Guest

Yep, it's unofficial.... and I heard it straight from his teammate today!

Today was a great, but tiring day. I got the chance to meet Robbie Ventura from US Postal today. He was a really nice guy, sat and talked to me for a bit, gave me some thoughts about training, and then I asked him a question: "How do you feel about Popovych being signed to the team?", and Robbie gives a very enthusiastic speech about how he thinks Popovych is such a great rider and will really complement the team, and he'll be replacing Floyd Landis..."

Whoa! I was like "what? Come again? Floyd's leaving?", and Robbie's like "Yes, he's going to sign with another team, so he won't be a part of the Discovery Team". And I was like "Where is Floyd going?", and Robbie's all "Well, he's not sure yet, but he'll either be going to Phonak or CSC."



I really liked Floyd. He was strong, stepped up to the plate, and he was a good mailman. But I am eager to see how he'll do on his new team. I bet he goes with CSC... Landis and Basso and Julich.... that's a lethal combination...

Koffee

pgreene

damn. floyd was fast becoming one of my favorite riders. i wish him better success than everyone else who's left postal.

DEK

That stinks. I was really pulling for Floyd to win a stage, too.

2Rodies

Lance had kind of alluded that Floyd might be moving on in his interview on OLN Sunday. Floyd is a great rider, and like Tyler and Levi, is a potential winner of the Tour. However I don't think they will and here is my logic.

If you'll notice in every single one of LA's Tour victories his team has done nothing but ride for him. They never try for stage wins unless LA's the one going for it. They never go off on breaks unless it's to chase one down. And they never do this early.

Now look at T-Mobile (Telekom before this year) in every single tour they are working for Zable early. This year CSC, Robobank and to a lesser degree Phonak all had riders going off early in the tour to try to get a stage win. This uses up valuble energy that USPS doesn't use. This is why you always see the Posties at LA's side in hard stages late in the tour. USPS is the ONLY team that truely is there for the GC win and the GC win only. Yes it is dangerous, LA could crash out and USPS might not score any wins at all but look at the results, six for six and still counting.

Of all of the teams that really had a legit shot at the GC, Phonak was the one that acted the most "Postal". CSC and T-Mobile were trying very early for stage wins as was Robobank. Michael Rathmusson (sp) is Robobanks best climber and he was off in break almost every day. When they hit the mountains he dropped Levi the supposed team leader. Do you think Aseveda (sp) or Landis would have done that to Lance? Of course not.

I'm a big Formula 1 auto racing fan and the king of that sport is Michael Schumacher. He drives for Ferrari and that team is completely built around him. He has won every race this season bar 1. He totally dominates his sport and the reason is the team really only works for him. His team mate is there for him just like USPS. These other teams will not beat USPS (even if they designate a new team leader) because USPS rides for one rider while the other teams ride and hope their leader can compete.

girl27

Everyone who? Tyler Hamilton? Tom Boonen? Julian Dean?

Floyd's chances of winning races are probably greater if he leaves the Postal Service/Discovery team.

If the rumour's true, I think it's a good thing. Go Floyd!

DEK

If Lance rides next year. He hasn't decided yet if he's going to or not. I would say if Lance opted out next year, Floyd's chances would increase exponentially.

djbowen1

All the people who left to do better things all look like *******s now. Hamilton crashed - **** happens, Heras totally pussied out, and i know there are more.

Laggard

Tyler Hamilton:

1st overall Tour de Romandie
1st stage Tour de Romandie
1st Liège-Bastogne-Liège
1st stage Giro D'Italia
2nd overall Giro D'Italia

Yeah, that's pretty craptastic. It's more than he would have done staying with Postal. He's a strong GC rider. Why stay with a team when you'll never be given a chance to win?

Tom Boonen:

2 stages 2004 TDF
1st 2004 Gent Wevelgem

Hell, that's more than Georgie boy's won! Keep in mind Tom's only 24.

pgreene

i was referring to riders with Tour ambitions, who've left the team to become leaders of teams to make a go at le tour. heras, hamilton, levi have not been so fortunate in that regard.

RacerX

The point is no matter what their aspirations, they have acheived much more than they could at US Postal.

Guest

Yes, when Robbie said Floyd was leaving, he wished Floyd well and gave much props up to Floyd. Unfortunately, it's no rumor- Robbie is a member of US Postal, so he knows everything that's happening to the team. That's why I probed him so hard (and not in an anal way, might I add! ) about the team and then about Floyd once he said Floyd was leaving.

I agree- if Floyd wants to aspire to greater things, he has to leave US Postal. He would have a greater chance if he went to a new team that didn't spend all their time obsessing over one Grand Tour. Maybe he'll even be able to develop himself even more as an all-around rider once he joins his new team. I would really like to see him go with CSC.

Koffee

Hitchy

G'day,

I get a bit annoyed, (infact...a lot annoyed), when I see posts criticising riders for changing teams, particularly when its leaving the 'Posties'......grow up!. Although you might well have some sort of emotional attachment to a team, this is what these riders do for a LIVING folks!. Sure they have friends on the team, but basically it is an employer/employee relationship. The way the 'posties' have been structured, (one for all & all for Lance), gives very few opportunities for a rider to expand their personal horizons & stay on the team. Therefore, they choose to look at opportunities elsewhere that may suit what they want out of cycling at this time of their life. I bet every single guy that has ever been a 'postie' is very proud of what that team has achieved, & would have no regrets about their time there......but equally, peoples ambitions & drives change over time....but being professional riders, why wouldn't these guys have the same rights as you & I to choose our employer?. So to the cretins on this thread, who imply that they wish ill luck & bad fortune upon ex 'posties'....grow up & get a life....the rest of us really aren't interested in your insular, selfish & moronic comments. Our sport doesn't need support from people like you.

cheers,

Hitchy

Hitchy

SteveE

I wish Floyd the best of luck and hope he is successful.

I see this as good for American cycling in the long run. The more Americans there are on non-U.S. based teams, the more opportunities they will have to make their mark in Europe. It also expands the visibility of American riders in the peloton by having them on more teams. If the current crop of U.S. riders do well on their respective teams, more teams will look the the States for up-and-coming riders. On the other side of the coin, more U.S. riders will look for opportunities on European teams if they see their compatriots doing well.

Crack'n'fail

I'm not disagreeing with everyones sentiments because I would be happy for Floyd wherever he goes and wish him much success. But. . . all this talk about needing to leave the team to get a chance to shine is based primarily on pre ProTour structures. In this next era of cycling, there will be teams that try to win at the 3 grand tours with 1 or 2 GC leaders, then their will be teams that throw their money at 3 different GC leaders and try to focus on winning them all. We don't know which approach Discovery will take, or any other team for that matter. These times, they are a changin'.

J-McKech

Does anyone know if Levi Lephimer signed with discovery? I know there were rumors floating around during the tour.

Hitchy

g'day,

To true....the Pro tour will make a huge difference to the way the 'posties' go about business in the future. One would assume that floyd had discussions with the team management about their intentions before deciding 'which side his bread was buttered on'. Presumably, the result, (which hasn't been announced yet), says much about those discussions. I would expect to see George assume more of a leaders role in some of the one day classic's next year,

cheers,

Hitchy

Guest

Yikes! I forgot to ask Robbie if Levi was returning, according to the rumors. But I do have to call him anyway, since a student of mine didn't get an autograph from him, so I'll see if I can wrangle an answer out of him for that.

Koffee

roadwarrior

Yep...absolutely.

travis200

Sweet I would love to see Floyd go to CSC. I don't think he has what it takes to be a tour winner but he has what it takes to help CSC really be a contender.

2Rodies

This is a very good point. The way pro teams will approach the season has completely changed. Eki has resigned and he and George will most likely be the "Classics" riders. You've got two very good Spanish riders on team Discovery who will most like be the Veulta favorites. The Giro could've been Floyd if he stays or Levi if he signs. The impression I got from the OLN interview was that Lance would like to have Levi but it didn't seem likely.

hollow

Chill out! I haven't seen anyone on this thread criticize the choice to join other teams. Rather, they are pointing out that there has been little success (or at least underperformance to expectations) for these former Posties on GC in Grand Tours. I think you overreached in your comments when there was nobody who made the assertions that you were responding to.

brent_dube

Or maybe he just likes to insult anyone who recognizes when Postal makes a good performance.

SipperPhoto

I wish Floyd good luck wherever he ends up.. CSC would be a good fit.. and so would Phonak...

Floyd is a workhorse, and he seems to get better and better every year... hell, I didn;t even know he could time trial like he did in the last TT of the TdF. Between that and the Stage where he pulled Lance all over the mountain... Floyd is the man ! I can see him going to Phonak, and working with/for Tyler, and eventually replacing Tyler as the GC contender over there

jeff

TXCiclista

Um, call me "Behind the curve" but, what changes to the Pro Tour? Are you talking about ones happening this year/next or just about the changes that led to the current state of things?

2Rodies

Next year the ProTour will be something akin to Premiereship Soccer. Teams will have to "buy in" and race all the races that are on the ProTour. Teams will have to have a "star" rider at each race and those races will include some of the spring classics as well as the three major tours. The good thing is that you'll see the big teams at all the races with their big guns for most of them. The bad thing is smaller teams will not be able to compete because they will not have the nessecary funding to "buy in" and guarantee that they will be at every race.