i've heard a ton about Ullrich's fitness level (and its questionability) and we were talking about Vino a bit ago......but what about Lance?

i am honestly very nervous about this year's Tour. i know Lance is the most obsessive, excessive, and hell-bent rider in the world today, but i haven't heard much about his training. he won the TdG, of course, but what is he doing in the way of training? i think Lance is physically able to win the TdF again this year, but i am concerned that with his win at the TdG and his new girlfriend and his TV show he won't have enough time or motivation to train. without training, a cyclist is nothing.

has anybody heard anything about Armstrong's training regimen for this year? is he back to his 6-hour days in the saddle? please tell me that superman hasn't gotten complacent. i don't know if i could deal with Lance NOT WINNING the Tour. something would be very wrong with that. i don't think Lance could handle finishing second in what has been called the "Tour de Lance".

Not sure where I read it (maybe I should start writing down my references...maybe cyclingnews.com, maybe CycleSport) but LA was going to go into the Tour with less racing in his legs this year. A couple of reasons were listed...he is older, so the legs need to be fresher, the difficulty of this year's tour will be at the end (barring a significant break in stages 1-9, stage 10 is the first to contain any climbing, then 11 is transitional also). Stage 12, 13 15, 16 (MTT), 17, 18, 19 (long TT) are where the big boys will play.
LA can enter the Tour a little underprepard, ride into form on stages 1-9. Also, his racing in the spring centered around races with tough ITTs. I also think that ignoring the April classics greatly reduces the risk for a season ending incident (well, ok, an incident that puts a major change into his training schedule). Maybe there is a little poker in hiding from the competition also.

CycleSport did have a good article on LA vs. JU in the early season head to heads. Basically they emphasized (maybe over emphasized) that LA subconsciously made a statement by riding much better than JU when they were in the same event. When there were cross winds, Postal pushed the pace and dropped JU. While JU was hidden in the pack or dropped, LA lead out Max VanH for the stage win. etc etc. Such head games are being played. So, don't worry too much, LA and Johan B are already at war.

Also, Lance has been a "known" or a constant in the Tour equation since 2000's first mountain stage (proving that 1999 was not a fluke). It's funner to speculate on the competition. That's why we will hotly debate who the dark horses will be, Vino vs. JU, and all the rest. The only "interesting" thing about LA is equiptment, chammy creame and the 6th Tour curse...

But, get ready for a Lanceless Tour, maybe next year already. The days are numbered and the mantle has to be handed over sometime. Watching the contenders fight for the scraps will be as interesting as the 2003 or 2004 Tours.

his personal and team results are 'ahead of schedule'. Carmichael was with him at Georgia so they have to be on track. another reason for changed schedule is he's now divorced and had to go home for 'dad time'. his family is no longer following him about Europe so March - August would be a little long to be away from the kids. agreed that his days are numbered, not sure of how long it will take. I personally think he's going to be far stronger/ less distracted than last year, try to put his stamp on #6 and then call it a career post Olympics. He seems like the type to want to go out with a bang and on top.