Discovery Team to Announce big new signing!

[bobke]

Tomorrow!
We are told "You are gonna like it."
Well its not Basso or Ullrich.
Its not Vino.

Floyd comes home.
At last.

He will have Danielson and Rubiera in the mountains.
He will have equipment that doesnt fall apart in the middle of a TT.
He will have mechanics get him to the start house without a flat tire.
He will not have to chane bikes in an ITT.
ANy of these things added up could have lost him the TdF.

And he gets to play ZZ Top and kid rock in the team bus.

No more disarray!!!!

 

[Lonnie Utah]

Well that's all fine and good except for this...

http://www.phonak-cycling.ch/index.php?id=5&L=1&uid=307

Montceau-les-Mines, 2006-07-22

Phonak riders extend contracts
All nine riders competing for Phonak at the Tour de France have extended their contracts with the Swiss team. Axel Merckx's contract extension (for 1 year, as already reported) was followed by those of Floyd Landis (1 year), Bert Grabsch, Robert Hunter, Nicolas Jalabert, Koos Moerenhout, Alexandre Moos, Victor Hugo Peña and Miguel Angel Perdiguero (2 years each). Phonak's General Team Manager John Lelangue appeared extremely pleased with the Tour de France team's decisions. "This way we can get an early start on setting the way forward for next season."

 

[musette]

Exact words from thepaceline:

"And because you're a faithful reader of this column, I'll tell you to look for a major signing announcement Tuesday morning, US time! It's big and you're gonna like it…"

I think it could be Leipheimer, even though he is not as strong as DC would like. Their preferred candidates are not available at this point: Basso, Valverde, Floyd.

Maybe they are taking a gamble on JU, subject to his being allowed to race next year. But I doubt DC would be happy with their signing JU, so I think it's an American rider and it's Leipheimer.

 

[Mansmind]

Landis has extended his contract for a year, so it's not him.


JU? Hmmm... possible I suppose, but I would be surprised.


Question: Anyone know where Saul Raisin stands these days? I realize he's still in "recovery".. but....

 

[musette]

""Discovery Channel won't be without a big guy for long, that's for sure," Ekimov said. "Every big rider would be happy to join us, because every rider sees we don't have a leader. So, it's a good spot. There will be changes." Armstrong agreed a signing a big name is crucial to fulfilling the team's ambitions and insists Bruyneel is the right man to rebuild Discovery."

So who is this "big guy"? We are talking about at least the Leipheimer level for this to be touted by DC in this manner. Maybe they have gotten Basso or JU, subject to their Operacion Puerto exoneration, because they are hyping this on their website. Yet, when LA arrived at the Tour this year, he told reporters he had not talked to JU or Basso about their Operacion Puerto matters. If he were recruiting them, wouldn't he have done that by the time he arrived in Gap?

 

[musette]

A very long shot, but could it be Tyler Hamilton? I hope not.

If DC signs TH, they would argue that TH is the victim of unreliable testing methods. They will use the same arguments as are reflected in the Vrijmond report, to the extent appliable.

 

[Mansmind]

Before... Basso would not have left Riis... but now? That may have changed since OP. I guess we'll see.

If it's Tyler... I don't see how they're saying it would be a "good" surprise. That team will become transparent to me if they bring on Tyler.

 

[riversm]

Maybe Andreas Kloden? A couple of podiums in the the past, good climber and beat Floyd in the last TT. Now according to Eurosport, T-Mobile is in upheaval. Kloden says he doesn't know where he'll be....

 

[JohnO]

I would have thought Floyd, but Phonak thinks otherwise. Good on him, typical of the man's character to stick with the team that put him in yellow.

Hamilton? No way. It would take a miracle to exonerate him, now.

Ullrich? Slight chance, as there has been some doubt cast on his culpability in Puerto. But... he's getting ready for retirement. Disco wants to build.

Leipheimer? Possibly. Of the available US riders, he is the best.

Basso? Quite possibly - Lance and he are buddies, they've tried to get him in the past, and assuming that he was a victim of circumstance in Puerto, he can't be feeling that good about his current team.

Sure wish they could have gotten Floyd, though...

 

[JRMDC]

Maybe Andreas Kloden? A couple of podiums in the the past and now according to Eurosport, T-Mobile is in upheaval. Kloden says he doesn't know where he'll be....

Is "upheaval" the "European" word for "disarray"?

 

[JRMDC]

He will have Danielson and Rubiera in the mountains.

Aside from the validity of the other parts of the post - it isn't Landis! - this statement is out of line. Rubiera seems to be fading and I don't see him being a quality support person next year. Danielson is 0 for 2 in supporting a GT leader. We'll see how he does in the Vuelta this year but he isn't rock solid yet over three weeks. The potential is there, but unproven in my book.

 

[Prano]

Maybe Andreas Kloden? A couple of podiums in the the past, good climber and beat Floyd in the last TT. Now according to Eurosport, T-Mobile is in upheaval. Kloden says he doesn't know where he'll be....

Yes and he have said he haven't heard anything from T mobile yet despite getting contract offers from other teams.

 

[Mansmind]

Is "upheaval" the "European" word for "disarray"?

 

[whiteboytrash]

...there is a rumour going around on the EuroSport forum that its Kloden ! and Rogers is going with him..... although Kloden doesn't speak great English....

Basso is in contract and they would have to pay out CSC so it won't be him....

...maybe they signed up Lance Armstrong ?

 

[musette]

Klodie is reported to have 3 offers, besides TM.

Good point that JU is nearing end of his career age-wise, and rebuilding with him would not be a long-term or even medium-term prospect. Kloden was born June 1975. That means he will be 32 next year. Not a great prospect if DC wants to rebuild for the long run, although he is less near the end of his career than JU.

 

[JensCph]

Given riders statements etc. it is most likely Klöden. Maybe Leipheimer. And with a very long shot possibility of Basso.

 

[musette]

I think Kloden's inconsistent TdF performances from one year to the next (leaving aside the fact that he was supposed to be working for JU) and his age make him a less attractive prospect for long-term rebuilding.

Basso and Leipheimer would be much better fit. I think it's Leipheimer, because Basso is too expensive to buy out of his CSC contract. Or JU.

 

[JensCph]

Actually, coming to think of it with LA's statements yesterday, I wouldn't completely rule out Landis. LA seems sort of obsessed with getting him and may have made and offer that Phonak/Landis couldnt refuse. In fact, I wouldn't be super chocked if Armstrong has bought the whole team...

 

[cyclingheroes]

I think Kloden's inconsistent TdF performances from one year to the next (leaving aside the fact that he was supposed to be working for JU) and his age make him a less attractive prospect for long-term rebuilding.

Basso and Leipheimer would be much better fit. I think it's Leipheimer, because Basso is too expensive to buy out of his CSC contract. Or JU.

Inconsistent TdF performances? Not really, second 2004, crashed in 2005 and third in 2006. Every rider can crash and abandon. **** happens. Because of the internal fights at TM it could be Klöden....

I don't know if Jan Ullrich ever will race again but since he's really angry at TM (but that's another story, he feels betrayed by TM and has every reason to, maybe i will start a TM thread to tell more about the internal fights at TM...) i think the impossible is possible at the moment...

 

[longbottom]

What I find interesting about this is, that the article mentioned that DC won't be long without a big name. As much as they disappointed during this Tour, I would argue Savoldelli or Hincapie are already big names. And yet the quote makes it sound, that it's even someone bigger. Only very few active cyclist can be called "bigger" than Savo, and I'm not even sure, if this group includes Leipheimer or Klöden (maybe, though. I would rank them about the same place). I do not believe one moment, that any Team would announce these days that they hired a cyclist, who was among those, who were suspended from the Tour. It would give them bad press and it would seem, that they didn't give a d*** about who doped. (Even if they really don't care about this, it would hardly be wise to make it that obvious ). So that rules out Ullrich, Basso and the others, IMO.

I would hazzard a guess, seeing that Landis seems to have renewed his contract with Phonak, that it is probably either Leipheimer or Klöden. My money is on Leipheimer, though. Because Klöden a) doesn't speak English well at all and I guess he would prefer to be on a German speaking team, and b) if he hadn't lied not to make any trouble for the Team during the Tour, doesn't seem to have decided , where he will ride next season. Also, one of the reasons, why T-Mobile probably will fire Ludwig and Kummer is because they don't get along with the riders. And since I suspect that especially means Klöden, they seem to try everything to keep him. Also, I just can see Leipheimer wanting to ride for an American Team, seeing that he is American.

Edit: I want to add that given that both he and Kessler seem to be pretty angry with T-Mobile currently, I can see Klöden leaving the Team. But my guess is, that he would go to Gerolsteiner, who definitely did make him an offer. Maybe Holczer knows that Leipheimer is leaving (to DSC) and that's why he's trying to get Klöden as a replacement.