Two cyclists just made my day!

[OakLeaf]

(((((((ZS))))))), I'm so sorry for your loss.




I'm rooting for Valverde. No good reason, just to pick someone to make it more exciting to watch.

[Possegal]

They just announced that Valverde will not be in the Tour this year, due to his ban in Italy and the tour riding through Italy at one point.

[SadieKate]

Honest to goodness, I think the guy is paranoid. Why in the world would he think that Armstrong could/would contend for the TdF? Just look at how he's been riding. The Nevada City Crit is NOT an example of how he'd do at a 3 week stage race.

http://bicycling.com/blogs/boulderre...home-_-NA-_-NA

[OakLeaf]

They just announced that Valverde will not be in the Tour this year, due to his ban in Italy and the tour riding through Italy at one point.

Well, dang.

Time to throw darts at my monitor and pick someone else.

[redrhodie]

They just announced that Valverde will not be in the Tour this year, due to his ban in Italy and the tour riding through Italy at one point.

I got really bummed when I first read that too quickly, and thought it was Vandevelde instead of Valverde. I hope Christian gets well enough to compete.

[jobob]

Who's paranoid - Contador?

Astana is such an odd set up this year, too many chiefs, too many crossed allegiances. I think Contador is head and shoulders above the others, but then there's Levi and Kloden vying for second-to-top banana, and then Lance is mixing it up. There certainly seems to be confusion over who is working for whom.

I got such a kick out of watching the Giro, it looked as though most of the team was back supporting Lance, while Levi was up near the front only with Horner supporting him (and, when Horner crashed out, Levi seemed to be on his own more often than not). That was just my impression though.

[SadieKate]

Who's paranoid - Contador?

Ah, yes, as that would be the title of my post.

He just seems to go looking for internecine feuds. It doesn't cement relationships and support from teammates.

[redrhodie]

Honest to goodness, I think the guy is paranoid. Why in the world would he think that Armstrong could/would contend for the TdF? Just look at how he's been riding. The Nevada City Crit is NOT an example of how he'd do at a 3 week stage race.

http://bicycling.com/blogs/boulderre...home-_-NA-_-NA

If the team is not going to back him, it won't really matter how strong he is (riding alone) so I think he's not being paranoid if he's looking for better support. But, maybe it has nothing to do with Lance or the team. Maybe the fear of Astana not paying is motive. Maybe it's a bit of both.

Reminds me of the '86 tour already. Hinault/Lemond for those who remember.

[jobob]

I'll mainly be rooting for Saxo Bank and the Schleck brothers -- old habits die hard , plus in reality I'll be rooting more for Cancellara (to do well in the TTs of course), O'Grady and especially for my man Jens! (assuming they're on the tour team of course). Update: I looked it up and they've all been named to the TdF team. Yeah baby!

Cervello Test team is my next fave -- Sastre has kind of grown on me. I do not know why. Also, they have Thor so I want to see if Thor Will Smash this year -- or, at least, if he can manage to beat out Cavendish in a sprint

Vying with Cervello for a place in my heart is Garmin-Slipsteam. I too am hoping Vandevelde does well.


As for Astana, eh, it'll be fun to watch the draaaama unfold.

[SadieKate]

From day 1, Contador seems to have discussed in the news his distrust of Leipheimer. Then, add Armstrong. More of the same. For the best possible outcome, as in support from his teammates, these should have stayed private. Whether or not the basis for his distrust is factual, he never really gave the possibility a chance.

[jobob]

If the team is not going to back him, it won't really matter how strong he is (riding alone) so I think he's not being paranoid if he's looking for better support. But, maybe it has nothing to do with Lance or the team. Maybe the fear of Astana not paying is motive. Maybe it's a bit of both.

I'm with RR here. It doesn't appear to me that the team is fully behind Contador. Dunno if that happened on account of Contator's statements & actions, or if the lack of support was evident to C before he started spouting off - I don't follow pro cycling that much. But all around it didn't seem like a match made in heaven, even from the start.

[ny biker]

Well Bruyneel is already on record as saying that Contador is the leader in the TdF this year, and Levi would be second if for some reason Contador falters. And Lance is on record saying that he does not expect the team to support him over a stronger rider just because he's won it 7 times. So maybe Contador does have issues.

During the Giro, the guys at Universal Sports mentioned that Contador has plenty of other offers and would probably leave the team if the Astana sponsorship ended, because all the riders' contracts would have to be renegotiated under those circumstances.

Anyway. I just hope Chris Horner gets to race the Tour.

===
Interesting - just read this in cyclingnews.com re: rumors about Contador and his entourage going to Garmin:

Armstrong commented on the story on Monday. "Just read this [the article]," he wrote on Twitter. "JL [US writer Joe Lindsey, who broke the story - ed.] may not be far off on this (for once). I'm choosing to ignore and remove myself from drama. TdF – hard enough."

[SadieKate]

Anyway. I just hope Chris Horner gets to race the Tour.

Final 9 announced today and Chris not among them. Big pblblblblblblblbl to Astana.

[jobob]

Get out.

[SadieKate]

If you want to see the final 9, you have to sit through over overly dramatic and slow video. Give me a break. I've been slowly losing respect for Bruyneel over the years. The hype he pulls just drives me crazy.

http://www.astana-cyclingteam.com/