Shocker: Contador and Lance splitting up

[jbrainin]

Whodothunkit? :rolleyes:

From today's post-race news conference:
"Q: Have you decided what you will do in 2010?

AC: What’s sure is that I will have a lot of hassle to see what will be my future. For sure, it will be on a different team than Lance. We’ll see what we can do, whether it’s a new team or find a team that is 100 percent behind me to confront this race to win it again."

[Climb01742]

one thing AC should consider for next year: lance will have johan and andy will have bjarne, and both will have teams fully committed to them. AC has a ton of talent but who his DS is and how strong his team is will matter a lot, too. is there a DS out there who is nearly as good as JB or BR?

[johnnymossville]

Garmin maybe? Doesn't seem like a great fit for Garmin but they'd definitely be able to help Alberto win.

[1centaur]

I suspect AC would have a strong preference for a Spanish team. Rumors suggest a new team built around AC (Caisse would be a natural alternative but will that sponsor continue?; I think Garmin was best as an escape from Lance but that's not a problem anymore). AC now knows what works (good TTT; ability to team ride at the front) but we can presume any DS will not be as clever as JB or Bjarne. If AC's legs stay this relatively good, he would not need that brilliance. The one thing he can't take is a weak team (a la Silence-Lotto).

[Walter]

I think the most likely option is the new Alonso-owned team sponsored by Santander and another Spanish company (both sponsor Alonso's F1 team). AC seems to be uncomfortable out of his country's sphere and I think the draw to an all Spanish team will be too great for him to pass up.

I agree with the other post that he does not understand how important it is to plan and have a good DS and team behind him. Time will tell if his legs can make up for those deficits.

[jbrainin]

I agree with the other post that he does not understand how important it is to plan and have a good DS and team behind him. .

I suspect that he is first looking for a DS, and a team, he can actually trust.


On a different topic, I contemplate the post-LA positive doping test curse and wonder how long it will be before there is a positive test result for Contador. (My guess is Tuesday.)

[rbtmcardle]

it has always amazed me at how many former postal/discovery riders test positive when they leave the fold... or is it just my perception..
Heras
Hamilton
Landis
who else, it feels like there should be more...only having three names written down doesn't seem substantial enough for me to feel this strongly.


I suspect that he is first looking for a DS, and a team, he can actually trust.


On a different topic, I contemplate the post-LA positive doping test curse and wonder how long it will be before there is a positive test result for Contador. (My guess is Tuesday.)

[Chris]

it has always amazed me at how many former postal/discovery riders test positive when they leave the fold... or is it just my perception..
Heras
Hamilton
Landis
who else, it feels like there should be more...only having three names written down doesn't seem substantial enough for me to feel this strongly.

Yeah, that's true. More important than the fact that AC won't have Johann, is that he won't have the doctor that Johann employs...

[cody.wms]

Garmin maybe? Doesn't seem like a great fit for Garmin but they'd definitely be able to help Alberto win.

Apparently there was a deal in place for AC to go to Garmin, with the funds coming from a new sponsor. This was all going on during the Giro when it wasnt apparent if the Kazakhs could pay the bills.

I think it would actually be a good fit. Im not sold on CVV as a grand tour contender, and this is Wiggins first year dedicated to the road (he has split time between road and track to some level, and rode a 6 day season several off seasons). Having a team that implicitly had AC as the Tour leader, Wiggins for the Giro, and CVV as the Vuelta leader could work well.