If Savoldelli Wins

Quoted message said:

Will Armstong support him if it looks like Savoldelli has the better
chance of winning the Tour? Can any of our Italian rbr folks (Benjo?)
tell us the speculation in Italy as to what might (should) occur at
Discovery if this happens. Perhaps an Anquetil-Aimar situation?

Interesting speculation. But I don't think anybody in Italy is going to have
a clue regarding the inner workings of the Discovery team, since I don't
think Discovery has quite yet figured this thing out. It almost has to be an
embarrassment; Savoldelli wins the Giro pretty much without a team behind
him (at least after the first climb), while Lance wins 6 TDFs with the
well-publicized assistance of perhaps the best made-for-the-TDF team ever.

Discovery/Postal hasn't had to even consider the possibility to switching to
a plan-B during the Lance years. I suspect such a switch would be clunky at
best. Besides, it would also have future ramifications as well. Savoldelli
isn't the future; he's as old as Lance. They'd love to see Danielson come
along (being an American). And what of Popovych?

I don't see any smooth transitions if Lance were to falter...

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Quoted message said:

From Graham Watson's report after stage 17 on Lance's website:

It looks good, really good, for Savoldelli - and the strange thing is
that it is such a different sort of success than Armstrong’s. The
American benefits from having the best eight riders his team can
provide, while the Discovery riders here in Italy, as good and brave
and loyal as they are, have struggled to give Savoldelli the sort of
support his performances deserve. If Savoldelli does win this Giro, it
will be one of the most remarkable achievements in recent years, and
one that will give Discovery Channel a huge boost before the Tour de
France - Graham

"B. Lafferty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Will Armstong support him if it looks like Savoldelli has the better

chance

Quoted message said:

of winning the Tour? Can any of our Italian rbr folks (Benjo?) tell us

the

Quoted message said:

speculation in Italy as to what might (should) occur at Discovery if this
happens. Perhaps an Anquetil-Aimar situation?

Under no circumstance will Savoldelli have a better chance to win the Tour
than Armstrong. For someone who follows the extra-curricular activities of
bikings best, you'll know that these things are well-planned in advance.
That's not to say that something unforeseen a la Basso could throw a monkey
wrench in the Discovery juggernaut. Popovych will be the safety valve in
any case.

"matabala" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"B. Lafferty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Will Armstong support him if it looks like Savoldelli has the better

chance

Quoted message said:

of winning the Tour? Can any of our Italian rbr folks (Benjo?) tell us

the

Quoted message said:

speculation in Italy as to what might (should) occur at Discovery if this
happens. Perhaps an Anquetil-Aimar situation?

Under no circumstance will Savoldelli have a better chance to win the Tour
than Armstrong. For someone who follows the extra-curricular activities
of
bikings best, you'll know that these things are well-planned in advance.
That's not to say that something unforeseen a la Basso could throw a
monkey
wrench in the Discovery juggernaut. Popovych will be the safety valve in
any case.

Under no circumstances? Interesting proposition--you have a crystal ball
then. But if Armstrong should falter in the Tour, and falter early, I would
think there might be some interesting discussions at Discovery's hotel that
evening. Maybe they can call Walter and Rudy over a T-Mobile for advice on
how to deal with it. :-)

"B. Lafferty" <[email hidden]> schreef

Quoted message said:

Can any of our Italian rbr folks (Benjo?)

WHAT DRUGS ARE YOU ON ??!!

B. Lafferty said:

Will Armstong support him if it looks like Savoldelli has the better chance
of winning the Tour? Can any of our Italian rbr folks (Benjo?) tell us the
speculation in Italy as to what might (should) occur at Discovery if this
happens. Perhaps an Anquetil-Aimar situation?

Doper,

Savoldelli can't win le tour.

"B. Lafferty" <[email hidden]> a écrit dans le message de
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Will Armstong support him if it looks like Savoldelli has the better

chance

Quoted message said:

of winning the Tour? Can any of our Italian rbr folks (Benjo?) tell us

the

Quoted message said:

speculation in Italy as to what might (should) occur at Discovery if this
happens. Perhaps an Anquetil-Aimar situation?

I saw Savoldelli interviewed on the RAI post stage show right after today's
stage. He was asked about going for ther GC in the Tour. He said that Lance
is the man and has a better chance the win the thing. He's there to work for
Lance. No speculation about "What if Armstrong doesn't have it this year..."

"trg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"B. Lafferty" <[email hidden]> a écrit dans le message de
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Will Armstong support him if it looks like Savoldelli has the better

chance

Quoted message said:

of winning the Tour? Can any of our Italian rbr folks (Benjo?) tell us

the

Quoted message said:

speculation in Italy as to what might (should) occur at Discovery if this
happens. Perhaps an Anquetil-Aimar situation?

I saw Savoldelli interviewed on the RAI post stage show right after
today's
stage. He was asked about going for ther GC in the Tour. He said that
Lance
is the man and has a better chance the win the thing. He's there to work
for
Lance. No speculation about "What if Armstrong doesn't have it this
year..."

Popovych is supposed to be the designed successor ! I think he is on record
stating that if Lance fails he expects to be there ready to take the
responsibility.

"Bart Van Hoorebeeck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"B. Lafferty" <[email hidden]> schreef

Quoted message said:

Can any of our Italian rbr folks (Benjo?)

WHAT DRUGS ARE YOU ON ??!!

Clearly not the right mix today. Apologies to Benjo who probably knows more
about racing in Italy over the years than anyone else alive.

Savoldelli doesn't have the legs for the Tour. People thought Simoni
would do good in the Tour after winning the Giro also...but we saw what
happened to him. Savoldelli will do good to finish in the top 30. Mr.
Lafferty...if Lance falters, there will be no Italians or Discoveres
around to do anything about the bigger beasts such as Ulrich, Karpets,
Mayo, Kloden, Vino, Valverde, etc.

Andre

In theory, sure he would. That is not going to happen. The best riders
for the Tour after Armstrong are the Iberian riders in alphabetical
order by last name (funny how it worked that way). After LA and the
Iberians you have Popo and then Savoldelli when he is not wiped out
from a run at the Giro so ask next year if Lance changes his mind about
retiring and Paolo has not broken any bones and raced hard in the Giro
and ...and...and...

Whoa there! I can't disagree more EXCEPT that obviously the Giro this
year was not taken seriously enough since they had no idea Savoldelli
would get GC traction. He was not even able to make it to the wind
tunnel work they did this year. Even Popo was there but Paolo was hurt
(IIRC).

Contrast that (this year's Giro) with suberb talent scouting and
development that the team's management has shown to us for years now
and it looks like the last 2 GTs are the exceptions. I think they have
a lot of depth in the GT department but up to now ALL of the eggs have
gone in to one basket and one place on the calendar. That hardly means
there is no ascension planning. If anything they have already proven
they can likely win with other riders. That is once the talent that the
"black star" (that Lance Armstrong is) is no longer sucking all of the
talent out of sight. Take a look at the results in the GTs from any
years in the reign of LA and you will see how much hard work goes in to
getting Lance and the team those wins. If anything they will still have
too many options but at least they will have designated leasers to step
up. I am sur that without a virtual guaranteed win coming up they would
not only replace Lance with a strong rider programmed to hit form at
the Tour but they would also have more pressure to do the same with the
Giro. The pressure will get distributed to all of the GTs to some
extent the way it is with other teams without a strong candidate. I
realize that USPS \ Discovery is not the only team to put too much
emphasis on the Tour but I am judging by what I see on the roster.
Recruiting Savoldelli and Popo was with the intent of winning the Giro
it's just that they both must have been riding poorly this spring and
that caused a slight judgement error (IMO) causing the team to fall
back to the position that always paid off for them since the summer of
1999. It will all be forgotten soon anyway. Which do you think is
worse, losing a GT in the final ITT with a leader tired from the Tour,
or barely winning a GT with a rider who was not well supported because
he was thought to be under form?

On 05/28/2005 10:08 PM, in article
[email hidden], "Chris M"

Quoted message said:

In theory, sure he would. That is not going to happen. The best riders
for the Tour after Armstrong are the Iberian riders in alphabetical
order by last name (funny how it worked that way).

So Azevedo (since Portugal is part of the Iberian Peninsula) is better than
Beloki is better than Beltran is better than Heras?

Quoted message said:

After LA and the
Iberians you have Popo and then Savoldelli when he is not wiped out
from a run at the Giro so ask next year if Lance changes his mind about
retiring and Paolo has not broken any bones and raced hard in the Giro
and ...and...and...

--
Steven L. Sheffield
stevens at veloworks dot com
bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est
ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea eye tee why you ti ay aitch
aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
double-yew double-ewe dot veloworks dot com [foreword] slash

Steven L. Sheffield said:

On 05/28/2005 10:08 PM, in article
[email hidden], "Chris M"

Quoted message said:

In theory, sure he would. That is not going to happen. The best riders
for the Tour after Armstrong are the Iberian riders in alphabetical
order by last name (funny how it worked that way).

So Azevedo (since Portugal is part of the Iberian Peninsula) is better than
Beloki is better than Beltran is better than Heras?

And all of those are better than Valverde?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

After LA and the
Iberians you have Popo and then Savoldelli when he is not wiped out
from a run at the Giro so ask next year if Lance changes his mind about
retiring and Paolo has not broken any bones and raced hard in the Giro
and ...and...and...

"Steven L. Sheffield" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 05/28/2005 10:08 PM, in article
[email hidden], "Chris M"

Quoted message said:

In theory, sure he would. That is not going to happen. The best riders
for the Tour after Armstrong are the Iberian riders in alphabetical
order by last name (funny how it worked that way).

So Azevedo (since Portugal is part of the Iberian Peninsula) is better
than
Beloki is better than Beltran is better than Heras?

Are Beloki or Heras in Discovery?

"Andre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Savoldelli doesn't have the legs for the Tour. People thought Simoni
would do good in the Tour after winning the Giro also...but we saw what
happened to him. Savoldelli will do good to finish in the top 30. Mr.
Lafferty...if Lance falters, there will be no Italians or Discoveres
around to do anything about the bigger beasts such as Ulrich, Karpets,
Mayo, Kloden, Vino, Valverde, etc.

Andre

It think Popovich could do well overall if Armstrong falters, although I
agree that it would be very difficult for him to defeat an on form/healthy
Ulrich. It looks like Savodelli is well committed to not being a leader in
the Tour for Discovery under any circumstances.

On 05/29/2005 05:24 AM, in article
[email hidden], "alex"

Quoted message said:

"Steven L. Sheffield" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 05/28/2005 10:08 PM, in article
[email hidden], "Chris M"

Quoted message said:

In theory, sure he would. That is not going to happen. The best riders
for the Tour after Armstrong are the Iberian riders in alphabetical
order by last name (funny how it worked that way).

So Azevedo (since Portugal is part of the Iberian Peninsula) is better
than
Beloki is better than Beltran is better than Heras?

Are Beloki or Heras in Discovery?

"The best riders for the Tour after Armstrong are the Iberian riders in
alphabetical order by last name ..."

Says nothing about restricting the pool to the Discovery Channel team ...

--
Steven L. Sheffield
stevens at veloworks dot com
bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est
ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea eye tee why you ti ay aitch
aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
double-yew double-ewe dot veloworks dot com [foreword] slash

Quoted message said:

Savoldelli doesn't have the legs for the Tour. People thought Simoni
would do good in the Tour after winning the Giro also...but we saw what
happened to him. Savoldelli will do good to finish in the top 30. Mr.
Lafferty...if Lance falters, there will be no Italians or Discoveres
around to do anything about the bigger beasts such as Ulrich, Karpets,
Mayo, Kloden, Vino, Valverde, etc.

So I was the only person last year who noticed that Azevedo, 100%
domestique, ended up, what, 6th place in the GC at the 'Tour? That Azevedo
dropped off towards the end of a few stages not because he couldn't go on
and contest the finish, but because his work was done and it was wise to
save himself for the next day?

I haven't heard much of Azevedo this season; maybe he's not on form, and
maybe he lacks the killer instinct or whatever to win or podium at a Grand
Tour. But to suggest that Discovery has nobody who might counter the moves
of those you mentioned strikes me as odd.

Azevedo, Popovych, Savoldelli... add to that the guys who will drag them to
the foot of the mountains... this is not your ordinary one-trick-pony team
this year. Factor in stragetic advantages (Bruyneel) and I think we've got
something to watch, even if Lance were to falter.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Steven L. Sheffield" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

On 05/29/2005 05:24 AM, in article
[email hidden], "alex"

Quoted message said:

"Steven L. Sheffield" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 05/28/2005 10:08 PM, in article
[email hidden], "Chris M"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

> In theory, sure he would. That is not going to happen. The best riders
> for the Tour after Armstrong are the Iberian riders in alphabetical
> order by last name (funny how it worked that way).

So Azevedo (since Portugal is part of the Iberian Peninsula) is better
than
Beloki is better than Beltran is better than Heras?

Are Beloki or Heras in Discovery?

"The best riders for the Tour after Armstrong are the Iberian riders in
alphabetical order by last name ..."

Says nothing about restricting the pool to the Discovery Channel team ...

Nothing if you prune the context of the discussion that was precisely who
would take over in Discovery if Lance falters (and in particular whether
Savoldelli wold be the one).