TDF '04 contenders

patch70

Good performances in the Dauphine prologue by Mayo, Hamilton, Lance (and the Phonak team...)
Interesting few days ahead to see how these three contenders go against each other in this race.

patch70

Anyone jumping off the Lance bandwagon after the ITT up Mont Ventoux?
Has he lost the edge over his competitors?
Is 3 weeks enough time to get back his form?
Was he holding back, playing mind games?

oneradtec

It's never good to count out Lance. That said...It seems he has lost just a little power. He's so skinny and gaunt now...and he's not nearly as muscular as before. This might be good for the climbs...but perhaps he has lost his edge in the long time trials. There is a 60km flat time trial just a few days after the Alpe d'Huez time trial at this years Tour de France. I suspect that someone like Mayo or Mercado will take alot of time out of Lance at Alp d'Huez(maybe Zubeldia and Hamilton too). Then Lance will not be able to recover any time in the flat time trial where a rider like Ullrich might excel. Mercado might lose some signifigant time on that flat TT..so he better be sharp in the mountains.

A few riders we are not counting out(I hope) are Vinoukourov and Leipheimer.

Will be interesting to see what Bobby Julich can do under Riis's guidance...assuming he is selected by his team. It will depend on his performance at Tour de Suisse.

Also...would like to see Zulle have a good tour considering it might be his last one.

Can't wait!!!!!!

donhix1

Don't forget Jan. He is finally showing some form at the Tour de Suisse. Mayo is obviously looking good and Tyler is showing form and a strong team. Although I would like Levi to do well I haven't seen any form to suggest he is a canidate for the Podium.

I want to have may cake and eat it too. I want Lance to win his sixth and have lots of drama at the Tour. I want to have it come down to the last time trial.

__________________
Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.

patch70

Well, I guess we can take Vino out now following his crash in the Tour de Suisse. That is going to hurt Jan also.

Powerful Pete

That's what everyone says, but I wonder. Do you really think that Jan (returning to the Tour with real ambitions this year) would have taken kindly to Vino sprinting off on the last climb to take the stage and some time out of the leaders?

Don't know, maybe Jan is secretly a bit happy or relieved that he will be the only captain on the telekom squad!

__________________
De Rosa Planet
Campagnolo Per Sempre!
PAOLO BETTINI CAMPIONE DEL MONDO x 2!

timdodge

Tough break for T-Mobile

The announcement Monday that Alexandre Vinokourov, third place in last year's Tour de France, would be unable to race this July deals a serious blow to the German team's preparations and plan of attack against defending champion Lance Armstrong and other top rivals. Jan Ullrich, currently leading the Tour de Suisse, remains the team's leader for the Tour. Vinokourov, however, was to be not just a key teammate, but another card to play in the general classification and part of T-Mobile's strategy to assemble a team of GC riders as opposed to US Postal Service's 'all for Lance' team composition.

"Our whole strategy suddenly fell apart," confessed team manager Walter Godefroot, quoted in l'Equipe. "Even if I was not counting on [Vinokourov] for the overall victory... I was confident he was arriving in form at exactly the right time.

"They say that's life," Godefroot added, "but sometimes it's truly hard on us."

Ullrich shared the frustration of losing his right hand man and good friend for the Tour, expressing the pain of thinking Vinokourov as 'just a spectator' in July.

"It's terribly to see what can happen so suddenly," he said. "Obviously it's bad for the team, for me, but most of all for him. He had really prepared well for the Tour and for us it was a perfect scenario.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php...un04/jun15news2

Powerful Pete

Ok, ok, that's what they say to the press. I am still not convinced.

__________________
De Rosa Planet
Campagnolo Per Sempre!
PAOLO BETTINI CAMPIONE DEL MONDO x 2!

gntlmn

It appears that he will not compete in the 2004 TdF due to a shoulder injury in the Tour de Suisse.

http://65.54.184.250/cgi-bin/linkrd... A1573FF2022D0

zperrys

Armstrong rules.

patch70

Evans out of T-Mobile Tour team

Cadel Evans will probably not be riding the Tour de France as part of the T-Mobile team, contrary to yesterday's unofficial team listing. Sources close to Evans, who recently won the Tour of Austria, say he learned late last night that his current status is 'first reserve' although he has been working toward being a Tour team member all season.

In the most recent update to his diary, posted yesterday before he learned he was not in the team, Evans expressed his frustration with not knowing if he was going. "Jan and Erik are the only two riders who know for sure that they are going to the Tour," he said. "I've been training for the Tour since October last year and now here we are less than two weeks from the start and I still don't know if I'll be there."

In other T-Mobile Tour news, Tobias Steinhauser has indicated on his website that he will not be able to ride the Tour because of the injuries he sustained in a crash at last week's Tour of Switzerland.

From: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php...jun04/jun23news

patch70

Lucky nobody voted for him...

Jörg Jaksche out of CSC Tour team after crash

Team CSC has had to make a last-minute change to its Tour de France roster after German rider Jörg Jaksche crashed and broke his elbow during a training ride yesterday. The winner of this year's Paris-Nice back in March, Jaksche will be replaced in the Tour line-up by Italian Andrea Peron.

"It's seriously bad luck for Jörg and for the team," said team manager Bjarne Riis in a statement announcing the change. "Luckily we have had Peron ready and on hold the whole time, in case an accident like this should occur. I really feel for Jörg, because I know how well prepared he was for this year's Tour de France. He had a very important role to play on the team, and obviously he will be sorely missed. You can never be sure to escape such bad luck, but it's of course a big shame to have to replace him. This was not part of the plan, but I still believe, we will do a great Tour de France."

Nevertheless, Riis believes Peron is ready for the challenge. "He was close to getting selected in the first place, and this is why, I'm sure, we have the best possible replacement for Jörg," said Riis. "In Andrea we have a strong and very experienced all-round rider, who is also a good team player, which remains a top priority for us. Last year he was an extremely valuable rider on the Tour team, and undoubtedly he will be again this year."

Jaksche is disappointed but philosophical. "It can't be helped," he said. "My elbow is broken, and I have a strong pain in my back. I crashed in a turn during training and landed precisely the same way as when I crashed the day before Amstel Gold Race. Only this time the fracture is more serious, and I'm unable to ride with it."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php...jun04/jun30news

Randybaker99

Right, now Vinokourov is off all of the T-Mobile TdF rider start lists.

Does anyone else think that this is a big blow to Jan's chances?

gntlmn

Here's a dark horse that really ought to get a little press here. He is stoked up after Tyler left CSC last year to go with another team. Julich is the leader now, and he has been on the podium in the past. He put in a strong prologue TT, and is placed if not second among the GC contenders, at least very close. I think he only gave up 10 seconds to Lance in this event, and this he did after almost crashing around one corner. He probably lost 2 seconds when that happened.

So I realize that you cannot project Tour performance from the prologue, but this is one rider that will not have the press hounding him all the time. Notice that no one at all has mentioned him on this thread. But you may see him in the top 3 after the Pyrenees. I'm guessing at least top 5. So I wouldn't write him off altogether. I don't think he'll beat Lance, but he's worth considering in the event of mishaps or crashes. He might be on the podium in Paris.