Originally Posted by cjbruin
OK...for what it's worth...Julich finish 3rd in 1998 and wore #1 in 1999 since Pantani and Ullrich did not ride that year.
This suggests it will be Basso.
I don't claim to know the answer. But do know what has been done in the past. 1999 was the first year since 1956 where there was No rider returning who had ever won the TDF. I'm pretty sure that some of the times before the number 1 went to the most recent rider who had won the tour. Also some years (a while ago) the number 1 went to the team of the winner last year. That one gets really confusing as some years the team name also changed (La Vie Clare became Toshiba if I recall correctly).
So we have 3 possibilities, Discovery, Basso or Ulrich.
Of course trying to determine the current rules from the past has a problem. They can and have changed the rules.