In article ,
(Mr. Toast) wrote:

Ryan Cousineau wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Mr. Toast) wrote:

Keith wrote in message
. ..
On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 05:33:26 GMT, "Geoff Willingston"
wrote:

Tomorrow's stage is 30.45 miles, meaning Jan must finish under 53
minutes,
55 seconds.

I say he does it and puts between 1'00" and 1'20" on Lance

You would think that after five years the Lance doubters would finally
learn their lesson.

Eventually, they will be right. Maybe next year, maybe the year after
that. Probably not this year.

The broken clock is right twice a day theory, eh?

Pretty much.

Lance did not look terribly strong compared to his opposition this year,
but unlike last year, there were some concerted efforts to attack him
(many, alas, by riders with no TT ability, and of course the absence of
challenges from Beloki and Hamilton diminished the danger of his
competition). It's hard to say whether he is experiencing the typical
failing of skill of most GC riders around his age, or whether he was
just having a bad year.

That said, against numerous challengers including the formidable Jan,
Lance has done enough (touch wood) to win. That seems to be a hallmark
of his riding, that unlike the all-destroying Cannibal Merckx, for
example, Lance always does just enough to get to his highly-focused goal
of wearing yellow on the final podium in Paris.

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club