CSC TdF Team announced

JensCph said:

Cancellera is out.

That could be the beginning of the end of Cancellara riding for CSC...

cyclingheroes said:

That could be the beginning of the end of Cancellara riding for CSC...

Good strong team. Looks like Phonak, Discovery and T-Mobile are going to have to work for it this year

Cancellara's omission is strange.
This guy is a superb cyclist - he would be of value to any team.

O'Grady got in - no suprise there.
When Musette posted her bile about Steuy a couple of weeks back, we told her then and it's confirmed now that O'Grady would get in the CSC team for the TDF. (that's the difference between being a fan and being a troll).

Lombardi and Voigt are not surprise selections - these guys are workhorses.

That CSC team is very strong.
But I can't help thinking that they'd be stronger with Cancellara there as well.

limerickman said:

Cancellara's omission is strange.
This guy is a superb cyclist - he would be of value to any team.

O'Grady got in - no suprise there.
When Musette posted her bile about Steuy a couple of weeks back, we told her then and it's confirmed now that O'Grady would get in the CSC team for the TDF. (that's the difference between being a fan and being a troll).

Lombardi and Voigt are not surprise selections - these guys are workhorses.

That CSC team is very strong.
But I can't help thinking that they'd be stronger with Cancellara there as well.

I think that with the focas on getting Ivan on the top step has had the greatest influence on the line up this year.

This means that the focas on getting stages is not a priorty. So Cancellara who is a prolog and timetrial specialist is not a important strength, especially as there is no team timetrial this year. The focas is more towards those who can help protect Ivan on the flats and support him on the climbs.

limerickman said:

Cancellara's omission is strange.
This guy is a superb cyclist - he would be of value to any team.

O'Grady got in - no suprise there.
When Musette posted her bile about Steuy a couple of weeks back, we told her then and it's confirmed now that O'Grady would get in the CSC team for the TDF. (that's the difference between being a fan and being a troll).

Lombardi and Voigt are not surprise selections - these guys are workhorses.

That CSC team is very strong.
But I can't help thinking that they'd be stronger with Cancellara there as well.

I would have to imagine the final guy in the team was VandeVelde, with his Tour of Luxomberg win being the final say. Also, maybe the fact that CHristian rode on the TDF winning team 3 times (Armstrong's first 3 years), that experience may have helped out also, since they expect to have to control the peloton this year.

That should show you the strength of a team who leaves out a Paris-Roubaix winner from its TDF team.

Cancellera's omission is not strange from a strategic perspective because he would have been gunning for the prologue, but that is something that Dave Z could already cover. So Dave Z and Cancellera could have been cannibalizing each other in the only stage that Cancellera had a reasonable chance at winning.

Obviously, Cancellera probably expected to make the Tour team. If I were Cancellera, I would be very unhappy. Still, Riis made the right choice by omitting him.

musette said:

Cancellera's omission is not strange from a strategic perspective because he would have been gunning for the prologue, but that is something that Dave Z could already cover. So Dave Z and Cancellera could have been cannibalizing each other in the only stage that Cancellera had a reasonable chance at winning.

Obviously, Cancellera probably expected to make the Tour team. If I were Cancellera, I would be very unhappy. Still, Riis made the right choice by omitting him.

Well Cancellara is an allrounder not just a prologue or ITT specialist. He won P-R this year remember? I would have Dave Z out and put Cancellara in but hey i'm not the CSC DS....

other than chasing the prologue and maybe one of the intermediate time trials, what is the real need of having a strong TT team with there being no team time trial in this year's tour. Is it so that everyone can go out and set good split times for basso? If thats the case VandeVelde did go better than cancellara in the time trial, but i dont know what that says about his ability to ride pace or get into breaks. I guess CSC aren't looking for stage wins at all, except maybe Dave Z in the prologue.

cyclingheroes said:

Well Cancellara is an allrounder not just a prologue or ITT specialist. He won P-R this year remember? I would have Dave Z out and put Cancellara in but hey i'm not the CSC DS....

velonews said:

Zabriskie - who earned the maillot jaune when he won the opening stage last year as a Tour rookie - won two time trials in the Dauphiné Libéré earlier this month to prove he's in top condition. Zabriskie remains the only American to have won stages in all three grand tours.

I'm sure that the Z-man is in to get CSC some early recognition and to take some of the pressure off Basso. I'm sure it's also to sell some product across the big pond (not that there is anything wrong with that....)

L

cyclingheroes said:

Well Cancellara is an allrounder not just a prologue or ITT specialist. He won P-R this year remember? I would have Dave Z out and put Cancellara in but hey i'm not the CSC DS....

I thought Cancellara would have been a better choice for TdF squad as well.

Riis doesn't listen to me either.... 😄

nice. [font=Arial]it would seem that this team is far more american than the disco squad![/font]

cheapie said:

nice. [font=Arial]it would seem that this team is far more american than the disco squad![/font]

Interesting, I was just thinking the same thing. 3 Americans to help lift Basso to a Giro TDF double. 3 other teams now with Americans as their stated GC contenders. What were those comments about where American cycling would be without LA about 9 months back.

By the way, anyone know why Bettini is not on the QS team.

davidbod said:

Interesting, I was just thinking the same thing. 3 Americans to help lift Basso to a Giro TDF double. 3 other teams now with Americans as their stated GC contenders. What were those comments about where American cycling would be without LA about 9 months back.

By the way, anyone know why Bettini is not on the QS team.

Bettini is said to be in re-negotiations with QS for his place there.

This might have influenced the TDF QS selection.

limerickman said:

Bettini is said to be in re-negotiations with QS for his place there.

This might have influenced the TDF QS selection.

Bettini extended his contract at QS last week....

limerickman said:

Bettini is said to be in re-negotiations with QS for his place there.

This might have influenced the TDF QS selection.

i'm certain he's got his eye on the Worlds later this year too.

Cancellara is no doubt gutted, but hey, cycling isn't all about the Tour de France.

Bettini has already agreed to re-sign with Quickstep.

I wonder why Guido Trenti is not on -- is he injured? :p

Dead Star said:

i'm certain he's got his eye on the Worlds later this year too.

Cancellara is no doubt gutted, but hey, cycling isn't all about the Tour de France.

I agree DS.

I think the fact that CSC (the sponsor) is American probably tipped the scale against Cancellera, and towards Zabriskie or VandeVelde. Not that the team really is worse off now, but it still is slightly odd from a sporting angle.

It does make alot of buisness sense though. CSC as a sponsor is looking forward to the biggest exposiure opportunity of their sponsorship, with Lance gone, and USP back to being 'one of the field'. Riis is also very much a buisnessman. Unlike many other team directors, he wasnt hired for the job by a team. It's his team, built from basically from scratch with his own money. And since he is responsible for both the finances and results of the team, I think he is more likely to cater to his primary sponsor in cases of close decisions.

Another thing that might have been in Dave Z's favor is that he probably has only a slightly reduced chance to win the Prologue relative to Cancellera, but Cancellera has no hope of winning a (non-Prologue) ITT, whereas Z has a reasonably good chance. If Riis were trying for a stage win without using too much cyclist effort (leaving aside Basso and the GC), he would pick Dave Z.

Can I ask why Trenti is not on the QS Tour team?