Hell and High Water wrote:
> Two questions:
>
> How does the Liquigas-Bianchi team compare to other teams. (In
> general... I know that's a loaded question.)
Liquigas-Bianchi was a very deep and powerful team right out of the box,
and they've only gotten better since Cipollini retired with them in May.
Danilo Di Luca, who has been highly regarded but has not had the
results to match his talent, has been fabulous this year and is
currently in place as the #1 ranked rider. In addition, their other
stars (climbers Garzelli, Cioni and Pellizotti, sprinters Zanotti and
Pagliarini, and the ultra-powerful rouleur Backstedt) have also had fine
seasons, just barely falling short of the very best. Liquigas also has
some interesting young riders, namely Michael Albasini (Swi) and Enrico
Gasparotto (Ita). The latter was a surprise winner of the road race
portion of the Italian Championships, so he gets to wear a red, green
and white jersey in competition until next June. It's a very impressive
showing for a new team in its first year.