cyclezealot

Armstrong and Hincapie not riding together again. I am incensed.

monosierra

News best friend: Leipheimer

HigherGround

Taylor Phinney perhaps?

HigherGround

Reminiscent of Sean Yates.

Suzie Green

And not so much that he's a team leader, but Jens Voigt too. Sorry, I couldn't pass up a chance to mention my heartthrob!

DMF 

That's a good point. And it might work in his favor. As Lance says, the team leader is not necessarily the strongest rider or top GC contender. It's conceivable that a good team leader could push Kloden to the front if he were determined to have the best chance. Lance is so competitive it's hard to imagine, but it is possible.

DMF 

Sure is, but at this stage he seems to be a lousy team leader. It's hard to imagine him becoming one of the greats all on his own. But that's why they play this here game. No?

And while we're on the subject of AC, don't underestimate JB's ability to spot and develop young talent...

OrionKhan

I don't think its fair to evaluate AC's team leadership ability on this year's TdF alone. Astana was fine before Lance showed up. AC had won 3 grand tours prior to this years TdF. There weren't any problems then. So I hardly think he's a "lousy leader."

I don't underestimate JB's eye for talent at all. In fact, I think he's pretty good at it. Personally, I think if JB had it his way, AC would be with TRS. But the LA/AC conflict wouldn't allow it. One thing JB did with Lance was find a really strong young climber like Heras or Contador. They didn't have one this year (if you don't count AC). And TRS doesn't seem to have one. But one may emerge next year. I was simply speculating on the TRS strategy. Seems they're putting a lot of eggs in the TdF basket, but do they realistically have a shot at beating AC, A Schleck, or the Liquigas boys for that matter.

DMF 

Not to minimize AC vs. LA, but it was obvious toward the end of Le Tour that JB was fed up with him as well.

And for that matter, do you recall a single statement from a teammate in support of AC's position in the matter? I don't. The man won Le Tour and he can't inspire his teammates to support him? To me that's a lack of leadership.

It's way early days, but I believe they have a shot. Would I take an even bet? ... well, maybe not.

USAZorro

Consider three things here.

1. Where did you get your information from? Think that perhaps it could be a bit biased?
2. Lance was clearly looking for a way to steal a win, and helped to poison Alberto's well. If I were a domestique on that team, in that atmosphere, I would have just kept my mouth shut - like they did - regardless of who may or may not have inspired me.
3. How many statements from a teammate in support of Lance's position in the matter did you hear? How many from Tony Martin's team? How many from just about any team other than Saxo Bank and Garmin did you hear? Seriously, I think you've manufactured a double standard here.

monosierra

Contador and Leipheimer worked fine in 2007 and 2008, so 'leadership' isn't much of a problem - especially when a strong manager like JB was around.

OrionKhan

So what is it? AC won the TdF by himself, or Astana supported him to his win? I don't recall anyone on Astana not supporting AC other than the foolish "team" strategy that was tried to put into play. I don't recall any statements supporting Lance's position either. Most of them were pretty quiet on the issue, save Lance, Levi, and JB. Most of the commentary was coming from Lance via Twitter. If he was the good teammate, he should have keep it within the team. Lance was the one publically airing the dirty laundry. That's history now. Anyways, Lance has his own team now and can handle it any way he chooses.

..."have a shot." Sure they have a shot. They'll be in the race. Just realize that at the age of the TRS GC guys they're not on the upside of their careers. The Contadors and A. Schlecks are still getting better. There's nothing wrong with rooting for your favorite guy or team. Its the blind nonsense that gets spewed about the pisses off most of the non Lance fanboys.

Personally, I hope Lance's team does well. It will be good for the growth of the sport here in the U.S. This is where my speculation about the direction of the team came from. TRS seems geared only for the TdF. But any objective cycling fan knows that Alberto Contador is the man to beat. After him, probably Andy Schleck. After him, there's a gap. But as others have mentioned, Liquigas has some strong young riders on a strong team. Some think Wiggins could make a run, etc. Sure Lance, Levi, and Kloden are possible podium or top ten guys. But there's no TTT this year. So they can't count on making up time that way. Can't count on Columbia splitting apart the peloton again. So yes, TRS has a shot at winning but there are other riders that have equal or better shots. That leads me back to...If TRS don't win it, what are they left with. The team doesn't seem comprised to seriously challenge for any of the classics. They have Steegmans, but is team going to have a serious sprint finish strategy? JB never really has in the past. And if Columbia and Garmin are in the sprint, you better have a team set up for sprints if you want to challenge. So that leaves TRS with what, outside of the ToC?

DMF 

You ask some very good questions.

I suppose the answer will depend on TRS' strategic goals, which won't be public. Certainly we can make some educated guesses, like TdF will be at the top. And the team must be competitive enough that the sponsor is satisfied (so ToC is right up there too). Beyond that, I wonder if TRS even knows yet.

OrionKhan

Its been pretty cool watching watching Columbia and Garmin go at it. I actually enjoyed seeing Columbia shut Hincapie out of the yellow last year. Makes for a nice rivalry down the line. You gotta figure Garmin want Tyler to break into some of those 70 plus wins that Columbia logged last season.

Lance has the ablility to do what Tiger Woods does for the PGA tour. When Tiger plays, people watch. Same when Lance races. I understand the significance of the TdF, but think about how he could increase the viewership of the Classics by racing in them. How many people watched the Giro this year because Lance was finally in it? Hell, this was the first year that I was able to watch every stage of all three grand tours on tv. If TRS puts together a team that will be seriously competitve throughout the season, it would do wonders for the popularity of the sport in America.

diphthong

amen, but for how long? trs (or garmin or columbia) seriously needs to develop the next american wunderkind
to pull in casual viewers and the fickle network/cable coverage. tommy danielson wasn't it. not sure a sprinter
like tyler farrar is going to do it. america needs another great gc rider-period.

monosierra

TRS reviews Tour Down Under roster ... lot's of non-Astana recruits, including Steegmans and Impy.