Pantani to ride TDF ?!?!?

Triathlon Forum
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Pantani Works to Resume Tour de France Rivalry With Armstrong

 June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Marco Pantani, Italy's 1998 Tour de

France champion, plans to switch teams to resume his rivalry with
Lance Armstrong in next month’s centenary edition of cycling’s
biggest race.
Without a race win in three years, the 33-year-old Pantani
finished 14th in last month’s Tour of Italy after several strong
showings in the mountains. Now, the rider known as the Pirate'' for his bandanas and earrings, wants to take on Armstrong, who's seeking a record-tying fifth straight Tour de France victory. I want to see if Armstrong is really that much better than
me, as people say,‘’ Pantani said in an interview. I'm convinced that if several of us worked together, we could get him panicking.'' Pantani's Mercatone Uno squad, based in Cesenatico, Italy, failed to make the 22-team lineup for the 100th Tour de France because it's ranked outside the sport's elite. Mercatone Uno President Romani Cenni is trying to help Pantani find a place on the start-line by transferring him to another Italian team until the end of the season. I’ll do everything in my power for Pantani to be able to
ride in the centenary Tour,‘’ said Cenni, who is in talks with the
Vini Caldirola-Sidermec team.
If the plan works, Pantani would join up with former teammate
Stefano Garzelli, who finished second to Gilberto Simoni in the
Tour of Italy.
It may be tricky having two leaders in the team, but we're ruling nothing out,'' said Andrea Agostini, a spokesman for Vini Caldirola-Sidermec. Anything can happen.‘’

                        No Problem 

 The International Cycling Union, the sport's governing body,

said its rules don’t prevent Pantani jumping from one team to
another mid-season, even if there are few precedents.
``If the two teams reach an agreement, then Pantani’s
transfer is perfectly valid,‘’ said Alain Rumpf, the UCI’s manager
of professional cycling.
In 1998, Pantani was the first Italian winner of the Tour de
France in 33 years. The following year he was thrown out of the
Tour of Italy on suspicion of drug-taking.
Pantani, who protested his innocence, struggled to rediscover
his best form ever since. He last rode the Tour de France in 2000,
winning two mountain stages.
One of them was atop Mont Ventoux, one of the race’s best-
known climbs and the scene of a rift between Pantani and
Armstrong.
The pair finished almost side-by-side having left the rest of
the field. Armstrong, already clear of his rivals in the standings
and set for his second victory, said he let Pantani beat him to
the line for the stage win. Pantani disputed the American’s
version and has missed few opportunities to criticize Armstrong
since.

                         Hard Work 

 The prospect of Pantani competing alongside Armstrong when

the Tour de France begins July 5 in Paris poses no problems for
race organizers.
We select the teams, and the teams select the riders,'' said Jean-Michel Monin, a 1996 Olympic gold medal winner who works for the Tour de France. If the UCI says all is in order, that’s
fine by us.‘’
Pantani, who was close to quitting cycling last year, said he
worked and trained hard last winter in a final bid to get back to
the top.
I'm ready to reap the fruits of my labor, which is why I want to race at the Tour de France,'' he said. I won’t be there
just to make up the numbers.‘’

–Darren Tulett in Paris, through the London Sports Desk (44) 207-
673-2540, or at dtulett@bloomberg.net, with reporting by
Alessandra Bacchetta in Milan. Editor: Ludden

Story Illustration: Click on CNP 0745720108 for a tour of
Bloomberg’s cycling coverage. ISPORT for top international
sports news

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It looks like there are some efforts being made to give Lance a run for the money. Garzelli and Pantani helping each other in the mountains (after both rode themselves into form in the Giro) should be interesting. Sounds like that team may recruit more help from Cippo’s team also. Then there is Hamilton, and Leipheimer, and Simoni, and Ullrich. etc. etc. I would hate to be a domestique for Lance as they will be given absolutely no help from any of the other teams. should be a fun TDF to watch.

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has burnt bridges with just about everyone in the peleton if what you read is to be believed (mercatone, Rabo, CSC and Bianchi / Coast), there’s going to be almost no help in chasing down breaks from the contenders, I think that some of the europeans will actually help others if only to stop lance, but thats ok, it’s not as if the posties help anyone unless it suits them so this could make the tour all the more interesting.

I’m all for anything that makes the tour a little more interesting, especially if it is exciting from week one. Lets say Tyler and a couple of team mates go during the first week, or Jan or Marco, I think everyone is just going to sit out and watch what the posties do, last year they almost got caught with their pants down on the raining stage where they let the break go and go.

Now if no one helps, posties could be forced to chase every single day untill they crack, Marco one day, Tyler the next and then Jan and just keep going and allow your team mates to sit in and let the Posties chase continuously, there’s no way they could keep it up. On top of which even teams without the contenders are not going to be looking out for LA, the spaniards and italians and French will look out for the team first, then country men…

This could be a seriously aggressive tour this July…

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I disagree that the Posties are by themselves. I have been having discussions with people at work. With or without Pantani, I think you are going to see americans versus europeans (and this is refering to nothing political at all)

Remember, Levi and Tyler rode with Lance, are close friends, and they owe alot to him. Not to mention that they are friends with others still on the USPS as well. If Simoni, Garzelli, Ulrich, Pantani, Beloki, Botero go after Lance, I think you will see Levi and Tyler working with Lance to crush the europeans. Then in the end, its every man for themselves.

Either way, this is turning out to be a very interesting tour.

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work with the posties, it defeats everything that they race for. Just because Tyler rode with him and is where he is today because of him, he’s not going to work against his own interests let alone that of his sponsors, there would be hell to pay if that were the case.

Tyler at the front is worth more to them than Tyler at the front helping a rival team, on top of which by doing what you suggest Tyler, Levi and Freddy lose any credibility within their own teams which are predominantly european and then they have no one to ride for them, if they alienate their team mates as you suggest they’d have been better off racing UCI Div II in the states as they’d never get a contract again.

What you are suggesting simply wont happen, they are way more likely to fall in line with the euro’s if they are smart, it’s not about nationality regardless of what you think, being a loyal american does not involve riding for Lance, Lance has his own team, if in order to get a podium or win Tyler needs to line up with the French thats what Tyler will do, this is business.

Either way I’m betting that his team mates are making agreements to help other teams out, they’re all at it by all accounts so he’d be foolish to try and ride against his own team.

Either way July will be fun.

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Again, I disagree, and I think my scenario is much more likely to occur than you realize. There is alot of politics, etiquette, and respect that is used to make team decisions and personal decisions in a race that lasts 3 weeks. It has nothing to do with nationality at all (which you believe I meant, its simply coincidence that Tyler, Levi and Lance are all american). They were on the same team. Where you ever on a team? If you were, then I think you would be more likely to agree, as you would know the nature of the sport more intimately. Its a classic case of, “you scratch my back, Ill scratch yours”, and that is what you are likely to see, as you have seen it so many other times.

If Tylers team works with USPS, then it will be the two of them to go for the win. If tyler works with the other teams, then Lance could be in trouble, but Tyler is then on equal footing with 3-4 other contenders. Not exactly the best place to be if you want to win.

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I think Pantani’s comments are nothing short of funny. First of all, the Giro ain’t the Tour. Second, he was nowhere near winning the Giro. Third, even if he could match Armstrong in the mountains, he’s nowhere near the top of the heap right now as far as time trialing abilities go. I can think of probably 20 riders that Armstrong has more to fear from than “The Pirate.”

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Pantani’s riding or not riding is a non-issue as regards the GC. Who would even bother to waste energy covering his moves?

When was the last time he won any major stage race clean (non-doped) – as opposed to a single stage, a la Jackie Durand or Richard Virenque – against serious competition? The scandal-ruined 1988 (and Lanceless) TdF?

When I checked in the early spring, he was raked something like 1600th in the world on the UPI’s ranking system – and deservedly so. Even with the newly aero (plastic surgeried) post-Dumbo ears, this guy remains essentially “a legend in his own mind”.

Hoping he gets in, just so the race itself calls his bluff and exposes his overblown ego and mediocrity.

He’s a threat to no-one – except to whichever dupe sponsor is dumb enough to pay his salary.

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Your argument only works if there are 3 teams in the race, there are 23. Where is your time and effort best placed? If I am Tyler and it comes down to the Alps or Pyrenees and I have the choice between fighting USPS or Jan et al, I am taking my chances with Jan, LA can not even be in the picture and the only way that works is to make sure he is not there. If Tyler works with LA, Jan can manage to stay in the picture there are to many people willing to work with Jan that LAA and Tyler can take him out of contention so in your scenario Tyler arrives at the mountains of the team TT with both LA and Jan still in it and he is F**ked because he’d get taken apart by LA and Jan can give him a very good run for his money.

Secondly. Tyler was on the team with LA, Tylers team mates were not, have no loyalty to him and Tyler needs to look after his own interests and not worry about Lance’s. His own interests lie with keeping his team mates happy and willing to work for him and that is probably not going to be best served by working for LA.

If Tyler and LA work together and scratch each others backs and the other 21 teams work together or have deals where certain breaks are allowed and others not, it is almost a certainty that Tyler and LA lose, they might be able to manage and control a race where 2 teams are a serious threat but there is no way they can manage an entire peleton that is against them and it appears that a lot of the peleton is not with USPS.

My bet is Tyler works with Jan, Once, Mercatone etc to control and limit LA as opposed to working with him. Granted if Jan goes out on the first mountain stage and starts to put 15 mins in to them, then yes he’ll work with LA to control the damage but dont look to Tyler to be chasing everything down with LA, his interests lie in taking LA out of contention, not keeping him in it.

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If Tyler and LA work together and scratch each others backs and the other 21 teams work together or have deals where certain breaks are allowed and others not, it is almost a certainty that Tyler and LA lose, they might be able to manage and control a race where 2 teams are a serious threat but there is no way they can manage an entire peleton that is against them and it appears that a lot of the peleton is not with USPS.

Where are you coming by this information?

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Mark these words.

Pantani was only really good when he was taking drugs.

Ulrich was soundly beaten before when he was ready, this time he isn’t.

Simoni won’t recover from the Giro and will lose at least 5 minutes overall in TT.

Tyler Hamilton won’t last beyond the first big attack in the mountains.

The climbing posties go way deeper than any other team. Heras is probably the 3rd best climber in the tour.

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Allegiance in the peloton is always for the team you ride on. Even when LeMond and Hinault had their battle and their team split along French/North American lines, the other teams stayed out of it. Why? Because it is against the rules for teams to form alliances against other teams.

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I couldn’t agree more, Dumbo has relegated himself to a sideshow freak in this tour. If anything, all the trash talk and posing is serving LA more than it is hurting him. All of these questions are going to be answered next month, I cannot wait. How come nobody has anything to say about Beloki? Does he suddenly suck, and Hamilton, Liepheimer, and Ullrich have stepped up? I think Beloki has more potential to win this tour away from LA than any of these other riders.

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I think Beloki has more potential to win this tour away from LA than any of these other riders.
Exactly! I really think Aitor is going to be the one to watch in the next couple years. He’s one of the few elite who can climb incredibly well, and time trial extremely well too. I don’t know about this year, but I think he can win it in the future. There are a lot of great climbers, and there are a lot of great time trialers, but no many who can do both. It’s the extremely few who can do both that we’ll see threaten Lance.

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There are a lot of great climbers, and there are a lot of great time trialers, but no many who can do both. It’s the extremely few who can do both that we’ll see threaten Lance. Absolutely. That’s why I think Botero has the best shot at unseating Lance. He’s won the King of the Mountains jersey at the Tour, he has beaten Lance in a couple of TT’s, and is the reigning TT World Champion. Now if he can only avoid the one bad day he seems to have every year at the Tour…other than Santi, I’d probably say Beloki and Aitor have the best shot of unseating LA this year (maybe Simoni if he can hold his form). I also think some people might be selling Pantani short. He finished 14th at the Giro and would have been in the top 10 if not for his crash. He seemed to be getting stronger as the race progressed. I don’t think he could win the Tour but if he continues to get his form back, he could be a big factor in the mountains.

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i don’t think anyone would say that pantani has a chance at gc. in fact, pantani said himself that it’s going to take a group effort to take down lance. surprisingly, pantani has conceded that he is not the best, and he can’t do it on his own. “I want to see if Armstrong is really that much better than me, as people say, I’m convinced that if several of us worked together, we could get him panicking.” in fact, his statement smells like he is suggesting that nobody can do it on their own.

it’s a bit surprising though that he is getting slammed so hard by some of these posts. a guy doesn’t have to clean up in a major tour to be a force. of course he can’t perform like he did when he was 5 years younger and doped. but, don’t you have to hand it to a guy that has been through all his troubles and still show up, knowing he can’t win a major tour again, but simply hope for a big stage? look at monte zoncolan in the giro - the toughest grade they had to face, and the stage where simoni said he hoped to take the most time out of garzelli. two of the best climbers in the world fighting for the gc, it’s go time, and who is in there right behind them? pantani. circumstantially, he was not a factor for the stage, but he only finished 7 seconds behind garzelli and proved that only a small change in circumstances could have made the difference of him being a factor in the stage. an example that he is still an amazing climber. would i trade my beautiful ears for his so that i could climb like that? well, his ears are pretty big, but that’s not the point, i can’t believe some people are having a hard time looking beyond his ears.

the giro… i loved it… this little punk was back, right there again, with his unique style. seeing him climb in his drops, and his patented grimace… stirred up thoughts of the 2000 tour, where we were actually ‘hoping’ lance would win, without the comfort of knowing only a miracle could stop lance. and his audaciousness… he had the nerve to say that lance did not gift him ventoux, but he won it… love him or hate him, he’s fun.

prior to the giro, i would have guessed his odds of ‘showing up’ (14th qualifies as showing up in my mind) were only slight… and he did. that made for a little more exciting tour than if he were to be retired, and i hope the same goes for the tdf. with a force like lance, sometimes it’s more fun to observe what is happening deeper in the field. even if it’s just for one mountain stage, and he ‘only’ comes in 5th again, it will be good entertainment. maybe it’s not just entertainment though; perhaps the thought has crossed garzelli’s mind that if pantani works for him, they can beat lance on a big mtn stage. pantani working for garzelli?.. i think he would do it if it means stopping the unstoppable.

as far as how this (or anything) affects lance’s 5th victory? likely not at all… it will require the perfect storm for him not to take the tour.

this sport is killer because there is so much more to it than who is simply in the lead. on a less killer note though… popovych’s team manager was arrested this morning for distributing drugs to athletes. argh…

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it’s a bit surprising though that he is getting slammed so hard by some of these posts.

This is why he gets slammed by me. I can’t stand riders who talk trash like this guy does.

“I’m always looking for the motivation to keep racing and the Tour would be perfect. It would also show I’m serious about racing again which should get Armstrong worried,” he said. “Last year I didn’t deserve a place because I wasn’t riding well but this year things are different - I’m competitive and would be a threat to Armstrong.”

I mean, does Pantani really think that of all Lance has to worry about, he gets more than a couple seconds consideration and perhaps a chuckle? He needs to get over himself.

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I’m a huge Lance fan, but I can’t help notice a bit of a double standard here. Trash talk?? I think it’s fair to say that Lance it quite well known for his potty mouth and willingness to talk trash. He’s just smart enough not to do it in front of the press.

Anyway, one thing’s for sure. I’m giddy with anticipation for July.

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Lance will ultimately win. He will receive help from Tyler and or Levi only if they are not really in the running for a podium spot. Tyler will most likely be gunning for a podium spot if he can keep the rubber side down. Levi is still a little “young” in regards to the TDF. He has grand tour experience but TDF is a whole other game.

Another competitive team will not just let Ullrich or Pantani go. Others will chase. Garzelli or Simoni definately won’t let Ullrich go and force USPS to chase. There is too much at stake. Ullrich is still out of form, Pantani poses the biggest threat in the mountains, but remeber Heras and Pena are incredible in the mountains. I’m sure Lance has them in form. Remember if Lance falters Heras is gonna gun for a podium spot. Either way it will be fun to watch. Thank god for OLN

Rusty

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looking for a GC spot, or even because MP has a cat in hells chance of winning but each of these teams have members that can pose threats at varying times of the race that the Posties are going to have to manage 22 other teams that will not help them 90+ percent of the time.

I think if you read all of the avail info at present there is a lot of feeling that they will be completely out there on there own this year, I think Amstel was just the start, no one is looking out to help LA, Patron of the peleton or not, he is now fair game.

As to whether this speculation is right or wrong, it’s only based on whats already been said in the news and my gut feeling that all teams with contenders are going to work against and not for LA, American members or not.

If you are even remotely a contender, Simon, Belok, Tyler, Lance, Aitor etc etc or you have teams with people that could win individual stages such as Pantani, he only needs ONE good day, and he can climb, then it is not in your interest to work with LA period. As to the Lemond / Hinault argument and how the team divided down national lines, that dont work here, teams have always worked together to chase down brake aways, manage the peleton to allow the sprinters to contest or up the tempo to split fields so that statement holds no water.

What is clearly different between Lemond / Hinault and today is that both of them were on a favorite team to win, it would be like the posties splitting and that aint going to happen, its not like CSC and USPS are getting together and dividing in to America versus Europe…

I hope it is out of control from week one. All this said now all we need is LA or Tyler to crash in the prologue ala Boardman…

July is going to rock rock rock…