Road Bike Racing - Tour de France - T-Mobile

Hey guys...
Dont you think T-Mobile will be a huge threat for Lance? Look at this team!!

Ullrich: Tour Winner, Olympic Champion, Time Trial World champ
Botero: Time Trial World Champ (beat Armstrong in the tour TT), 4th Tour de France
Evans: Pink Jersey in Giro, good TT rider, currently leads the Tour of Austria
Klöden; Paris Nice Winner, Basque tour winner, 3rd Olympic Games, huge TT rider
Vinokourov: 3rd Tour, Pris Nice winner, Tour de Suisse winner, Good TT rider, Amstel Gold Race winner (and did you see these awsome attacks in this years Paris Nice?? how fast he opened gaps?)
--> these 5 riders could all end up in the top 10 if they were all team leaders

Aldag: one of the best domestiques around, very good team time trial rider
Zabel: cant help anyone winning the tour.. but is one of the best riders (the best?) around, good in team TT
Kessler???: Good climber, needs improvment in TT
Guerini???: one of the best climbing domestiques
Steinhauser???: huge TT rider, good climber, won a TT of tour de suisse, 5th in Worlds

What do you think?? I guess they will take 1 minute or 2 from US postal in the Team TT.. even though i dont hope so...

Definitely. I've been following them on their website, www.t-mobile-team.com. It helps if you can read German, but it's been interesting. This years TdF should be quite exciting and I think there's going to be some upsets. Sort of like this year's Stanley Cup finals.

INHO, they have the best riders comprising their TdF team. That, however, doesn't necessarily make them the best team as a whole. Can the gel, and all work together for Jan? We shall see next month! :)

T-Mobile is a talent laden team. Kloden is a very good all around rider who used to be Ullrich's top support rider in the mountains with Livingston.

Botero is a rider who could end up 5th or 50th. His problem in the TDF has always been the bad day. He can't seem to avoid it. I've always thought that this was because he didn't know how to measure his efforts effectively over the period of three weeks, but it may be a physiological limitation. Who knows. But he has the potential to win a couple of stages and finish in the top 5. I see him as a huge threat precisely because his opponents may underestimate him. And he is one of five riders who has the potential to win the Stage 19 TT, including Millar, LA, Ullrich, and Hamilton.

edited to add: All the above if Botero is chosen for the TDF. ;)

I wholeheartedly agree with Bac up there... they have the most talented team running... but I think you will see a "too many chiefs, not enough indians" kinda mentality with the team... I mean, really, can you see Vino, or Zabel running back to the cars to get water bottles and snacks ? I don't... They will do well... but I think their collective egos will ultimately destroy them.

jeff

There's a ****load of talent on that team.

Can I see Zabel carrying water? Of course. The guys classy enough to do his share.

There's a ****load of talent on that team.

Can I see Zabel carrying water? Of course. The guys classy enough to do his share.

I see Vino as having that class as well.
He helped out Zabel last year in the TDF, even after he had a podium place secured.

well I guess we'll have to wait and see... yes,those guys have class...but I just don't see them helping JU out all that much...

jeff

jan helps vino in switzerland. vino helps jan in france. if jan wins and retires, as he has hinted, then the team works for vino in france next year. voila! t-mobile dynasty.

this is a team of pros. asking if vino will work for jan would be like asking if a vuelta winner like roberto heras would work for armstrong.

this is a team of pros. asking if vino will work for jan would be like asking if a vuelta winner like roberto heras would work for armstrong.

No question, but if Jan slips - who will be the leader? Vino certainly will want it, but my guess is that it would be a free for all.

These are professional riders. I look at that team list and see no problems. As said earlier, Botero will blow himself up. Evans is coming back from injury and won't have the form to even think about GC- he is a domestique and gladly so.
Vino is good to have for several reasons:
1. Ullrich needs a superdomestique
2. If Ullrich crashes out or gets sick, Vino is there to at least salvage some GC for T-Mobile
3. It is good for tactics to have more than one threat on GC- even if everyone else knows Ullrich is the leader, they can't afford to let Vino get much time so that plays into T-Mobile's hands.

Kloden is a domestique as are teh others. Zabel will focus on green but he will certainly do his share.

Several of these riders are good for potential stage wins (which is huge) so T-Mobile has the potential to come out of the TDF with some great results. Zabel in green, Ullrich in yellow, Santi/Zabel with stage wins... who knows, there is alot of potential there and T-Mobile knows what they are doing.