Dauphine Libere

Agreed, Menchov could be strong at the TT as well. And ofcourse the riders that Bobke mentioned: Floyd, Levi, Hincapie. Botero won't start (see my post at the Saiz thread).

 

If DS is serious about Hincapie being a GT leader, why not make him leader for this one and see if he can win it? He's a strong rider, but I would want some indication of GT potential (besides 3 Days of DePanne ) before I fully protected him in the Tour.

 

!!!!!

From that list can you tell us how many GT have they won these riders? On the road that is, not afterwards.
You can say there are enough young prospects there but it's very subjective that this line-up is stronger than Giro's one.

 

I made a wild pick in post #5 that Menchow would win it. While he may not be the strongest TTer or the strongest climber, he is near the top in both. Again, just a wild pick, because there are several people that could win.

 

It's just an opinion Dimos. Like they say in the stock market, "Past performance is no guarantee of future results." But let's do this - after the TDF let's see if more top 10 riders came from the Dauphine group or the Giro group.

 

Much as I love George, and as much as he is owed by Discovery, I honestly can't see him as a top GT performer. I think Popo and Savoldelli are better prospects. But I have a difficult time seeing either of them break into the top 5. I'm praying that Bruneel can pull a transformation on Popo, but I'm not much of a religious man.

 

I'm not sure Popo needs a transformation. He's podiumed in a GT already (Giro) and won the white Jersey at lasts years TdF. If he continues improving he could well win a GT maybe even next year.

 

White Jersey (since 1986) -> eventual TdF Winner: Pantani, Ullrich (same year as his second white jersey)
-> eventual GT Winner: Menchov, Basso, Hampsten
-> strong rider: Mancebo, Sevilla
-> what ever happened to him?: Karpets
-> I don't know anything about them: Benoit Salmon (1999), Peter Luttenberger (1997), all the winners from 1987 to 1993 (but I didn't follow the sport much back then)

Popvich -> ??? we shall see... In recent years no rider has won the TdF a year after wearing the white (except Ullrich, but it was two years after he first wore the white that he wore the yellow and earned the white also).

 

Hope you are right. But that white jersey didn't produce a very high placement. And wasn't some other Russian kid in front of him in that competition until he had to drop out due to injury or illness.

 

As a preface, I woudn't pick Popovich for a GC podium spot this year, but I don't think you can use his 2005 placement as a gauge of what he might accomplish if given the green light. Don't forget -- like everyone on DC, he was on the team for one purpose only -- get Lance into yellow, and keep his jersey clean. When you take that into consideration, it's a minor miracle that he finished 12th (I have to take issue with your claim that 12th isn't a "very high placement"), and that he won the white jersey. I think it was Karpets he was competing with for the youth jersey for awhile -- I don't remember why Karpets faded back to almost an hour and a half back -- all I know is that Popo stayed strong for the duration of the event. I don't know if Popo's healthy these days, or even if he's on the TdF squad this year, but if so, I wouldn't be surprised if he developed into a team leader and broke solidly into the top 10.

 

Popo is on the squad this year. As I understand it he will either be leader or co leader with Savoldelli.

If my memory is working I believe Karpets fell back due to illness or injury.

There are two reasons that I feel like Popo won't make it into the top five. First, if you look at the mountain lead outs that he gave to Lance, they usually ended fairly early in the climb. He wasn't able to pull as long and hard as Heras, Hamilton, or Landis - or for that matter Acevedo when he was in shape. In other words, I have yet to see the signs of a first rate climber in him.

Second, I see him as an adequate time trialists, but again, not a top one. He lost over a minute in this years Tour of Georgia to both Landis and Danielson. Of course he wasn't peaking at that point, but he still needs to prove his ability in my mind.

I expect that Bruneel will do everything in his power to get Popo into the condition of his life for the Tour. I just don't know how far that work will carry Popo at this point.

Hey, I'm a Discovery fan. I hope that I'm wrong. I'll be jumping up and down like a maniac if Popo wins. And I'll wear a big smile if he makes the podium. For right now, however, my feeling is that the top 10 might be possible but the top 5 is a stretch. That's in reference to the TDF of course.

 

Okay folks, it's only two days until the start of the Dauphine. Let's all stick our necks out and make some picks. As I have said in post #5, my wild guess is that Menchov will take the victory.

By the way, does anyone know if Contador is in the race? I have high expectations for that boy. Hope he is clean.

 

I am going for Norwegian CSC rider Arvesen to win the Dauphine.

 

Wow, now there is a man that is not shy about going out on the Lim. Pun

Okay, good. Let's get some more picks.

 

In Vino veritas.

 

It's a remote shot but I think this guy is a very good rider.

 

I hear that Vino had some kind of special winter conditioning program this year. I'm very curious to see how that pays off for him. Again, let's hope that the Liberty Seguros problems don't effect him. I also think that he will place high.

 

Paco Mancebo

 

...and the race is on EuroSport. I'm sure many of our American friends will enjoy the texts updates and then claim to know every inch of the race... LOL !

 

Bigot!