Tom Kunich wrote:
"Paul Cassel" wrote in message
. ..
Somewhat new to bicycling and the racing.

I look at the standings posted by Bob Martin and from my viewing on
Versus. What sort of deficit is reasonable to make up at this point based
on historical efforts?

Frex, is Hincapie's almost .5 hour deficit something that has been
overcome by others in the past? At what point can we say that someone with
a deficit of X minutes is effectively out of the running for the overall
winner?

Against Valverde a couple of minutes is the most that God could make up
unless there's something major bad happening to him.

Valverde has to prove that he can *finish* the Tour to win, which he
has yet to do. I hope he does, because it would be a shame to have
yet another year of pundits talking about his 'unfulfilled potential'.

~bob s.