T-Mobile for 2005?

ceri1111 said:

You may not agree with me, but don't you think that with 3 (?!) team leaders, in Ullrich, Vinokourov, and Kloden, combined with this years route really suits T Mobile? The route, with it's relative lack of high mountain top finnishes, with less ITT's, seems to suit an attacker and overall rider like Vinokourov. Surely this must mean that Discovery are going to spend a lot of energy chasing him down which can then set up either Kloden or Ullrich for the win?And if they decide not to chase Vinokourov, with the lack of high mountains, Is Lance going to be able to get back the time he loses? Remember that it was not until Luz Ardiden in 03 that Lance finally got rid of Vinokourov, he'd been gaining time throughout the Pyrenees.

Well, on paper T-Mobile is the team to beat. BUT...that's providing the team works together well enough to propell one of them to the finish line. There has to be a clear leader where everyone can work together to help that guy win. Will Vino sacrifice his chances to help out Ullrich? Will Kloden do the same? These are serious questions that need to be answered before the Tour.

I think this year's route sucks. But I don't see how it benefits Vino. All three T-Mobile stars are strong all around riders. As for Vino, I think Telekom is setting him up the Giro... Right?

Telekom definitely have the people to send out on dangerous breaks to ruffle Discovery feathers. So will Discovery take the bait or will they just stay calm and keep their own tempo like they did on Ullrich's attack and various Voigt/Sastre CSC attacks? With Azevedo setting tempo big attacks won't be easy.