Astana not ready for Giro

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Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
getting accepted into the TDF.

On Mon, 5 May 2008 13:19:27 -0700 (PDT), hizark21 <hizark21@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
>Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
>is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
>getting accepted into the TDF.

Who cares, according to CN they'll be riding in support of Klödi, I
don't see how he could lose the Giro with all the ITT's and his
excellent climbing skills.Probably a blessing for him to have to race
the Giro, here comes his first GT win!

> Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
> Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
> is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
> getting accepted into the TDF.

This isn't about getting into the TdF. They gave up on that some time ago.
But if they can "stick it to the man" by doing exceptionally well in the
Giro and Vuelta, they'd be quite happy, I'm sure.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Circa Mon, 5 May 2008 13:19:27 -0700 (PDT), hizark21
<hizark21@yahoo.com> typed:

>Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
>Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
>is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
>getting accepted into the TDF.

The Kazakh financiers were able to bribe Zomegnan but they can't
afford Prudhomme. For him it's personal.

They have set themselves up perfectly. If they do well, everyone lauds
them. If they don't, they have already sown the seed for their excuse.

hizark21 wrote:
> Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
> Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
> is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
> getting accepted into the TDF.

Their next race was supposed to be the Dauphine in June. That they are
not race ready now is not a surprise.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
> > Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
> > Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
> > is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
> > getting accepted into the TDF.
>
> This isn't about getting into the TdF. They gave up on that some time ago.
> But if they can "stick it to the man" by doing exceptionally well in the
> Giro and Vuelta, they'd be quite happy, I'm sure.
>
Astana has always had hopes of still being selected for this years
TDF. My point is that they shoud have been ready regardless.

> --Mike Jacoubowsky
> Chain Reaction Bicycles
> www.ChainReaction.com
> Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

The Dauphine Libre is a ASO event so chances are Astana would not be
allowed to enter.

Kyle Legate wrote:
> hizark21 wrote:
> > Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
> > Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
> > is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
> > getting accepted into the TDF.
>
> Their next race was supposed to be the Dauphine in June. That they are
> not race ready now is not a surprise.

hizark21 wrote:

> The Dauphine Libre is a ASO event so chances are Astana would not be
> allowed to enter.

They are entered:
<http://startlist.cyclingfever.com/startlist.html?_p=startlijst&id=18879>

On Tue, 6 May 2008 02:15:06 -0700 (PDT), hizark21 <hizark21@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>
>
>Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
>> > Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
>> > Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
>> > is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
>> > getting accepted into the TDF.
>>
>> This isn't about getting into the TdF. They gave up on that some time ago.
>> But if they can "stick it to the man" by doing exceptionally well in the
>> Giro and Vuelta, they'd be quite happy, I'm sure.
>>
>Astana has always had hopes of still being selected for this years
>TDF. My point is that they shoud have been ready regardless.

You don't really understand structured training is you think being
ready -- really ready, as in peaking -- for a race this weekend is the
same as being ready for a race in six weeks.

hizark21 wrote:
> The Dauphine Libre is a ASO event so chances are Astana would not be
> allowed to enter.

While it may seem at times that ASO runs all races in France,
the Dauphine is not one of theirs.

Bob Schwartz

On Tue, 06 May 2008 08:11:11 +0200, Kyle Legate <legatek@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>hizark21 wrote:
>> Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
>> Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
>> is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
>> getting accepted into the TDF.
>
>Their next race was supposed to be the Dauphine in June. That they are
>not race ready now is not a surprise.

hum..."race ready" what can that mean...

hizark21 wrote:
> Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
> Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
> is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
> getting accepted into the TDF.

As others have said, it is no surprise that Astana is not fully ready
for a race they were not entered in until a couple of days ago.

Now, if they show up and ride the Giro, and if the ASO (that acronym
reminds me of a derogatory word in English) caves and accepts them for
the TdF (right now, they are the only grand tour that isn't allowing
last year's Tour winner and third place rider to enter - seems kind of
stupid, not to mention actionable), I would expect the TdF prospects to
ride as much of the Giro as will aid their TdF preparation, and then
drop out, citing the always popular food poisoning excuse, or something
similar.

On May 6, 10:12 am, Keith <nos...@nospam.com> wrote:

> hum..."race ready" what can that mean...


It's a lot like "super motivated."

-rj

hizark21 wrote:
> The Dauphine Libre is a ASO event so chances are Astana would not be
> allowed to enter.
>
That's what I thought too, but:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/may08/may05news2

Under the heading "Contador with "Unknown Form"".

On Tue, 6 May 2008 14:58:24 -0700 (PDT), ronaldo_jeremiah
<ronaldo_jeremiah@yahoo.com> wrote:

>On May 6, 10:12 am, Keith <nos...@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>> hum..."race ready" what can that mean...
>
>
>It's a lot like "super motivated."

possibly or
1. "vitamiins" haven't kicked in yet"
2. "vitamiins still traceable"...

Personally I think Astana has planned poorly. Astana has stated that
their goal was to perform well enough to convince the ASO to let them
ride in TDF. Today they are not fully prepared for the Giro. Astana
should have ready for the major tours. One possiblity is that that
they may race into form in the Giro and contend. I think this is
unlikely since the Giro and the TDF have become hypercomepetitive in
recent years. So this makes it much harder to do so. One scenario is
that Contador or Leipheimer do well in the TT's and stay within
striking distance until the latter part of the race.

Colin Campbell wrote:
> hizark21 wrote:
> > Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
> > Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
> > is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
> > getting accepted into the TDF.
>
> As others have said, it is no surprise that Astana is not fully ready
> for a race they were not entered in until a couple of days ago.
>
> Now, if they show up and ride the Giro, and if the ASO (that acronym
> reminds me of a derogatory word in English) caves and accepts them for
> the TdF (right now, they are the only grand tour that isn't allowing
> last year's Tour winner and third place rider to enter - seems kind of
> stupid, not to mention actionable), I would expect the TdF prospects to
> ride as much of the Giro as will aid their TdF preparation, and then
> drop out, citing the always popular food poisoning excuse, or something
> similar.

hizark21 wrote:
> Personally I think Astana has planned poorly. Astana has stated that
> their goal was to perform well enough to convince the ASO to let them
> ride in TDF. Today they are not fully prepared for the Giro. Astana
> should have ready for the major tours.
>
Wow, you're almost as thick as Kunich. Astana are not fully prepared for
the Giro because months ago the team selection was made, and THEY
WEREN'T ON IT. Until a couple of days ago, Astana were going to watch
the Giro ON TV.

As a comparison, say your company was planning an important meeting,
with presentations by several people on critical topics. The list of
speakers was announced 2 months in advance. The day before the meeting,
your boss comes up to you and says that there is a free 40 minute slot
first thing tomorrow morning and he wants you to present it. How
prepared would you be?

On Tue, 6 May 2008 21:55:37 -0700 (PDT), hizark21 <hizark21@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Personally I think Astana has planned poorly. Astana has stated that
>their goal was to perform well enough to convince the ASO to let them
>ride in TDF. Today they are not fully prepared for the Giro. Astana
>should have ready for the major tours. One possiblity is that that
>they may race into form in the Giro and contend. I think this is
>unlikely since the Giro and the TDF have become hypercomepetitive in
>recent years. So this makes it much harder to do so. One scenario is
>that Contador or Leipheimer do well in the TT's and stay within
>striking distance until the latter part of the race.

Please meet Andreas Klöden, one of the most gifted racers of the past
10 years, it's hard to imagine how he could not win the Giro !

I have been pleasantly proven wrong by Contador/Astana. Given Giro's
over the past 5-7 years, I did not think it was possible to race into
form. It has been a lont time since a contender has raced into form in
a major tour. If Astana win's then hopefully they can convince the ASO
to let them in.

hizark21 wrote:
> Personally I think Astana has planned poorly. Astana has stated that
> their goal was to perform well enough to convince the ASO to let them
> ride in TDF. Today they are not fully prepared for the Giro. Astana
> should have ready for the major tours. One possiblity is that that
> they may race into form in the Giro and contend. I think this is
> unlikely since the Giro and the TDF have become hypercomepetitive in
> recent years. So this makes it much harder to do so. One scenario is
> that Contador or Leipheimer do well in the TT's and stay within
> striking distance until the latter part of the race.
>
> Colin Campbell wrote:
> > hizark21 wrote:
> > > Contador and Leiphiemier have said they are not fully ready for the
> > > Giro. This is a bit of surprise considering how late in the season it
> > > is. If Astana does not peform well this could dampen any chances of
> > > getting accepted into the TDF.
> >
> > As others have said, it is no surprise that Astana is not fully ready
> > for a race they were not entered in until a couple of days ago.
> >
> > Now, if they show up and ride the Giro, and if the ASO (that acronym
> > reminds me of a derogatory word in English) caves and accepts them for
> > the TdF (right now, they are the only grand tour that isn't allowing
> > last year's Tour winner and third place rider to enter - seems kind of
> > stupid, not to mention actionable), I would expect the TdF prospects to
> > ride as much of the Giro as will aid their TdF preparation, and then
> > drop out, citing the always popular food poisoning excuse, or something
> > similar.

hizark21 wrote:
> I have been pleasantly proven wrong by Contador/Astana. Given Giro's
> over the past 5-7 years, I did not think it was possible to race into
> form. It has been a lont time since a contender has raced into form in a
> major tour. If Astana win's then hopefully they can convince the ASO to
> let them in.

And you're convinced he didn't make an untraceable withdrawal
from a bank ?