Tour 2005 Preview

A tdf preview, none of the major organizations seemed to have one yet,
so I thought I'd type one up overnight. Nothing serious, just to get a
feel for the teams.

AG2R-Prevoyance
--
The "wild-card" team from France. They lost Kirsipuu, but still have
J-P NAZON to contest the sprints. DuMOULIN won a stage of the Dauphine
last month and will be hoping to feature. The team also has a young and
promising Irish contingent in SCANLON and DEIGNAN. With no real
expectations, AG2R will be hoping to disprove those who say they don't
deserve to be here.

Bouygues Telecom
--
The sky-blue "Buick Telecoms" of France. This team features the young
French heroes VOECKLER and PINEAU, alongside the veteran experience of
ROUS and BROCHARD. They have come here with no real GC ambitions,
promising however to attack at every opportunity. I believe this
informative thread best sums up their chances:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...ff58914a87d835

Cofidis
--
The "multi-tasking" tricolors from France. Young French hope CHAVANEL
and co-leader MONCOUTIE will be out for stage victories. Perennial
threat Stuart O'GRADY will contest the sprints. Meanwhile Jimmy CASPER
will hope to continue his heroic efforts from 2004 for the Lanterne
Rouge.

Credit Agricole
--
The "green is money" team. Big Norwegian HUSHOVD will be going for the
Green Jersey this year and his improved climbing form may give him an
edge. He will be without injured lead-out man Dean and will instead be
relying on Damien NAZON and the aging KIRSIPUU in the sprints. MOREAU
will assume team leadership after the first week and may attempt to go
Polka as well.

CSC
--
"The Riis squad" in Danish red. While the breakaways and scrappy riding
of previous years have been exciting to watch, Team CSC is back with a
clear goal this year - get BASSO on the podium, the higher the better.
VOIGT is having the best season of his life, and SASTRE has been tipped
for the Mountains Jersey, and there is also a riis-vitalized JULICH and
the young ZABRISKIE; but they are all ready to put their personal
ambitions aside to help their team leader in the big race against
Armstrong and Ullrich.

Davitamon-Lotto
--
The Belgian team, "black, yellow, red and more". MCEWEN is back to
defend his green jersey, and without Petacchi, he's the favorite for
the stage victories as well. Known usually for his cunning in finding
the opponent's wheel, McEwen has a dedicated lead-out train this time
led by RODRIGUEZ. The Davitamon team is diverse however, with MERCKX
vying for stage wins and EVANS with a shot at the GC.

Discovery
--
The "light-blue train" from the US. You may have heard of ARMSTRONG,
who is going for his seventh Tour victory. He will be supported by his
most impressive team of mercenaries to date, including AZEVEDO,
POPOVYCH, HINCAPIE, RUBIERA, BELTRAN, and SAVLO-- SAlvi-- Sav.. the guy
that won the Giro. Although there is talk that Lance is not as
motivated this year, he wants to go out on top, and anything other than
yellow would be a huge disappointment.

Domina Vacanze
--
The "Margaritaville" jerseys from Italy. Cipollini is gone, they're
having trouble even paying their riders, and 37 year-old Galletti has
passed away. But it's okay, cause this means GONTCHAR still has a
couple years in him.

Euskaltel-Euskadi
--
The "orange crush" from Spain. The Basque team took a crap in the pants
last year but they are back for revenge. MAYO has tried to avoid last
year's mistake of peaking too early and with support from ZUBELDIA,
ETXEBARRIA, and GONZALES, he is ready to take to the mountains. They're
not gonna win the team-time-trial, but other than that, there's no
telling what this team could do.

Fassa Bortolo
--
The Italian "silver train". Fassa has been built around Petacchi, but
with no Ale-Jet this year, the bus is gonna be on its own. CORIONI may
be brought in to sprint, while CANCELLARA and FLECHA are familiar names
that can put on a show.

Francaise des Jeux
--
"The Cooke in white". COOKE is here to heat up the Green Jersey race.
While EISEL is another stage-win threat. But the one to watch may be
MCGEE. Shaping himself into a GC contender, he has the versatility to
make it a really interesting Tour.

Gerolsteiner
--
The German "specialists". Gerolsteiner will be the ones to watch at the
team-time-trial. LEIPHEIMER is team leader going for GC and it might be
his last shot. TOTSCHNIG and young WEGMANN could also feature.

Illes Balears
--
"Mancebo and co." from Mallorca. The sponsors have already pulled out
for next year, but MANCEBO still has a Tour to race. He is a serious GC
contender, and will get help from MERCADO. Young VALVERDE will also
have a lot of eyes on him.

Lampre-Caffita
--
"Saeco in blue". Young phenom CUNEGO pulled out of the team just days
before the Tour this year due to illness. Sources say it may have been
the heard-they're-testing-for-homologous-doping-this-year virus.
However, his friend and mentor SIMONI has graciously agreed to take on
the team leader's role. Though unable to combine the Giro and the Tour
in previous years, with a capable Lampre team behind him, Simoni could
be a threat for the top ten, or another candidate to go Polka.

Liberty Seguros
--
The "we're blue too but Spanish" team. Ex-domestique HERAS is the team
leader but looks to be off form until perhaps the Vuelta once again.
Recovered pavehead BELOKI makes a welcome return to the Tour and could
snatch a golden opportunity to be team leader once again. While
Beloki's form may be questionable as well, with riders like CONTADOR,
DeGALDEANO, and JAKSCHE; Liberty Seguros definitely has the potential
to make some noise this year.

Liquigas-Bianchi
--
The "little green men" from Italy. Di Luca is focusing on winning the
Pro Tour. Meanwhile, CIONI and GARZELLI form a 2-pronged attack on the
GC.

Phonak
--
"Can you hear me now?" Phonak's main focus is trying to win the UCI
Team classification. Meanwhile, ex-domestique LANDIS will be out trying
to prove his worth. And of course, whether it's action or comedy there
is the BOTERO show.

Quick Step
--
"Boonen". With Virenque retired, the team is set-up to help BOONEN win
that Green jersey. But there's also young time-trialist ROGERS to
watch, said to be a future yellow jersey contender.

Rabobank
--
"That Dutch team". No Freire, but MENCHOV could be this year's Basso.
RASMUSSEN, while seemingly off-form, might go for the Mountains Jersey.
He was third in the competition last year and loves to go solo on those
rolling hills.

Saunier Duval
--
"That yellow team" from Spain. Team leader GARATE placed 5th in the
Giro this year and will be getting his first crack at the Tour.
Supporting him in the mountains is super-featherweight climber PIEPOLI.
The team also has a White Jersey contender in Spaniard GOMEZ-MARCHANTE
who has impressed in the Dauphine this year.

T-Mobile
--
"Real men wear pink... and eat Bratwurst." The big German is back again
to battle with the American. Zabel is left out of the team this year as
T-Mobile tries to adopt the all or nothing strategy of Postal. With an
in-form VINOKOUROV, KLODEN, and SEVILLA, T-Mobile have all the makings
of a serious challenge. The Tour even heads into Germany this year, and
the fans are gonna make it fun.

--
John Tezel

Good job! Your preview seems as good as the one I expect shortly from
Velonews....

Just so you know, CSC's corporate colors are red and white, so I don't
know about the "Danish Red". The logo is always shown as either red
stylized letters on a white background, or the opposite. I have a 2002
CSC - Tiscali jersey, which I got at "CSC Employee Week at the Tour de
France" (for $35 in those happy days when the USDollar was 1:1 with the
Euro). The jersey shows the logo in both formats - red on white on the
chest and back, white on red on the shoulders.

We got to spend a very nice week at Les Deux Alpes, and see the Tour
arrive and depart. The Cat 1 climb was killer for me, though - I think
it was the altitude.

Colin Campbell wrote:
Good job! Your preview seems as good as the one I expect shortly from
Velonews....

Just so you know, CSC's corporate colors are red and white, so I don't
know about the "Danish Red". The logo is always shown as either red
stylized letters on a white background, or the opposite. I have a 2002
CSC - Tiscali jersey, which I got at "CSC Employee Week at the Tour de
France" (for $35 in those happy days when the USDollar was 1:1 with the
Euro). The jersey shows the logo in both formats - red on white on the
chest and back, white on red on the shoulders.

We got to spend a very nice week at Les Deux Alpes, and see the Tour
arrive and depart. The Cat 1 climb was killer for me, though - I think
it was the altitude.

It's good, but there are minor errors which bear correcting. Juan
Miguel Mercado is now on Quick Step, not Illes Balears; deceased rider
Alessio Galetti was riding for Naturino-Sapore di Mare, which is related
to the old DV but not the one that is currently in the Pro Tour; and
Aitor Gonzalez and Axel Merckx are not riding.

As of a few days ago, Axel was listed on the D-Lotto team as riding the
tour. He did pull out of the Belgian National Champs as his wife was
about to give birth. Has he now pulled out of the Tour as well?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?...un05/jun26news
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?...un05/jun22news
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2005.../?id=startlist

"Patricio Carlos" wrote in news:1119831933.912079.180470
@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

As of a few days ago, Axel was listed on the D-Lotto team as riding the
tour. He did pull out of the Belgian National Champs as his wife was
about to give birth. Has he now pulled out of the Tour as well?

If he has, it would appear the only thing he didn't pull out of was his wife.

Patricio Carlos wrote:
As of a few days ago, Axel was listed on the D-Lotto team as riding the
tour. He did pull out of the Belgian National Champs as his wife was
about to give birth. Has he now pulled out of the Tour as well?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?...un05/jun26news
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?...un05/jun22news
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2005.../?id=startlist

You're right - I got the facts jumbled in my head. Only so much crap I
can keep track of, need an organizer... mumble mumble