Levi, heir apparent??

Salsa Rider said:

Phil and Paul have now twice mentioned the rumor that Levi might come over to Postal (Discovery) next year. Could this be a move to find the next Captain of the only american team on the circuit? He's 30, little long in the tooth for a long run. Whadda'ya'think?? Could Landis have what it takes? Other nominations.

i heard that this morning too..

that would be interesting...
i would love to see hamilton back too..i heard he is looking to switch..
too bad they never got basso...they woulda killed

Salsa Rider said:

Phil and Paul have now twice mentioned the rumor that Levi might come over to Postal (Discovery) next year. Could this be a move to find the next Captain of the only american team on the circuit? He's 30, little long in the tooth for a long run. Whadda'ya'think?? Could Landis have what it takes? Other nominations.

An OLN commentator said today during stage 17 where Landis led the charge, setting a brutal pace through the mountains, that Landis has accepted an offer from another team. He will not be with Discovery next year. He didn't say the name of the team.

Clearly, Landis is continuing to be loyal to USPS for the 2004 Tour. It's too bad he didn't win the stage today after all that work helping Lance. That's the price of being a domestique, I guess.

gntlmn said:

An OLN commentator said today during stage 17 where Landis led the charge, setting a brutal pace through the mountains, that Landis has accepted an offer from another team. He will not be with Discovery next year. He didn't say the name of the team.

Clearly, Landis is continuing to be loyal to USPS for the 2004 Tour. It's too bad he didn't win the stage today after all that work helping Lance. That's the price of being a domestique, I guess.

After the performance Floyd turned in on stage 17, I suspect a lot of teams will be interesting in his services. 200km, cat 1 climbs, and he finishes in the company of cycling's finest, 13 seconds behind the winner. With results like that, he won't be a domestique much longer.

It's hard to see Levi coming to Postal/Discovery in anything other than a lead position, which means not until Lance moves on.

JohnO said:

After the performance Floyd turned in on stage 17, I suspect a lot of teams will be interesting in his services. 200km, cat 1 climbs, and he finishes in the company of cycling's finest, 13 seconds behind the winner. With results like that, he won't be a domestique much longer.

He just goes and goes doesn't he? I was quite impressed, and thought he deserved the stage win on 17.

Landis is a stud. Why would he want to leave a power house though? Money? ($ probably it)

After Heras dismal failure as Liberty Seguros captain, I think other teams will be a little apprehensive of repeating Liberty's strategy. Plus, I doubt any other team pays as well as Postal.

g8000 said:

After Heras dismal failure as Liberty Seguros captain, I think other teams will be a little apprehensive of repeating Liberty's strategy. Plus, I doubt any other team pays as well as Postal.

You have a point there. Hamilton is another case in point. I think that Postal brings out the best in these guys. Postal has so much depth that the riders worry about even making it to the Tour de France. I think 12 were in contention this year, but only 9 made it. They train like pack horses on the European mountains. I bet when these other teams pick them up, they don't realize how much of their success is explained by USPS. That's why they don't do so well elsewhere.

Did you notice that Jan didn't even have a chance to mount an attack today? Floyd set such a blistering pace with Lance right on his wheel that they knew that any attack would simply be reeled in by Lance, given he wasn't expending the most energy. Floyd Landis was.

I looked back on the l'Alpe d'Huez to see if Landis had rested that day. Such was not the case. He finished back only 3 minutes from Lance up the Alpe. Then he came right back for stage 17 to lead the charge. What a workhorse.