From velonews:
“Back from the 2003 Tour team are Americans George Hincapie and Floyd Landis, Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov, Czech rider Pavel Padrnos and Spanish riders Manuel Beltran and Jose Luis Rubiera while newcomers Jose Azevedo and Benjamin Noval got the nod ahead of team veterans Victor Hugo Peña and Benoit Joachim.”
I haven’t been following USPS that closely in the runup to the Tour, but it seems surprising that the guy who wore the yellow jersey last year will sit this one out…
Ken
I’m thinking that with that silly new TTT rule, they figure go 2:30 or 5:00 faster, who cares? Instead, go for the better help in the mountains which Nozal should be.
clm
Hmmm. Could be. But it seems unlikely that USPS will put more than 2:30 into T-Mobile, or vice versa. I guess that’s why Bruyneel gets the big bucks.
they don’t expect to beat T-Mobile by more than 2:30 but they should beat Eskatel (read Mayo) by more than that. Mayo (and the other climbers) is why Postal needs the additional climbers.
Here is a link to last year’s TTT results:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2003/tour03/?id=results/stage4
It was :30 to ONCE (which now has Heras with its new name), 1:30 to T-Mobile (without Jan last year), and 3:22 to Euskaltel-Euskadi (Mayo’s team). There isn’t any reason to put 3:22 into your rivals this go around.
Adam
“There isn’t any reason to put 3:22 into your rivals this go around”
Yes, this is nearly self-evident. But don’t you want to put as much of the 2:30 as you can into some of these other guys? Or worse, prevent them from putting time into you? Of course Bruyneel has probably spent months thinking about this and a thousand other variables- that’s his job after all.
Ken
Final general** classification**
1 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 83.41.12 (40.94 km/h)
2 Jan Ullrich (Ger) Team Bianchi 1.01
3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Telekom 4.14
4 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC 6.17
5 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6.51
6 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 7.06
7 Ivan Basso (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 10.12
8 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 12.28
9 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 18.49
10 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) iBanesto.com 19.15
what is, if any thing has the tour organization done to prevent temas like Mayo’s from just sitting up and cruising in once they have lost 2:30. Or worse just cruising the whole TTT, take your 2:30 hit and hope for the best in the mtns?
what is, if any thing has the tour organization done to prevent temas like Mayo’s from just sitting up and cruising in once they have lost 2:30. Or worse just cruising the whole TTT, take your 2:30 hit and hope for the best in the mtns? <<
Because you still have to finish within x% of the winner of the stage, so you can’t drag in 15 (or however many) minutes later or your entire team is out.
clm
There’s still an elimination time limit, so they can’t exactly loaf through it. It is a shame though, I like the discipline and the attention it brings to teamwork, which although always there is not obvious to the casual observer. I can see the logic of protecting people against catastrophe that they can’t personally control, but 2:30 is ridiculous, it should be 5:00.
I can’t explain picking Noval over Pena and Joichim except that I’m sure it gets down to who is in better form at the moment.
As to whether they are necessarily giving anything up. . .this is from the USPS site on Noval:
A talented climber and time trialist, Benjamin Noval joins the USPS following three productive pro seasons with the Spanish based Relax-Fuenlabrada team. Noval’s aggressive style in the mountains and his solid performances against the clock should put him in the position for stage race victories throughout the upcoming season.
So it appears that Noval is a solid TTer as well as climber. . .pretty much the same as Pena.
Azevedo is a super strong climber, thats true. But don’t forget, he’s been part of the super strong Once TTT squad as well. I don’t think USPS is giving up anything having him vs Joichim or Pena, with respect to the TTT, and certainly gains over those two in the mountains.
Ekimov and Georgie are still on the team? Go Blue. Sure hope the deck is stacked right…not so much for Lance as for these two. Eki is what now in his 40s or something…total stud.
Aw, he’s only 38. Just a kid.
george is the man. he was very underrated in the mountains last year. i like the powerhouses like that–jens voigt, magnus backstedt, and thor hushovd also come to mind.