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Dave's Dogmatic Dribbles
By Dave Osborne
Jul 21, 2004, 13:49

Tour de France - Stage 16

There’s no doubt that L’Alpe d’Huez is a famous stage of the Tour de France. But it’s not meant for a time trial. There, I said it!

To begin with, time trials aren’t necessarily the most exciting events to watch. To me, it’s like being in a long line at the checkout counter of a grocery store. You stand there wondering how long it will take while you watch people at other check out stands go through much quicker than you. Then, just when you think the your line is moving fast, someone in front of you needs a price check and there goes your chance of a fast time!

Lance Armstrong gained important time on his main rivals today and now leads the Tour de France by 03:48. His closest rivals are Ivan Basso, Andreas Klöden and Jan Ullrich. Tomorrow is the hardest mountain stage of the Alps and will feature three category 1 climbs and the famous Col de la Madeleine. Will Armstrong take the win again, or will Basso, Rasmussen or Virenque succeed? Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com to find out!

How many racers punch their fists in the air when they cross the line? How many give their famous one finger salute or kiss their good luck charm? How many do a wheelie and cross the finish line with the front tire in the air? Well ok, I’ll concede to Robbie McEwen on that one (cool move!).

I know about the race of truth and all that. I have to say, doing this time trial would be like running the Indianapolis 500 one car at a time. I also think the one billion fans (give or take a few million) lined along the road would prefer a race. But at least they get to see their favorites individually. Who knows, maybe there’s a new rule that says you can only lose no more than three minutes to the first place finisher! Lance would love that.

It seems there actually was some suspense but it didn’t happen during the ride. Lance’s bike was a tad light by 150 grams. Hey, stick a piece of chewing gum on it and you’re good to go. A few racers are going with lighter 650C wheels. Lance is getting ready to start now so I’m going to set my alarm for 38 minutes and I’ll be back…stay tuned. Oh look, Virenque gets all the KoM points today!

At this point, I don’t think Ullrich will finish on the podium. There would have to be some tragic occurrence to shake up the GC and I hope we won't have to talk about that.

Ok, the alarm went off and Lance is still on the course after 38 minutes. He finishes at 39:41. Ullrich rode extremely well to finish 2ndwhile teammate Klöden finishes 3rd. I thought Basso would have done better. At this point, I don’t think Ullrich will finish on the podium. There would have to be some tragic occurrence to shake up the GC and I hope we won’t have to talk about that. Lance has made another statement with today’s win. He will finish first in the stages he wants to and he will win his 6th straight Tour de France.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com as the Tour continues!

Dave Osborne

Click here to check out our Tour de France coverage section.

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