How about new young american rider Tom Danielson? Maybe not a threat for overall but a threat in the mountains?
Lance dont need Heras, he didnt do much in this years tour, probably saving himself for the Vuelta.
probably…but we’ll have to see how he fairs in the euro peloton…there is a huge difference between North am. races in the top level races…
probably needs some adjustements, but he is definitely one to watch in the future…
There is no way Manolo Saiz is going to concentrate on the Vuelta instead of the Tour. So what if he has a Spanish sponsor, he’s had a spanish sponsor for 15 years and has always fielded his strongest team. And remember he now has the top-3 of the Vuelta on his team, so he can send whoever he wants to the Tour, do battle, see which rider recovers enough for the Vuelta and crush everybody there. And as Heras showed this year, you can work for somebody else inthe Tour and then win the Vuelta, so Saiz may have Nozal work for Heras in the tour and then let him ride for his own chances in the Vuelta (after which he will buy out his contract with Saiz, move to USPS, ride there for three years and return to Saiz 
Considering the desire to have as many French teams as possible, is there a chance they wouldn’t even be invited to ride in the Tour in 04?
“the desire to have as many french teams blah blah blah…”
why is it always about the Tour and the french?
Does anyone argue about 50% of the teams in the giro being italian and same with spanish teams in the Vuelta?
In any case, if Heras goes to Liberty-Seguros, the team will be a top 16 team and will have an entry in the Tour.
Lighten up. I really didn’t mean to open that can of worms. I personaly have no problem with the selection process. I was just curious since everyone seemed to think it was a given that he would be in the Tour.
ok…my bad
.
I don’t know, if Saiz doesn’t take care of his Spanish constituents and ensure a Spanish victory at the Vuelta there may not be a team to come back to after he leaves USPS for the second time . . . leaving the existence of the team obligation to whomever recovers the best after the Tour may be somewhat risky.
Kind of like a NFL team spending their domestic budget so their Europe farm team wins NFL Europe le bowl, no one in the states gives a crap who wins NFL Europe. Maybe cycling in spain is like football in the USA?
You would also have to agree that Heras did not have his legs for this years tour for whatever reason and was therefore possibly placed on damage control in the tour (espeically due to what Beltran did) with the Vuelta in mind. So the arguement that he can work for somebody else and still win does not mean so much to me this year.
Maybe after his second stint at USPS (after the decline of Spanish cycling due to lack of domestic sponsors) he could race for the Saiz directed team UPS riding a brown Cervelo . . . 
I don’t know, if Saiz doesn’t take care of his Spanish constituents and ensure a Spanish victory at the Vuelta there may not be a team to come back to after he leaves USPS for the second time
The proof is in the pudding. Saiz has an unbelieavable track record when it comes to keeping sponsors happy, ONCE was with him for 15 years. The only one doing it better is Kelme, another Spanish team with usually a strong Tour performance (though not this year with Sevilla injured).
“the desire to have as many french teams blah blah blah…”
why is it always about the Tour and the french?
Does anyone argue about 50% of the teams in the giro being italian and same with spanish teams in the Vuelta?
Every year the Tour organizers invite two or three French teams that really are not of the same level as the the other teams. So be it. It is their tour, but the reason it looks fishy is because the Tour de France is the de facto world championship as far as the public is concerned. It would be like the English inviting one of their own to play in Wimbledon without qualifying.
No one cares who the Italians or Spanish have in their race because neither one is as important a race as the Tour.
All the articles covering this having to mention that somehow Heras is one of the few riders with a true shot at dethroning Lance in the TDF. Until Roberto can TT with the best ON THE FLATS, he will not win the Tour, whether or not Lance comes out on top. I personally have no real heartache about him jumping on the chance to lead a team, and leaving USPS in the process. He is a stronger and better rider now than he was two years ago. At this point time is a-wastin’ for him and the TDF. Even if he never wins it, he’s certainly more than capable of taking several stage wins, including next years Alp D’huez TT.
The proof is in the pudding. Saiz has an unbelieavable track record when it comes to keeping sponsors happy, ONCE was with him for 15 years. The only one doing it better is Kelme, another Spanish team with usually a strong Tour performance (though not this year with Sevilla injured).
exactly, they were with him for 15 years and LEFT. That leads me to assume (correctly or incorrectly) that securing and maintaining sponsors in Spain now will not be the same as it has been. (I do agree that the ONCE machine was rather long lived and best serves as an outlier when looking at team durations overall). Still, one has to wonder how safe the median is also . . .
and they do so…they are called wild cards and they are free to give them to whoever they want…
exactly like the wild cards in the tour.
Maintaining sponsors is tougher for every team now, and eventually every sponsor will leave simply because there is nothing left to gain through that particular sport. As for securing sponsors, Saiz and Echevarri have done an amazing job finding replacements for ONCE and Banesto in such a short timeframe. I’m really impressed by that, given how hard it is.
More to the point of the original argument, ONCE didn’t leave due to a lack of results in the Vuelta. They’ve won plenty of them, and are always a highly visible team there. In ONCE’s case, they decided that the Paralympics were a much better fit than a cycling team. Given that they’re a lottery for the blind, you have to say that makes a lot of sense.
and they do so…they are called wild cards and they are free to give them to whoever they want…
exactly like the wild cards in the tour.
Ahhh, but the difference is that of the wild cards they give out, inevitably one or two of the them is a French team that gets in only because they are French. There is controversy every year over the last few wild cards given out, because inevitably they end up being mediocre French teams. I have never seen a controversy at Wimbledon because they gave a wild card to an Englishman that had no business there.
I’m not trying to do any France-bashing here. My college degree was in French and I lived there two different summers. I just think they should invite the best teams.
US Postal confirms Heras’ departure
The fast-moving negotiations for Roberto Heras’ release from his contract with US Postal Service-Berry floor have come to a close. US Postal has confirmed on its website that Heras will sign with Manolo Saiz as team leader for the new Liberty Seguros team. Heras joined US Postal in 2001 after being bought out of his contract with Kelme-Costa Blanca. Now the Spanish climber will return to team leader status, effectively replacing Joseba Beloki as Saiz’s number one man. www.cyclingnews.com
I sure hope Heras doesn’t blow his wad in a futile effort to win the TdF in 04. The Vuelta route next year that has come out so far seems to be tailor made for an attacking climber like Heras.
and eventually every sponsor will leave simply because there is nothing left to gain through that particular sport.
In ONCE’s case, they decided that the Paralympics were a much better fit than a cycling team.
Exactly, “were a much better fit” to me entails a cost benefit analysis somewhere along the line, with the end result we are all aware of. The fact that ONCE was so successful and that they still had “nothing left to gain through that particular sport” would speak directly to the difficulties a new team will face regardless of the director. If the sponsorship were very financially lucrative ONCE would have justified continued sponsorship even if they were a cigarette coroporation, to do otherwise would be a very unwise business move. Remember, I didn’t state that ONCE left due to lack of results, but suggested the fact that they left in spite of such positive results sets a tough stage for new teams.
In short, the two propositions above seem to be somewhat mutually exclusive if you look beyond the literal text.
I find a little bit of irony in the fact that the “de-facto” world championship allow arguably below par French teams in the race because it’s a French race.
Isn’t Kona the Ironman world championship, and yet 75% of the lottery applicants are from the US (majority come from the US because it’s a US race)?
I personally will never be good enough to compete in either, just happy to watch the top guys race for the title in both, and I’m in awe of everyone else competing.
Exactly, “were a much better fit” to me entails a cost benefit analysis somewhere along the line, with the end result we are all aware of. The fact that ONCE was so successful and that they still had “nothing left to gain through that particular sport” would speak directly to the difficulties a new team will face regardless of the director.
No, not at all. The reason ONCE has nothing left to gain is actually proof that the sponsorship was extremely successful. I don’t know the exact numbers for ONCE, but for example, another team I happen to know a little bit about started with a sponsor when that company was virtually unknown. In a few short years, its name recognition went from something like 15% to 80%. Was the money they put in worth it? Yes. Does it make sense to keep putting in the same money? No, simply the law of diminishing returns. But that case study of how the name recognition improved helped the team find the new sponsor.
It has got to be the same with ONCE, are there really any cycling fans left who don’t buy ONCE lottery tickets? Probably a few, but it must be easier fishing in a new pond for them.