"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Predictor-Lotto considers Leipheimer

How is Levi going to help Evans? He'd have to pull and/or attack in the mountains and we all know he is unlikely to do either one.



Belgium-based squad Predictor-Lotto is interested in having the signature of American Levi Leipheimer, third in the recent edition of the Tour de France. The 33 year-old is looking for a new team after it was announced that current team Discovery Channel will be folding its operations at the end of 2007.

Predictor-Lotto Team Manager José De Cauwer confirmed in an interview with La Dernière Heure that the team is motivated in having a strong general classification rider to help Australian Cadel Evans, second in the Tour. "We would like to have a second man at the side of Evans who has the capacity to ride for the classification in Grand Tours, and Leipheimer would be an ideal man," noted the Belgian.

"The negotiations are open but I believe there are good possibilities that we can find an agreement."

Leipheimer spent three years with Rabobank and two with Gerolsteiner before signing with Discovery for 2007 and later being designated as a reinforcement to Ivan Basso. Discovery and Basso parted ways when the Italian was linked with Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and this opened the door for Leipheimer to push for the podium in the Tour while helping younger teammate Alberto Contador vie for the eventual win.

Lotto is going to be waving bye-bye to Horner .

Lotto is going to be waving bye-bye to Horner .

I don't know, Horner's about as good a domestique as you could ask for.

I don't know, Horner's about as good a domestique as you could ask for.

Read his interview. They don't want to pay him market rate. Look for him to wind up at Slipstream.

Read his interview. They don't want to pay him market rate. Look for him to wind up at Slipstream.

Ah, I hadn't seen that until just now, thanks. Don't know why Lotto wouldn't pony up the cash after his performance this year.

Ah, I hadn't seen that until just now, thanks. Don't know why Lotto wouldn't pony up the cash after his performance this year.

Because Levi's much better than Horner with the fans and media?...:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

Cadel's finally shown that he's willing to attack a little so they are desperate for a wheelsucker?

They've got Levi's "accelerations aren't my thing" covered with Robbie?

I think PL is underestimating how good of a domestique Horner was. Don't know if they don't like his very "frank" comments or if they simply don't value domestiques very highly but he's being undervalued. You know Horner and others can criticize Lance (as he does in his recent interview) for disbanding the team but one thing Lance did was take care of his domestiques financially. Better than anyone else in pro cycling. Landis made $240,000 in his last year with Lance and also got a huge bonus (out of Lance's pocket not the team's) after ever TDF win. Lance may have been selfish when it came to stage and race victories but he paid his teammates what they deserved. And his first year with Lance, his bonus from Lance (again, from Lance's personal bank account) was bigger than his salary.

That's true about Lance. He broke up his entire prize check from the Tour amongst his teammates, reasoning that all his sponsorship money was thanks to them.

Can't see why Levi would do that unless he can't find another job. Why would he want to sign up to be a domestique for a guy he just finished 8 seconds back on in the Tour? Unless they put him on a Giro/Vuelta program as team leader. Can't see that with the Tour-centric mentality of American fans.......

That's true about Lance. He broke up his entire prize check from the Tour amongst his teammates, reasoning that all his sponsorship money was thanks to them.

Nice story, only the truth is prize money goes to the team, not the rider.

Nice story, only the truth is prize money goes to the team, not the rider.

You need to read "Lance Armstrongs War" Lance got a huge bonus in his contract for winning the Tour seperate from the actual Tour prize money.
So he in effect would pay from his own pocket to the domestiques when he won.

Nice story, only the truth is prize money goes to the team, not the rider.

He would take "HIS" prize money and give it away.

Lotto is going to be waving bye-bye to Horner .

Horner did mention in one of his daily Tour diaries on velonews that there was a gap between him and the team when it came to salary negotiations, so this may well prove true.

Horner was a big part of Cadel making the podium, as well as Cadel's roommate on the road.

If chemistry means anything, then they should pony up to keep Horner.

You need to read "Lance Armstrongs War" ...
You need to read the post I replied to.


He broke up his entire prize check from the Tour ...

(by the way, all Tour winners in the modern era, have left their share of the prize money for their team.)

If he helped Cadel so much (as I think he did) why isn't Cadel fighting for him to get a good salary?

If he helped Cadel so much (as I think he did) why isn't Cadel fighting for him to get a good salary?
and *THAT*, friends, is the $64,000 question. If Cadel had any brains at all he'd tell P-L to take some of HIS salary and give it to Horner.

Do they pay more for Cadel or for Robbie Mcewen?

If he helped Cadel so much (as I think he did) why isn't Cadel fighting for him to get a good salary?

As Horner himself has said, he is coming to the end of his career. Perhaps Cadel and P-L are more interested in replacing him with a newer model Domestique 2.0? :D

In all seriousness, whilst Horner does deserve to be earning every bit as much as the domestiques on Discovery, Rabobank, etc. the focus of P-L has always been more on the green jersey with McEwen. Perhaps they view this year's TdF result as a fluke and are more interested in spending money on supporting McEwen, where they can use cheaper domestiques, as they're really only needed on flat stage?

If I were Cadel, I might be looking for a position as leader of a team with a little more support (ie. more than 1 domestique that can hang on the climbs).

Do they pay more for Cadel or for Robbie Mcewen?

Probably McEwen, though that might change. Both are rumoured to be on seven-figure pa contracts, though Lotto picked them both up for peanuts when they first joined the team.

IMO they should pay Horner more cash, but its a hard nosed business. Problem for Horner is that there are 20 Chris Horners out there and teams are folding.

As Horner himself has said, he is coming to the end of his career. Perhaps Cadel and P-L are more interested in replacing him with a newer model Domestique 2.0? :D

In all seriousness, whilst Horner does deserve to be earning every bit as much as the domestiques on Discovery, Rabobank, etc. the focus of P-L has always been more on the green jersey with McEwen. Perhaps they view this year's TdF result as a fluke and are more interested in spending money on supporting McEwen

McEwen is going to be 36 next year if I recall correctly. He didn't make it this year. Maybe next year he will... but he's definitely not someone you want to build your team around, in my opinion - unless you ONLY care about next year.

But in this pro tour environment with skitish sponsors, there is only next year to care about at this point.

Plus, just think how many Predictor kits Robbie hands out to the podium girls throughout the year as compared to Cadel. It's all about market saturation. ;)

As Horner himself has said, he is coming to the end of his career. Perhaps Cadel and P-L are more interested in replacing him with a newer model Domestique 2.0? :D

In all seriousness, whilst Horner does deserve to be earning every bit as much as the domestiques on Discovery, Rabobank, etc. the focus of P-L has always been more on the green jersey with McEwen. Perhaps they view this year's TdF result as a fluke and are more interested in spending money on supporting McEwen, where they can use cheaper domestiques, as they're really only needed on flat stage?

If I were Cadel, I might be looking for a position as leader of a team with a little more support (ie. more than 1 domestique that can hang on the climbs).

If Horner is coming close to the end of his career, Levi can't be far behind. They're only a year apart in age. Levi 33, Horner 34.

If Horner is coming close to the end of his career, Levi can't be far behind. They're only a year apart in age. Levi 33, Horner 34.

Agreed, but I was commenting more on their hesitancy to increase Horner's pay than their choice to hire Leipheimer. Although I agree, given the similar ages, it doesn't really make sense.

Perhaps they figure that by signing a 'big' name like Levi, they can pull some more sponsorship $$$s?

(by the way, all Tour winners in the modern era, have left their share of the prize money for their team.)

Correct. And it's only about $450,000, which in this day is chickenfeed compared to other sports.

The reason they break up the winning money is that the winner will make his money elsewhere, simply put. And while there are bonus clauses in the contracts of the riders that make the Tour team tied to different things (jersey winners, overall team placing, stage wins, stuff like that) the riders don't get much else (team winnings split up depending on how many guys finish the whole race and then smaller shares for guys that don't make it to Paris is typical).

Back on topic...at another forum I frequent far too much (racers hang out there, guys like Saul Raisin and Floyd are members) there was a discussion about Lotto and its propensity to lowball riders on new contracts. Its been a theme there for a while, and Horner most likely won't be back, at least at this point.

Signing Levi, you go after the best available athlete and figure it out later. Levi is a better rider than Horner.

BTW...if you think managing and running a team could be fun and not too tough, you might give this (http://www.worldcycling.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=TDFGAME07) a go.

Lance may have been selfish when it came to stage and race victories but he paid his teammates what they deserved.


Hush money. It aint cheap to keep all those team mates loyal and quiet.

Correct. And it's only about $450,000, which in this day is chickenfeed
Actually it's $450,000 Euro...over $600K US.

It's a dumb move by P-L. For what Levi will cost them they could double Horner's salary AND still bring in 1-2 other guys.

If you believe Bob Roll. the only modern Grand Tour winner not to give "his" prize money to his teamates was Andy Hampsten.

Signing Levi, you go after the best available athlete and figure it out later. Levi is a better rider than Horner.

More often than not this works out poorly in virtually all sports but baseball. Much better to build a team where talents compliment each other, and where there's a push towards a common goal.

Levi's personality, at least among the domestic pros I've spoken with, doesn't inspire people to die for him, and certainly his abilities aren't at the Lance/intimidating level either.

That being said, as a worker he'd be a good tow truck if he was willing.

That being said, as a worker he'd be a good tow truck if he was willing.

And that's really the key - does the team/Levi agree on the goal...

I have no idea how much he'll be signed for, but I'm betting it's pretty pricey for a domestique.