Jan can't. Simple as that. Up the hills, they are both going even tempo, and Jan, can pick this up a bit, if the need be, but whilst he does this, Lance can continually sit on his wheel, and use much less energy. Lance can accelerate, and jump away from Jan, and Jan because of his big gear, and strength based cycling style, cant do this.

This is why Lance will always beat Jan in the tour I think. I'd love for Jan to go out and prove me wrong, but I have lost money betting on him in the past, so I have learnt from my mistakes, and now see why it wont happen.
Jan is a better rider (quicker TTer when in peak form, and much stronger road racer on flat or rolling tracks, and as strong up hills), but he cant accelerate, and thats his downfall.
Cheers
sKIp_E

just a quick message, to say that my good mate, Mark Renshaw is since the commonwealt games, the world record holder in the teams pursuit.
hes only 19, and is a bloody awesome rider (he was U19 Kilo and teams sprint champion in 2000, u19 team sprint champion in 1999, b4 going for more eduro based races-but he still wins the national kilo title!)
Anyway thats all, i was going to say something earlier but forgot.
Aussie Aussie Aussie!!!
Oi! Oi! Oi!

Cheers
sKIp_E