Tour de France



Who will win the 2003 Tour de France?

  • Lance Armstrong

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Marco Pantani

    Votes: 117 81.3%
  • Cadel Evans

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Jan Ullrich

    Votes: 3 2.1%
  • Joseba Beloki

    Votes: 19 13.2%
  • Raimondas Rumsas

    Votes: 3 2.1%
  • Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Levi Leipheimer

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Santiago Botero

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tyler Hamilton

    Votes: 2 1.4%

  • Total voters
    144
The tougher question is, "Who will round out the podium?"

And if you can select three of those guys for your fantasy team, who do you take? Makes my brain smoke just trying to figure it out... :)

I voted for Amstrong, by the way.
 
I don't see anyone able to beat Lance. There are good climbers, good TTers, but no all-rounders. Only Ullrich is a potential candidate for victory, but still, he is lacking competition and I would be surprised if he makes the podium.
 
It's gotta be Lance he has no body to even challenge him.Beloki may be able to hold his wheel,but take it against him as a person i know calls him "robocop".I think Cadel Evans may be the future and maby Aitor Gonzarlez but i dont know how old he is.Why ow Why do you continue putting Pantarni's name up,he got droped on every climb in last year giro, so he's not going to win the tour. And Ullich he's not going to win this year no way and since he retiring in 3 years he may never win the tour again.
Dave
 
Don't underestimate Botero - got a pretty strong team this year (with him as clear team captain not all chiefs and no indians Kelme). If he can sort his consistency out he'll do well, he can climb, he can time trial....

My support will be divided 50/50 between Ullrich and Botero!
 
I think if Botero goes well he should get 2nd or 3rd. What about Rumsas though? I dont know:)
 
I've added Santiago Botero to the poll, if there is anyone else who needs adding please let me know!
 
Lance will be challenged by Santiago this year. Jan will not be a factor but I will be glad to see his return. 2004 will definitely be interesting b/c by then Botero will be working well with his team, Aitor Gonzalez will maybe be more of a the leader on his squad and Ullrich should be back to top form. I think Lance has very good chances for 2003, but 2004 is going to bring a new leader. IF Lance wins six, he will retire and will be of the top three, with Eddie and Miguel. Why go for seven? That would be a freak of nature. Many people don't expect 5 much less 6+
Just my opinion.
 
Watch out for Team Telekom! They have got a superb team with some great riders. Botero, Savoldelli, Vinokourov, Evans... They just have to decide whether they are going for another green shirt for Zabel ore will they try to crack Armstrong. If I was their team manager, I would choose Botero as captain and everybody else should help him.
Anyway, I think Lance will win again because he's so strong and focused and has got a strong team.
 
Watch out for Team Telekom! They have got a superb team with some great riders. Botero, Savoldelli, Vinokourov, Evans... They just have to decide whether they are going for another green shirt for Zabel ore will they try to crack Armstrong. If I was their team manager, I would choose Botero as captain and everybody else should help him.
Anyway, I think Lance will win again because he's so strong and focused and has got a strong team.

The Telekom team have two major problems IMO:

1) To many leaders (USP only have lance for the tour)
and
2) USP is as good, not counting the fact they have lance, that said it wouldn't suprise me if Botero and Savoldelli finished 2nd and 3rd :D

I can't wait till july :D

cheers!
 
Time to add Tyler H...Who knows?

I think Igor GdeG is out of it now, as is Pantani, and probably Ullrich too.
 
I think its sucks what the french are doing to IGOR, all the bloke did was take his bloody asma medication. he had that aproved to.
Even if it gave him a advantage. he is already at a disadvantage with his asma.
 
Clearly Lance deserves his favouritism. It would be good to see him challenged more this year by Belocki, Botero & Hamilton. Pity about Cadel Evans' collarbone. I doubt Ullrich will challenge this year. Maybe this year Simoni can actually do something in France. Perhaps even Iban Mayo could push for a podium finish.
 
I could see Hamilton picking up the pieces in a race where lance is cracked by simoni (who would then crack himself) or if some other disaster happens (which is likely because of all the downhill finishes). Hamiltons strength as a rider is that he knows his limits. In liege Hamilton dropped off the lead group, then he had his team pace him back so that he was able to attack on the final climb and win. This trait will help Hamilton because he is unlikely to crack...he will just ride slower, but be in good position. Lance has also said that he considers jan and tyler to be the biggest threats.
 
On recent form, Botero is not looking particularly good. Roberto Heras has been riding well. Being an Aussie, I'd love to see Michael Rogers win the prologue and wear yellow for a couple of days.
 
I personally feel that lance will win again :( i would love to see Jan Ullrich come back to his previous tour wining form...........maybe next yr???
Cadel's broken collarbone is a real shame as i feel he is one to watch in the hills and TT as is Tyler Hamilton and Iban Mayo. Others to watch at some stage or another are Heras, Vinokourov, Botero, Rogers and others.

My podium for this yr 1) Armstrong, 2) Ullrich, 3) no idea!

Has anybody considered the 2 "minor" jerseys? I think the KOM is nearly impossible to pick (my choice is Mayo), but the green sprinter's jersey will be a three horse race between McEwen, Zabel and Cooke.
 
You might want to throw in the name Simoni too. He pretty much destroyed Pantani and everyone else at the 2003 Giro. If Simoni can recover from this win in Italy, he could be in good form. He has certainly been talking recently about how he is going to be the biggest challenger for Lance. Also Yaroslav Popovych had a good showing at the Giro. No matter what, it will be a good Tour with some strong challengers.