The Tour de France is less than a month away, and Team Discovery still hasn't decided who will replace Lance Armstrong as the lead rider. The cover of the newly released VeloNews Official Guide asks, "Can Hincapie Continue Lance's Legacy?" But George Hincapie is playing it cool. This is from a recent interview with Eurosport:
With you, Yaroslav Popovych, Paolo Savoldelli, and Jose Azevedo, the team has four guys capable of high overall performances. Who will be the leader with no Lance around and how is team unity?
Hincapie: I think in principal we'll have more than one leader this year. We always just had Lance and now we have maybe two or three guys that at the start maybe considered the leaders of our team, and I think during the race that will decide who will be the real leader. But the cohesion is great, we all get along really well, and we all have the same goal.
Some people are wondering whether the Tour will be as exciting without Lance, but I think this could be the most suspenseful Tour in several years. Unless Ivan Basso rides away from the field.
Still, amidst all of the uncertainty about this year's Tour, you can count on one thing: the French won't win.
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1. Posted by teppo on June 7, 2006 @ 23:40 | Permalink
I have been waiting for this tour - Lance simply was unbeatable - it took out all the fun (still surprised no one challenged him last year). George won't finish in the top 5. Jan, the diesel, must be hungry to win again. The odds presently are as follows (oddschecker.com):
1. Ivan Basso (CSC)- 1.32/1
2. Jan Ullrich (T-M) - 3
3. Alejandro Valverde (ILL) - 8.7/1
4. Alexander Vinokourov (T-M) - 9
5. Floyd Landis (Pho) - 13.8/1
2. Posted by Gordon Smith on June 8, 2006 @ 0:11 | Permalink
Hi Teppo, I have been predicting a Basso win since the end of the last Tour, though it would be nice to see Ullrich win another.
I am more sanguine about Discovery's chances than the oddsmakers. It's still a great team, and if Hincape is the man, I will be rooting for him.
3. Posted by Doug H. on June 8, 2006 @ 13:32 | Permalink
I think Basso is the man to beat. He was the only guy who seemed capable of going toe to toe with Lance in the mountains.
I'll also be interested to see how Team Discovery does without Lance. While it was a great team, I think Lance was one of those rare athletes that made his teammates better. I don't expect the team to do very well in his absence.
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