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Tour de France: The Race, as Called By AJ
The Race: As Called by AJ
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\r\nTour Predictions
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\r\nFirst off, let me put a little disclaimer right up front: I don’t really follow international road cycling. Sure, I know who Lance and Tyler and Jan are, and I know that Simoni got it handed to him by some young punk at the Giro. I can spout off a couple other names, but all-in-all, I’m no expert.
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\r\nBut, the Tour is an unpredictable race. With that in mind, I think that my rather haphazard picks and the nature of the Tour de France beast are a good combination. However, only time will tell if true ignorance can predict three weeks of madness.
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\r\nThe GC
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\r\nLance Armstrong is the best cyclist in the peloton, but this year it’s time for the “French Texan” to face the music. Literally. And figuratively. A man can only go so far, and ride a bike so fast, with annoying Sheryl Crow tunes bouncing around in the back of his mind. Can you imagine trying to race up the third Col of the day, 150 miles into a stage, two weeks into a three week race, trying to put the hurt to several of the best climbers in the world, with Sheryl’s “Leaving Las Vegas” playing over, and over in your head? Me neither.
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\r\nMeanwhile, Jan Ullrich will be burning clean on some great Euro dance and disco tunes. If this guy can stay off the recreational drugs for a couple weeks and keep his Porche on the road (literally and figuratively, again) he’ll be tough to beat. I think he’ll give it to Lance in at least one of the Individual Time Trials, and somehow eek out a win. He came close last year, and that was with a weaker team, less training under his belt, and a tough crash in the final time trial.
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\r\nGilberto Simoni was hand-slapped by his young teammate at the Giro. A little embarrassing for a guy that counts himself as a contender for the Tour, to say the least. He’ll rebound with a surprising fourth place finish. Barring any major bone breakage (neck, femur, pelvis) Tyler “Toughest Dude in the World” Hamilton will step onto the podium in Paris on the heels of some tenacious mountain riding and superb time trailing. If he stays relatively incident free, he might be pretty close to Armstrong and Ulrich, in contention right up until the end. Minor bone breakage (arm, collarbone, tibia) might result in Tyler being a couple minutes back.
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\r\n1.Jan Ullrich
\r\n2.Lance Armstrong
\r\n3.Tyler Hamilton
\r\n4.Gilberto Simoni
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\r\nThe Green Jersey
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\r\nPetacchi is fastest. Robbie McEwen has the best chance of finishing the race. Mario Cippolini is cooler than the other side of the pillow. Here’s the problem. Mario won’t finish the race. I’m hedging my bets on Petacchi, but I think he might live to see Paris.
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\r\n1.Alessandro Petacchi
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\r\nThe Polka Dot Jersey
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\r\nFirst of all, who, in their right mind, would name a jersey that generally goes to one of the toughest dudes in the field, the “Polka Dot Jersey”? It just seems a little lame to me. However, there’s nothing lame about “Tricky Ricky”. If Virenque keeps taking his daily dose of “vitamins”, he should have no problem with this one.
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\r\n1.Richard Virenque
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\r\nThe White Jersey
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\r\nLance’s son, riding with the Mantras “It’s Not About the Bike” as well as “Every Second Counts”, will race himself into the top ten and claim the white jersey. Unfortunately, at the conclusion of the race in Paris he won’t be able to celebrate with team members, because even in France he’s too young to drink.
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The Race!
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\r\nTeam Today is a non-profit organization run by, and for, the athletes of the US Cross-country team. The USST is run on a shoestring budget, and our increasing success at the international level is making for increasing demand on our ever-limited resources. To find out how you can join Team Today, visit www.teamtoday.org, or contact Andrew Johnson bode1978@yahoo.com, or Pete Vordenberg pvordenberg@ussa.org. With your assistance, we will be THE BEST IN THE WORLD!
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Written By: andrewjDate Posted: 7/2/2004Number of Views: 304
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