Quit knocking Zabel.

They must be paying him well other wise he'd be better off moving to another team.

Does each team have either a great hill climber, sprinter, TTer, allrounder etc as their ace?

Oke update Zabel if off the tour team.............source wielernieuws.nl (dutch)

Rightly so.......which doesn't mean we don't have respect for him. He is one of the classiest racers in the last decade.........but for a team who guns for GC just not good enough. Disco won't take a max van heeswijk to there team.....

jhuskey said:

The key word here is team and you don't have that at all with Zabel.

ZABEL IS OUT OF THE TDF TEAM! Finally, one factor I have long advocated for JU to bolster his challenge to LA, has materialized. (Not that JU will win the GC over LA, of course)

T-Mobile site notes:

"The T-Mobile International AG & Co. KG plans to commit itself to its top sprinter also after his career and accordingly made an offer to the 34-year-old. The contract parties will finalise their talks prior to the HEW Cyclassics (July 31, Hamburg). Zabel is not part of the roster for the Tour de France, starting on the 2nd of July. The nine-man Tour squad will be presented on June 22 (11 a.m.) in Bonn. "Of course, I'm dissapointed," said Erik Zabel, who had hoped to the last to be nominated. It would have been his 12th participation in the Tour. "But I'm pro enough to accept the decision of the team management." He added: "I was aware of this being an option. Each year, it had been somebody's turn. This time it's mine." Zabel said he will now look for other goals to achieve this season. "We have not taken this decision lightly," said T-Mobile sporting director Mario Kummer. "We have a clear concept and wouldn't let the discussions irritate us, which started at the end of last year." Kummer added: "You don't leave a world-class sprinter like Erik Zabel at home for no good reason." However, according to him, a different tactic will be used this year in order to succeed." It is as tough a decision for us as it is for Erik. With six green jerseys and twelve Tour stage wins, he has left his mark on the Tour like hardly any other German rider," said the future team manager Olaf Ludwig. "But with three riders in the team, who already stood on the podium in Paris (Klöden, Ullrich, Vinokourov), we are clearly aiming for yellow." For the departing team manager Walter Godefroot it is also "a new situation to compete at the Tour without Erik." However, Zabel would accept the decision of the team management, "since he is a pro to the core."

Zabel gets a rich contract, including after he no longer races. But he is off the 05 TdF team. :p

This must have been a very difficult situation for Goodefroot.
His favourite rider. The man who exemplifies everything that Goodefroot espouses, hardwork, dedication, has been left out by his loyal manager.
I think it is the correct decision because as great a rider as EZ is/was, he is no longer a viable candidate for the green jersey and he cannot contribute to a GC challenge.

There will be no yellow for T-mobile, with or without Zabel. Zabel has been looking fairly sharp lately. Leave him in the team and get a stage win or two.

Zabel hasn't had a stage win since 2003, I believe... so leaving him in doesn't guarantee a stage win. TM is full steam ahead for getting one of the three into Lance's jersey.

Either way... Basso is winning it all...

dasnootz said:

Zabel hasn't had a stage win since 2003, I believe... so leaving him in doesn't guarantee a stage win. TM is full steam ahead for getting one of the three into Lance's jersey.

Either way... Basso is winning it all...

not since 2002 actually

JAPANic said:

They must be paying him well other wise he'd be better off moving to another team.

Does each team have either a great hill climber, sprinter, TTer, allrounder etc as their ace?

I can't see another top team wanting zabel.

I have great admiration for his effort in the past but he is old by seriously competitive standards (34) and hasn't won for ages.

The team make-up depends on their aims. Petacchi's team is built around getting him stage wins in the tours. Armstrong's team is built around winning the GC. They have whatever riders are needed to get their team leader these positions.

Teams also change the makeup depending on the race. Their are 27 riders on Davitamon Lotto squad. They pick combinations of riders to suit the race. Having said that they have both McEwan and Evans in LeTour, a possible GC contender and a sprinter (not necessarily in that order). It can split the team.

It could be argued that JU has suffered over the last few tours because his team has not had enough support for him because they have wanted stage wins with Zabel.

Some more informed person feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

From JU's diary:

"[T]he news of of the day was that my team mate Erik Zabel is not on the T-Mobile roster for the upcoming Tour de France. For every rider the Tour is the ultimate goal. Erik has left his mark on the "Big Loop" like hardly any other rider and made history with his many wins. He is a great rider whose performances would have justified his nomination. However, this year we will try another tactic in order to succeed. We are clearly focused on yellow. Accordingly, the team management made a decision. That's very hard on Erik, of course, but a fully-fledged rider like him can deal with a decision like this."

JU essentially paraphrases what the TM announcement had been. 😎

Cyclingnews reports:

"T-Mobile star sprinter Erik Zabel is contemplating his future, ranging from which races he will take part in next to which team he will be with next year. According to an interview in Sunday's edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the 34 year-old confirmed that he has contract offers for next year not only from T-Mobile but also from other teams, including Gerolsteiner. He plans to make his decision no later than the HEW-Cyclassics race on July 31.
It took him a while to accept the team's decision not to name him to the Tour de France team, Zabel admitted. "In the first two or three days I had to force myself to get on my bike again, for the first time in my career. I was already getting ready for the Tour. It was hard to screw my emotions back down. I had to come to terms with it and then find a new sporting challenge. Now I've found it," he said. His new season's goal is now winning the World Championship in Madrid in September."

How could it be hard for Zabel, given the possibility was floating out there for many months before the actual decision? 😉

"Team Gerolsteiner spokesman Mathias Wieland denied that the team has offered a contract to T-Mobile sprinter Erik Zabel. "I can answer that with a definite no. I would write that off to his trying to improve his market value. We have definitely not made an offer to Erik," Wieland said, nevertheless admitting that there has been contact to Zabel in the past. "Erik Zabel is such an outstanding rider, the best that we have in this time. He will see his future to be with T-Mobile," Wieland concluded. The confusion arose from an interview Zabel gave to a German newspaper. Apparently he was asked whether he had received offers from other teams such as Gerolsteiner, and he replied "yes," without specifying which teams."

It's clear Zabel is going to stay with TM, given his age. :p

you still haven't explained to me why you have such a vendetta against him :p

Zabel on his own exclusion: "T-Mobile: How did you get the news that you wouldn't be riding the Tour? And what was your reaction? Zabel: I found out a day before the official announcement. The sporting management had never given me any guarantee that I would be selected for the 2005 Tour. The issue has been raising its head since September, but I never let it get to me mentally. I got on with preparing myself for a possible crack at the Tour. But I had to take a deep breath when I got the news. But you know, the Tour fever in Germany will be as big as ever in Germany from July 2, with or without Erik Zabel."

Zabel must be smarting in part because Petacchi will not be at the Tour, hence increasing Zabel's chances for a stage win considerably if he were to be on the Tour squad. 😉

I don't have anything against Zabel as a cyclist. I do believe his inclusion on the Tour team would have hurt JU's chances (or the chances of the TM GC contender). 🙂

ah it never harmed his chances in 1997. But from a theoretical point of view, you're right. I can't really argue, and can put up no other reason, apart from 'Zabel rules' 🙂

It is a shame that the most consistently successful German rider ever, will not get a chance to ride the 2005 TDF and the stages of the 2005 TDF that are in Germany, this year.

Yes, I can see the point about his contributing to GC.

But the fact that the TDF visits his country this year must have made the outcome harder to take for EZ.

Yeah were do you find a sprinter who has such a diverse palmares..........THAT says it all! He's a class act, but T-Mobile needed to do this, also for the general public I think. I hear everyone that finally t-mobile is giving it everything....haha not that it will change the outcome😎

Dead Star said:

ah it never harmed his chances in 1997. But from a theoretical point of view, you're right. I can't really argue, and can put up no other reason, apart from 'Zabel rules' 🙂

What people who say Zabel's exclusion is a shame may not appreciate is that it is no dishonor not to be included in a Tour de France team. It doesn't say the excluded person is a bad cyclist. It may say many alternative things, including that that person's role on the team was not an appropriate match for what the team was striving for during any given Tour, and/or that the person's role was not needed at the margin for the team. If there are team-wide objectives (such as winning the GC against a team that is solely dedicated to this purpose), then any given exclusion has no negative connotations on the excluded cyclist.

musette said:

Zabel must be smarting in part because Petacchi will not be at the Tour, hence increasing Zabel's chances for a stage win considerably if he were to be on the Tour squad. 😉

I dont think he stood any better chance without Petacchi. Would of just pushed his placing back from at very best a 3rd or 4th to a 5th or 6th. He´s no threat to a Hushovd, McEwen or Boonen in pure bunch kicks. The 2nd tier sprinters like Cooke, Davis, Eisel, Nazon would beat him often also. His only shot at winning a stage was if there´s a crash with 1 k to go and most of the riders already mentioned go down. Its just time for the Great Zabel to move on, hes had many victories at the Tour and won the Green 5 or 6 times. Just no point anymore, he has done it all, not going to win a sprint there again and just nothing more to do or prove. I feel for a guy like O´Grady a bit more, he´s never won a bunch kick at the Tour, and has been the bridesmaid to Zabel for Green quite a few times.

musette said:

Zabel on his own exclusion: "T-Mobile: How did you get the news that you wouldn't be riding the Tour? And what was your reaction? Zabel: I found out a day before the official announcement. The sporting management had never given me any guarantee that I would be selected for the 2005 Tour. The issue has been raising its head since September, but I never let it get to me mentally. I got on with preparing myself for a possible crack at the Tour. But I had to take a deep breath when I got the news. But you know, the Tour fever in Germany will be as big as ever in Germany from July 2, with or without Erik Zabel."

Zabel must be smarting in part because Petacchi will not be at the Tour, hence increasing Zabel's chances for a stage win considerably if he were to be on the Tour squad. 😉

I don't have anything against Zabel as a cyclist. I do believe his inclusion on the Tour team would have hurt JU's chances (or the chances of the TM GC contender). 🙂

Although I am a great fan of Zabel I can't remember him having any real success agains Petacchi, or the other sprinters in Le Tour for a few years.

It would seem that even with Zabel in the team for Le Tour they (Tmobile)weren't guaranteed stage wins. The Aussies or Hondo or Boonen would have soundly beaten him (as they did the last two years) if Petacchi wasn't there.

I think in Zabel's case, given his distinguised palmares it would be considered some dishonour to not be included in the team. This is probably demonstrated in his questionable inclusion last year where it could be argued that another rider able to support JU should have been included.

oely said:

I dont think he stood any better chance without Petacchi. Would of just pushed his placing back from at very best a 3rd or 4th to a 5th or 6th. He´s no threat to a Hushovd, McEwen or Boonen in pure bunch kicks. The 2nd tier sprinters like Cooke, Davis, Eisel, Nazon would beat him often also. His only shot at winning a stage was if there´s a crash with 1 k to go and most of the riders already mentioned go down. Its just time for the Great Zabel to move on, hes had many victories at the Tour and won the Green 5 or 6 times. Just no point anymore, he has done it all, not going to win a sprint there again and just nothing more to do or prove. I feel for a guy like O´Grady a bit more, he´s never won a bunch kick at the Tour, and has been the bridesmaid to Zabel for Green quite a few times.

Is O'Grady out of Le Tour?