tour de france : scandalous

[Walter Mitty]

Am enjoying my first full Tour on the TV : (an evening job helps:))

Lance was just knocked off his bike by a ****ing stupid spectator. What are
the "rules" here?? Will Ulrich pull up and let Lance get back into the race
or is it just "rub of the green" as they say in Golf?

That spectator should be hung by his toes. All that effort, training,
determination, cat & mouse ruined by one foolish asshole.

Back to the race, with fingers crossed that Lance catches up and makes a go
of it.

May the best man win : the fair way.

--
Walter Mitty.

[archer]

In article >, says...
> Am enjoying my first full Tour on the TV : (an evening job helps:))
>
> Lance was just knocked off his bike by a ****ing stupid spectator. What are
> the "rules" here?? Will Ulrich pull up and let Lance get back into the race
> or is it just "rub of the green" as they say in Golf?

According to the report I just read, Ullrich did slow down rather than
attacking, and then Lance ended up taking the stage and put a minute or
so into Ullrich, with Ullrich taking 4th.

.....

--
David Kerber
An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good
Lord, it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

[Walter Mitty]

Walter Mitty > brightened my day with his incisive wit when in
he conjectured that:

> Am enjoying my first full Tour on the TV : (an evening job helps:))
>
> Lance was just knocked off his bike by a ****ing stupid spectator.
> What are the "rules" here?? Will Ulrich pull up and let Lance get back
> into the race or is it just "rub of the green" as they say in Golf?
>
> That spectator should be hung by his toes. All that effort, training,
> determination, cat & mouse ruined by one foolish asshole.
>
> Back to the race, with fingers crossed that Lance catches up and makes
> a go of it.
>
> May the best man win : the fair way.
>

great sportsmanship from Ullrich and the others in the lead groups. great
surge from Armstrong who wins by 40 seconds.

Awesome stuff.

--
Walter Mitty.

[Stergios Papadakis]

archer wrote:
>
> In article >, says...

This thread gives away the important events of the stage,
including the finish.

Stergios

[Mark Weaver]

"Walter Mitty" > wrote in message
...
> Am enjoying my first full Tour on the TV : (an evening job helps:))
>
> Lance was just knocked off his bike by a ****ing stupid spectator. What
are
> the "rules" here?? Will Ulrich pull up and let Lance get back into the
race
> or is it just "rub of the green" as they say in Golf?
>
> That spectator should be hung by his toes. All that effort, training,
> determination, cat & mouse ruined by one foolish asshole.
>

Not clear it was the spectator's fault -- he (or she) was just holding a bag
of something standing alongside the route and Lance cut very close to the
edge of the road and caught his brake lever on it. The fan wasn't one of
those jumping out in front and back and the last moment -- he was just
standing there.

Mark

[Doug Huffman]

And the rule is to accept 'stuff' from spectators only with the greatest
caution lest one become sickened inadvertently or advertently. The spectator
should be punished.

This sort of spectator is exactly why I left auto racing before I had to
start carrying a baton. Ask Gordon Johncock - yeah, I know he's a nobody -
about the time a full can of coke landed between his front and rear wheels
and almost in his cockpit. He stopped 'safely' at Turn-11 at Road Atlanta,
did a lap or two around his car while cursing and drove off.

Screw spectators.


"Mark Weaver" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Walter Mitty" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Am enjoying my first full Tour on the TV : (an evening job helps:))
> >
> > Lance was just knocked off his bike by a ****ing stupid spectator. What
> are
> > the "rules" here?? Will Ulrich pull up and let Lance get back into the
> race
> > or is it just "rub of the green" as they say in Golf?
> >
> > That spectator should be hung by his toes. All that effort, training,
> > determination, cat & mouse ruined by one foolish asshole.
> >
>
> Not clear it was the spectator's fault -- he (or she) was just holding a
bag
> of something standing alongside the route and Lance cut very close to the
> edge of the road and caught his brake lever on it. The fan wasn't one of
> those jumping out in front and back and the last moment -- he was just
> standing there.
>
> Mark
>
>

[dennisg]

In an interview, Lance admitted that it was his own mistake. He was
riding too close to the side.



--
>--------------------------<
Posted via cyclingforums.com
http://www.cyclingforums.com

[Luigi de Guzman]

Walter Mitty > wrote in message >...
> Am enjoying my first full Tour on the TV : (an evening job helps:))
>
> Lance was just knocked off his bike by a ****ing stupid spectator. What are
> the "rules" here?? Will Ulrich pull up and let Lance get back into the race
> or is it just "rub of the green" as they say in Golf?

If you stayed around to watch, Ullrich and Hamilton did, in fact, hold
up and let Armstrong rejoin the race--eventually, to win and increase
his margin over ullrich by a minute.

The custom in the peloton, apparently, is that it is unsporting
(though not illegal) to take undue advantage of your competitors'
accidents or mechanical failures. Armstrong did the same for Ullrich
in 2001, when Ullrich ended up (quite spectacularly, if I remember
right) in a field.

>
> That spectator should be hung by his toes. All that effort, training,
> determination, cat & mouse ruined by one foolish asshole.

Would you rather the Tour be so unpopular as to have no spectators at
all?

There are a lot of people--riders, support vehicles, press vehicles,
race officials, gendarmes, and spectators--crammed onto not a lot of
frontage on very remote roads. These things happen.

I'd be curious to know whether any spectator, in the hundred years of
the Tour de France, has wilfully attacked or injured a competitor with
a view to denying that competitor a stage or overall victory.

> May the best man win : the fair way.

Today, he did, and the whole peloton demonstrated a kind of class that
is seldom seen in other sporting events--indeed, seldom seen on
Usenet, either.

as for me: allez Tyler!

-Luigi

[St Canard]

In article >, Luigi de
Guzman wrote:

> I'd be curious to know whether any spectator, in the hundred years of
> the Tour de France, has wilfully attacked or injured a competitor with
> a view to denying that competitor a stage or overall victory.

The answer is yes. In 1975 a French fan stepped out from the crowd
and punched Eddie Merckx in the kidney during a climb -- he was a fan
of Bernard Thevenet and apparently upset that the trophy was going to
leave France. Merckx had the yellow jersey at the time. The kidney
became infected and forced him to abandon, and Thevenet went on to
win. In typical Merckx fashion, after the stage we went back down
looking for they guy that hit him.

--
"Divide by cucumber error, please reinstall Universe and reboot"
-- Terry Pratchett, _Hogfather_

[Zoot Katz]

Mon, 21 Jul 2003 12:56:27 -0400,
>, "Doug Huffman"
> wrote:

>Screw spectators.

Tell that to the sponsors.
--
zk

[rb]

Walter, after the race was over, Lance commented that he was partly
responsible by riding too close to the edge. But I agree that Tour
spectators appear to be interfering too much. God only knows if that
liquid I see them spraying on the cyclists is really water. Suppose
it got into their eyes?
But it was a heck of stage race today!

rick

Walter Mitty > wrote in message >...
> Am enjoying my first full Tour on the TV : (an evening job helps:))
>
> Lance was just knocked off his bike by a ****ing stupid spectator. What are
> the "rules" here?? Will Ulrich pull up and let Lance get back into the race
> or is it just "rub of the green" as they say in Golf?
>
> That spectator should be hung by his toes. All that effort, training,
> determination, cat & mouse ruined by one foolish asshole.
>
> Back to the race, with fingers crossed that Lance catches up and makes a go
> of it.
>
> May the best man win : the fair way.

[TbosS]

I think you're a bit too hard on this spectator. He stood on the side of
road, didnt run with the riders, didn't try to touch them. All he did
was holding his cap in his hand. Lance rode to close to the guy and
unfortunately the cap hooked on his bike. It was a mistake of Armstrong
to ride this close to a spectator, while there was enough room and the
spectator wasnt in the way. The fall was unfortunate, but sportmanship
of the other riders, and some luck (no bike trouble or injuries),
prevented that this fall had a big impact on the race.

[The only impact it really had, was the adrenaline rush Armstrong had
after this fall, which made him attack like we have not yet seen him
this tour]

If you want to discuss spectator/fan behaviour, you can better comment
on the extreme behaviour of cyclistfans higher up the mountains. Where
they jump in front of the riders, and form a chaotic mass which makes
racing very hard. I think this explosion of enthusiasm and joy has gone
a bit too far, and becomes more and more of a carnaval that has a
negative impact on the race.

Funny thing is, that most riders never complain. The only thing they
say, is that they dont want to be touched by spectators. For the rest
they often get a kick out of it.



--
www.weblock.tk

Enjoy the Tour de France LIVE on your Desktop!

"La Grande WEBlock Boucle Bar"
http://weblock.webuildit.nl/index.php?itemid=1246

>--------------------------<
Posted via cyclingforums.com
http://www.cyclingforums.com

[Doug Huffman]

And for tolerance like this events like the Chimney Rock Hill Climb are no
more. We started cars at two minute intervals while the course was clear
and still the idiot spectators would dance bare assed on the course between
cars.

Do we - volunteers, sponsors, organizers - put events on for the benefit of
(idiot) spectators or for our friends, the competitors?


"Kevan Smith" /\/\> wrote in message
...
>
> In Europe, there is a tradition of spectator "involvement" in bike races.
For
> the most part, people are trusted to a much greater degree than they would
be in
> the U.S. IF a mountain stage were here, for example, the crowd would
probably be
> kept several yards from the road by metal barricades and armed guards. All
> things considered, I think I like the European way better.
>
>

[Mark Weaver]

"Kevan Smith" /\/\> wrote in message
...
>
> In Europe, there is a tradition of spectator "involvement" in bike races.
For
> the most part, people are trusted to a much greater degree than they would
be in
> the U.S. IF a mountain stage were here, for example, the crowd would
probably be
> kept several yards from the road by metal barricades and armed guards. All
> things considered, I think I like the European way better.
>

Yes -- but remember the crazed tennis fan jumped out of the crowd and
stabbed Monica Seles. That happened in Europe and the nut case was German
if I remember right. On the other hand, I really can't think of an similar
incident in the US off the top of my head.

Mark

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 16:51:24 -0400, "Mark Weaver"
> wrote:

>remember the crazed tennis fan jumped out of the crowd and
>stabbed Monica Seles. That happened in Europe and the nut case was German
>if I remember right. On the other hand, I really can't think of an similar
>incident in the US off the top of my head.

I guess your crazies are too busy shooting up schools or random
civilians :-/

The world is full of mad people, but the majority are sane and
reasonable. Most sports spectators are there to enjoy the sport,
especially with cycling, especially in France.

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony.
http://www.chapmancentral.com
[currently offline awaiting ADSL transfer to new ISP]

[Zoot Katz]

22 Jul 2003 05:43:56 +0950, >,
TbosS > wrote:

> I think this explosion of enthusiasm and joy has gone
>a bit too far, and becomes more and more of a carnaval that has a
>negative impact on the race.

They see it as their chance to get on TV or have their photo in their
favourite magazines. I think the concept of "media star" has a lot to
do with the spread and escalation of the behaviour.
--
zk

[Walter Mitty]

Stergios Papadakis > brightened my day with his
incisive wit when in he conjectured
that:

> archer wrote:
>>
>> In article >, says...
>
> This thread gives away the important events of the stage,
> including the finish.
>
> Stergios

Yes : it's called commentary. But, point taken, I maybe should have put a
spoiler note in the subject line. I was too excited to think straight.

--
Walter Mitty.

[David L. Johnson]

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 15:15:50 +0000, Kevan Smith wrote:

> In Europe, there is a tradition of spectator "involvement" in bike races.
> For the most part, people are trusted to a much greater degree than they
> would be in the U.S. IF a mountain stage were here, for example, the crowd
> would probably be kept several yards from the road by metal barricades and
> armed guards.

There are examples here of how we would do it. The US Pro
(bank-name-of-the-week) race in Philadelphia has portable barriers at the
curb, but spectators are not kept "several yards away". Marshalls and
cops keep the spectators off the road, and that is all. The riders come
within a foot of the spectators, everyone gets to see, no one gets in the
way. Seems reasonable to me. The only reason you don't see that much
crowd control in the Tour is the impossibly long stretches of road
involved. The US Pro race is a 15 mile loop; much easier to control the
crowds there than on a 125-mile Tour stage.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | You will say Christ saith this and the apostles say this; but
_`\(,_ | what canst thou say? -- George Fox.
(_)/ (_) |

[David L. Johnson]

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 11:12:09 +0000, archer wrote:

> According to the report I just read, Ullrich did slow down rather than
> attacking, and then Lance ended up taking the stage and put a minute or so
> into Ullrich, with Ullrich taking 4th.

Ullrich was third.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember
_`\(,_ | that your initial objective was to drain the swamp. -- LBJ
(_)/ (_) |

[MRiordan95]

In article >, Walter Mitty >
writes:

>Lance was just knocked off his bike by a ****ing stupid spectator. What are
>the "rules" here?? Will Ulrich pull up and let Lance get back into the race
>or is it just "rub of the green" as they say in Golf?
>

Golf may say "rub of the green". Bike racers know that this situation is "a
normal risk of bike racing".

[Golightly F.]

"dennisg" >
> In an interview, Lance admitted that it was his own mistake. He was
> riding too close to the side.

Link?

Post race he said... "I saw it coming but there was nothing I could do about
it...".

A mistake? You *are* kidding. All that effort... and a competitor makes a
mistake by having a spectator's bag hit his handle bars?

<eyes rolling>

The spectator should be punished.

hth

[Luigi de Guzman]

St Canard > wrote in message >...
> In article >, Luigi de
> Guzman wrote:
>
> > I'd be curious to know whether any spectator, in the hundred years of
> > the Tour de France, has wilfully attacked or injured a competitor with
> > a view to denying that competitor a stage or overall victory.
>
> The answer is yes. In 1975 a French fan stepped out from the crowd
> and punched Eddie Merckx in the kidney during a climb -- he was a fan
> of Bernard Thevenet and apparently upset that the trophy was going to
> leave France. Merckx had the yellow jersey at the time. The kidney
> became infected and forced him to abandon, and Thevenet went on to
> win.

The fan was arrested and tried for assault, I hope...?

>In typical Merckx fashion, after the stage we went back down
> looking for they guy that hit him.

....so *that's* why they call him The Cannibal!

*grin*

-Luigi

....got the fava beans, now where did I leave that Chianti.....?

[Hunrobe]

>"Doug Huffman"

wrote:

>And for tolerance like this events like the Chimney Rock Hill Climb are no
>more. We started cars at two minute intervals while the course was clear
>and still the idiot spectators would dance bare assed on the course between
>cars.
>
>Do we - volunteers, sponsors, organizers - put events on for the benefit of
>(idiot) spectators or for our friends, the competitors?

It's not as simple as either/or. I'm sure that when you were involved with
organizing racing events you did it in part for your friends (the competitors)
but did you also advertise the events to attract spectators?

Regards,
Bob Hunt

[Bill Davidson]

St Canard wrote:
> The answer is yes. In 1975 a French fan stepped out from the crowd
> and punched Eddie Merckx in the kidney during a climb -- he was a fan
> of Bernard Thevenet and apparently upset that the trophy was going to
> leave France. Merckx had the yellow jersey at the time. The kidney
> became infected and forced him to abandon, and Thevenet went on to
> win.

According to letour.fr, Merckx finished second in 1975 to Thevenet.
Apparently he went on but was hindered by the injury and apparently
a later crash injury which required his jaw to be wired shut.

Here's another link that says he finished:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/cycling/1972099

--Bill Davidson
--
Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.

I'm a 17 year veteran of usenet -- you'd think I'd be over it by now

[Walter Mitty]

(Luigi de Guzman) brightened my day with his incisive
wit when in m he
conjectured that:

> Walter Mitty > wrote in message
> >...
>> Am enjoying my first full Tour on the TV : (an evening job helps:))
>>
>> Lance was just knocked off his bike by a ****ing stupid spectator.
>> What are the "rules" here?? Will Ulrich pull up and let Lance get
>> back into the race or is it just "rub of the green" as they say in
>> Golf?
>
> If you stayed around to watch, Ullrich and Hamilton did, in fact, hold
> up and let Armstrong rejoin the race--eventually, to win and increase
> his margin over ullrich by a minute.
>

I did : watch the thread.

Incidentally, Lance was being very sporting : the spectator did wave a
bag out and should have more cop on. These guys are mentally drained at
this stage in the race.


>>
>> That spectator should be hung by his toes. All that effort, training,
>> determination, cat & mouse ruined by one foolish asshole.
>
> Would you rather the Tour be so unpopular as to have no spectators at
> all?

Erm, No. Just not ones who run alongside the bikes slapping the riders
and shoving bags into their brake cables.

>
> There are a lot of people--riders, support vehicles, press vehicles,
> race officials, gendarmes, and spectators--crammed onto not a lot of
> frontage on very remote roads. These things happen.

Agreed. And Lance handled it very well.
>
> I'd be curious to know whether any spectator, in the hundred years of
> the Tour de France, has wilfully attacked or injured a competitor with
> a view to denying that competitor a stage or overall victory.

"Ignorance == Wilfull" in my view.

An ignorant man drives while drunk. it's still wilfull.

>
>> May the best man win : the fair way.
>
> Today, he did, and the whole peloton demonstrated a kind of class that
> is seldom seen in other sporting events--indeed, seldom seen on
> Usenet, either.

Indeed. Amazing finish.

>
> as for me: allez Tyler!
>
> -Luigi



--
Walter Mitty.

[Walter Mitty]

TbosS > brightened my day with his incisive wit when in
he conjectured that:

Having rewatched the incident I concurr that it wasn't malicious. But it
was stupid. Suppose Lance crashed out completely? Tore a ligament ? etc
etc. Then cycling history is changed because a spectator didn't realise the
dangers he was putting atired cyclist in by waving a bag/cap out in front
at this critical stage.

--
Walter Mitty.

[salmoneous]

> Not clear it was the spectator's fault -- he (or she) was just holding a bag
> of something standing alongside the route and Lance cut very close to the
> edge of the road and caught his brake lever on it. The fan wasn't one of
> those jumping out in front and back and the last moment -- he was just
> standing there.
>
> Mark

I was struck by the irony of this. There are what seem to be millions
of annoying idiots making genuine hazards of themselves (somehow I
suspect alcohol is involved), and the one crash we see is someone just
standing there who Lance bumps into.

In addition to all the other amazing things about the riders, the fact
that none of them go berserk and murder some of those spectators is
truly impressive.

[St Canard]

In article <io3Ta.17647$Ne.17267@fed1read03>, Bill Davidson wrote:
> St Canard wrote:
>> The answer is yes. In 1975 a French fan stepped out from the crowd
>> and punched Eddie Merckx in the kidney during a climb -- he was a fan
>> of Bernard Thevenet and apparently upset that the trophy was going to
>> leave France. Merckx had the yellow jersey at the time. The kidney
>> became infected and forced him to abandon, and Thevenet went on to
>> win.
>
> According to letour.fr, Merckx finished second in 1975 to Thevenet.
> Apparently he went on but was hindered by the injury and apparently
> a later crash injury which required his jaw to be wired shut.
>
> Here's another link that says he finished:
>
> http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/cycling/1972099

Thanks, I had trouble finding links in my search (which surprised me),
and had to piece it together from a couple of places, since I was
fuzzy on the finer details.

It doesn't surprise if I accidentally combined two stories :-)


--
"Divide by cucumber error, please reinstall Universe and reboot"
-- Terry Pratchett, _Hogfather_

[archer]

In article >,
says...
> On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 11:12:09 +0000, archer wrote:
>
> > According to the report I just read, Ullrich did slow down rather than
> > attacking, and then Lance ended up taking the stage and put a minute or so
> > into Ullrich, with Ullrich taking 4th.
>
> Ullrich was third.

Oops. I mis-read the report.

--
David Kerber
An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good
Lord, it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

[Zippy the Pinhead]

On 22 Jul 2003 07:53:07 -0700, (salmoneous) wrote:

>In addition to all the other amazing things about the riders, the fact
>that none of them go berserk and murder some of those spectators is
>truly impressive.

Remember a couple of Giros ago when some guy on a mountain stage
smacked some heckler right in the jaw and got disqualified?

That was a great "highlight video" as they got video of it from the
helicopter and one of the motorscooters.

[Zoot Katz]

Tue, 22 Jul 2003 20:39:38 GMT,
>,
Zippy the Pinhead > wrote:

>
>Remember a couple of Giros ago when some guy on a mountain stage
>smacked some heckler right in the jaw and got disqualified?

I saw a short loop from French TV of what looked like a cyclo-cross
race. One competitor shoved another and a fan charged the guy doing
the shoving, knocked him from his bike and threw him off the bridge
into the water below.
--
zk

[Sorni]

"Zoot Katz" > wrote in message
...
> Tue, 22 Jul 2003 20:39:38 GMT,
> >,
> Zippy the Pinhead > wrote:
>
> >
> >Remember a couple of Giros ago when some guy on a mountain stage
> >smacked some heckler right in the jaw and got disqualified?
>
> I saw a short loop from French TV of what looked like a cyclo-cross
> race. One competitor shoved another and a fan charged the guy doing
> the shoving, knocked him from his bike and threw him off the bridge
> into the water below.

I'd bet a buck and a quarter that that was staged.

Cynical Bill

[James Hodson]

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 22:01:17 +0100, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
> wrote:

>I guess your crazies are too busy shooting up schools or random
>civilians :-/
>

OTOH, Guy, our most recent sporting crazy ran along the Hanger
Straight in the wrong direction with cars racing towards him at
180+mph.

James

--
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.butty/Larrau.jpg

[Antti Salonen]

Sorni > wrote:

> "Zoot Katz" > wrote in message

>> I saw a short loop from French TV of what looked like a cyclo-cross
>> race. One competitor shoved another and a fan charged the guy doing
>> the shoving, knocked him from his bike and threw him off the bridge
>> into the water below.

> I'd bet a buck and a quarter that that was staged.

I've seen it too. I don't think there was anything in it that made it
look staged. It's certainly very funny and almost unbelievable, but
such things do happen. Here's a video:

http://www.softlab.ntua.gr/~sivann/pub/bikeRace.mpg

-as

[Zoot Katz]

23 Jul 2003 00:11:37 GMT, >,
Antti Salonen > wrote:

>It's certainly very funny and almost unbelievable, but
>such things do happen.

I didn't think it funny at all. Streams are often shallow and rocky.
That thug had no business interfering with the race.
--
zk

[W K]

"James Hodson" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 22:01:17 +0100, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
> > wrote:
>
> >I guess your crazies are too busy shooting up schools or random
> >civilians :-/
> >
>
> OTOH, Guy, our most recent sporting crazy ran along the Hanger
> Straight in the wrong direction with cars racing towards him at
> 180+mph.

Theres a right direction?

[James Hodson]

On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 08:59:27 +0000 (UTC), "W K" >
wrote:

>Theres a right direction?
>

There certainly is: t'other direction.

James

--
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.butty/Larrau.jpg

[James Messick]

"Mark Weaver" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Walter Mitty" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Am enjoying my first full Tour on the TV : (an evening job helps:))
> >
> > Lance was just knocked off his bike by a ****ing stupid spectator. What
> are
> > the "rules" here?? Will Ulrich pull up and let Lance get back into the
> race
> > or is it just "rub of the green" as they say in Golf?
> >
> > That spectator should be hung by his toes. All that effort, training,
> > determination, cat & mouse ruined by one foolish asshole.
> >
>
> Not clear it was the spectator's fault -- he (or she) was just holding a
bag
> of something standing alongside the route and Lance cut very close to the
> edge of the road and caught his brake lever on it. The fan wasn't one of
> those jumping out in front and back and the last moment -- he was just
> standing there.

More accurately...

I was watching this shortly after it happened. I have a Tivo like divice so
I quickly repeated the footage. I had to watch it severl times in
slow-mothion to figure out what happened. The yellow bag that caught Lance's
bars was held by a small boy, mostly obscured by a much larger man.
Apparently the boy swung the bag out, but I don't think he did it
maliciously. Lance was gracious in taking the blame. Those spectators scare
me.

[Dennis P. Harris]

On 22 Jul 2003 07:53:07 -0700 in rec.bicycles.misc,
(salmoneous) wrote:

> the one crash we see is someone just
> standing there who Lance bumps into.

as much of an armstrong fan as i am, lance was cutting the corner
too close there. he should have been about half a meter further
out from the curb, safely away from spectators.

if lance was a commuter that had been doored, he'd know better
than to cut the corner that close.

and after the climb he did afteward, i'm saving my bucks to be
there to watch him win his 6th tour next summer. ;^)

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When the going gets tough, the tough get on a bicycle!
Dennis P. Harris
http://www.ejuneau.net
Another cancer survivor Lance fan