"karhu" wrote in message
7...
What do you think? I think he should go for it to prove that he is the
greatest rider of all time. It would be like going one-on-one with Eddy
Merckx... (I know that Boardman holds the record (49.441 km), but that is
just 10 meters more than Merckx). If Lance could do 50+ then the issue of
who´s the greatest rider would be settled once and for all.

The "greatest" racer is not the "fastest" racer. There are so many
different aspects to road racing you could never comparatively quantify who
is the greatest. If you chose one dimension such as speed, then what about
time. Who decides that the greatest is one who can travel the most
distance over an hour. What about ultra endurance athletes that travel
3000 miles in 9 days, what about sprinters and track athletes that hit
speeds close to 50 mph? The Tour throws out endurance, individual speed,
hill climbing, team speed and tactics and individual rivalries in ways that
can't be quantified. If you're going to be number oriented you miss out on
the amazing phenomena that the Tour is.