Road Bike Racing - Tuesday July 25th Discovery announces a "major signing" - Who's it gonna be?

from Chris Brewer's column on thepaceline

http://www.thepaceline.com/members/chrisb_item.aspx?cid=2587


And because you're a faithful reader of this column, I'll tell you to look for a major signing announcement Tuesday morning, US time! It's big and you're gonna like it…

Lance is coming back...

Lance is coming back...

I hope not. If it is, then maybe in retrospect I should have labled this thread "Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the Peleton..."

http://www.drafthouse.com/images/jaws.jpg

They just landed Eki for another year. Yay!

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not really crazy about the idea of him coming back either--It's just the kind of thing that Discovery would pull after a TdF performance that didn't live up to the hype, and that LA would agree to after being (guessing) emboldened by the departure of Jean Marie Leblanc and the presence of a new American in the Maillot Jaune that produced an amazing TdF.

DrPete

Are they finally signing Tommy Voeckler?????

Is Vino still signed with Wurth? Does Wurth still exist? I haven't been paying much attention to Operacíon Puerto lately.

Is Vino still signed with Wurth? Does Wurth still exist? I haven't been paying much attention to Operacíon Puerto lately.

Wurth is now Astana, and they've just hired Walter Godefroot as an 'advisor' until the end of the year, at the least, so I doubt it's Vino.

I just heard from the newswire, they hired EURO.

Can't believe no one has mentioned Jan yet.

My guesses:

1. Basso or
2. Vino

I just heard from the newswire, they hired EURO.
Gold. But his refusal to sign the "American Bashing" waiver has slowed negotiations.

If it's vino, I'm going to splooge.

Floyd.

How cold would that be to ditch the team that supported you to a TDF win the previous day? That doesn't sound like flandis.

Vino said he wanted to race one or two years with Astana, then take it over, didn't he?

Could it be Tyler Hamilton? His suspension ends in September, and he says he's doing Worlds. He doesn't have a team yet, right?

Never would Landis go back to Bruyneel.
Plus, he's having hip surgery in the off season. His future in cycling is iffy.

can't believe that valverde hasn't come up as a possibility

I don't know of the contract status of Valverde. That would be big. So would Schleck.

It isn't Vino...there is talk of him owning the Astana team and in a few years being a DS for them.
It also isn't Floyd, for those that haven't seen yet he has signed a 1 yr extension with iShares.

Basso hasn't been sacked as of yet, anyone know when his contract is up?

So big names on the market - Jan has no job...but he may also not be racing so I would doubt it would be him. Tyler maybe? I doubt that too as he may also not be in racing due to OP, if they were looking at him wouldn't they just have their discussions and sign him once (if it happens) he is cleared?

Anyone have a list of riders who contracts are up and haven't resigned?

Maybe it refers to a new sponsor.

How cold would that be to ditch the team that supported you to a TDF win the previous day? That doesn't sound like flandis.

I hear you. But F 'em. Dumb team director, and Floyd was essentially isolated on most mtn. stages. Phonak was brutal. About the only thing they did for him was set him up to launch early on Stage 17. Compared to the 'Blue Train' we all got used to with Lance/Discovery it was pathetic. Now THAT's cold. Again, lucky for Phonak it was Floyd. He carried them. Totally.

Landis was quoting as saying something like 'to keep the Yellow Jersey would have been greedy' about the day they let it go. If I'm Discovery Channel/Bruneeyl the first thing I do after signing Floyd is take him into the DC bus and whack him upside the head. WE'RE *WHACK* HERE TO *WHACK* WIN *WHACK* ThE TOUR *WHACK* *WHACK* NOT WIN A EURO POPULARITY CONTEST *WHACK*!!!!

Cunego?

If Ullie signed w/ Disco Bruneyl could put a zapper collar on him for holiday food binges.
I still don't see what Vino has besides average TT and climbing skills. Ok he's aggressive and fun to watch but that doesn't win races.

If I'm Discovery Channel/Bruneeyl the first thing I do after signing Floyd is take him into the DC bus and whack him upside the head. WE'RE *WHACK* HERE TO *WHACK* WIN *WHACK* ThE TOUR *WHACK* *WHACK* NOT WIN A EURO POPULARITY CONTEST *WHACK*!!!!

I'm sure he would have won the tour had he followed your advice. Instead we have to live with another Discovery Channel victory. Another dominant performance by the men in blue, placing a rider in the top ten in each category, toppping the team classification, and taking the podium in Paris.

How do they do it?

Never would Landis go back to Bruyneel.
Plus, he's having hip surgery in the off season. His future in cycling is iffy.

Does Bruyneel have some kind of beef with Landis or the other way around?
I thought I saw Bruyneel saying that he would be interested in Landis.

Maybe it refers to a new sponsor.

Better not be GMC. They'd be in a world of hurt riding Denali's. :p

It's not Landis, he's signed with iShares as #1.
It won't be Ullrich, he will likely be banned for 3 years.
It may be Vino -that would be a smart move for both parties.

Better not be GMC. They'd be in a world of hurt riding Denali's. :p

Two for one: they sign Ullrich and Raleigh cycles:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2004/tour04/stage19/live/jan.jpg

It may be Vino -that would be a smart move for both parties.
As I mentioned above it ISN'T going to be Vino


Vino to take over Astana

Alexandre Vinokourov, who some describe as 'collateral damage' of the Operación Puerto affair at the Tour de France, is not giving up. Speaking to L'Equipe, the 32 year-old said that he had plans to "take over the team [of Manolo Saiz] completely on the long run. This is going to be our team," Vinokourov said, meaning that he wanted to make it a Kazakh outfit altogether.

The sponsors of his home country want to buy the team of its current Spanish managers. "Two years from now, I will probably be directeur sportif of the team," said 'Vino'. "We made a mistake in the beginning of June, when Astana became the new sponsor for Liberty Seguros. We should have bought the company shares from Saiz then - that would have been the only thing to save the team at the start in Strasbourg. But I couldn't think straight at the time; I had to prepare myself for the Tour!"

Dumb move for vino.


According to the paceline:


Following the completion of the 2006 Tour de France - the first one in seven years that the team did not win - the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team is already making plans to move forward and regain their winning ways. And as a step towards that future, Sports Manager Johan Bruyneel today announced the signing of three new riders for the 2007 season - and a new role for one of the true legends of the sport of cycling.

American Levi Leipheimer returns to the squad from Gerolsteiner, Portugal's Sergio Paulinho arrives from the former Wurth squad, and Lithuanian Tomas Vaitkus arrives from AG2R.

Levi and um, ..who?

From the Paceline:

Following the completion of the 2006 Tour de France - the first one in seven years that the team did not win - the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team is already making plans to move forward and regain their winning ways. And as a step towards that future, Sports Manager Johan Bruyneel today announced the signing of three new riders for the 2007 season - and a new role for one of the true legends of the sport of cycling.

American Levi Leipheimer returns to the squad from Gerolsteiner, Portugal's Sergio Paulinho arrives from the former Wurth squad, and Lithuanian Tomas Vaitkus arrives from AG2R.

Adding to the team's managerial staff, Russian iron man Viatchslev "Eki" Ekimov will retire as a rider and become an Assistant Sports Manager along with Dirk Demol, Sean Yates, and Lorenzo Lapage.

"Eki is Eki - he is an amazing rider with one of the greatest palmares in the modern era," Bruyneel said. "We are very proud to have his cycling knowledge, experience, and leadership as part of the team as we move forward with great expectations for the opportunities ahead."

Looking ahead to the next year, Bruyneel said there is more still to come. "There are still changes that need to be made, and we can expect to probably sign two or three more riders to the roster."

Levi Leipheimer - Levi is not only one of the top American riders but one of the best riders in the pro peloton, period. 1st overall in the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré, 1st overall in the 2005 Tour of Germany, and 3rd overall in the 2001 Vuelta a España, Levi also has three top-ten finishes in the Tour de France and rode for Team USPS several years ago. "There was definitely interest in him returning to our team from both sides. His palmares are excellent - he won the Dauphine Libere this year and probably should have won it last year, too. He'll definitely be a Tour de France rider for us in 2007," noted Bruyneel.

Sergio Paulinho - 2004 was the breakout year for the 26-year old rider. 6th in the Tour of Portugal and then a silver medal in the road race at the Athens Olympics, he was soon signed by Liberty Seguros-Würth. "I think he's a talent and we know some things about him from Jose Azevedo. He rode a good Dauphine Libere this year and I think he will do well in our environment," said Bruyneel.

Tomas Vaitkus (AG2R) - the 2002 junior Time Trial world champion, he also won a stage in the 2006 Giro d'Italia. "He's a good one-day rider and a solid sprinter," said Bruyneel. "I expect him to primarily be one of our riders for the Classics."

Going from drinking Gerolsteiner to Dasani again. I wonder if it will be a tough transition.

yawn ... I like Levi and all, but I doubt he'll win a tour. Then again, maybe the Disco juice can propel him to bigger and better things.

Mark

Not a huge fan of Levi but at least they got an American to lead the team.

Not a huge fan of Levi but at least they got an American to lead the team.

yeah, god forbid having a foriegner lead the team, they should only be there to cook, clean, and do all of the other dirty stuff no one else wants to do :rolleyes:

Gero has about the worst team tatics I have seen. No one looking out for each other. With them it is pretty much every man for themselves. Levi finished 6th in 2005, and with the help of Disco may be able to find a podium position. That being said I would think Popo would be moved into team leader. In a few years I think he may be able to do some real damage. Bringing in Levi may do more harm than good. Time will tell.

Richard

yeah, god forbid having a foriegner lead the team, they should only be there to cook, clean, and do all of the other dirty stuff no one else wants to do :rolleyes:

Yea god forbid French teams pick French riders. When will Euskaltel-Euskadi sign a team leader from the US?

Again I will say Popo for Discovery, but I don't have a problem with an American team picking an American rider as leader.

Richard

It does seem kinda ridiculous to refer to any UCI ProTour team by its nationality. How many different countries does Disco have riders from? I guess it makes sense with Euskatel/Euskadi and the like, but most of these teams are quite international.

DrPete

I just heard from the newswire, they hired EURO.

Well crap, prolly couldn't do much worse than what discovery had this year. I thought they were gonna announce that they signed me.

Poor popo, he deserved better.

I am voting for Vino.

I like Levi, but I'm kind of disappointed. I thought from the to-do they'd signed a top 5 rider - not a top 15 whose best days might be behind him now. Yes, it will be an improvement, but they still have a lot of catching up to do. Maybe in 2-3 years Popovych, Danielson & Guisev will be quite a force, but for now... let's just say I'm not expecting Discovery to be on the podium in Paris for the next couple of years.

Two for one: they sign Ullrich and Raleigh cycles:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2004/tour04/stage19/live/jan.jpg

:lol: I think the Fireball would be a better choice than the Chopper - more stable on technical descents. :D

Nah... Ivan Basso and Ullrich bikes... That would be dope. :D

DrPete

Who says Levi is going to be the team leader for the TdF? The last couple of years, Lance wasn't the leader in the other big races. He mainly concentrated on the big show. They may roll Levi out as the leader at the "American" races like the TdC and TdG and save Popo or someone else for the Vuelta, Giro, TdF, etc.

Who says Levi is going to be the team leader for the TdF? The last couple of years, Lance wasn't the leader in the other big races. He mainly concentrated on the big show. They may roll Levi out as the leader at the "American" races like the TdC and TdG and save Popo or someone else for the Vuelta, Giro, TdF, etc.
Maybe you're forgetting Levi's three (at least three that I can remember) top ten placings in the Tour, something Popovych hasn't achieved yet. If you don't think Levi is going to be the team leader at the Tour, and instead concentrate on the Tours of California and Georgia, you're crazy.

Popovych is the real deal. His time is close at hand. Floyd or Valverde may be the big favorites next year.
Cunego could be a major force on the horizon. Still wondering about Danielson. David Z could be something special.

It does seem kinda ridiculous to refer to any UCI ProTour team by its nationality. How many different countries does Disco have riders from? I guess it makes sense with Euskatel/Euskadi and the like, but most of these teams are quite international.

DrPete

it has alot to do with where the main sponsor is located...hence US postal and now Disco being associated with the united states.

We're supposed to get excited that they're signing Levi? He doesn't have what it takes to win the Tour, and his ego is too big for him to focus on "lesser" races because he's constantly saying he can win the Tour. What do you get with Levi? You get a guy who focuses his whole year on a race he'll never win. Way to go, Discovery.

Why can't Discovery just be patient? Why take a gamble on Levi instead of giving Popo a chance? Do they still think it's too early to throw Popo out there like that?

I don't know how to feel about this. I like Levi and all, and he did finish better than any of the Disco boys, but something just doesn't feel great about this. I guess Disco and Trek really want an American leader, and he was the best placed behind Floyd. Maybe they want him to lead for 1 or 2 years while they groom Danielson some more?