Vinokourov has been courted by several big teams, and there is speculation that he may end up at Cofidis or Ag2r next year. Discovery Channel director Johan Bruyneel denied that his team was interested in signing the attacking T-Mobile rider. “We want someone who can win the Tour. Vinokourov isn’t one of them,” he said.
Bruyneel’s observations are remarkably sagacious.
Tom, have you been playing on dictionary.com again??
Sagacious (Sa*ga"cious) (?), a.
1. Of quick sense perceptions; keen-scented; skilled in following a trail. “Sagacious of his quarry from so far.” Milton.
2. Hence, of quick intellectual perceptions; of keen penetration and judgment; discerning and judicious; knowing; far-sighted; shrewd; sage; wise; as, a sagacious man; a sagacious remark. “Instinct . . . makes them, many times, sagacious above our apprehension.” Dr. H. More. “Only sagacious heads light on these observations, and reduce them into general propositions.” Locke.
for everyone else
it’s funny how some words would be used in a language and not in others.
the corresponding word in french isn’t that unusual.
I used the word pleonasm once here, which is fairly used in french and some said here they’d never seen it before.
I don’t know how to spell it but try this one, one of my favorites:
omphaloscepsis
.
this one is unusual in most languages, I am sure! 
As for Vino, he certainly doesn’t fit Johan’s very deliberate style. Vino is too much of a wildcard to ride for him.
As my two favorite Tour commentators, Bazz & Hutch (www.cyclinginsight.com - check out their podcasts) are fond of saying,
"The Flying Forehead attacks the group. Now he’s been caught. Now the Flying Forehead is attacking out the rear of the peloton . Now he’s caught up and attacked again. Look at the Forehead go! Now he’s busted. He’s in the hurtbag. etc., etc.
Vinokourov has been courted by several big teams, and there is speculation that he may end up at Cofidis or Ag2r next year. Discovery Channel director Johan Bruyneel denied that his team was interested in signing the attacking T-Mobile rider. “We want someone who can win the Tour. Vinokourov isn’t one of them,” he said.
I see four possibilities. Basso (oops, just signed for 4 years ih CSC), Ulrich (the guy who scares Lance the most), and Levi (riding a very smart race and will be better next year) and George (the win in the mountains had to start them thinking).
why not Salvodelli. He has looked pretty impressive and knows how to win a Grand Tour (Giro twice). Am I missing something?
I think Savoldelli would rather win the Giro multiple times. The Giro is a bigger deal to most of the Italian riders than the Tour.
Sheesh, speaking of Basso he has been so impressive this past week. I thought after the Giro he had tossed his cookies for the tour, but man he has gotten stronger.
So has Jan, actually. I think the turbo diesel could pull off something magic in the TT.
why not Salvodelli. He has looked pretty impressive and knows how to win a Grand Tour (Giro twice). Am I missing something?
OK, I will add him to my list. I am waiting to see who Francois picks. He actually knows something about this stuff.
Salvoldelli just isn’t explosive enough to compete with the likes of Basso. If you watched the Giro this year you would have seen Basso hand it to him in the mountains and Salvoldelli couldn’t hang. Basso would have won the Giro this year if he hadn’t gotten sick. He was quite impressive with his explosiveness in the stages where he was healthy.
Salvoldelli is more like Ulrich in his climbing, more of a constant speed rather than the explosiveness of Lance and Basso.
The Giro is also a different beast than Le Tour. The level of competition isn’t the same though with the birth of the Pro Tour the level starting this year has certainly gone up.
Vino is likely going to Credit Agricole next year.
Savoldelli is fast. He won the giro twice, but then so did Simoni. Even if they tried to peak for the TdF, it’s a different race and I don’t think they could be contenders.
Basso will likely stay with CSC unless CSC decides to hire a big gun from somewhere else.
A big possibility for Disco, but not quite now is Tom Danielson. Maybe 2 years or so.
Hincapie? no…he will not be a contender for the Tour despite what Lance said…no way.
That leaves…noone really. Ullrich? Maybe…but he is very expensive (less than Lance and rightfully so)…
Someone else? Mancebo? It’s really hard to guess…what does Disco want? An american leader or someone truly able to win the Tour next year…
My guess is that the only possibility to have a US leader at disco, who can win the Tour is to convince Lance to come back and honestly it’s as realistic as seeing Ullrich going to Discovery.
FYI-Basso extended his contract with CSC.
No-one has mentioned Popovych- surely this guy is only 3 or 4 years from possibly being great. I se Vino going to Cofidis or CA and it will make next year’s tour amazing… Basso, Ulrich, Vino etal all against the wall and having to plan and attack non stop.
ould not be surprised to see Disco take a back seat for a while and let Popo grow… invest in the future and ride on Lance’s coat-tails for a while…
Weeman
I think they are going to put their chips on Danielson. He has what it takes to stay with anybody on the big climbs, and has shown he can TT fairly well. With more work on the TT, he’s definitely a contender. A couple years sounds about right.
Pretty cool that he set the record up one of the local hillclimbs as well. It’s a bit humbling, that 27:51.
What is Cadel Evans’ contract situation like? I think Discovery would like an anglophile Tour contender, and Evans has shown this year, at 28, that he should be considered a threat next year and beyond.
Indeed. Cadel Evans is a possibility…I guess we need to wait a bit and see what the transfer season looks like…so far, strong rumors have
Vino going to Credit Agricole
Moreau leaving CA for Liberty Seguro (would this mean Beloki somewhere else?)
Not sure too about Levi…but then he was at USPS and he will likely not go back to Disco.