monosierra

Seems a very nice guy. He was supposed to be Garmin's yellow jersey contender. But with Wiggins' rise, will his position be cut down? VdV seems OK with that. And of course, he was poorly prepared for this TdF anyhow. What do you think is going to happen to him? 2 Top 10 contenders at Garmin, with one supporting the other if need be? Assuming Contador doesn't come, and Wiggins stays.

alohaboy

I was really impressed with VDV's performance in the TdF based on the severity of that injury. I think he'll still be their top GC choice next year. No matter what happens, I'm sure it'll be handled better than the Astana situation.

monosierra

Yeah. He comes across as a totally selfless guy. The lack of an ego in his case might even be a weakness.

oldbobcat

Vande Velde had asserted that recovery from his Giro crash was not interfering with his conditioning for the Tour. This might have been wishful thinking.

erader

VdV. nice guy but he's getting long in the tooth and last year was probably his career year. wiggins had his career year this year, imo. both would be great support riders along with millar for a genuine GC guy.

ed rader

kuf

33 and 29. Yep, they sure are too old to win a tour next year.

I don't know what your problem is with Garmin, and why you think they are all has-beens. Let me repeat this for you: NOT EVERY TEAM WILL HAVE THE TDF CHAMPION ON IT- IT DOESN'T MEAN THEY ARE NO GOOD.

Geez, T-Mobile had that Has-been Ulrich on the team for years. CSC had Basso. Why didn't they just buy a genuine GC guy like Armstrong. What losers. They're all has-beens and are washed up. Quit trying. Why bother. They suck. Blah blah blah.

alohaboy

I thought Millar had rode extremely well this TdF as well. He looked much stronger this year than last. He managed to get into a number of breakaways, almost getting a stage win on number 6, rode up front with VdV and Wiggo the entire last week and blazed through the final time trial. He even had a pretty big pull in their lead out train on the final stage. He played the domestique role fantastically in my opinion.

wearyourtruth

i agree that VdV seems like a really selfless and stand-up guy, and if Wiggins is progressing even more for next year i totally see VdV doing much like Hincapie and playing the best supporting role he can and reveling in the fact that while he might not be out for the win, he's one of the few men in America who get paid (pretty well) to ride his freakin bike.

Blue1981

CV has been my favorite pro in the peloton for awhile now. I can't think of a nicer, more approachable guy in interviews. He always has a smile on his face, no matter the circumstances or how bad or well he rode for the day.

erader

wiggins could do it but VdV never will. did you also root for bobby julich to win the tour?

if you are into also-rans Garmin is your team. i'll bet if you ask vaughters he knows he better start producing soon.

ed rader

bailcash09

I love how VDV was completely willing to ride for Wiggins once he proved he was better. It's really impressive when guys who are great riders in their own right are willing to ride themselves into the ground for a teammate who's better. Frand Schleck also comes to mind.

Edit: impressive ride either way after that crash

erader

the object of racing is to win. period.

Garmin-Slipstream: When Astana was near to collapse in May, the American team was close to signing Contador, reportedly backed by a sponsorship deal with supplements supplier Herbalife. Negotiations were also said to include Sergio Paulinho and Benjamin Noval. According to Spanish sports daily AS, Garmin-Slipstream, who showed at the Tour that they weren't keen on playing second fiddle to another American-backed team, is still vying to complete a deal for Contador in order to establish themselves as the direct competition to RadioShack next year. Less convincingly, however, AS also claims that this move will be guaranteed by Bradley Wiggins' transfer to Team Sky in 2010, despite the Briton's insistence just yesterday [Tuesday] that he will see out his contract at Garmin-Slipstream that runs to the end of next season.

Nevertheless, it is noticeable that Garmin-Slipstream is the team most heavily linked with Contador in the Spanish press. Moreover, team manager Jonathan Vaughters has expressed his admiration for the Spaniard, declaring: "Alberto Contador is an incredible rider and would be a fantastic rider to have on any team." Vaughters has also indicated that any signings would be made with the overall benefit of the team in mind. Could this mean Christian Vande Velde and Wiggins joining Paulinho and Noval as a set super-domestiques who would rival those backing Armstrong at RadioShack?

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/...rto-contador-2

ed rader

bailcash09

At least then you won't be able to even hint that AC didn't recieve support. No one will ever doubt VDV's dedication

monosierra

Wiggins didn't quit track to become a support rider. If this happens, he'll probably leave for Sky.

erader

when wiggins proved to be the better rider VdV enthusiastically pledged his full support for wiggins.

ed rader

erader

i believe wiggins would go too. and if contador is bringing support riders with him others like zabriskie and danielson might get sent packing too.

ed rader

monosierra

I suspect Zabriskie is being courted by TRS ... and Contador will definitely bring his two Spanish support riders.

oldbobcat

I'd rather call them a team of super-domestiques in search of a leader. Alberto, are you hep?

diphthong

transfer season is (nearly) upon us. the problem with garmin (besides this
year's argyle kit) is that they are composed nearly exclusively of riders
you would want as a teammate. zabriskie, wiggins, vandevelde, farrar,
ok...everyone except tommy d. they all have talent but none are a
supreme talent and they seem more concerned with being unified and
buddies than being the man. who is really the team leader? seems like
a team full of guys you'd want to have over for a barbeque and a beer.
they seem to be lacking that "it's unacceptable to lose!" go-to fiery
team leader which i think the team needs. their "everything's groovy"
facade will be gone soon enuff if the team doesn't start coming through
with more wins. columbia has just been schooling them. the recent
passive-aggressive manuever to chase down hincapie to deny him
the yellow jersey (not that i think he "deserved" it) spoke volumes
about garmin. do you think, if roles were reversed, that columbia would
have chased to deny millar or zabriskie a tenuous maillot jaune?-doubtful.

TommyL

As much as I like the idea of Garmin sticking it to Columbia, I don't think that is what happened.

Consider this: AG2R was whooped after a week defending yellow, and Astana had become the de facto leaders of the peloton. Garmin was competing against Astana in the GC, not Columbia. With only a few minutes of hard effort, Garmin was able to ensure that Astana did all the work for at least one more day in the mountains, rather than Columbia. Why would they want to give their GC rivals a break up front?

If the roles were reversed, Columbia would have had no reason to chase. This is not because of the Garmin-Columbia relationship, but simply because Columbia was unconcerned with the GC (in the big picture).