Comments on: Props to Popo but Kudos to Floyd http://velolasource.com/velorant/2006/07/14/props-to-popo-but-kudos-to-floyd/ where phil and paul left off Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:17:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 by: fausto http://velolasource.com/velorant/2006/07/14/props-to-popo-but-kudos-to-floyd/#comment-8 Sat, 15 Jul 2006 03:57:52 +0000 http://velolasource.com/velorant/2006/07/14/props-to-popo-but-kudos-to-floyd/#comment-8 and don't forget that it was 100 degrees today at the tour. i know how hot that is, because it was 108 degrees here today. you have to put your martini glass in a larger glass filled with ice water to keep it cold when you are not drinking it. or you have to drink it very fast. or both. i rode my bike once from montpellier to carcassonne; kind of the reverse of the tour today, approaching from the northeast. it was about 100 degrees, as i recall, with a stiff mistral breeze blowing, but the view of the walled city of carcassonne as you approach was amazing. you never forget it. like riding back in time. popovych was a hard man today, no doubt. it makes you wonder if things might be different if bruyneel had simply designated popo the team leader and put everybody in his service. but that's easy to second guess. hincapie has spent seven years riding for "le patron"; is he really going to kill himself for a 26-year-old ukrainian with zero palmares, even if popo is having a bad day (as he did yesterday)? and then third guess yourself: "yes, but maybe popo wouldn't have done so poorly yesterday if he had been solidly protected every day prior by strong riders, as lance always was?" two things made discovery great: (1) having a rider who could not lose, who would not let himself lose, and (2) having a team that believed (1) was actually true. my podium? as always, hard to argue with frank booth. i agree with landis and menchov. i'm not solid on third, and it's not just because i doubt leipheimer (check my posts; i've never questioned his ability). i'll go with my dark horse for now: christophe moreau. fausto. and don’t forget that it was 100 degrees today at the tour. i know how hot that is, because it was 108 degrees here today. you have to put your martini glass in a larger glass filled with ice water to keep it cold when you are not drinking it. or you have to drink it very fast. or both.

i rode my bike once from montpellier to carcassonne; kind of the reverse of the tour today, approaching from the northeast. it was about 100 degrees, as i recall, with a stiff mistral breeze blowing, but the view of the walled city of carcassonne as you approach was amazing. you never forget it. like riding back in time.

popovych was a hard man today, no doubt. it makes you wonder if things might be different if bruyneel had simply designated popo the team leader and put everybody in his service. but that’s easy to second guess. hincapie has spent seven years riding for “le patron”; is he really going to kill himself for a 26-year-old ukrainian with zero palmares, even if popo is having a bad day (as he did yesterday)? and then third guess yourself: “yes, but maybe popo wouldn’t have done so poorly yesterday if he had been solidly protected every day prior by strong riders, as lance always was?” two things made discovery great: (1) having a rider who could not lose, who would not let himself lose, and (2) having a team that believed (1) was actually true.

my podium? as always, hard to argue with frank booth. i agree with landis and menchov. i’m not solid on third, and it’s not just because i doubt leipheimer (check my posts; i’ve never questioned his ability). i’ll go with my dark horse for now: christophe moreau.

fausto.

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