T-Mobile TDF Roster's Out

[weisan]

If you look at T-Mobile's final selection of riders for this year's TDF, it's a formidable list. Again, a house divided against itself cannot stand and we all know that....but look at the list of riders and their accomplishments, I must say it's impressive!

T-Mobile for the Tour de France
Jan Ullrich (G), 31
Professional since 1995
Tour de France: 7 Tours - 1st in 1997, 2nd (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003)

Giuseppe Guerini (I), 35
Professional since 1993
Tour de France: Nine Tours, 22nd in 1999
Stage win 1999: l'Alpe d'Huez (after getting past Erik the photographer)

Matthias Kessler (G), 26
Professional since 2000
Tour de France: Three Tours - 49th in 2003

Andreas Klöden (G), 30
Professional since 1998
Tour de France: Four Tours - 2nd in 2004

Danielle Nardello (I), 32
Professional since 1994
Tour de France: Eight Tours - 7th in 1999

Stefan Schreck (G), 26
Professional since 2000
Tour de France: Tour debut

Oscar Sevilla (Sp), 28
Professional since 1998
Tour de France: Four Tours - 7th in 2001

Tobias Steinhauser (G), 33
Professionnel since 1996
Tour de France: Three Tours - 113th in 1996

Alexandre Vinokourov (Kz), 31
Professionnel since 1998
Tour de France: 3rd in 2003

(Full Story (http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/8256.0.html))

What are your thoughts?

[dirtdigger88]

an impressive roster- but it takes more to make a "team" Kinda like the Yankees- all the money in the world and you still cant win. . . . :p


Jason

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . is seeing lots of chiefs there and not many indians. If everybody there is a star, you usually end up with NOBODY being a star.

BBDave

[Elefantino]

Look at Botero. He leaves, does well. Ullrich leaves, does well. (Er, better).

The bet here is that if Lance doesn't win, Vino does.

PS: Somebody buy my bike!

[Dr. Doofus]

not that they have too many chiefs -- Jan and Vino are the leaders...anything Kloden does is gravy, and given his lack of gas this year he's probably a climbing domestique like Guerini and Sevilla....

if anything, T-Mobile's (and Telekom's) problem is that they have one (or two) leaders and then sign quality riders (Botero, Savodelli, Julich, Livingston, Sevilla) and ask them to be donkeys...sometimes the rider embraces the role (Livingston) and sometimes it completely backfires (Botero, Julich)...one way of looking at this that runs against the current sportswriting cliche is that T-Mobile is trying to be Postal/Disco, but rather than signing super domestiques to be super domestiques, they sign winners from small-medium teams and then coerce them into becoming super-domestiques, which doesn't make for happy riders or an efficient, dedicated team....

[dirtdigger88]

yeah- what Doof said

Jason

[weisan]

DOofUs, you ever thought of taking over the reins from Phil Leggett when the man kicks the bucket?!?!

You could really give Bob Roll a run for his money. :cool:

[csb]

if he kicks the bucket doof will get an ear ache

[weisan]

csb, if you activate that @#@#&* "Reason for edit", you gonna get a earful from me!?! :no:

[Big Dan]

The whole team..
Liggett, Sherwen and Roll should go ahead and do WWE RAW after they are done with the tour...

right up their alley..... :p

[dauwhe]

DOofUs, you ever thought of taking over the reins from Phil Leggett when the man kicks the bucket?!?!

He'd have to dig deep into the suitcase of courage, and suffer like he's never suffered before!