How about 'none of the above'?

Often the next dominant rider comes out of nowhere, with a heap of attitude and great legs. Too many of the riders named in this thread (who were at this year's Tour) were sheep, riding in the wheels and happy to be riding for a placing. A future champion would have at least made an effort to show himself........

(Kudos to Voeckler, by the way but he got a lucky break, a la Chiapucci, and made the best of his talent).

If Armstrong quits riding the Tour anytime soon- which he definitely won't- Ullrich will win easily, in the style of Indurain. His team will set the pace in the Mountains and he'll kill everyone in the ITT's.

Riding for the team is hard enough. Riding for yourself must be a terrible strain. Riding to win is a whole other level of responsibility and pressure.

If his team was actually in the Tour, we'd be talking about him, for sure. Valverde is arguably the most promising of all the up and coming riders.

But do you think that the Div II Kelme is the right team for Valverde?

Yeah, Kloeden looked like the complete package in the TdF. And Basso had a nice ITT in Besancon. Those guys would be my early favorites for next year's Tour if Armstrong isn't in it. (I know, what a stretch) :rolleyes:

All I can say is the first tour without armstrong is going to be a wild fight. Everyone will see the top step of the podium as up for grabs. I like landis too, I think he could probably definetly win a giro or vuelta, the tour he would have his work cut out for him but I could see him doing it as long as he stays focused. Cunego can just fly up the mountains without looking strained, loved watching him just simply drop everyone in the giro. I will be really interested to see what voeckler will do in next years tour. Tom Danielson could be a big surprise for the Vuelta this year I think. Anyone think Van Heeswik (sp?) on postal could take some stages in a grand tour?
In terms of the tour in the future based on other things, I hope, with tricky ricky out of the picture (maybe) next year, that the king of the mountains jersey will actually be fought for and see a handful of climbers duking it out.

I think if Tyler Hamilton as able to ride a TDF without having an injury impeding him, then he is a pretty good contender as well. He was doing great until he ran out of legs in this one. I think he just needs to figure out a better plan.

Patriot

Valverde, definetly
Cunego too, if he goes to a foreign team

Go Levi! That is all, haha.

voeckler got lucky i think. if chavanel had made the break to give him the jersey he would have done much better then voeckler i think, but instead he was forced to ride support for his teamate.

And, the winner of the "Future of the TDF" contest is: Basso.

Laggard, I KNOW you are going to whine about folks seeing how poorly your predictions turned out. But that is the POINT of predictions. We all made predictions about the "Future of the Tour". We all made bets on who the "stars" of the 2005 Tour would be. And, the end of the Tour is the time to compare our predictions with the actual results of the 2005 Tour.

You tell us (and tell us, and tell us) that you are THE expert on the Tour, and you tell us that anyone who does not worship your opinions is "an idiot". So, it is educational to see that the self-proclaimed "expert" was wrong on seven out of eight picks. About as accurate as throwing darts at a list of Pro riders. But, the rest of us did no better. Predicting the Tour is a mug's game.

You're really a sad little person, Alan. Digging up posts from a year ago. You need some help, buddy.

I was just thinking that. You have a stalker Laggard. :eek:

f

So to me it's looking like... Basso, Valverde, Cunego, Popyvich... who else?
Maybe the Vuelta this year will show us some stuff.

dude..I heard from this guy who heard from his sister..he totally digs you...

In reply to Laggards original choices

Valverde -- Frikkin A... looks like he needs a little bit more experience at the GT level?
Cunego -- Promise...
Karpets -- Ceased to impress in the hills this year, did TT well though..
Voeckler -- Rides his heart out, a treat to watch..
Popovych -- I wasnt impressed too much but he is still young...

Additions..
Basso -- He showed consitently that he can attack and match LA.. The heir apparent..
Vino -- With a better team maybe....

Long Shots -
E.Dekker -- Young, TTs well..
D.Zabriskie -- Shows promise... Definetely got the body to climb ie not too big.. Can do a decent job now.. TTs. well we all know about that... Who knows??
Kloeden -- Maybe.. Just maybe

Cadel.

Speaking of TTs, Zabriskie and Thomas Dekker should be crossing swords in years to come.

I am coining a new term here to describe a possible future for the Tour: The Asian Invasion. I've been impressed with the work put in by Popovych, Andrei Kashechkin, and Andrei Grivko. Throw in Vladimir Karpets (a more known quantity) and you've got a potent group of possible GC contenders and stage winners. Those Ukrainians just seem to know how to push down on the pedals.

Evans will be interesting to watch.

Valverde
Evans
Danielson
Cunego
Wim??
Basso

I hope to see Jan win the TDF next year

Wim Van Huffel??

massive call.

sorry, did I miss Tyler's ban being lifted? At last calculation his career was over.

Why did you MAKE predictions about the 2005 Tour if you are gonna whine about having your predictions compared with the actual results? Isn't that the point of making predictions?

Yeah, so you screwed up on seven out of eight picks. But, NONE of us had a very sharp crystal ball this year. Rasmussen, Evans and Mazzolleni near the top of the GC? And, "stars" such as Botero, at 51st. Mayo at 58th. Heras at 45th. Beloki at 77th. Who predicted THOSE results?


And it's time to place predictions for the 2006 Tour:

-Basso

-Ullrich

-Vinokourov


And, I promise not to whine if someone reminds me of how poorly my predictions turn out, after the 2006 Tour.

This thread was not about the 2005 TDF. Check out the thread title.

I actually picked 4 out of the current top-10 this year. Look at the 2005 prediction thread.

And I agree on your top three for 2006.