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ESPN's Schaap: Base, Not Age, Is Armstrong's Problem

Posted on 21 July 2009 by cosmo

Because I don’t want to be entirely useless today (see previous post) here’s an audio excerpt from a recent ESPN feature in which Jeremy Schaap claims another year is just what armstrong needs.


[mp3 version]

“…Convetional wisdom among the people who cover the Tour de France and the people who follow Lance Armstrong is that with a full year of training, he would be a contender next year; that the lack of top gear power that he’s shown so far is something that he might be able to recover…”

Topic probably worthy of discussion, especially following his much improved performance today.

thoughts on “ESPN's Schaap: Base, Not Age, Is Armstrong's Problem”

  1. erikv says:
    21 July 2009 at 11:37 pm

    He had a much longer base build up than anyone else, though.

    Reply
  2. Josh says:
    22 July 2009 at 11:44 am

    I’ve wondered the same. The benefit of a year of competition-level training may offset another year towards his Masters’ 40+ National Crit Championship.

    I’ll chime in on the ‘George didn’t get the yellow jersey’ manufactured controversy. It’s easy to be a critic from the comfort of home but here I go. He rode as if the stage win were more important than the jersey. I can’t remember specifics off-hand but I’ve seen multiple riders in breaks sacrifice their chance at a stage win to ensure they took the jersey.

    Reply
  3. kkhart says:
    22 July 2009 at 2:00 pm

    He’s still old and getting older by the day. On the other hand he’s also mean and crafty so maybe the old adage about beating youth is true.

    Reply
  4. Frankielof says:
    22 July 2009 at 4:24 pm

    Chiming in regarding “Josh’s”point on George Hincapie. I was yelling at the screen watching him let the yellow jersey slip away. How many times was he at the back of the group in the final 5k? He needed to get on the front and drive like an animal. I’ve seen him do it for Lance in the past, why not do it for yourself? Even worse, the stage win was already up the road!??? It was his own fault, regardless of Garmin’s tactics.

    Reply
  5. Josh says:
    22 July 2009 at 5:16 pm

    I’ve got to comment on the generally anti-Contador sentiment on Cyclingnews, Velonews, etc. I can’t speak to whether Contador’s attack that dropped Kloden was OK’ed by Andreas. The nearly universal ‘Contador might have had a mistake’ accounts of the stage reflect a Lance-centric mentality.

    Imagine this scenario: in 2002, 2004, 2005, Lance (in yellow) attacks a small group of favorites to try to gain time and drops Heras or the Ace (teammates) but fails to shake, say Beloki, Basso, etc. Could you see the wise men proclaiming the Lance had made a mistake?

    Astana is a group of strong riders. I haven’t see a lot of teamwork in the mountains (beyond hours of tempo leading to up to the climbs).

    Reply
  6. chris RAINBOW johnson says:
    22 July 2009 at 8:10 pm

    A day of dubious tactics with the only real winner being Armstrong. Why Alberto Contador attacked is beyond all reason but why the Schleck brothers didn’t take advantage of his self established weakened position is un-conscionable. They were tired sure but Contador clearly didn’t have it either. My mates were shouting (a real change as I’m the one normally threatened with the door) and couldn’t believe that they didn’t slow and 1-2 gap Alberto forcing him always to close 1-2 on the accent or on the decent too. It was clear Alberto was happy to have them both in front of him together surely that’s a red flag to them apart from the repeated searching for Kloden. The Schleck brothers were given an opportunity on a platter to put him to the sword, but proved they were only competing with Contador for a Darwin award. Their positions have temporally improved but their chances are diminished with the time trial looming. Kloden descended slower than a single Lady owner’s car (he descended even slower than Wiggens, shameful team orders in play), Benefiting Lance’s overall position. If Contador hadn’t attacked they would have been ever closer to an Astana 123 finish. No American (apart from CVV) owes Twiggers or Columbia any favours so he and they lost out big too. Lances leap across the gap was nearly as sensational and impressive as the day before. Nibali’s descending was up their, and he improved as well but benefited LA further. I had figured if he and LA didn’t drop the Twigg on the accent, they would have easily lost Wiggen’s on the decent. A great day with some glairing absentees’ and misdemeanours by key players. Colnago trainer wheels required Denny! And Core, Thor.

    Reply
  7. Josh says:
    22 July 2009 at 10:27 pm

    chris RAINBOW johnson, do you get a volume discount with your Kool-Aid?

    Reply
  8. Anonymous says:
    23 July 2009 at 4:01 am

    sorry Josh, no.
    But I buy my Tararua Iced coffie by the 3lt bottle, every other dayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

    Reply
  9. Pingback: Cyclocosm – Pro Cycling Blog » A Matter of Seconds
  10. Pingback: Cyclocosm – Pro Cycling Blog » No Shortage of post-Suisse Storylines

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About the Author

a headshot of Cosmo Catalano

Best known for his How The Race Was Won® video series, Cosmo Catalano began blogging about pro cycling from a bike shop in 2005. Between then and now, he's designed cycling infographics, built cycling web apps, and supplied cycling content to print and broadcast media, all in the name of backing up his near-endless criticism with proof that it can be done better. He complains about cycling on Twitter at @Cyclocosm.

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