Agree some, disagree some. Ekimov - is this his last Tour? Classics - they went with Devolder and Hoste, not bad choices. I stated once here before and will state again that, as good as Hoste is and as much as Davitamon needs a new classics rider, Hoste's departure was inevitable. Hammond, agree. For reasons unknown to me, Devolder has not done anything this year; is there any possibility that he can rebound.
But as far as the TdF, I think they put their money on Popovich some time ago. Even Hincapie said last year during the 2005 Dauphine that he expected to be working for Popovich in the future. Not a bad idea to go with a white jersey winner - but he needs more time. An inevitable gap, and hardly shameful. They take this year, reward Hincapie and Azevedo with some opportunities, and then build going forward. And besides, Hincapie was 14th last year, not a bad bet for some top 10 spoils in a transitional year, which the US press hyped up into a podium possibility.
Why they wanted Savoldelli to do the TdF, not at all clear to me, a bad choice. I vaguely recall, perhaps read it in this forum, but he didn't want to do the TdF.
But they do need a full rebuild, their support riders are greatly weakened - Rubiera, for example. He seems done. Danielson, not bad, one for three in completing GTs is disconcerting, but if he can do top 5 at the Vuelta this year, not too bad, we'll see. If he doesn't develop into a GT leader, because not young enough, he can at least be the main mountain support rider for several years, not a bad return for DCs investment in him.
But for DC, it is Popovich, Hincapie->Devolder. But they need one more GT leader and one more one-day rider. They disappear in the fall, and for that matter, they disappear in the Ardennes classics. Maybe Discovery doesn't care about that.
