Danielson to Health Net



B

Bob Schwartz

Guest
OK, I just made that up. I don't know or care when his
contract is up, maybe he's still got some time on it
with Discovery. But he's 28, he's been a pro for five
years and that puts him in the results phase of his career,
not the development phase. And teams like Discovery are
not about the Tour of Austria. With the signing of Levi
you'd have to think the writing is on the wall.

I think a comparison to Gord Fraser is appropriate. Gord,
if you recall, started out with Motorola and then spent a
couple of seasons with La Mutuelle de Seine et Marne. And
he pretty much got his ass kicked on a regular basis
during this period.

Then he can home to North America and all of a sudden he
was winning everything in sight. When you consider that
Michael Boogerd is the world's worst sprinter except for
LANCE, and that LANCE came to Georgia and took a field
sprint, maybe this isn't such a surprise. But the move
worked well for him because it is always better to win
everything in sight than to get your ass kicked at
every race.

And so it is for Danielson. He's pretty clearly never
going to be a player in any race that matters. But he
could come home and win a boatload of races, races where
teams like Jittery Joes fill out the field. That's his
level, and he could excel there.

Bob Schwartz
 
Bob Schwartz wrote:
> OK, I just made that up. I don't know or care when his
> contract is up, maybe he's still got some time on it
> with Discovery. But he's 28, he's been a pro for five
> years and that puts him in the results phase of his career,
> not the development phase. And teams like Discovery are
> not about the Tour of Austria. With the signing of Levi
> you'd have to think the writing is on the wall.
>
> I think a comparison to Gord Fraser is appropriate. Gord,
> if you recall, started out with Motorola and then spent a
> couple of seasons with La Mutuelle de Seine et Marne. And
> he pretty much got his ass kicked on a regular basis
> during this period.
>
> Then he can home to North America and all of a sudden he
> was winning everything in sight. When you consider that
> Michael Boogerd is the world's worst sprinter except for
> LANCE, and that LANCE came to Georgia and took a field
> sprint, maybe this isn't such a surprise. But the move
> worked well for him because it is always better to win
> everything in sight than to get your ass kicked at
> every race.
>
> And so it is for Danielson. He's pretty clearly never
> going to be a player in any race that matters. But he
> could come home and win a boatload of races, races where
> teams like Jittery Joes fill out the field. That's his
> level, and he could excel there.
>
> Bob Schwartz


Bob.

Have you ever raced?? Seriously.

Not a Lance-lover, but he torched the field in the 1991 US National
Criterium in SLC with a lead out that was SO fast, that his sprinter
Jonas Carney seriously thought he was going to crash in the final turn,
and the two were so far ahead after that, that Lance coasted in for an
easy second.

Or how about 2004, when he rocketed for Max in the spring. The break
was ahead, and Max said, "aren't we going to chase? I feel good." To
which Lance said, "OK." and then put the whole team on the front, and
did the leadout himself in some small stage race.

He can sprint pretty damn well.


TD is more like Alexi Grewal. The Gord comparison put soda out my nose.
Thanks for the laugh.

duped
 
Bob Schwartz wrote:

>
> And so it is for Danielson. He's pretty clearly never
> going to be a player in any race that matters. But he
> could come home and win a boatload of races, races where
> teams like Jittery Joes fill out the field. That's his
> level, and he could excel there.


Jittery Joes would be able to offer him a real team leader position,
wheras with HN, well there would always be some disagreement.
 

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