Floyd took a lead of :59 over Pereiro in the final time trial.

Allez Floyd!

Kick those dirty French while they're down!

Why don't they race on the final day in Paris? I know tradition plays a large role but damn its the Tour de France. Why not try and win it?

I'm all for honoring tradition if the lead looks to be too large but this is less than a minute. Why not compete all the way to the finish?

Would ppl see Pereiro (sp?) as an ass if he raced tomorrow?

Over the years it has just become the tradition to spend the last day of the race visiting with friends and taking it easy into Paris. Then letting the sprinters fight it out on the Champs-Ellysees.

I cannot imagine a serious race during the final laps when they have to make those 90 degree turns.

There are guys on the tour that would probably race the final day if they were this close. But it would put a black spot on their career. Oscar and Floyd a too good of friends, it won't happen tomorrow.

Now we have to wait for Landis to recovery from the hip surgery to find out what is left in him. If this is it, he has had a great year.

Man, that is so strange. I can't think of any other sport that has something similar to this.


What if it was a 10 second gap? Then could they compete? What if it was 1 second? Where do you draw the line? Better question, why draw a line at all?

I understand tradition as much as anyone but damn!

Gutsy effort and an amazing comeback.

I heard Phil, Paul, and Bob talking about it early in the Tour, and they mentioned having riders sprinting for time bonuses on the Champs-Elysees. I think if the split were 20 sec. or less, it might happen, but, for all practical purposes, Pereiro can't make up that time tomorrow. If he tries to break, the peloton will get really pissed and catch him before he gets enough time bonuses, if any, to close the gap.

what kind of time bonuses are available tomorrow? I totally forgot about 'em. They could potentially make the race even closer.

Ain't gonna happen. Like it or not - the Tour de France abides by its traditions and the riders will defend them. If Pereiro and his team attacked - of course Phonak would defend Landis' position. But the other teams would work to prevent any standings to change.

I happen to like this aspect of the sport.

Another example of Tour de France class - they let Ekimov lead out a portion of he first lap on the Champs Elysee because Ekimov is finishing his 15th Tour de France. Only one person has finished more (Joop Zoetemelk).

Way to go Floyd! 11th American Victory in the past 21 years!

The parade into Paris is one of the classiest parts of the TDF. Everyone agrees that the race unofficially ends on stage 18.

(It would be interesting to see what would happen if it were 10 secs though)

Another classy time is when the peleton slows down to allow a GC contender to catch up after a wreck or other mishap.

A few years ago when Lance went down, Jan Ulrich went to the front of the Peleton and made everyone slow down to allow him to catch back up.

Tell me a sport where that would happen.

It is a long 21 days together not to have some really good gentleman agreements to keep it fair.

quote:

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Tell me a sport where that would happen.

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Futbol.

Holden,

I was thinking the same thing when I typed the question.

My daughter and I watched the Dynamo in the rain last night. They looked really good against the Revolution and should have won by 2 goals. I am looking forward to the FC Dallas game at home in Aug.

Sorry to derail this thread.

Godspeed Floyd to a quick recovery.

Congrats on the big win!!

oops.

http://si.cnn.com/2006/more/specials/tour_de_france/2006/07/27/landis.doping/index.html

This could be the end of cycling's popularity in america. That's too bad that the positive test had to come on his storybook day.

That really sucks.

On a side note: how did his mother give a phone interview from her home? I thought they were Mennonites(sp?)

sports really suck right now.

Damn, I want Football back