Thre are probably 2 sides to this, and given Jan's most recent history this could be a positive.

Can't wait to see the Cervelos in the tour, no matter who is riding! Go Tyler!

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Although there is no denying that Jan Ulrich is a great cyclist- incredible cyclist, I think there is some compromise to his image with his drug incident. I understand better than most the frailties and fears that may have lead to Jan Ulrich makiing some bad decisions, but I doubt most other cycling fans are as understanding and empathetic. Because of that, Jan is bit of a compromise figure to the less wise. and becasue, as you know, the "less wise" make up a significant part of our population, that makes him a little less valuable as a rider. To me it doens't matter who rides Cervelos. What matters to me is that they are very nicely made bicycles and I will ride one (or two).

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Let's just wait and see if Jan is still worth what he is being paid.

I too wanted to see Jan on a Cervelo just to see if it would stand up to the triple gainer off the side of the mountain.

No matter what I would like to see Jan come back this year. I love Lance and think that he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But sheer dominance is not as interesting as nailbiting battle to the finish. Same reason I cheer for the mets and not the Yankees I cheer for another top cyclist to come back and step up the challenge

No need to be sorry, at least not for me or Riis. Riis is a pretty smart guy, and I agree 100% with every step he's taken in this case. He explained the situation a few weeks ago and all I can say is I respect Riis even more now. There is so much more going on than makes the papers.

As for L'Equipe, I think they are a bit incorrect. The offer was apparently a combination of salary and bonuses, and if Ullrich is confident he can make a comeback his pay would be more than 1.6 million. Plus if the comeback is successful, he should be happy to only sign a one-year deal so he can renegotiate a better deal next year. I would think only a rider doubting his comeback would want to lock himself into a 3 year deal.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

makes sense...

just imagine tyler being asked to work for jan in the tour, after what i suspect would've been jan's inability to haul his pumpkin butt up the dolomites in defense of tyler's position in the giro. csc would be better off spending their money on a decent spaniard, like rabobank did.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I think they were talkingto that Spaniard, but that was just as much of a circus as the Ullrich situation. you have to keep in mind that CSC is a bit different, their first training camp does not consist of leisure rides in the rolling hills. Riis is good friends with Denmark's top soldier, and he comes in to turn the training camp into boot camp. They go on this hike (which this year included an ocean swim up to the point of hypothermia) and the riders come back more dead than alive, but it does build a great team spirit. It also means there is no room for prima donnas or pretty boys, and let's face it, a lot of the star riders are. That's why it is no surprise that the three team leaders (Hamilton, Sastre and Tafi) are three of the nicest people you will ever meet, without any star notion.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

Gerard, Its good to have someone posting the inside scoop (but NOT gossip!) on one of the top Euro teams (regarding your posts in this thread). Hopefully you'll continue to drop tidbits like this through the year. It'll give a whole new perspective of those great cyclists to most of us. Ocean swims to the point of hypothermia? I thought only me and my Marines (I'm a USMC infantry officer) did crazy stuff like that. I like Riis and CSC more already!

let me rephrase. i didn't mean a spaniard like the spaniard rabobank got, i mean they should get another spaniard, like rabobank got a spaniard. sastre is a great example. another one of those would be great. much better than ullrich. because worst case, your spaniard's a great help to tyler, and best case--and sastre is an example of this--you're getting a guy who might develop into a team leader (look at all these dangerous spaniards popping up).

or, hey, what about another american? like that fella who won the san fran grand prix? (altho i think he's a canadian).

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Methinks some of you may be writing off Mr. Ullrich prematurely...

It would be ill-informed to write off Ulrich's strength and talent, weight and drug issues notwithstanding. He is a proven exceptional cyclist. The problem he faces is being eclipsed by the era of the great Lance Armstrong. Not unlike (but to a lesser degree) the great Raymond Polidor there is now a generation of "Polidors" who will be perpetual bridesmaids to the global superpower from Texas with the work ethic of a Pennsylvania coal miner, the focus of a Zeiss lense and the intimidation of a May Day parade with an arsenal of nukes on display. Tough to beat Armstorng now. This is primarily a discussion about who is a likely second placer, at least at the Tour.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Not that I in any way doubt that Armstrong will win at least one, if not two or three, more TdF's, but we Americans are such headstrong bastards when any one of us excels at anything. If he were German, it would be them staunchly commenting that, "Of course he's winning; he's German." For us, we get a lovely list, and it is a lovely list, of adjective hyperbole. :) It's that whole American attitude thing: "You can do that? Well, just you wait until WE show you what WE can do!" I love it! I will definitely be cheering Lance when he swoops back onto the Champs Elysees for another yellow shirt.

that would be Poulidor actually. what riders face now has nothing to do with what Poulidor faced...because during his time, he faced his nightmares at all the races, not only in the tour de france...
Poupou arrived to face Anquetil, and eventually when Anquetil retired, some from belgium stepped in...some Eddy M....

I found this interesting, 2002