Pale Ryder

I think he is a very under-rated rider,

Will he sign a new contract with T-Mobile?

Who do you think will lead the German team after Jan Ullrich's dismissal?

Shemp

Maybe it would be different if he trained and planned to be leader, but it seemed like he struggled a bit too much on the climbs this year to bank on him. Would he be good for one of the teams without a good GC guy, yes, but for a team of T-Mobiles caliber, I don't know.

ericy

At the moment they don't have a GC contender though. I gather the dismissal of Ulrich is permanent.

Come to think of it Vino may be looking for a new team, and he might come back to T-Mobile after what happened this year.

cydewaze

I like Kloden. He was champion of Germany a few years ago. Pity he's so inconsistent on the climbs, but he can sure time trial for such a lanky guy.

TYB069

A 2nd and a 3rd place is pretty good and consistent if you ask me. If he was training to be team leader instead of supporting Jan, he may have been better in the mountains. He is getting old (30-something now?) but without Der Kaiser, I think I'd go with Kloden as team leader. Besides, who else would they go with? Mick Rogers? Kessler? Pay big money for someone from a different team?

erader

with his also-ran palmares kloden would make a great replacement for der kaiser .

seriously, kloden is 36, which is pretty long in the tooth for a pro cyclist.... bjarne riis was 35 when he won the tour and he was the oldest guy to win for many years as i recall.

i'd think T-moble would be looking for someone younger with more promise rather than an old guy with few wins and only occasional flashes of brilliance .

ed rader

harlond

Actually Kloeden was born 6/22/75. He's 31. He's a free agent, and with Landis having re-upped with Phonak, maybe he's the big signing for Discovery.

erader

*** Tour de France Bio - Andreas Kloden (GER) ***
From The Sports Network

Team: T-Mobil (1998-present)

Date of Birth: May 27, 1970

Residence: Kreuzlingen, Switzerland

Turned Pro: 1998

Past Teams: None
Tour de France Career Statistics
--------------------------------

Year Finish Stage Wins
---- ------ ----------
2004 2nd 0
2003 Did not finish 0
2001 26th 0

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Captured the Championnat d'Allemagne (2004),
Paris-Nice (2000), Tour du Pays-Basque.


06/27 17:58:50 ET

erader

https://sportsline.com/cycling/riders/page/400149

i also found this. so he's either 31 or 36. at 31 he's probably a good investment for someone (maybe T-mobile). kloden has the rap in germany that he's a rider that finds a way to lose.

ullrich has the same rap going for him in the u.s.

ed rader

merlinextraligh

Assuming Uhllrich and Basso are gone, and Landis has hip replacement surgery, I think Kloden has to be current favorite to win next year's TDF. He's finished on the poidum 2 of the last 3 years, and the guys that finished first, either won't be there, or in Floyd's case may well not be 100%.

rufvelo

Isn't that just amazing, who would have thought!

EURO

Time trialists are generally tall, with long legs.

oboeguy

IIRC, Kloden is closer to 31 or 32 than 36. That 1970 birthdate, IMO, isn't correct.

The T-Mobile team itself seems to be undergoing some issues. Check Cyglingnew.com for some rumors about Olaf Ludwig possibly getting canned (Mario Kummer too!). If there is still a team next year, I believe that Kloden will still be there and be the leader. As for this year, I'm not sure what more he could have done to prepare other than ride TTs more (but look how he did in the TTs!); being right-hand man for Der Kaiser means lots of climbing so I think he was physically ready to lead. Read his comments about the race: he believes he could have had a higher finishing place had T-Mobile given him more freedom during the Tour.

Vino's not going anywhere. He just got Goodefroot to be DS of his new Astana team.

Pale Ryder

Interesting reading about the management shake up at T-Mobile (cyclingnews.com) "what goes around comes around" Jan Ullrich might say.

If Kloden stays at T-Mobile and is made team leader he has good back up with Mike Rogers, Kessler & Co.

Some riders seem to excel when they leave this team (ie. Cadel Evans) if they let Andreas go he could come back to haunt them.

meb

I'd be more inclined think Vino & Valverde would be the favorites for next year.

Although given the strength of T-mobile, that might shift the balance.

reef58

Kloden is BADA$$. I think he got caught with his pants down this year. He was coming into the tour expecting to haul "The Jan" over the mountains not being the GC man. If he had approached this year as being the GC man in the tour things would have been different.

Richard

reef58

I would put money on Kloden against either of them. Valverde is a talent, and a potential winner, but he hasn't really done anything in the tour. He won a stage and since has been annointed as the second coming of the great one.

Vino is an aggresive rider and has loads of talent, but he is reckless.

Richard

Rincewind8

https://www.t-mobile-team.com/cms/tmo...0/id=6712.html

He is 31 years old. His team should know better than some other sports news website.

Edit: Oh, and it's Klöden or Kloeden.

Paniolo

Remember that without Floyds (and the pelotons) 30 min gift to Perriero this year that Kloden would have gotten 2nd this year too.

Demit

Was it your crystal ball that said that or someone else's.

In any case, kloden prefromance was amazing considering he wasnt preparing for it. It makes me wonder if T-moblie should have had him leading all along.

rufvelo

I would have to agree - Landis(of course, even with a new hip), Kloden, Sastre, Evans, Valverde & Vino.
They need to be the undisputed leaders of their teams though. That way they can run a well supported, strategic race, not the type of racing Vino does, then again he probably just wanted to prove something in the company of Ulrich and Kloden.