Can Discovery Sweep the 3 Grand Tours this year?

Lonnie Utah

Savoldelli wins the Giro. Lance will most likely win the Tour (barring total meltdown in the next week). ??????? in the Vuelta?

Will Johan try to go for the sweep? Does DC care? If so, who will be their GC guy?

Don't kid yourself, I'm just trying to stir up trouble !!!

L

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wolfix

Of course he is going to try and win it ...... The GC rider???? I feel it will be Armstrong. Why not ???? Or maybe they can back Hincapie with the climbers.... But most likely it wil be a Spanish rider. And it should be. It just makes sense that a Italian rider wins his own tour[GIRO], an American is winning his nations own tour[TDF], and a Spanish guy should win his ...

Lonnie Utah , this is how you stir up trouble.....

lwedge

He he he !! You know most of Europe is asleep right now. I can't wait to check in tomorrow on your thread. The GC might be George

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Lonnie Utah

So you're thinking Beltran or Rubiera?

Yep. Just ask my mom and my wife !!!

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wolfix

No, the Euro's seem to ignore me with my constant habit of pointing out the fact that the TDF has been won 10 times out of the last 20 times by an American if Armstong wins this year.
I do respect Euro's though. Some of them , such as Limerickman do have a history of the sport. And they see the USA to only have an interest in the TDF which is true. I can understand the resentment. After seeing the way Americans act in Europe and their portrayal on TV I can understand why Euro's resent Americans. But, the same could be said about the Euro's in America. I work with international students . My pub is where they hang out. My home is where they spend the holidays if they cannot go home between semesters. If Euro's think Americans are obnoxious, they should be around the German & Irish students when beer is flowing.
But another thing, I find very few international students here that have knowledge about the TDF and it's history.
But I am also a LA fan. He has overcame so much. His method of winning the TT's and then having his team dominate may get some criticism , but they should blame Indurain. He is the one that gave LA the blueprint to TDF success. so when I hear criticism of LA I feel the need to repond.

wolfix

Yeah .... It will be interesting . I feel as if the Discovery Channel may be involved. Is Spain a market?? They will probbly approach it and see who is the strongest.

gntlmn

I don't know how Danielson's recovering from his knee problems sidelining him from the Vuelta, but he may be the man for Discovery's Vuelta efforts this year. If Popo hadn't been in the Tour, I would have picked him to test his grand tour skills there to give him a good idea of what to accomplish before next year's Tour. But I don't think they'll put him up to it this year after riding the Tour. I think they'll be there. I wouldn't say it will be a slam dunk win.

Heras seems to be sleeping during the Tour, like he did last year. He's one of the few who uses the Tour de France as a trainer for the Vuelta, perhaps the only rider. But it's getting to be a little bit transparent at this point. I'd peg him as a favorite to win the Vuelta.

wolfix

Maybe someone on here knows Danielson's current situation. I thought maybe the same thing, but I still think the Spanish riders will be motivated.

What is Tom Hammond's current situation???? If healthy it would be fun to see him go after stage wins. Lim probably has some info on him. A win in the Spanish tour would be the icing on ther cake for the corporate heads at Discovery. Can anyone on here tell me if the Spanish in S.America follow the Vuelta ???
If Discovery has a man in the running at the Vuelta it will be fun. It will add a element of interest to the race for me. I admit that i tend to lose interest in the Euro scene after the TDF. Except the World's. That is my favorite race. I would love to se it contested earlier in the year though. Too many possibel winners are burned out and are at home. The World's jersey has been tarnished by the late date. There was a time when wearing the Worlds jersey was up there with the yellow.

sam_m

It will be hard for anyone to topple Heras. I don't think DC has the man for the Vuelta, but they are going to try anyways.

Oh, and I'm suddenly thinking of Aitor Gonzalez... The Basque squad is most likely saving him for the Vuelta.

996vtwin

Discovery is nothing without LA, so after he retires this year it will be bye bye Discovery.

mr tibbs

i don't think that'll happen. there's been talk of dsc picking up another team's less glorified star (vino? i hope not, for tmo's sake...), but i think they have a strong future leader in their midst already in popo. it will be fun to watch him grow as a cyclist--maybe a new rivalry between him and valverde will spring up! (though, if this is the case, i think dsc will often find themselves on the losing side of that...)


and besides, even though i'm an ardent tmo fan i would hate for the cycling world to lose a squad like dsc.


side note: will hincapie retire this year, too? it seems like a fitting move, especially after stg 15.

tcklyde

I'd put Azevedo down as Disco's Vuelta GC man. And I'd love to see the strong and faithful mountain domestique to both Beloki and Armstrong win it. He's certainly strong enough when he is on form.

I hope Valverde rides the Vuelta. I'd like to see him do well. And Cunego, if he is healthy, though Mono probably ruined a lot of training time. Heras will surely be in better shape, though I'd prefer to see him rider strong at the Tour again.

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Harry

JRMDC

He was 5th in the Tour of Austria, and 2nd in the uphill time trial there.

I would think that Azevedo would be the better choice for the GC, unless the Tour takes too much out of him. Last year Azevedo did the Tour of England but not the Vuelta.

JRMDC

Not if you have yet to achieve your dream (Roubaix, etc.). LA is an exception, many if not most or nearly all riders continue to compete until they can't or they really lose form.