Tour de France stage 4 Update on Hugh Hewitt Show

If anyone has an interest in cycling and politics,
you might want to check out the Hugh Hewitt Show.
Syndicated in about 40 markets, including LA
(Los Angeles), and on the internet, Hugh has agreed
to read my Tour de France updates on-air, at least
as long as Lance Armstrong is in it.

"The Best in Conservative Talk"
is not an overstatement as he has a remarkable
lineup of regular guests from both sides offering
insight into current events. It wouldn't hurt to
let him know that some cyclists are listening.

[Disclaimer: Hugh did not ask me to spam the group
or anyone. But I figure I owe him a plug.]

My Stage 4 report was read at the end of the second hour,
if you want to catch it on delay or archived at KRLA.

Subject: LANCE ARMSTRONG: Tour de France stage 4 - TEAM TIME TRIAL
Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 14:17:37 -0400

The real contenders for the Tour de France team time
trial were last year's winner, spanish team ONCE (pron. ON-SAY);
Team Bianchi lead by 1997 Tour winner Jan (pron. YAHN)
Ullrich who has never finished the Tour lower than
second, and Lance Armstrong's US Postal team.

In a team time trial each team of nine riders is started
at five minute intervals, with the highest in the team
standings in the race so far going last. The time of
the fifth rider determines the time of the team. In the
43 mile stage, each team member takes a short turn at
the front to part the wind for those behind to draft,
which conserves energy and "rests" the others. By
taking turns at the front and then dropping to the
back in a smooth rotation, speed of the group is maximized.
It is an all-out effort for every rider.

The one thing all three teams did in common was to ride
the first part, including a steep hill, at a moderate
pace placing behind, by the first time check, several
other teams that had gone earlier. Then each of these
teams increased their efforts rising higher at each
time check through the flagging timings of lesser teams.

Besides that, they rode very different races.
ONCE, whose leader Joseba Beloki has finished in second
or third place in the last three Tours de France, started
sixth to last, being in sixth place. Their effort
rose gradually, steadily, to the best time so far at
the finish.

Team Bianchi, starting next to last, also increased its
speed through the course. But their team was not as
smooth and two riders dropped out of the group to finish
on their own. Still, with 7 riders, Team Bianchi finished
just a few seconds off the pace of ONCE.

Finally, Lance Armstrong's Postal team started moderately, pacing
the early timings of top rivals ONCE and Bianchi, lagging them
by six seconds. The advantage of starting a team time trial last
is knowing exactly how you are doing compared to all the other
teams that have gone before. It was a strategy from the start
to be first in the team standings, regardless of individuals,
in order to win the last start. In the last third of the course,
however, Postal took it to a new level, moving into first
place in the last time checks, and winning the stage by 30
seconds over ONCE and 43 seconds over Team Bianchi.

These timings propelled Postal riders into the top 8
places in the overall standings. The new race leader
and wearer of the race's Yellow Jersey is Armstrong's
teammate Victor Hugo Pena (pron. PAIN-YUH). Pena had
a one second advantage in last Saturday's prologue over
Armstrong. Lance Armstrong moves up from 12th to 2nd
place overall. In a few days when the race moves to the
mountains, Armstrong will be in his element of the last
four years. But now is the time to share the limelight
with a teammate who will work for him later, the
first Colombian ever to wear the race leader's jersey
in the Tour de France.

[The foregoing was read with minimal editing.]

================

Official Websites:
http://www.hughhewitt.com/ Hugh Hewitt Show
http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html Official Tour de France
http://lancearmstrong.com Lance Armstrong homepage
http://www.uspsprocycling.com US Postal Service Cycling Team
http://www.laf.org/ Lance Armstrong Foundation
http://www.cyclingnews.com The best clearinghouse for
bicycle racing news on the internet.
http://www.olntv.com/ Outdoor Life Network (OLN),
US cable televisor of the Tour de France

Official Hugh Hewitt Tour de France Reporter
David Ryan

If anyone has an interest in cycling and politics,
you might want to check out the Hugh Hewitt Show.
Syndicated in about 40 markets, including LA
(Los Angeles), and on the internet, Hugh has agreed
to read my Tour de France updates on-air, at least
as long as Lance Armstrong is in it.

"The Best in Conservative Talk"
s not an overstatement as he has a remarkable
lineup of regular guests from both sides offering
insight into current events. It wouldn't hurt to
let him know that some cyclists are listening.

[Disclaimer: Hugh did not ask me to spam the group
or anyone. But I figure I owe him a plug.]

My Stage 5 report was read at the end of the second hour,
if you want to catch it on delay or archived at KRLA.
(It looks like that will be the regular time.)

Subject: LANCE ARMSTRONG: Tour de France stage 5
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 17:26:46 -0400

The 5th stage of the Tour de France today was another
flat road race designed for the sprinters. Alessandro
Petacchi of the team Fassa Bartolo*, who emerged this
year as a premier sprinter by winning six stages in the
Tour of Italy, won for the third time in this Tour.

Lance Armstrong, surrounded by much of his US Postal
team, and all the other overall favorites finished in
the pack just behind the winner. There was no change
in their standings and Armstrong remains in second place.

The current overall leader, Armstrong's teammate Victor
Hugo Pena (pron. PAIN-YUH) rode today in the race
leader's Yellow Jersey on his 29th birthday. He has
a one second lead over Armstrong.

There is one more flat stage before the race moves
into the Alps on Saturday where Armstrong has been
dominant for the last four years.

Official Websites:
http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html Official Tour de France
http://lancearmstrong.com Lance Armstrong homepage
http://www.uspsprocycling.com US Postal Service Cycling Team
http://www.laf.org/ Lance Armstrong Foundation
http://www.cyclingnews.com The best clearinghouse for
bicycle racing news on the internet.
http://www.olntv.com/ Outdoor Life Network (OLN),
US cable televisor of the Tour de France

Official Hugh Hewitt Tour de France Reporter
David Ryan