Bianchi or Telekom for Ullrich?

"Van Hoorebeeck Bart" wrote in
message ...

wait, it wasn't even a goal for Zabel this year.
been there...etc



I think your previous analysis was correct.

The day Hamilton went on the marathon breakaway, he got 2nd, being the only
sprinter able to make the group, and suddenly he was only 13 points out of
the lead.

The year Jalabert won from Museeuw (1992?), he did so because even though
Museeuw was faster, he wasn't getting point in the stages with a fair amount
of uphill.

It may not be a goal for Zabel, but he could find himself falling into
contention for green by virtue of his consistency.

No question, Zabel's still one of the best in the business, even if he is
getting rather long in the tooth. But it's a question of focus. If they want
Ullrich, they're going to have to prove to him they're focused on the TdF.
Plus, they could probably use Zabel's salary as well.

"Donald Munro" a écrit dans le message de
news
Doug wrote:
Yeah, those years when Telekom was trying to win both jerseys were
amazing. The team was stretched to the breaking point. But I think
Telekom is ready to jettison Zabel. He's simply no longer a serious
jersey threat.

Jettisoning the number 3 rider in
the world (and number 8 for 2003) seems a bit extreme, after all
there is more to cycling than the TDF.


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Van Hoorebeeck Bart wrote in message ...
And Zabel would still be a jersey contender (oh wait he wasn't that far
down this year) with a slightly different parcours. With a
middle-mountains stage or two, he might have better chances -like in
Hamilton's stage- to fight back against the fastest guys..

One who doesn't seem a jersey contender anymore was O'Grady, finishing a
bit too far down in every sprint finish.


Well, O'Grady can take some consolation in having won the special
"Centenary Prize" of the 100th Anniversary TdF this year. That was
worth a cool $100,000 Euros for him.

I doubt that Zabel can contend for the Green Jersey next year.
Sprinting is a young man's game. Look for a further fall-off in his
results.

Van Hoorebeeck Bart wrote in message ...
wait, it wasn't even a goal for Zabel this year.
been there...etc

He regrets having focused too much on the green over his career, he thinks
he could have gotten more out of the classics with a different
prioritization.

Regrets?? Funny that he now has regrets--he didn't seem to have to
many regrets about winning all of those Sprinting Titles. Unless one
is Merckx, you can't have it all in cycling. He has benefitted from
have great support in his sprinting endeavors. Would he have been able
to garner such strong teams if he were competing for all of the
marbles?

Isidor Gunsberg wrote:

Sprinting is a young man's game.

Cippolini would beg to differ.

Donald Munro wrote in message ...
Isidor Gunsberg wrote:

Sprinting is a young man's game.

Cippolini would beg to differ.

IF he could actually finish the TdF, etc. A cyclist has a great
advantage when he can burn all of his energy on a few flat stages,
while competing against other sprinters. The other sprinters can't go
all out on the early stages, lest they be exhausted by the time the
Alps come along.

In the Giro d'Italia, Cippolini did win a few stages. However, he
was considerably helped by his team. At least a dozen different
sprinters could have done as well, if not better, than Cippolini
managed to do in his circumstances.

Sprinting is a young man's game.

Cippolini would beg to differ.

IF he could actually finish the TdF, etc. A cyclist has a great
advantage when he can burn all of his energy on a few flat stages,
while competing against other sprinters. The other sprinters can't go
all out on the early stages, lest they be exhausted by the time the
Alps come along.

In the Giro d'Italia, Cippolini did win a few stages. However, he
was considerably helped by his team. At least a dozen different
sprinters could have done as well, if not better, than Cippolini
managed to do in his circumstances.

Then where were those dozen sprinters? Cippo beat Pettachi after all
at the Giro. I agree sprinting is a young man's game, which makes
Cippolini's achievements that much more impressive. World's last
year... stage(s ?) in this year's Giro. The guy is amazing.