Basso in Discovery?

I'd say Ullrich for CSC and Basso for DC.....

Andrija said:

After Riis' interview in Politiken and, I'd say, some very hard words, it's obvious Basso will be searching for new team (if gets cleared from all accusations).
Knowing he's very good friend with Armstrong and that Disco desperately needs new leader and star, it's very possible to see him in Disco.
Maybe, at the end, Disco find themselves in sweet dilemma - Basso or Ullrich.
Operation Puerto could well work in Disco favor.

Bruyneel will sign Basso now, on a contingent basis assuming he is not suspended/precluded from riding. Bruyneel and LA covet Basso that badly. They will argue that he was not suspended by the Italian federation. They have said before that he is photogenic and will appeal to the US audience, even though he is not American.

DC will pay him a very good salary, but not as good as at CSC because (i) they will argue he gets very strong support (including from Popo over the next two years and possibly even Leipheimer), (ii) he needs a good DS to guide him to victory in the Tour, and (iii) DC has a proven record of at least not losing a GT on strategy. Think about it -- for years you have followed LA, and seen the effect of the Rubiera/Ace/Hincapie/recently Popo/now Leipheimer group. You think you will also get Danielson as your domestique next year, together with young rouleur Noval. That's a nice situation. These guys are used to the strategy of "all for one". They proved they needed a leader with their clearly sub-par results in the 06 Tour. You know they will be at your command like they were for LA. You will be partially guided by the cyclist you admire, LA.

musette said:

DC will pay him a very good salary, but not as good as at CSC because (i) they will argue he gets very strong support (including from Popo over the next two years and possibly even Leipheimer), and (ii) he needs a good DS to guide him to victory in the Tour.

Say what? They will pay him less because he gets good support? CSC is the best team in the world. Basso will be stepping down in class if he goes to Disco. He should ask for more money. And the DS. Well CSC has the best DS also. So again he should ask for more money.

whiteboytrash said:

I'd say Ullrich for CSC and Basso for DC.....

Sounds more logical to me too...
But I'm not sure about Riis - Ullrich relation. And don't forget Ulle is involved in Operation Puerto as much as Basso. So, from that point of view, if Basso isn't good for Riis because of Fuentes why would Jan be.

I concur with Bro Deal: Mussette, get off the pot Belge; CSC is a much stronger squadra than DC. Basso will not be back with CSC now, though. First he really needs to clear his name, though, and Puerto isn't even started yet. He could be on the shelf for a while.

Basso has limited options, if he can't prove his innocence to Riis and he wants strong support at 07 Tour. Where would he go, except to DC? :p :p :p

They will be with team Ullrich ,Jan ,Basso.Kloden , Kessler. a new team based in the US.
Training begins in December in S. Africa.

jhuskey said:

They will be with team Ullrich ,Jan ,Basso.Kloden , Kessler. a new team based in the US.
Training begins in December in S. Africa.

I agree that a new team is a good idea for Basso.

I suggest Team Amgen. TdF team will be Basso, Ullrich, Landis, Mancebo, Gutierrez, Scarponi, Sevilla, Perez, and Hamilton.

Saiz will DS and Fuentes will be team Doctor.

I imagine they will be a force to reckoned with ... As long as no one ODs.

musette said:

Bruyneel will sign Basso now, on a contingent basis assuming he is not suspended/precluded from riding. Bruyneel and LA covet Basso that badly. They will argue that he was not suspended by the Italian federation. They have said before that he is photogenic and will appeal to the US audience, even though he is not American.

DC will pay him a very good salary, but not as good as at CSC because........ .

You can stop right there.

Basso was aggitating that the salary at CSC was too low as it was pre-Puerto and this was causing strife with Riis.
Now that Riis is cold shouldering Basso, DC won't ride to the rescue unless Basso is prepared to go bargain basement.

DC never want to spend the wads.
Basso would want more - than the skinflints at DC would be prepared to pay.

As Basso is probably the premier rider in the world today, I suspect that Riis wouldn't be backpedaling right now unless he recently learned something that changed his mind.

Possibly stronger evidence coming out of Puerto, in which case the question of where Ivan goes will be purely academic.

Could also be financial... with sponsors cutting back, Ivan's salary might be too much to handle right now.

JohnO said:

As Basso is probably the premier rider in the world today, I suspect that Riis wouldn't be backpedaling right now unless he recently learned something that changed his mind.

Possibly stronger evidence coming out of Puerto, in which case the question of where Ivan goes will be purely academic.

Very true and sensible thinking.

JohnO said:

As Basso is probably the premier rider in the world today, I suspect that Riis wouldn't be backpedaling right now unless he recently learned something that changed his mind.

Possibly stronger evidence coming out of Puerto, in which case the question of where Ivan goes will be purely academic.

From what I hear Riis just learnt the name of Basso's dog.... hence the shift of his views on Basso... reports state that Riis went over to Basso's house for a chat and started calling the name "Brillo" at the top of his voice..... to his surprise Basso's dog came running from the back garden and started to "dry root" Riis's leg in some sort of sex-crazed frenzy..... ! He wasn't impressed...

...although Riis left Ivan's house a little confused to whether Basso had been on Fuentes gear or the dog.... 🙂

You can almost here the ice splitting.

Riis sounds to be one [censored] DS.

jhuskey said:

They will be with team Ullrich ,Jan ,Basso.Kloden , Kessler. a new team based in the US.
Training begins in December in S. Africa.

You mean, the missing continent? 😉

musette said:

Bruyneel will sign Basso now, on a contingent basis assuming he is not suspended/precluded from riding. Bruyneel and LA covet Basso that badly. They will argue that he was not suspended by the Italian federation. They have said before that he is photogenic and will appeal to the US audience, even though he is not American..

Works for me!

Oh, a love story. How heartwarming!

whiteboytrash said:

From what I hear Riis just learnt the name of Basso's dog.... hence the shift of his views on Basso... reports state that Riis went over to Basso's house for a chat and started calling the name "Brillo" at the top of his voice..... to his surprise Basso's dog came running from the back garden and started to "dry root" Riis's leg in some sort of sex-crazed frenzy..... ! He wasn't impressed...

...although Riis left Ivan's house a little confused to whether Basso had been on Fuentes gear or the dog.... 🙂

limerickman said:

You can almost here the ice splitting.

Riis sounds to be one [censored] DS.

But Riis has to be the biggest hypocrite ever!

He - Mr 60% - is complaining that Basso has ruined his image!!!!!!!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/aug06/aug22news2

musette said:

(ii) he needs a good DS to guide him to victory in the Tour

I think this year's tour has shown that Bruyneel is not that great as a DS after all. Probably even I could have guided LA to 7 victories in a row. But take out the one star and Johan can't achieve diddly squat.

patch70 said:

I think this year's tour has shown that Bruyneel is not that great as a DS after all. Probably even I could have guided LA to 7 victories in a row. But take out the one star and Johan can't achieve diddly squat.

Yup. Whatever doping history Riis may have, he has slowly and steadily built CSC into the best team in the world. He has not done that on the shoulders of a single rider but with many. The team has victories in everything from classics to small stage races to GTs.

Disco/Postal on the other hand has been trying to win a single day weekend race for going on a decade and has come up with nothing. Single day races are where tactics and strategy really count.