Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Velonews has a write up on next year’s Discovery Team and the void left by the now retired Lance Armstrong. Joining Armstrong are quite a few Americans and a Canadian, namely Mike Creed, Antonio Cruz, Patrick McCarty and Ryder Hesjdal. The American team is losing its American flavor for now, but there is still “Big Georgie” Hincapie and Tom Danileson.

The Discovery team knows how to win stage races. Yes, they did win 7 Tours because of Armstrong, but during that period they also picked up a Vuelta victory and a Giro victory. It is worth noting that the Vuelta and Giro victories were with Postal/Discovery teams that were deemed weak by many observers. Meanwhile, Discovery/Postal would present very formidable lineups for the Tour where it was rare to see a Posite/ Disco rider abandoning the race.

Next year’s objectives for Discovery may have to be more spread out, but it is not like the team wasn’t winning races outside of the Tour already. George Hincapie had his finest performance in Paris-Roubaix and pulled out a mountain stages win. Salvodelli got to win the Giro and was still able to win a stage at the Tour. There are several other riders that may now find the chance to win races rather than save up their form for the Tour.

What about Popovich? He is too young to have the pressure of Tour contender and Bruyneel is very aware of this. In fact he declared Popivich not ready to take the reignes of leadership for at least a year or two. He has the Time Trialing skills and showed flashes of climbing ability, but winning the Tour is a science and you need to have the mental capacity as well as the physical to win it. Riding a few years to followwheels and learn the ropes would be the best option for Popo. This was the approach taken by Iavn Basso, who is likely to take over as the Tour winner.

Tom Danielson finally completed his first multi week stage race at the Vuelta this year. It was a delayed accomplishment for Danielson after suffering through injuries and a year at Fassa Bortolo where a Grand Tour ride never materialized. I can’t help but think back to 1998 when a certain rider named Lance Armstrong rode a Grand Tour and had a top-ten placing. Larmstrong finished 4th at the Vuelta and no one would have thought he could win the Tour the following year, especially since he never rode the Tour to win. Danielson may be taking the Armstrong approach next year, perhaps under some careful guidance from Bruyneel and Armstrong himself. He has the skills, in fact he is a natural climber that knows how to Time Trail well. A little guidance and some time in the Apls previewing the major climbs may help Danielson fit into the leader role. The big question mark would be his mental toughness. Does he have the capacity to endure the pressure or perhaps thrive on it? That has to be seen, but look closely at Danielson’s Tour prep next year. It will be interesting to see if they decide to groom Danielson as their Tour leader while Popovich gets established.

Thursday’s EuroFile: Discovery heads into Post-Armstrong season; Brit’ shake-up; Boonen re-ups