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News in February
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| Aquarius |
Posted on 10-02-2008 18:08
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Latest rumours here are that Bretagne - Armor Lux could be invited to race the Tour de France.
The team is still too small/weak, but as Le Tour starts in the home region of the team this year, it could be the year.
In case they would be granted a spot they would hire local riders from Pro Tour teams who wouldn't be sure to be in the TDF roster of their teams (there are quite many of them).
I suppose this will depend on whether the Pro Tour teams will manage to force ASO & co to accept all of them in le Tour de France or not. |
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| issoisso |
Posted on 10-02-2008 18:11
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Aquarius wrote:
Latest rumours here are that Bretagne - Armor Lux could be invited to race the Tour de France.
The team is still too small/weak, but as Le Tour starts in the home region of the team this year, it could be the year.
In case they would be granted a spot they would hire local riders from Pro Tour teams who wouldn't be sure to be in the TDF roster of their teams (there are quite many of them).
I suppose this will depend on whether the Pro Tour teams will manage to force ASO & co to accept all of them in le Tour de France or not.
They'd better sign someone. The squad they have now has nowhere near any quality to be there 
And as for the PT teams forcing anything, they decided the other day they wouldn't try anything as a group. Not that I care. Astana will be there anyway, so I'll be pissed all the same.
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 12-02-2008 12:14
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At Silence - Lotto's press conference it was said that the team had two goals this year: To win either Ronde van Vlaanderen or Paris Roubaix and the Tour de France. With the signing of Popovych the team feels they finally have a good enough team to back up Cadel Evans in the mountains. Robbie McEwen will also be in the Tour-squad, but he won't be backed up in any way. However, he'll be the captain of the Giro-squad. |
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| Smoothie |
Posted on 12-02-2008 12:16
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I think it will be an interesting year for lotto. Ill be looking forward to seeing them.  |
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| p3druh |
Posted on 12-02-2008 12:20
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Small Tour Specialist
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Is that such a good a idea? I mean, one of 2 things will happen: he'll either give all he has to make it to the final of the Giro and he will not be in the best of forms for the Tour or he'll be knocked out of the Giro in one of the mountain stages and he will be a contender for the green jersey in the Tour. Either way, the team loses... I really don't see the point in naming him captain of the Giro-squad...
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 12-02-2008 12:29
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Well, they said that they would make the team work for him in the Giro 'd Italia, because he wouldn't be backed up in any way in the Tour de France - and with his captain role in the Giro he might not be as angry as he would have been otherwise  |
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| p3druh |
Posted on 12-02-2008 12:35
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Meaning that they have no intention of working for him to win the green jersey... Making what you said very comprehensivel...
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| issoisso |
Posted on 12-02-2008 13:18
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p3druh wrote:
Meaning that they have no intention of working for him to win the green jersey... Making what you said very comprehensivel...
he himself said he'll work hard for Evans in the mountains. the plan is for him to be all alone on the flat stages. Kind of like Freire usually is.
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
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| p3druh |
Posted on 12-02-2008 13:29
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issoisso wrote:
he himself said he'll work hard for Evans in the mountains. the plan is for him to be all alone on the flat stages. Kind of like Freire usually is.
I don't have anything against him but how will he help Evans if he usually is left behind after a few km? Imo, the only way he will able to help is during the flat part of the mountain stages... But even then the contribution will not be that significant...
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| issoisso |
Posted on 12-02-2008 13:33
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p3druh wrote:
issoisso wrote:
he himself said he'll work hard for Evans in the mountains. the plan is for him to be all alone on the flat stages. Kind of like Freire usually is.
I don't have anything against him but how will he help Evans if he usually is left behind after a few km? Imo, the only way he will able to help is during the flat part of the mountain stages... But even then the contribution will not be that significant...
he can stay there for half the stage. and during that time, the real mountain helpers won't have to waste energy keeping Evans out of the wind and fetching bottles. There are 9 guys on the team and every single one of them is important
Just the fact that you have someone to fetch bottles for you is a big advantage. it means you don't have to carry them around in your bike, making it lighter and therefore much better on the climbs
Edited by issoisso on 12-02-2008 13:35
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
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| p3druh |
Posted on 12-02-2008 13:46
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issoisso wrote:
he can stay there for half the stage. and during that time, the real mountain helpers won't have to waste energy keeping Evans out of the wind and fetching bottles. There are 9 guys on the team and every single one of them is important
Just the fact that you have someone to fetch bottles for you is a big advantage. it means you don't have to carry them around in your bike, making it lighter and therefore much better on the climbs
Sure, that's all true, but i was talking about the mountain part of the stages... Like I said, he'll be of little value to Evans... He will only work on the flat part of the stage...
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 01:04
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| issoisso |
Posted on 12-02-2008 13:57
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p3druh wrote:
issoisso wrote:
he can stay there for half the stage. and during that time, the real mountain helpers won't have to waste energy keeping Evans out of the wind and fetching bottles. There are 9 guys on the team and every single one of them is important
Just the fact that you have someone to fetch bottles for you is a big advantage. it means you don't have to carry them around in your bike, making it lighter and therefore much better on the climbs
Sure, that's all true, but i was talking about the mountain part of the stages... Like I said, he'll be of little value to Evans... He will only work on the flat part of the stage...
don't underestimate that kind of work. The unsung heroes that do that work are in many cases more important than the mountain goats.
Ekimov, Padrnos, Grabsch are in the last few years, the best examples, I feel, of guys who do that work without whom their leaders wouldn't have won.
in the case of Lotto, that's Roesems but especially Vansevenant and the quite amazing Vansummeren
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
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| p3druh |
Posted on 12-02-2008 14:05
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issoisso wrote:
don't underestimate that kind of work. The unsung heroes that do that work are in many cases more important than the mountain goats.
Ekimov, Padrnos, Grabsch are in the last few years, the best examples, I feel, of guys who do that work without whom their leaders wouldn't have won.
in the case of Lotto, that's Roesems but especially Vansevenant and the quite amazing Vansummeren
I'm not saying that they are not important, but the truth is that it's harder to win a Tour without the "mountain goats" than it is to win without Ekimov, Padrnos, Grabsch, etc...
issoisso wrote:
The unsung heroes that do that work are in many cases more important than the mountain goats.
Is that your accpetance speech? Which Oscar will you be accepting?
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| chuckie |
Posted on 12-02-2008 14:06
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issoisso wrote:
the quite amazing Vansummeren
He had a good season last year,took overall in the tour of Poland and helped Evans (a bit) in the mountains...could he maybe help Evans more than Popovych?? |
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| issoisso |
Posted on 12-02-2008 14:07
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Tour de France Champion
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p3druh wrote:
I'm not saying that they are not important, but the truth is that it's harder to win a Tour without the "mountain goats" than it is to win without Ekimov, Padrnos, Grabsch, etc...
That's immaterial. without those guys you'll have to use the climbers to chase on the flat or you're screwed.
p3druh wrote:
Is that your accpetance speech? Which Oscar will you be accepting?
Best Wardrobe, actually.
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
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| matt493 |
Posted on 12-02-2008 14:08
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Popovych is awesome. He's helped Discovery all the years they won and especially last year. He's gonna help Evans win the tour de france. |
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| issoisso |
Posted on 12-02-2008 14:13
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matt493 wrote:
Popovych is awesome. He's helped Discovery all the years they won and especially last year.
only 2005 and 2007 actually
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
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| Waghlon |
Posted on 12-02-2008 14:16
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I still feel stupid about calling Popovych "a sure winner of Le Tour in a couple of years" back in 2005...
THE THOMAS VOECKLER PROPHET OF PCM DAILY
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| p3druh |
Posted on 12-02-2008 14:16
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Small Tour Specialist
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issoisso wrote:
p3druh wrote:
I'm not saying that they are not important, but the truth is that it's harder to win a Tour without the "mountain goats" than it is to win without Ekimov, Padrnos, Grabsch, etc...
That's immaterial. without those guys you'll have to use the climbers to chase on the flat or you're screwed.
Yes but the only guys who would manage to escape would have to be rollers wich means that they had lost too much time in the mountains...
issoisso wrote:
p3druh wrote:
Is that your accpetance speech? Which Oscar will you be accepting?
Best Wardrobe, actually.
Ok, good luck with that... If you see Jon Stewart tell him that it was I who created the three of them... He'll know what I'm talking about...
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| issoisso |
Posted on 12-02-2008 14:19
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Tour de France Champion
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Waghlon wrote:
I still feel stupid about calling Popovych "a sure winner of Le Tour in a couple of years" back in 2005...
He's one of the best all-rounders in the game. and that's all I think he'll ever be unless he stops trying to specialize in GTs
p3druh wrote:
Yes but the only guys who would manage to escape would have to be rollers wich means that they had lost too much time in the mountains...
why would it just be roleurs?
example: without the idiots of Lampre to help him defend his lead in the "flat" stage to Bergamo, Di Luca would've lost the Giro
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
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