cyclezealot

Had not Discovery made a choice that HIncapie was their to be appointed new leader. The $'s were not enough then so Floyd left.
I wonder how the Hincapie/Landis UCI stats compared when Landis left for Phonak.

flythebike

I'm sure that had nothing to do with it, although I'm sure George was ahead at the time. Johan took Floyd out to lunch over last winter and made him an offer. Floyd refused it.

Not to get all religious on you, but there is a well known quote in the bible. A prophet has no honor in his hometown.

It is hard to rise from humble status and become team leader, and I'm sure that is one reason Floyd left. I don't have any evidence of this, just my own opinion really.

While it would be nice if Phonak could sign a super domestique for Floyd, things did turn out well enough for them this year. A Blue Train like USPS/Discovery is probably the exception rather than the rule in cycling, not sure if it is reasonable to expect that anymore. However, transfer season is upon us, so perhaps we will hear something soon. As my grandfather used to say "If it ain't broke don't fix it." Floyd won the Tour this year with Phonak so why change?

ericy

Reading between the lines, it sounds like Lance is still trying to keep his fingers in the Discovery team. My guess is that Floyd wants to be out from under his shadow, and Phonak seems to be a good place for him to be right now.

You are right though - it would be nice to have a super domestique to add to the team. I think Merckx was the closest one, and still couldn't be as much help as he probably would have liked.

skinnyone

Precisely what I was thinking.. By all indications they are best friends...

Rancid

Don't forget that Floyd himself says in the BICYCLING mag interview with DZ that his leadership style and ways he works with his team are completely different then the way usps/disco has ever worked and floyd wants to be original and run his team as his team.......that would be hard with such a public team with so much outside influence (lance etc)

mnutini

The Paceline is saying that Discovery is going to have a big announcement about signing a rider tomorrow (Tues).

https://www.thepaceline.com/members/c....aspx?cid=2587

Karlotta

Search for Levi on the Paceline site and you'll find this...



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."

cyclezealot

Fly the bike. Can't say I blame Floyd, nor do I condemn him for what he did. But, I appreciate loyalty and have been impressed by the rarity of Hincapie to lessen his chances to be Lance's domestique. I think that's part why Lance ended his career last year. To give his loyal domestique a chance for the ring before he turned 35.
Since I think George could have been on that podium without his bad luck at Roubaix, I hope George will still have his chance. Nothing against Floyd. Heck, the rest of the USPS team had not that loyalty, so why dump on Floyd.
Some of us change horses in mid-stream for the pot of gold, why others stay true to those who helped to nuture us.
Maybe Discovery will be impatient with George and not give him another opportunity as leader. But, if they do- I hope HIncapie can be a come back kid like LA.

ericy

That could be interesting.

I keep wondering what's going to happen with Vino. He signed a 3 year deal last year, but he has to be quite upset at how this season ended before it even started. I don't know if he has an escape clause to cover the inability to field a team for the tour.

Piuma

Since Discovery is signing Leipheimer one has to assume they aren't going to sign Landis.

a_fire_inside

I think this was a great move. I think the Disco train could help Levi greatly... maybe enough to keep the yellow jersey in the US for a ninth year (although it's a little early to say).

I don't believe Floyd will be able to compete for a podium spot next year because of the hip-replacement surgery. Maybe in the following years though.

NYC

looks like Levi was already getting a feel for what it will be like behind them. from here:
https://www.velonews.com/tour2006/gal...s/10506.0.html


Looks like Levi was already

cyclezealot

Levi and Hincapie on one team. How does that work.
Was it not Lamond and Hinault as team mates. Makes training fun.

Karlotta

From a Velonews article:

"This is a Tour in a period of transition," said Discovery Channel director Johan Bruyneel. "We wore the yellow jersey and won a stage but our objectives were greater than that. Popovych is a rider with a lot of class who is also very aggressive. Right now, however, we will consider some changes that should allow us to be better next year. I believe we need to be more focused on having just one leader."

roadwarrior

Merckx loves Armstrong, too.

Merckx loves Landis because Landis got Axel on the TdF winning team.

Man, it's amazing how the last thing that happened is only what people remember.

I've told this story before, but I was at an awards ceremony the fall after Lance won his first Tour. It was honoring athletes of differing sports (women's Olympic hocky team, women's World Cup team, a bunch of skiers, track people...)and Lance didn't win. A snowboarder won. A snowboarder beat out a guy who won the most difficult sporting event in the world after coming back from cancer.
Afterward, I stood and talked to him. And virtually nobody else did...a few, but not many. I look back on that now...

It was not that compelling for the masses until the press got a hold of it. Armstrong could barely get a cup of coffee after his first win. Remember, back then OLN was not on live every day. It was not in the general consciousness of America like now...

roadwarrior

Remember that when Landis went to Phonak, the team leader for GC's (TdF for example) was Tyler Hamilton.

merlinextraligh

Levi and Hincapie on one team works fine. Hincapie goes back to what he does; Compete to win in the classics, and ride support in the TDF. The question is hows does Levi work with Popovych, Savoldelli, and Danielson. Savoldelli is a proven winner at the Grand Tour level, and both Popo and Danielson are newer riders on the upswing with GC aspirations. I'm not certainthat Levi ends up being their team leader for the TDF next year.

USAZorro

Neither Levi nor George are Greg or Bernie. No comparison there.

Everyone seems to forget that Phonak did have a rider that seemed to be capable of giving Floyd support in the mountains - Gutierrez - but we all know what happened there. They have two seasons (because I think it's a stretch to think Floyd will recover top form following surgery) to find one or two riders to help there, and in a TTT.

donrhummy

Landis will NOT sign with Discovery as long as Bruyneel is there. It's not Lance he had a problem with (not saying he loved Lance, but he doesn't dislike him either from what I gather) but it has been VERY obvious from numerous interviews/quotes, etc that Landis HATES Bruyneel and the way he runs the team and treats the riders. Read "Lance Armstrong's War, " or read his interview in Bicycling mag, or almost any other mag where he mentions Bruyneel...he strongly dislikes him and his style.

rufvelo

I won't. He has earned more than enough respect already. He will surely step up and run things at Disco as Lance did, and Johann will have to just accept it. Look at the guy all pumped up when he stepped off his bike after dropping the entire field the other day - you don't want to mess with him

You have a limited active career and he may as well make the most money while he can - bad hip and everything. Only thing that will really hurt (everybody) is allegations of substance abuse. While the going is good make all the money you can - he deserves it.