Cadel not in Tour team?!

I agree. Very disappointing. When did they announce the team?

They haven't officially the team is announced on Friday 13.00 CET.

This came about from the website www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/jun04/jun23news2

It seems bizarre. I think also that he'd be a big help for Jan as well as this being good preparation for him to aim at a podium finish for future tours.

Did see on cyclingnews that he finished down in the gc in tour de sud and he didn't finish highly in the climbers classification of the same race.

Still think he'd be a huge help for Ullrich in the mountains.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by mitosis
Did see on cyclingnews that he finished down in the gc in tour de sud and he didn't finish highly in the climbers classification of the same race.

Still think he'd be a huge help for Ullrich in the mountains.

This was just after he'd won the Tour of Austria so there was probably a few recovery days in the Route du Sud for him.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by mitosis
Did see on cyclingnews that he finished down in the gc in tour de sud and he didn't finish highly in the climbers classification of the same race.

Still think he'd be a huge help for Ullrich in the mountains.

Only reason for this was the 32 minute advantage that half the pelaton got on the first (flat) stage (if I remember rightly). Evans actually finished about 5th in the next group of riders and was with the strongest riders on every mountain stage

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Dazzle
Only reason for this was the 32 minute advantage that half the pelaton got on the first (flat) stage (if I remember rightly). Evans actually finished about 5th in the next group of riders and was with the strongest riders on every mountain stage

Thanks for that information - they must be crazy leaving him out of the run-on team.

I've got nothing but a hunch here - but is there any tension between Evans and other team members? specifically Ullrich?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by mitosis
Thanks for that information - they must be crazy leaving him out of the run-on team.

I've got nothing but a hunch here - but is there any tension between Evans and other team members? specifically Ullrich?

I wonder about that also. Evan's seems such a humble guy that I cant imagine what it could be. One crazy thought that crossed my mind was that maybe T-mobile see Evan's as a possible challenge to the overall GC riders including Ullrich. Maybe they want to make sure it's only Ullrich that will be leading this team. (This doesn't really make any sense though, as Vino was supposed to be part of the team before his accident). Who knows?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Dazzle
I wonder about that also. Evan's seems such a humble guy that I cant imagine what it could be. One crazy thought that crossed my mind was that maybe T-mobile see Evan's as a possible challenge to the overall GC riders including Ullrich. Maybe they want to make sure it's only Ullrich that will be leading this team. (This doesn't really make any sense though, as Vino was supposed to be part of the team before his accident). Who knows?

Yeah, I thought the same, but I thought it might have been an optimistic view of Evans's potential by me. Cadel may do to Ullrich what Ullrich did to Riis a few years ago.

Maybe Vino confirmed his loyalty to Ullrich in the Sydney Olympic road race when he helped Ullrich win the gold medal (by working as a Deutsch Telekom team-mate rather than a Kazakh opponent)?

I'd say Cadel will be looking for a new team for '05.

how's this for a load of [censored] excuse....?

Quoted post said:

T-Mobile protecting Evans
T-Mobile team manager Walter Godefroot responded to surprise, not least of which that of the rider himself, following the announcement of a Tour de France roster which does not include Cadel Evans. Winner of the recent Tour of Austria, Evans has found good condition in time for the Tour, which he expected to be the focal point of his season.

According to Godefroot, the decision was made in light of Evans' injury-plagued season last year, notably his three collarbone fractures. Leaving Evans out of the Tour was evidently a decision for Evans' own good.

"Evans is a strong climber," Godefroot commented on the team's website. "He would of course be very important to us had we selected him, but we are protecting Cadel by not including him in our line up for the Tour. Last year Cadel had three serious crashes, breaking his collarbone each time.

"The first week of the Tour is going to be very hectic, therefore, the risk is too great that Cadel might crash and be forced out of the Tour through injury," Godefroot explained.

he had a couple of crashes last year, being unfortunate enough to repeatedly break his collarbone.... therefore (or so the logic goes) he is more prone to crash than other riders, and when doing so is at more risk than other riders of hurting himself...... so he's better off not racing.... GIMME A BREAK!~

he's come into some of the best form of his career, and T-Mobile give him some [censored] reason for his exclusion. what a joke!
and healed bones are usually stronger than unbroken ones!!

I saw that today...and I thought the same. Just a sure sign that Evan's needs to get out of T-Mobile and go somewhere where he is treated with the respect and professionalism that he deserves. I think he's a future Tour winner...if only someone will treat him like one.

This is the biggest and most important race of the year, you don't hold back all your eggs go into the basket.
Besides, any one of the team (touch wood) could fall in the first week.
It's a pretty lame reason.
Surely they could have come up with a better reason such as: We would like to keep him fresh for the vuelta.
At least that would make a little more sense.

I hear Christophe Moreau and Tyler Hamilton have also been dropped from their teams. They have lots of accidents and need to be protected :-) hehehehe

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by luke1972
I hear Christophe Moreau and Tyler Hamilton have also been dropped from their teams. They have lots of accidents and need to be protected :-) hehehehe

Same for Lance - better leave him out - he crashed twice in the tour last year!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by mitosis
Same for Lance - better leave him out - he crashed twice in the tour last year!

Vino is out not through injury, but he crashed which shows he cannot ride a bike. Ulrich may be dropped also as he crashed in the last TT in 04 Tour :-)

If Walter Godefroot was consistent with his logic he wouldn't enter a team in the Tour at all.

Sack him Mr T-Mobile.