Vino - Not a Contender for TDF

Colnagov said:

I certainly disagree with both Godefroi and Bruyneel and I hope Vino will prove them wrong. Not the most skilled/purist rider like Ullrich or Armstrong but his aggresiveness can compensate. 2003 was such a good Tour, the best that I have seen in a long time, everyone was attacking Armstrong (Vino, Ullrich and Beloki, sad that he crashed), he almost lost it...

Don't believe Godefroi. If I was him, and had an opportunity to deflect pressure from a star like Vino, I would. It's the old underdog routine. He'll tell Vino that this is just a verbal game and that he has what it takes.

Colnagov said:

I certainly disagree with both Godefroi and Bruyneel and I hope Vino will prove them wrong. Not the most skilled/purist rider like Ullrich or Armstrong but his aggresiveness can compensate. 2003 was such a good Tour, the best that I have seen in a long time, everyone was attacking Armstrong (Vino, Ullrich and Beloki, sad that he crashed), he almost lost it...

Certainly seems that everytime Godefroot pops up in the English language press he is saying mean things about his riders.

I tend to agree with Godefroot on this. There's no doubt that Vino's a great rider but I think when the best are there in good form he just lacks that one or two percent at the top level that the best grand tour riders like Armstrong and Ullrich have.
He's more of an opportunist and I can't see him delivering a decisive blow in the mountains or time trials that would enable him to take a stranglehold on the Tour.

We'll wait and see with Vino. for now, i'm very interested in Ullrich, who seems to be preparing better than ever at the moment.

Dead Star said:

We'll wait and see with Vino. for now, i'm very interested in Ullrich, who seems to be preparing better than ever at the moment.

I know it is completely unrealistic, but I hope that Cunego can pull off in TDF what he accomplished in the Giro last year... 😄

Powerful Pete said:

I know it is completely unrealistic, but I hope that Cunego can pull off in TDF what he accomplished in the Giro last year... 😄

Like I was saying in another thread, Cunego (as you probably know) will need to work on his TT ability in order to win Le Tour...

Everytime someone opens their mouth from the T-Mobile camp its a case of deja vu.
That said it'd be nice to see Jan go out with a win.This is his 'last' last chance 😄

Walrus said:

Don't believe Godefroi. If I was him, and had an opportunity to deflect pressure from a star like Vino, I would. It's the old underdog routine. He'll tell Vino that this is just a verbal game and that he has what it takes.

Godefroot is a bad manager, period. Unfortunately, it is not necessarily the case that Olaf/Kummer are better, with respect to personnel and strategy. Godefroot and Kummer have no strategic insight into how to win the TdF, in sharp contrast to Bruyneel/Demol/LA, who are thinking about every contingency of every stage and have well-framed thoughts.

The DS/assistants are members of a GC contender's "team" too at the TdF, and in that area, JU also has worse support than LA, as I have argued in the thread on who has the better team.