that has a large impact on the tour. I think it’s hard for anybody to beat Armsrong on top of his game. But as a group they could pull it off, we saw some of that last year when vino, Ulle and Mayo attacked in series, that’s the way to do it. But now with Vino out, the scary double punch of T-mobile becomes the standard treat.
I think the lastest report is that he will be out for 3 weeks. He is one tough cookie, I bet he is wearing the pink colors of T-mobile for the prologue.
Dave from VA
He’s out for the TdF, according to a T-Mobile spokesman. Unless it’s all a ruse…
I don’t think it is a big deal if he’s out for the Tour or not at full strength. I think it will help Jan since there wont be an internal struggle over who is the leader of the team.
Yeah, Velonews says he is out but cyclingnews.com is posting out for 3 weeks. I’m hoping he races, Vino was the most aggresive last year and fun to watch. I can’t wait for July 3!
Dave from VA
I don’t think it is a big deal if he’s out for the Tour or not at full strength. I think it will help Jan since there wont be an internal struggle over who is the leader of the team.
i disagree. i think the competition between the two of them would have driven them to a whole other level of performance. Lance is lucky T-Mobile can’t do a hammer-and-anvil act upon him now.
Just like Lance may have been “playing his cards” on Ventoux and perhaps holdinig out to dig really deep at the Tour, T-Mobile may be playing this down, knowing full well at Vino will be there come the TdF Prologue.
I don’t think there was going to be any power struggle. Vino loves Jan and considers him his good friend and mentor. I think everyone knows that at some point, either the mantle will have to be passed or there will have to be a split but that was not going to happen this year. Vino was going to ride for Jan. Losing Vino does nothing but hurt Jan and T-Mobile. Can Jan still win? Absolutely, he is a very strong rider on what is still a very good team but I think his chances are worse today than they were yesterday.
now that’s pretty interesting. be assured that this is the most high-stakes chess match in recent history. lance hedged his bets and didn’t go all out in dauphine as to not get injured, and vino gets injured. wise move on lance’s part. what kind of plans did t-mobile have to get him in a nasty set of ullrich-vino pincers? let one rider tear it up from the beginning, wearing lance out, only to have the other pick it up the second half? Maybe it didn’t work out this year, but it sure brings up the concept of having a double-header team. Mayo might have worn himself out, but did he scare the living crap out of lance… enough to psych him out? Perhaps Tyler found the perfect medium and rode hard, but not too hard… and is primed to win.
I don’t think there was going to be any power struggle. Vino loves Jan and considers him his good friend and mentor. I think everyone knows that at some point, either the mantle will have to be passed or there will have to be a split but that was not going to happen this year. Vino was going to ride for Jan. Losing Vino does nothing but hurt Jan and T-Mobile. Can Jan still win? Absolutely, he is a very strong rider on what is still a very good team but I think his chances are worse today than they were yesterday.
I didn’t mean there would be a power struggle. I meant more along the lines of those two sitting at dinner with a manager and coming up with a very serious strategy of how the two of them, working together, could make lance’s life a living hell. every team is doing that right now, but none had two guys on the same team with such ability to do major damage. if vino’s hurt, they’ve blown a major, major opportunity.
I agree with most of your post but the opening statement. Injury crashers happen in bike races and going all out or not has little to do with it unless you’re in a sprint or a steep descent. So staying healthy is more a testament of luck than a chess move.
Ullrichs sprint to a first stage win at the TDS is a little defferent, because he took some risks in that final turn, not sure if that was smart.
take a look at sfdrs.ch there is a small 3min mpeg of the final sprint.
agret,
Could you post a direct link to that mpeg or instructions on how to get there. My arabic is a little rusty.
Too bad if he is out, vino is a fun guy to watch.
http://www.tourdesuisse.ch/(w0xfwdnd0fiecqfix4wj43mo)/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-189/
1.Etappe …means first stage … just in case:-)
It’s in german but even if you don’t understand, you’ll get an idea of the race. It’s a 3 minute recap.
pretty cool if you have fast internet!
The loss of Vino is a big loss for T-Mobile especially in terms of tactics and the team time trial. Personally, I don’t think there was going to be any conflict between Jan and Vino; the potential conflict issue was probably sorted out before Jan signed with T-Mobile. With that said, T-Mobile is like USPS, but has even more good riders, they wil probably be able to fill the void, but it will reduce their tactics options come the race. USPS will probably very pumped that Vino is out. It is too bad though, Vino has really started to come into his own for the Grand Tours.