Starting up a new story. It will be story about Radioshack and Armstrong's goal of winning the 2010 Tour De France. Unfortunately it will be with the 09 stage profiles.
Im playing with the 2010 transfer update of the pcm daily database. I have tweaked som stats myself. Plus I have added a few transfers of my own which some may find a bit unrealistic. But Kasheschin is with Astana, and Rasmussen and Landis are with Footon to make it a bit more interesting.
Team Radioshack
21. L.Armstrong( Undisputed team leader, going for his 8th Tour win)
22. C.Horner( Super domestique with lots of heart)
23. A.Klöden( Will be there in the mountains, hopefully among the top 10)
24. L.Leipheimer( Supporting his best friend and maybe top 5)
25. G.Lequatre( Our french rider, good on the flats and decent sprinter)
26. S.Paulinho( Will try to defeat his former buddy Contador)
27. Y.Popovych( As long as he's not riding for Evans, a good domestique)
28. G.Rast( Our motor on the flats, a huge asset)
29. J.L.Rubiera( Just the most experienced rider ever, a true veteran)
Our biggest opponents, phuuu, there are so many. Of course Contador is the favourite, right behind waits Menchov, The Schlecks, Evans, Sastre, Valverde and Wiggins. And take a look at Liquigas, talk about bringing your A-Team.
But with the firepower of Armstrong, Leipheimer and Klöden, plus the valuable help of Horner, Popovych and Rubiera, Radioshack has a decent chance to take yellow in Paris.
We start with a 15 km time trial to open this very exiting Tour de France. The course is rarely flat with a hill up to the halfway mark and then downhill and flat to the finish. Look out for Gustav Erik Larsson, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer and Brad Wiggins to fight it out for the win.
Andreas Klöden was a bit disappointing, but still just 10 seconds behind. ( 11th + 10)
Levi had a great day and smashed the best time at the first check, he managed to only just keep his lead over the remainder of the course to take a smashing victory. For once the bald guy wins. (1st)
The mighty Alberto Contador had a good start to this year’s tour, although it must have been a bit disappointing that Leipheimer again beat him in a time trial. (5th +2)
And finally the Cancer survivor and 7 time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is away. He looked strong all the way, but seven other riders were just too strong today. (7th +8)
Result Stage 1
1 Levi Leipheimer Team RadioShack 21'04
2 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne + 1
3 Cadel Evans BMC Racing Team s.t.
4 Samuel Sánchez Euskaltel – Euskadi s.t.
5 Alberto Contador Astana Cycling Team + 2
6 Yaroslav Popovych Team RadioShack + 5
7 Alexandre Vinokourov Astana Cycling Team + 7
8 Lance Armstrong Team RadioShack + 8
9 Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas + 9
10 Denis Menchov Rabobank + 10
11 Andreas Klöden Team RadioShack s.t.
12 Kim Kirchen Team Katusha + 14
13 Fredrik Kessiakoff Garmin – Slipstream + 15
14 Bradley Wiggins Garmin – Slipstream s.t.
15 Gustav Erik Larsson Team Saxo Bank + 17
16 Damiano Cunego Lampre - N.G.C + 19
17 Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank s.t.
18 David Millar Garmin – Slipstream + 20
19 Thomas Lövkvist Team Sky s.t.
20 Roman Kreuziger Liquigas + 21
21 David Zabriskie Garmin – Slipstream s.t.
22 Carlos Sastre Cervélo Test Team s.t.
23 Michael Rogers Team Columbia – HTC + 22
24 Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank + 25
25 Linus Gerdemann Team Milram s.t.
26 Sérgio Paulinho Team RadioShack + 26
27 Tony Martin Team Columbia – HTC s.t.
28 Tom Danielson Garmin – Slipstream + 28
29 Thor Hushovd Cervélo Test Team + 29
30 Ivan Basso Liquigas s.t.
Comments from Lance Armstrong:
“I felt strong all the way and thought I did a good race. My form is good, but the super form isn’t scheduled to come before the mountains. Levi? Yeah, he did a good race. But he also knows his role in the team”.
Comments from Alberto Contador:
“This time trial went pretty well, I have already gained time on Lance Armstrong and Andy Schleck and that was important. Also good to see that Vino is in good shape, I hope to see him in the mountains”.
Who doesn’t remember last year’s internal struggle in the Astana Team? Well this time around we could see round two. After Levi Leipheimer took a brilliant victory in the opening time trial in the Tour De France, speculation has arisen that Armstrong might not be the best RadioShack rider this year.
Several sources have reported that Armstrong was in a bad mood after yesterday’s race and that he demanded that the team would not defend Leipheimer’s leader jersey on stage 2.
Armstrong denied that he was jealous of Leipheimer. “I’m happy for Levi you know; he targeted this stage and was clearly the best”. Team manager Johan Bruyneel also denied any conflicts: “The team and sponsor including Lance is very happy for Leipheimer. And we couldn’t have asked for a better start of the Tour”.
Contador sees Leipheimer as a bigger threat than Armstrong
Last year’s tour winner Alberto Contador has told the press that he sees Levi Leipheimer being stronger than Armstrong this year. “I’ve raced with Levi for many years and he only seems to get better and better. Especially in the time trials he is really strong. Armstrong on the other hand seems to have lost a bit of his time trialing quality and punch in the mountains”.
Contador now looks forward to a few stressful days before the Team Time Trial. My only goal is to get trough without falling or losing time, he explained before the start of stage 2.
