Lance!!!!

[alfredo]

Ullrich, his strongest rival was 15 seconds behind at the start of this difficult mountain stage. Lance has had some bad days, so many were fearing not was all well with Lance. On the last mountain Lance launched a fierce attack and blew his rivals away. Yes! He has a 1.07 second lead going into the last mountain stage. tomorrow is a rest day so all can rest before the last mountain stage. Saturday is the team time trial, Ullrich's only real chance to win. the last Team time Trial had Lance's team winning by a comfortable margin, but it has been a long race. Ullrich's team lost about a minute in the first team time trial.

The top 10 after stage 15 is:
1. Lance Armstrong
2. Jan Ullrich at 1'07"
3. Alexandre Vinokourov at 2'45"
4. Haimar Zubeldia at 5'16"
5. Iban Mayo at 5'35"
6. Ivan Basso at 8'08"
7. Tyler Hamilton at 9'02"
8. Christophe Moreau at 11'09"
9. Francisco Mancebo at 16'05"
10. Carlos Sastre at 16'12"

 17 H 05 - The Top Eight In Stage 15
The top eight in stage 15 is:
1. Lance Armstrong 159.5km in 4h29'26" (35.518kph)
2. Iban Mayo at 40"
3. Jan Ullrich at 40"
4. Haimar Zubeldia at 40"
5. Christophe Morea at 40"
6. Ivan Basso at 47"
7. Tyler Hamilton at 1'10"
8. Alexandre Vinokourov at 2'07"

[meegbear]

1. Lance!!!!

[Fovea]

2. What an exciting stage!

15 was awesome. Lance started his final attack, after seeing signs of the bigger German rider Ulrich's legs weakening.

Just as he began the attack, Lance snagged an onlooker, and went down. Spinging up with a bruise on his left elbow, Lance rejoined the lead group who, in the tradition of Tour de France riders, waited for Lance and the other riders to rejoin.

At point, Armstrong re-asserted the attack, and surged ahead, pushing back the clock advantage to just over a minute 8 seconds from 15 seconds at the start of the stage. He was still dancing on the pedals within a kilometer of the finish, where he finish strong, but slightly flagging.

You could see the effort in the face of Ullrich, who has been putting in brilliant, but exhausting efforts in the mountain stages, as well as superb performance in the TT's.
:o

[alfredo]

4. Back during the 2001 tour

Ullrich fell and Lance waited for him. Sportsmanship is not dead. I was really worried about Lance's chances today, but now I am very happy.


http://www.letour.fr/2003/us/index.html

With a little less than 10km to race Armstrong seized an opportunity to attack. Iban Mayo – the champion of the thousands of Basques who created an orange tunnel of enthusiasm on the final 13km climb – surged ahead of an elite troop which included all the riders at the top of the overall classification. Only Armstrong and Ullrich could repond. Lance led this trio around a sweeping right hand turn. The excitement generated by the race’s arrival prompted a child, watching from the side of the road, to throw his arms forward. A bag he carried caught the right of Armstrong’s bars and the rider in the yellow jersey went tumbling down. Mayo couldn’t escape the carnage, but Ullrich’s reaction was as swift as Lance’s when he managed to avoid the sprawling figure of Joseba Beloki at the end of stage eight.

Riding on the wings of angels, as Armstrong so clearly does, he wasn’t hurt in the fall. He jumped straight up, sorted out his bike and joined Mayo’s chase of the other candidates for the stage. Ever the gentleman, Ullrich waited.

“I’m grateful for his gesture today,” said Armstrong after reminding the gathered media that he did the same thing in 2001 when Ullrich crashed off the road in the stage to Saint-Lary-Soulan. “What goes around, comes around. What I did (in 2001) was the correct thing to do. What he did today was the correct thing. And I appreciate it.” Their rivalry may have been reignited in recent days, but so too has their respect for each other.

[cjbuchanan]

3. He even fell

The American went down while attacking on the climb to the finish when a spectator's bag caught his brake lever.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/tour_de_france_2003/3084221.stm

The fact that he fell and still finished 40 seconds ahead shows that he is almost back to his normal state. Go Lance Go!

[northzax]

5. well to be fair

his fall didn't really hurt him, as the leaders, at Ulrich's request, stopped and waited for him. So since he wasn't hurt physically, it didn't matter much.

[alfredo]

6. It does take

something out of you. the stopping and starting wears you down. Starting from a standstill on a 7.6% grade takes considerable force.