Kloden (The Sleeper??)

Isn't this TdF all about sleepers?

How about another: Sastre

JRMDC said:

Isn't this TdF all about sleepers?

How about another: Sastre

Sastre is an excellent climber and we will see about his TT skills as the tour continues.
Yes, this is about sleepers but I wanted to point out one of them that has scarcely been mentioned as yet.
This TDF could turn out to be one the best one in years as it may be filled with surprises.

How about Julich? I mean, he's been there before, he can rip a tt and he's got a good team. With only two (I believe) mountain top finishes, he doesn't need to star in the mountains, just be adequate. That's how Indurain got it done... five times.

I'll scale it back and say he's got a shot at the podium. Landis will out climb him and be a little better in the tt's.

I have to say, I like Landis' chances.

jhuskey said:

Sastre is an excellent climber and we will see about his TT skills as the tour continues.
Yes, this is about sleepers but I wanted to point out one of them that has scarcely been mentioned as yet.
This TDF could turn out to be one the best one in years as it may be filled with surprises.

I agree with your thoughts on Andreas. Simoni and Menchov are lurking as well. This will be the year that the best team or teams win.

CSC and TMobile have Kloden and Sastre, it wouldn't surprise me if we see these two teams work together this year to podium one of these riders.

Mark my words.... Someone will win the Tour de France this year.

lw

lwedge said:

I agree with your thoughts on Andreas. Simoni and Menchov are lurking as well. This will be the year that the best team or teams win.

CSC and TMobile have Kloden and Sastre, it wouldn't surprise me if we see these two teams work together this year to podium one of these riders.

Mark my words.... Someone will win the Tour de France this year.

lw

I wouldn't say Menchov is lurking, at least according to the meaning I took from the original post. Lots of people have talked about him. Simoni is an interesting name to bring up, although I think the Giro suited him more, more climbs, the Tour has an emphasis on TT this year which does not favor him.

As for what the other person said about Julich, I think he is riding for Sastre, no? I haven't read that he was expecting or would get an opportunity to ride for himself. Not that they have had much time to rethink their strategy.

jhuskey said:

With Valverde gone most everyone is looking at Leipheimer,Landis,Evans Menchov, etc,etc.
There is not much mentioned of Kloden. I note that he seems to be lurking near the front but not enough near to be an imminemt threat. I know that in a week things will be a little clearer and it is early to make predictions.
He has shown the ability to be a great ,but has either been over shadowed by others or injured, however he is still young enough to have the legs all the way to the end.
Could this be his year. I submit to you that he has aspirations and a plan.
Please tell me why I am wrong.
Theories only please as I hate people that can foresee the future.

I included Kloden in my Cobblestone team for the TDF.

I think I am correct in stating that Kloden is the only rider to have podiumed in this current 2006 TDF field, before.

But as Goodefroot stated in Cycle Sport magazine in Feb 2005 : Andreas is like a clock : when everything works correctly, there is no better rider.
If one thing goes wrong, he falls apart.

I think AK will do well this year.

limerickman said:

I think I am correct in stating that Kloden is the only rider to have podiumed in this current 2006 TDF field, before.

Nope.

Julich.

helmutRoole said:

Nope.

Julich.

Correct - BJ did in 1998.

limerickman said:

Correct - BJ did in 1998.

How soon we forget 3rd place!

jhuskey said:

How soon we forget 3rd place!

Julich completely slipped my mind :

limerickman said:

Julich completely slipped my mind :

I was pre-Lance so it doesn't count.

Kloden only gets in shape once every four years. He is next scheduled for great form in 2008.

limerickman said:

Correct - BJ did in 1998.

Why you gotta call my boy a blow job.

lwedge said:

I agree with your thoughts on Andreas. Simoni and Menchov are lurking as well. This will be the year that the best team or teams win.

lw

I'm not sure how to phrase this (and therefore I may be crucified for inquiring)......but can someone give me "evidence" of how important a strong team is?
I know that on the flats, the GC leader will be protected from the wind, saving some energy, etc. And I know that Postal/Disco outpaced everyone ultimately eliminating/reducing attacks for the last seven years.
But I still believe that a strong team isn't as big a factor as just having a superior rider (ala Savodelli's win at last year's Giro). DC was non-existent and he still won. The GC riders can always follow other teams and stay out of the wind, set pace, etc..

Thoughts, input?.....

helmutRoole said:

Why you gotta call my boy a blow job.

[font=Times New Roman][font=Verdana]BJ is Gaelic for Bobby Julich[/font] . 😄 [/font]

[font=Times New Roman][font=Times New Roman]You have to get used to initials, acronyms and Gaelic around here.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]lw[/font]

[/font]

helmutRoole said:

Why you gotta call my boy a blow job.

No insult intended!

I was using Julich's initials.
I was too lazy to type out his entire name when I replied.

Peace.

limerickman said:

I included Kloden in my Cobblestone team for the TDF.

I think I am correct in stating that Kloden is the only rider to have podiumed in this current 2006 TDF field, before.

But as Goodefroot stated in Cycle Sport magazine in Feb 2005 : Andreas is like a clock : when everything works correctly, there is no better rider.
If one thing goes wrong, he falls apart.

I think AK will do well this year.

Yes i read that qoute from Godefroot. I think he will do well. I saw him in Valkenburg and he looked in great shape. He said he would try to minimze his losses at the ITT and is looking forward to the mountains.

cyclingheroes said:

Yes i read that qoute from Godefroot. I think he will do well. I saw him in Valkenburg and he looked in great shape. He said he would try to minimze his losses at the ITT and is looking forward to the mountains.

I'm honoured that a man of your insight and knowledge - agrees with me.

I think AK will do a pretty good TDF.
A sleeper no doubt - but a proven cyclist.

cPritch67 said:

I'm not sure how to phrase this (and therefore I may be crucified for inquiring)......but can someone give me "evidence" of how important a strong team is?
I know that on the flats, the GC leader will be protected from the wind, saving some energy, etc. And I know that Postal/Disco outpaced everyone ultimately eliminating/reducing attacks for the last seven years.
But I still believe that a strong team isn't as big a factor as just having a superior rider (ala Savodelli's win at last year's Giro). DC was non-existent and he still won. The GC riders can always follow other teams and stay out of the wind, set pace, etc..

Thoughts, input?.....

Okay, here's an example. I live Miami, Fla., USA. Flat roads, wind.

There's one "climb" over a bridge that's about 1k long. We have a competitive ride that goes over that bridge twice, the finish being about 800 meters after the bottom.

This is my favorite tactic. Our sprinter can't get over the bridge with the fastest climbers. Well, he can, but he'll have nothing left in the sprint. He's a big guy.

I, on the other hand, can get over the bridge with the leaders, but, intstead of climbing with the first group, I climb well back of them with my sprinter on my wheel. We're both climbing well within our limits at a much slower pace than the riders in front.

On the downhill, I give my full effort and pull my sprinter, whose sitting in my slipstream, back up to the lead group. I can usually roll by the leaders at the bottom of the bridge at which time my sprinter allows a couple bike lengths to open. The guys at the front jump to my wheel and my sprinter slots in around fifth.

At 500 meters I'm done, forcing the guy behind me to open the sprint, which puts my sprinter in the perfect position to do his thing.

Boiled down, the "climbers" do their effort on the uphill. I do mine on the downhill. My sprinter does his in the sprint. Unless the pros show up, we almost always win.

A Grande Tour race is the same but expanded. Let's say my sprinter is in fact an adequate climber and a very good TT rider and instead of going over a 1k bridge we cover four categorized climbs. If I'm a fist-group climber but my gc rider isn't, he can now climb in the second group knowing that I'll close the gaps between the climbs and essentially bring the leaders back to him. By the time the last climb comes around, he'll have climbed the previous ascents at a much slower pace, but still be in the front group so he's not so tired and maybe now even fresher than the first-group climbers who have been out front all day. He may lose time on the final climb (if it's a mountain top finish) but he'll be close enough to do his thing in the ITT.

Apply that scenario to a rider like Armschlong... sorry, Armstrong, and you can see how a great (doped) rider with a great (doped) team can dominate a grande tour full of great (doped) riders.