He is having his best season ever, no question. He is no longer a sprinter, otherwise he would have won Paris-Roubaix. He has, however, trimmed down and become a climber while vastly improving his TT performance. This year at the Tour he’s shown that he can go hard every day AND on the stages where he blows up supporting Lance, he has been able to recover and finish the stage without loosing too much time.
I say Discovery… or some other team (though I think George will need Johan to acheive anything big) should give George the chance to win the Giro or the Tour next year, as he is getting old, then hand over everything to Popovych.
His win yesterday was fantastic! That being said, I don’t think he can be a GC contender. Don’t forget he lost over 10 minutes on the last 2 climbs to Armstrong and the other top climbers, even though he sat on someones wheel the entire day. He raced extremely smart yesterday, but I doubt he could have hung on to Basso and Ullrich had he been with them.
It is one thing to be a support dude and kick ass and another to lead your own team. Look at Levi and Floyd. Strong riders, but not able to ride with the podium studs. I think George would be in the same boat. Regardless, the guy is amazing. I bet you he finishes 3rd in the final TT behind Lance and Jan, but ahead of Basso.
I think that Vinokourov will be a Disco rider next year, giving Popovych another year to get better.
Perhaps, but I think Vino really hurt his chances with his antics this year. Bruyneel wants team players, and even the leader has to understand what a team means, and Vino did nothing to show he understands what it means to be a teammate. Funny though, I actually saw him work for Jan a bit yesterday (bringing him water and talking to him before launching one of his attacks) but that is the first time all tour.
Disco also has Danielson, who isn’t riding the tour this year, but probably will next year. Everyone is talking about Popo being a future leader, but my guess is that they really want Danielson to rise quickly as well. Who will be the leader next year? That is the big question. Could be Vino, but I would personally love to see Levi make the switch. I wonder if they would go after Basso again?
Disco bags Basso from CSC, CSC grabs Ullrich reuniting Jan with Riis, Vino heads over to Gerolsteiner, Floyd heads over to T-mobile, Levi heads to Phonak :-).
“George plus Vino would be an awesome 1-2 punch for the classics.”
Don’t forget Devolder also. That kid can ride. But I don’t think Vino and Disco are a good match really. And you can forget about Basso, as he just resigned with CSC for three years.