TheMainer

Who is most likely to take Ekimov's place in the Tour lineup for Disco? Personally I am hoping for Danielson.

Walter

Danielson's slated for the Giro.

Of course plans may be changing.

Leviathan

Surely the "man" at Discovery will axe Danielson from the Tour. Being that Armstrong won't want to take a chance of being outshined by someone on his own team.

lotek 

just like he did at Tour of Georgia.

Leviathan

Think politics Lotek. Armstrong will say or has said that TdG was just training and he wasn't interested in winning. We all know however, that he would have tried to win that race if he could (it was his last race in the US as a professional), but he couldn't win, TommyD is too strong all around. The TdF is Armstrong's platform to shine, and he surely won't take a chance to lose his very last tour to a teammate. Just a thought.

TheMainer

Even if Danielson went to the TdF with Lance, I am sure it would be in support. The team is there to support Lance. Hopefully with Danielson now out of the Giro he will go. I think next year he should ride the TdF for himself.

Corsaire

How good can this Danielson be really ? Better than Lance ?

I don't think so.

Corsaire

hawk00eyed

Il Falco rocks Tomas Danielson

Gustaf

I am sure half of the tdf squad would rock Danielson.
its a freaking all star lineup:
Lance, Azevedo, Manuel Beltran, Popovych, Chechu Rubiera, and Paolo Savoldelli.
all are proven bad asses and could probably do a lot better in grand tours if they were given leadership roles.

live311

I doubt Danielson would even be ready for the Tour if by some miracle he got tapped to go. He abandoned the Giro after a week due to knee pain. I'm sure he could ride in the Dauphine Libere or another minor Tour just to keep his form and help Lance, but he should save himself for the Vuelta and maybe set his sights on the '06 Tour.

Another thing that bugs me about Danielson is how far behind he is other riders his age. He's 27 and has relatively little experience racing in Europe at this level. Most guys his age are entering their prime and have impressive results. He really needs to kick it in gear, otherwise he will be a colossal waste of talent.

Doid23

Do you really believe that? Seriously? Tom Danielson is too strong all around for Lance Armstrong?

gcasillo

Leif Hoste.

squeegy200

Of course, since this thread began, Tom has suffered some inflamation in the knees. But he should be projected to participate on the Vuelta team.

Johan was intereviewed yesterday and mentioned that Salvodelli will be on the TDF tour team supporting Lance. I did not see Paolo's name on previous rosters so I think he'll be filling the vacancy left open my Ekimov. Maybe I'm wrong.

Paolo's doing well in this year's Giro. It will be nice to have his experience on the team.

TheMainer

I agree with Squeegy, Paolo would be a great addition. I am not sure what his conditioning will be being as he has raced so hard in the Giro, but I think he should be able to ride support well enough.

Crack'n'fail

Paolo really isn't a sensible replacement for Eki. They need someone who can ride stronger on flat to rolling and in the time trials. Salvodelli will be there to help the Discovery Train to tempo everyone off of the back in the mountains like they did last year. Imagine it, Chechu, Azevedo, Salvodelli. . . yikes.

To be honest, you can't replace that guy. That's why they got Hoste, but he's injured now and his ability race in the Tour is in question. Bad luck all around.

Gustaf

Dont forget Popovych.
People talk a lot about T-Mobile and their triple threat of Kloden, Vino, Ulle.
I dont think Discovery is diff. other than that lance is the unquestioned leader.

Crack'n'fail

I did forget about Popovych! Bam!

You know, I don't want to jinx anything, but at this point it looks totally possible for Discovery to take all 3 grand tours this year. Isn't Popovych slated to ride the Vuelta? It's the longest shot of the 3, but heck I don't think anyone really expected Salvodelli to be in the Maglia Rosa right now.

samp02

WHo will be the main lieutenants for Lance this year???

26mi235

Hincapie on the flats and lesser climbs, plus the riders like Padrnos (or others like Lief Hoste). In the mountains, it is a tag team of: Rubiera, Beltran, Azevedo, Savodelli, and Popovich. Lance is not going to get isolated in the mountains with miles to go alone very often this year. I do wonder how it will play out if Lance blows up along the way, will Popo or Ace be in a position to compete for the podium? I am guessing that they will try to keep these two semi-protected and with good time trials so that they are high on GC and thus they can play strategies like sending them up the road with a break and sit back as their competitors chase all day.

Bikeophile

Yeah Hinacpie is by far the #1 guy on the team as far as leadership is concerned (after Lance of course).

Last year it was Azevedo in the mountains (last man in the line on every climb)...But I am totally psyched to see how Popovich fits in..

Losing Eki sucks...but honestly I don't think it will be as big a deal as some make it out to be. Losing Roberto Heras was a big deal...or so everyone thought...Losing Tyler Hamilton was a big deal...or so everyone thought..

Team Discovery / US Postal has been a pretty "deep" team for the last few years and I think they have more talent than they know what to do with. Its just a matter of grooming and training the talent and letting the guys who aren't phsycially or mentally mature enought yet grow so they can take over in the years to come

hi565

what he said^^^

disco is their to have lance win. Thts that. they are all support. The tour is lances race.

samp02

Agree.....the TDF is Armstrongs racce but DC seems to have diversified to win many types of races this year.