I'm going to go with Basso. Should be interesting though with Disco sending somewhat of a team this year to support Savodelli.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture"
Giro - Who ya got?
So is Basso really going for it in the Giro or the Tour? In the 21st century you can only win one, not both.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
I'd say Basso is really going for it in the Giro. Then if he has a sh*tty Giro, he can ride the Tour seriously as a fallback plan.
If he does win the Giro, he'll have shot most of his blanks for the Tour. Then he'll probably have one really bad day in the mountains that will eliminate his chances to win the Tour.
Basically, I think the 2006 Tour winner will depend on to what extent Basso burns his matches at the Giro.
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
Exactly. The Giro is the one to watch this year. Discovery will throw everything they've got behind Salvodelli and will be somewhat of a shambles for the Tour.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Exactly. The Giro is the one to watch this year. Discovery will throw everything they've got behind Salvodelli and will be somewhat of a shambles for the Tour.
Umm I doubt that. Salvodelli is the only one from the Giro team that is even on the short list for the Tour. The rumors are that Danielson will be their GC guy at this years Giro due to all the climbing.
Here's my theory. Team CSC only has one serious GC contender who could actually win a Grand Tour: Ivan Basso. Team Director Bjarne Riis knows that so he's covering his spread by signing Basso up for both the Giro and Tour. His team is heavily hyped so he needs to show results in at least two Grand Tours.
Scenario #1: Basso wins Giro but doesn't win the Tour. Riis and his sponsors will be satisfied with that.
Scenario #2: Basso falters in the Giro and saves enough in the tank to beat Ullrich in the Tour. Riis and his sponsors will be happiest with that result, since the Tour is the bigger event. Riis breathes a sigh of relief that his gamble has paid off.
Scenario #3: Basso tries everything possible but gets trumped by someone else in the Giro, but also gets beaten in the Tour. Riis can tell his sponsors, "We're close, we'll get one next year."
Scenario #4 should be obviously and is least likely to happen.
Despite all the praise that gets heaped on Team CSC, Riis still doesn't have a single GT overall win to his team's credit. IMO, he should bite the bullet and enter Basso to just win the Tour. He shouldn't bank on Ullrich to quit after 2006 (leaving the Tour wide open for Basso), because the young guns like Valverde are improving quickly.
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
Discovery team for the Giro:
Paolo Savoldelli
Beno[HTML_REMOVED]#238;t Joachim
Manuel Beltr[HTML_REMOVED]#225;n
Tom Danielson
Jason McCartney
Viatcheslav Ekimov
Pavel Padrnos
Chechu Rubiera
Matt White
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all but McCartney have ridden and finished at least one Grand Tour. Beltran, Ekimov, Rubiera and Padrnos were many-time members of Armstrong's Tour victories. This is a well-structured team to support Salvo' for the GC. Danielson is there for close support on the climbing stages or _possibly _for a stage win if things are going well tactically. Disco and Postal before them were never known for chasing multiple objectives. A huge part of Armstrong's success was the team's singleminded dedication to Tour GC and nothing else. That strategy having worked so well in the past, I would think Bruyneel and the team ownership will continue to use it. That means no 'dual leader' scenarios, no chasing sprint or KOM points - in other words, no sideshows.
They are keeping Popovych for the Tour, but it isn't his time yet. Salvo' is the team's best hope for a Grand Tour win this year and they have thrown all their main artillery behind him. I think at the Tour we will see Popo eventually settle somewhere in the 5th-10th place area. Once things become clear that he isn't a podium hope, Hincapie will get the go-ahead to go after stage wins.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Agreed, Disco is stacked this year for the Giro. Beltran, Ekimov and Rubiera would normally be held back for the Tour, so it will be interesting to see who gets the nod to support Popovych and Hincapie in the Tour.
I'm pulling for Danielson to win Stage 17-should be nuts as the peloton grinds up Plan de Corones in 34x27 gears.
I'm not sure, but there should be a live feed for the Giro from one of the Rai Internet feeds:
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
I missed the deadline for changing my team in a pool so I think I only have Basso and Di Luca. http://www.depontieu.net/cobble/ But I just looked at the page and somehow I tied for first in a stage of a race yesterday.
Usually the RAI feeds are in Italian. Last year I watched the video on mute and then streamed an audio file from another site but I can't remember which one. Sean Kelly was commentating.
It looks like www.cycling.tv is carrying the stages live through the OLN feed of their site. Their server can get pretty bogged down though, at least with a Mac.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture"
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all but McCartney have ridden and finished at least one Grand Tour.
McCartney rode and finished last year's Giro. And he was looking pretty good in the Tour de Georgia.
Team CSC's starting roster looks really weak in the climbing department. Other than Basso, only Sastre has proven he can hang with the big guys, and maybe Julich on a good day (but not consistently). Of course, it might not matter if Basso is on form.
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
I think Bruyneel is using the Armstrong template for this Giro. One clear leader, supported by strong climbers who will punch the pace hard over the initial climbs of a mtn stage to whittle the pack down as much as possible. Then the GC guy lights it up 20 minutes before the end of a mtn top stage and goes off at TT pace to put as much time into his rivals as possible. That's basically how Armstrong won 7 tours - strong TT performances at carefully planned moments. Obviously there were a million details that added up to the whole, but that was it in a nutshell. Salvodelli is a strong TT rider and proved last year to be a very cagey tactician. He had less than a perfect hand but played every card beautifully to win the Giro. (Whether he could have beaten a healthy Basso is a question for eternity.) This year he has the full weight of the best organised team in cycling behind him. My money's on the Disco boys, they're a more complete team than CSC. Basso will be isolated early on in most of the mtn stages.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
I just found out that daily Giro coverage (1.5 hours, three broadcasts/day) is available on Canal Evasion-Channel 252 for Shaw North Van customers.
Cost is only $2.49/month with my digital package.
http://www.canalevasion.com/emission.asp?iem=293[HTML_REMOVED]itype=41
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
I watched part of Stage 3 on Canal Evasion, including the spectacle of Team CSC driving the peloton in the lead-up to the last hill climb. Made no sense at all, since Basso actually ended up losing time to Savoldelli (and Danielson). Riis should have let another team burn their matches in the run-up, while keeping Basso near the front and out of trouble. Team CSC needs to save its energy for when it counts.
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
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