Oct 28, 2005
Floyd and Lance Make Up
Cyclingnews has a few paragraphs about Floyd Landis. They caught up with Floyd at the Tour de France presentation where they got a run down of Floyd’s globe-trekking schedule. One very interesting note is that Floyd mentions he received an offer to join the Discovery Channel team. Floyd, Lance and Johan are on good terms again, and everything that happen before was a misunderstanding. Some may remember some smack being thrown this year at the Tour de Georgia. On the stage to Brasstown Bald Armstrong made two gestures, first he pointed at the clock and then pointed back to Landis who was just arriving. That “point” caused a minor stir in cycling circles as the details of a rift between Landis and Armstrong started to surface. In another stage, Landis was heard yelling “Discover This!” over to the Discovery team. These are just a few small gestures that pointed to a deep rift between two former friends and teammates. Others say, the rift may be blown out of proportion, but it makes for good gossip.
Now that Armstrong is retired and is part owner of the Disco team, the healing of the rift between Landis and Armstrong may be about as much as business as it is about friendship. Disco is in need of a GC leader for the Tour, and Landis is now ready to step into a serious GC rider spot. Next year, Phonak may not be back to sponsor the team, in which case the team may fold, leaving Landis available to rejoin his pals at Discovery.
For more on Floyd Landis, check out the story of a group of vacationing cyclist who happen to stop by Floyd Landis’ Mom’s house in Lancaster, PA (Floyd, call your Mom!) and Floyd’s recently updated website
Landis is defnitely staying with Phonak for 2006, but he may be a good option for Discovery in 2007, when I think the sponsor will be looking for some results after a lean year. Savoldelli might do well in the Giro again as I see a few of the bigger names skipping the race with the Tour de France being up for grabs post-Lance.
Yup-since Lance is gone every big rider wants to focus on TdF…
mspoke, I don’t think Discovery will have a lean year in 2006, the talent on their roster has come through with great results in 2005.
I would expect more of the same in 2006. The big focus is on the Tour, and depending on how Popovych and Danielson perform in the Tour, they may as well go for Landis.