Ullrich on Luz-Ardiden, in his own words (well, actually, in

[freetunes]

my poor translation from janullrich.de:

Hallo fans,

At the end of the day all heads asked if it was right for me to wait.
I still say YES!

Bicycle racing is the hardest sport. It needs this "Fairness" [in english]! Even though it was not the same two years ago when Armstrong waited, because he had a comfortable lead, and this time the overall victory was at stake, still I would always do the same thing.

It wasn't right for Mayo and Zubeldia to sprint for the time bonuses, when they hadn't done any of the work at the front. They don't need the seconds. But I might miss those seconds at the finish.

I'm also thinking of the 1989 Tour when I say this. I watched it on TV at the time and can still see Fignon's face when Greg Lemond won. It could become tight this time around as well.

Every day I will look for my chance. I want to win this tour. I've never been so close to Armstrong. I can sense that my best form is coming on.

And if, after Saturday's time trial, only a few second separate us, then it will be legitimate to attck on Sunday -- equally legitimate, whether it's myself or Lance in the lead.

[hypermush]

That can only be guessed at by an observer. He appears to be riding as hards as he possibly can.

He did sprint. The two guys who sat on his wheel came around him in the tight corners approaching the finish but Ullrich still managed to get around one of them before the line.

It's apparent that you have not been a bike racer or have not been in that position.

Armstrong did not win the sprint in his little group the other day.

[orourkebr]

If he's as evil as the locals here think, I doubt either...

[tarty]

He was at the limit from breaking wind for the "spanish mosquitos" for many kilometers.

[bigchuckWP]

You go girls! Wow that will be interesting, but it's true that with 20 seconds on either side of the coin, it's going to be up for grabs! I might actually try to get there

[freetunes]

Actually, 20 seconds at the finish plus three intermediate sprints for a possible 38 seconds total.

Would be cool to watch the two of them blast away from the start and finish like Zoetemelk and Hinault in 1979.

[gregknight]

It should be fun to see the riders dash their champagne "glasses" on the pavement to pursue attacks on Sunday.

[Undertaker]

I honestly didn't. But I do now. He's a worthy champion. I'll never root against him again (unless of course he's up against Lance or another
American). Instead Mayo and Zubeldia have the wrath of my anger

[balanbear]

The majority of the media is a bit disappointed with EE. They did not have a clear race plan.

Apparently Mayo was suppossed to try to win it. They were suppossed to hang on Ullrich/Jan wheel and attack him/them in the last port.

But Zubeldia had problems at he end of the Tourmalet. Then Mayo could not hold on Lance in his counter. At that point Zubeldia claims he was feeling pretty good to try to push and put some more time on Vino, but the DS demanded he would hold (to gain what? ). At the end, nobody knows/explained why they both sprinted with Jan. I think that one problem is many cyclists are quite indiferent about Jan (personally). On the other hand Lance is much more charismatic and admired/hated and he has much more leverage in such situations.

Maybe Jan should have talked with these two about what the outcome was suppossed to be. It is too bad he only seems to have some emotion in his web page! Public relations are also part of the repertoire of the cyclist. And historically I do not think that Jan has too many people owing him.

As for the sprint, I would say that the opinion of people is about the same as in this group. Mostly think it was a mistake to sprint Jan. They were useless seconds (some even talk about a pact with the devil (USPS)). But nobody seem to have asked the cyclists themselves about the finish.

[PeriWinkle]

Thank you Shayana - that was the best thing I've read today.