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#1
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Lance & age
Whenever Lance's performance in this years TdF is talked about, many posters
to this fine NG seem to be very quick to attribute it to age related decline. Why is this? All other factors being equal, could the passage of a single year really have taken him from the absolute dominance of last year to having to ride Indurain style defensively up L'Alpe against Beloki this year? I have a very difficult time believing that. He may be a tad bit slower due to advancing age, but, unlike many people it seems, I can't believe thats the only thing going on with him this year. Do people really think the intestinal virus stuff was just psyops? I suppose we'll see over the 96 hours beginning friday. If it was the intestinal crud he'll be riding into form and becoming more like the Lance of yesteryear. If it really is the years, one would presume that he'll not have any form to regain. Cheers, Darren --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.500 / Virus Database: 298 - Release Date: 7/10/2003 |
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#2
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Lance & age
Who was the runner who broke the marathon world record (not age group) and
got a gold?? He was around 40!! Age has a bunch to do with it, but desire and hunger factors in more when you have the tools ... Carlos Lopes ... after a quick internet search ... age 37 olympic gold ....and the 10,000 WR not the marathon ... s http://boardnbike.com |
#3
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Lance & age
"Darren S." wrote in message
... Whenever Lance's performance in this years TdF is talked about, many posters to this fine NG seem to be very quick to attribute it to age related decline. Why is this? All other factors being equal, could the passage of a single year really have taken him from the absolute dominance of last year to having to ride Indurain style defensively up L'Alpe against Beloki this year? I've been fielding calls from various journalists (thanks (??), Sam) wanting to know "what makes Armstrong so special?" from a physiological perspective. What these reporters (and many fans) fail to realize is that there really *isn't* anything that sets him distinctly apart from any other GC contender. That is, in elite-level sports the difference between winners and the also-rans is often only around 1%. Cycling is no exception (which is why multi-day stage races are needed to truly separate the wheat from the chaffe against the randomness imposed by drafting, luck, etc.), and Armstrong is (or has been) merely the creme de le creme de le creme. A 1% decline in Armstrong's abilities from 2002 to 2003 due to normal aging could therefore most certainly make him suddenly appear vulnerable. Andy Coggan |
#4
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Lance & age
In article ink.net,
Andy Coggan wrote: "Darren S." wrote in message ... Whenever Lance's performance in this years TdF is talked about, many posters to this fine NG seem to be very quick to attribute it to age related decline. Why is this? All other factors being equal, could the passage of a single year really have taken him from the absolute dominance of last year to having to ride Indurain style defensively up L'Alpe against Beloki this year? I've been fielding calls from various journalists (thanks (??), Sam) wanting to know "what makes Armstrong so special?" from a physiological perspective. What these reporters (and many fans) fail to realize is that there really *isn't* anything that sets him distinctly apart from any other GC contender. That is, in elite-level sports the difference between winners and the also-rans is often only around 1%. Cycling is no exception (which is why multi-day stage races are needed to truly separate the wheat from the chaffe against the randomness imposed by drafting, luck, etc.), and Armstrong is (or has been) merely the creme de le creme de le creme. A 1% decline in Armstrong's abilities from 2002 to 2003 due to normal aging could therefore most certainly make him suddenly appear vulnerable. Decreased desire and motivation, and outside distractions could also account for a small decline. -WG |
#5
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Lance & age
warren wrote:
In article ink.net, Andy Coggan wrote: I've been fielding calls from various journalists (thanks (??), Sam) wanting to know "what makes Armstrong so special?" from a physiological perspective. What these reporters (and many fans) fail to realize is that there really *isn't* anything that sets him distinctly apart from any other GC contender. That is, in elite-level sports the difference between winners and the also-rans is often only around 1%. Cycling is no exception (which is why multi-day stage races are needed to truly separate the wheat from the chaffe against the randomness imposed by drafting, luck, etc.), and Armstrong is (or has been) merely the creme de le creme de le creme. A 1% decline in Armstrong's abilities from 2002 to 2003 due to normal aging could therefore most certainly make him suddenly appear vulnerable. Decreased desire and motivation, and outside distractions could also account for a small decline. -WG And hasn't LANCE benefitted from "perfect" pre-season preparation until this year? IIRC, 2001/2 were very clean for him, no illness, no crashes. That takes a measure of luck. Whereas this year, he fell in the Dauphine(?) and had a minor virus. Carmicheal says LANCE told him he feels great now, so we'll see in the next few days. -- -- Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we could to protect our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security." --Microsoft VP in charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine. |
#6
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Lance & age
"Darren S." wrote in message ...
All other factors being equal, could the passage of a single year really have taken him from the absolute dominance of last year to having to ride Indurain style defensively up L'Alpe against Beloki this year? Yes. I have a very difficult time believing that. I don't see why. That is how aging works. The passage of a single year can be the difference between being alive or dead. Deez |
#7
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Lance & age
smiles wrote: Who was the runner who broke the marathon world record (not age group) and got a gold?? He was around 40!! Age has a bunch to do with it, but desire and hunger factors in more when you have the tools ... Carlos Lopes ... after a quick internet search ... age 37 olympic gold ...and the 10,000 WR not the marathon ... Apart from those details, your story was pretty accurate... |
#8
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Lance & age
All of this "age" discussion will end tomorrow. In the prologue, Lance's time losses were primarily in the beginning of the stage, and that's not relevent in a long time trial. Then, on L'Alpe, reports I've seen indicate he was riding a conservative race, that he appeared at ease. He obviously decided the race would be decided in the Pyrannes. He's had bad days before, and in the extraordinary heat is riding a tactical race to avoid that from happening. Ekimov has declared Armstrong is strong. Ekimov isn't one to talk trash. Armstrong was dominant in the time trial in Dauphine. He's ridden a reserved race so far, and even took a shortcut . Expect a win tomorrow. Ullrich second. Hamilton third. Dan |
#9
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Lance & age
"Daniel Connelly" wrote in message
. .. All of this "age" discussion will end tomorrow. Think so? Andy Coggan |
#10
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Lance & age
I think http://www-tcad.stanford.edu/~djconnel/cycling/ITT1.pdf suggests
that the ITT suggested Ullrich is stronger, not Lance is weaker, than 2002. Dan Andy Coggan wrote: "Daniel Connelly" wrote in message . .. All of this "age" discussion will end tomorrow. Think so? Andy Coggan |
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