Frank, Jose Azevedo is making a big difference in the team standings for ONCE. O V E R A L L T E A M S T A N D I N G S Pos. Team Code Time 1 ONCE - EROSKI ONE en 189h 03' 18" 2 IBANESTO.COM BAN à 07' 02" 3 US POSTAL SERVICE USP à 08' 41" 4 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE COF à 11' 23" 5 RABOBANK RAB à 22' 25" 6 TEAM CSC TISCALI CST à 26' 27" 7 KELME - COSTA BLANCA KEL à 27' 39" 8 DOMO - FARM FRITES DFF à 39' 08" 9 JEAN DELATOUR DEL à 40' 04" 10 FASSA BORTOLO FAS à 54' 12"
ONCE Team winning by 7 m over Banesto. I believe the 3 best riders on the stage qualify for the Team time. Jose Azevedo, Beloki and Galdeano Gonzalez very important to stay close to the the main group. Did you see the LA Bombarral team they expected to do good in the portuguese Tour.
www.record.pt O jogo and O record they do a better job of covering a Volta a Portugal. Check it out let me know what you think. LA Aluminuns/Bombarral always had a good team.
Jose Azevedo how much more can he do? pushing for Galdeano and Beloki, its got be a burn. I hope he don't collapse, 5 days still to go.
Jose Azevedo He didn't collapse, he finish in 8th place and is know in 4th place overall, but not by much. He did pass his teamate in the overall standings Galdeano. Today was the biggest climb in the Mountains, basically one more day of mountain climb and then all way down to Paris on Sunday. I hope Jose Azevedo finish's the Tour in the top 10, in his first Tour of France, he his at the moment the talk of the portuguese people.
If only Jose Azevedo had been told to stay with Beloki instead of coming back for Gonzalez a few days ago. He easily could have been in 3rd place and very close to being in second. That day he was riding strong with Armstrong, Heras, and Beloki, but was told to come back and help Igor Gonzalez which by the way is fading away slowly.
O V E R A L L S T A N D I N G S Pos. N° Name Nat. Team Time 1 001 ARMSTRONG Lance USA USP en 68h 43' 22" 2 021 BELOKI Joseba ESP ONE à 05' 06" 3 158 RUMSAS Raimondas LTU LAM à 07' 24" 4 022 AZEVEDO José POR ONE à 12' 08" 5 024 GONZALEZ GALDEANO Igor ESP ONE à 12' 12" 6 137 MANCEBO Francisco ESP BAN à 12' 28" 7 032 BOTERO Santiago COL KEL à 12' 37" 8 003 HERAS Roberto ESP USP à 12' 54" 9 101 LEIPHEIMER Levy USA RAB à 13' 58" 10 081 BASSO Ivan ITA FAS à 15' 04" By the way there is another USA rider in the top 10, Levy Leipheimer. Go Jose Azevedo Go!!!!!!!!!!!! Dance Lance dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Only Joaquim Agostinho finish 3rd a couple times, in the Tour of France. But he use to lose a lot of time in the fast plain races. He use to fall a lot, and eventual in the late 30's a dog ran into his bike and died a race in Algarve. Jose Martins also finish the top 20 a few times, he used to be in Agostinho team. I believe once in the top 10 . ALves Barbosa got be a favorite of your dad finish the tour I believe in 8th place. Acacio Silva in the late 80's and early 90's a portuguese immigrant from Switzerland or Luxemburg won a couple stages, carry the yellow shirt for 5 days and finish the Tour one 1 hour behind in the 30 or 40 th place. So Jose Azevedo a 4th place finish in last year Tour of Italy O Giro de Italia, and know a possible top 10 finisher his putting Portugal back in the map.
If you check the standings is only leading the 10 place by less then 3 minutes. I believe there is one trial race to go. One big mountain climb twomorrow, the last day, Sunday its usually a show time. Many cyclists happy to finish. One good thing about Jose Azevedo his excellent in the mountains, good in the trials, and better then any other portuguese great in the plain races in can keep up with the faster racers. Usually a cyclist his good at one of the three. Lance his king on all three. Joaquim Agostinho never had the team Jose Azevedo got, the Once team is the n1 team in the Tour, Joaquim Agostinho by the end of the Tour he usually had to bike racers with him. He was the team leader but never anybody good to stay with him, and You see how important it is to have a good team, check today's race US Postal, Once control the all race. In the Agostinho year's the Tour was won by Eddy Merckxx 5 times, if not Agostinho could won at least one. In Spain he was leading the Tour with a couple days to go and fell and lost the Tour to some Spaniard, a couple times almost went over the mountain. He was always racing in pain.
Frank, I agree, no rider can win this Tour and in many cases any Tour without the help of a good team. Joaquim Agostinho, a name very much spoken about in my house growing up. It was sad when he died. A big surprise is this guy in 3rd place, Rumsas. He rides for team LAMPRE - DAIKIN LAM which are in 20th place overall in teams behind by 3h 21' 28". The close teammate to him overall is Marco SERPELLINI which is in 80th place overall behind by 1h 50' 58" Rumsas has to be pretty good to be in 3rd overall because he is not getting any help from his teammates.
Serpellini if not mistaken won the Portuguese Tour a few years back. He probably a climber, like Jose Agostinho, he just stay close to the leaders. If you smart and can do it just follow Armstrong group.
I'm going to watch the end of replay, its a two half hour of coverage, 'Hoje e a prova rainha' Beautiful site, check it out, special going down hill.
Tour of Portugal -Volta a Portugal starters on the 2nd of August Tour of Spain - La Vuelta - starters on the 7 September and will be cover by OLN TV 151 on the Dish.
Only the Spanish Tour Azevedo overall 5th place still a great accomplishment. Just finish watching the end of the race 11 kM coming down the mountain at high speeds, very danger corners,Jose Azevedo got out of the mountain in great shape. One Trial stage the rider against the clock, Azevedo should be losing a couple more spots. After the trial only Paris in site. The last trial Botero was the winner.
Maia Milaneza one of the favorite teams in La Vuelta in Spain. Can't expect Jose Azevedo to do much, in La Vuelta two months after the Tour. The top racers have to follow the footsteps of Lance Armstrong, prepare themeselves for the Tour. I see some of the best riders in the Italian Giro, at the end of the peloton. Jose Azevedo, Once team, a smart move buy not taken Jose Azevedo to Giro of Italy in 2002, were he finish 5th in 2001.
That is true, but I would like to see Lance in a few more reaces. I know he did the Vuelta a Espana last year. But can't expect someone to win it all in this sport. Take a look at the Benfica Forum.
That's why Armstrong will never be in the company of Eddy Mercxx, Anquetil. This guys with a lot work won the Grand Slam of bike racing, very hard to do. Giro of Italy La Vuelta Spain Tour of France. Hinault of France, Indurain of Spain a five Tour winner did win a double.
I think that if Armstrong put his mind to it with a good team, he probably could do it. I don't know why it doesn't. Last year he just went to La Vuelta a Espana to push for Heras. I would like to see him go for more. Let's not forget that some of his prime years were fighting cancer.
Its great OLN TV, televise the three biggest races in the World, + early in the season the Switzerland Tour. The portuguese Tour is getting bigger with a lot prize money, so hope in the future will be televise, will be great see some of the portuguese country roads on america TV. Banesto Team, Kelme Team, Once Team should once again participate in the Portuguese Tour with there future stars.