If LA rode the Giro in 04.....

yayaya

How do you think he would do, would it hamper his other Grand tour hopes any? I think it would be intersting to see how he would do. Id probably give Simoni the edge because it seems to matter more to him, I dont think LA would be motivated enough to pull it off. Although it is more likely he would do the Tour of Georgia instead, I hope he does for us guys down here's sake.

What do YOU think?

Shnerpals

I dont think Lance will ride in the Giro in 04. Its to much of a risk. Lance trains specifically to peak in July. If he rides the Giro he will peak to soon because of the difficulty of the ride. If Lance wants to win the Tour de France for the sixth time he will have to train like he did for the 1999 tour only harder. He cant do that if he also planning on competing in the Giro.
One last thing is that Simoni acted as if he was the greatest cyclist for competeing in the Giro and the Tour but he didnt do well in the Tour de France this year! If you want to act like your great...actually be great!

__________________
-Jill
"I'll be back next year, and I'm not coming back to be second, but hopefully to come back to the level I was in the first four Tours." -Lance Armstrong 6/26/03

gntlmn

Tour de France contenders would do well in the Tour de France if they rode the Giro not intending to win. Instead, if they focused only on preparing for the Tour de France while riding the Giro, then indeed it would be good preparation. The problem is that when the race organizers and promoters catch on to this, they don't like it. Riders have been accused of using the Giro as only a training race in the past. A rider such as Lance Armstrong might have a hard time doing this because so many eyes would be on him. A lesser known rider would probably get away with this strategy, particularly in a year when he's first coming on strong with a great increase in performance and doesn't want to reveal just how strong he really is until the Tour de France. Lance doesn't have that luxury. We all know he's a Tour contender.

philoakley

If Armstrong wanted to ride the Giro to win then I think he could beat Simoni in 2004. However, the lack of time-trialing in the race next year would make for a tough battle in the mountains and probably damage Armstrong's chances in the Tour. Armstrong has made no secret of his plans to do more training alone next year and consequently he will probably race sparingly. It wouldn't suprise me if we see Lance content to ride races such as the Tour de Suisse as training, finishing in the top 10 and keeping his opponents guessing as to his true form.