Wonder what LeBlanc thinks now
 

He didn't want Cipo in Le Tour due to his propensity
for abandoning as soon as the tour got to the mountains.
Wonder how he feels about Petacchi?

Marty

Petacchi is just one rider.
Remember, they invite teams, not individual riders.
Fassa Bortolo was/is a more qualified team

I have a feeling we won't be seeing Petacchi get invited back to the Tour... unless his team is just super great.

Didn't like half his team abandon so far?

Fasso Bartolo is down to 3 riders but one of them, Basso, is doing quite well so I'd imagine FB will be back. I was disappointed in Petacchi. As a spectator I really enjoy the sprints esp. when you have a team like Fasso or Cipo's Domina Vacanze that does the leadout so well. However, Petacci is out on what was more of a hill rather than the mountains.

4 FB riders went out with the flu. I'd guess that's legit if for no other reason than the sponsors would really be steamed to see their team pull out of the race that gets the most exposure w/o good reason.

The Cipo thing is obviously a moot point but I'll maintain my original stance that he should have been there.

I agree with Brent. FB is a total team, not just support for a famous sprinter. Which is not to say it won't give LeBlanc heartburn.

Don't be so quick to fault Petacchi for his abandonment. He rode and performed remarkably in the Giro and the Tour. And unlike some riders who already have made their reputation and fame, he did not choose to abandon. I believe that he would have ridden on if he possibly could have. He just had nothing left when they hit the mountains.

Petachi was even attacked by his team management.
Could possibly be that we don´t see Petachi next year in the Tour. On the other side, Cipo was invited at least 8 or 9 times and never saw Paris.

can you imagine how it must feel to be basso and have your whole damn team bail on you that early? i think petacchi's abandon was pretty cowardly, but i guess he's just trying to win stages in all the major tours.

I think Cipo's attitude, in combination with his abandons, has as much to do with LeBlanc's opinion of him as anything. Petacchi at least behaved with some dignity and respect for the race, and at least had a go at his last stage rather than just not signing in. He'll be back.

argonne, i'm not sure how much of a go petacchi had. looked to me like as soon as he saw the climb, he calmly stopped, got of his bike, and got in the car. didn't even really try to get up it. maybe i saw it wrong, but i think i'd have had more respect for him had he just announced he was pulling out after the stage before.

For what its worth, Fasso Bortolo was decimated by a
virus, and Petacchi could have been affected. Figure we would
have heard it that was the case.
The real question for me is would Domina Vicenza have done better overall that Fasso Bortolo?
That was what Le Blanc keyed on (IMHO),
he felt that DV had little chance of doing well, not just
Cipo.

Hindsight is always 20/20

Marty

When I saw Petacchi abandon... it looked like he had gotten dropped first, instead of him just slowing from the field and stopping right away. He probably had nothing left (which explains why he won those early stages :D )

DV has a young climber (can't remember his name) so they might be doing well but Basso is #7 and unlikely to fall out of the top 10. Also FB enterd the race with the Vuelta champ (Aitor Gonzales). Didn't do much and abandoned with illness but that's hindsight.

Petacchi has beaten Cipo straight up but the DV team does a much better job with the leadout train. My guess is that FB would be ahead of DV on the team standings. However, I really enjoy watching DV set up a sprint and hope to see it get on OLN once or twice more this season.

Stick a big fat beastie col (15k @ 7% would do it) in Stage 1 - then let's see who abandons and who sprints and who whinges about an invite. I wreckon you might even see ol Jean Marie standing on the top of it waiting for a couple of Italians to come over top of it with a grin from ear to ear !!!