swj
July 27th 03, 04:43 AM
the conditions were utterly horrible today, riders crashing, slipping and
sliding every which way. i couldn't help but notice the similarites to the
prologue in '95. jacky durand of all people took the maillot jaune that
day, several riders took serious falls including Chris Boardman who i
believe broke his ankle in the process. similarly, Uwe Peschel fell hard
today and punctured a lung, and still finished 30th, unfortunately for
boardman riding with a broken leg/ankle just wasn't an option. from the
looks of when Millar finished, the weather did not look nearly as bad,
someone with actual TV coverage of the race could present a more informed
opinion on that one. in '95 the weather was light rain i believe, by the
time indurain and the GC contenders rode it was horrid if i recall correctly
naturally eliminating them from contention, another possible similarity to
the stage 19 ITT.
what i find rather frightening is that millar's average speed was 54.36 k/hr
in the wet, what were 'dragsters' like LA and JU capable of on a dry course
? 56-57 k/hr or higher, those speeds just wow me. for many of us, just
maintaining that speed by our lonesome on the flat for a kilo or two is
difficult or impossible for some, but for 49k's ?!? i guess that is the
difference between the recreational/racer types and the elite pro.
5 going on 6.
shawn
sliding every which way. i couldn't help but notice the similarites to the
prologue in '95. jacky durand of all people took the maillot jaune that
day, several riders took serious falls including Chris Boardman who i
believe broke his ankle in the process. similarly, Uwe Peschel fell hard
today and punctured a lung, and still finished 30th, unfortunately for
boardman riding with a broken leg/ankle just wasn't an option. from the
looks of when Millar finished, the weather did not look nearly as bad,
someone with actual TV coverage of the race could present a more informed
opinion on that one. in '95 the weather was light rain i believe, by the
time indurain and the GC contenders rode it was horrid if i recall correctly
naturally eliminating them from contention, another possible similarity to
the stage 19 ITT.
what i find rather frightening is that millar's average speed was 54.36 k/hr
in the wet, what were 'dragsters' like LA and JU capable of on a dry course
? 56-57 k/hr or higher, those speeds just wow me. for many of us, just
maintaining that speed by our lonesome on the flat for a kilo or two is
difficult or impossible for some, but for 49k's ?!? i guess that is the
difference between the recreational/racer types and the elite pro.
5 going on 6.
shawn