AC gets Astana leader bib #21; Lance is #22

[Ninety5rpm]

Velonews has posted bib numbers.

www.velonews.com/article/93739/2009-tour-de-france-start-list

Astana
Manager: Johan BRUYNEEL - VeloNews article
21. Alberto Contador (ESP)
22. Lance Armstrong (USA)
23. Andreas Klöden (GER)
24. Levi Leipheimer (USA)
25. Dmitriy Muravyev (KAZ)
26. Sergio Paulinho (POR)
27. Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)
28. Gregory Rast (SUI)
29. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP)

Contador is #21, making him the official leader of Astana. The rest are alphabetical.

No surprise. Just a confirmation.

 

[mr. tibbs]

Too bad they're likely to lose their third man...

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Too bad they're likely to lose their third man...

Do you really think Kloden will be implicated in something or do you just not like him?

I think he would have been laying low after all the buzz about him from Sinkewietz (yup - don't know how to spell that one)

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Too bad they're likely to lose their third man...

Chris Horner should keep his suitcase packed...

 

[mr. tibbs]

Kloden's my favorite, hence the frowny face.

@ Alpe: If ASO does ban Kloden, I think they'll do it close enough to the race that Astana won't be able to field a replacement.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Well I don't believe that they were allowed to replace Klödi at all if he was kicked out of the Tour.

But there weren't any complains before the Tour about him by the ASO were there? I guess they simply want people to forget about it.

 

[patswana]

Velonews has posted bib numbers.
Contador is #21, making him the official leader of Astana. The rest are alphabetical.

More smoke and mirrors. Armstrong will be leader by the end, unless something goes wrong for him. JB trying again to be really tricky.

 

[ingsve]

The only surprise I saw with the numbers was that Pellizzotti got the no 1 jersey for Liquigas. I guess it's an age thing and not an indication that they are riding for him. As far as I know Kreuziger and Nibali are sharing the lead there.

 

[RightWingNutJob]

If you add AC's two numbers together 2+1=3. I believe this is a sign where AC might end up in the final GC. Also LA 2+2=4 has him showing up in fourth position on the Final GC.
But I think the most surprising thing of all is if you take AC's #21 and subtract it from LA's # 22 you get #1. This is a sign that either LA or AC could be #1.

 

[Ninety5rpm]

More smoke and mirrors. Armstrong will be leader by the end, unless something goes wrong for him. JB trying again to be really tricky.

I dunno. I think they really have no choice but to go with the strongest guy. I'm guessing that during the TTT training this week there was some mutual ball sniffing and... well Lance himself said that AC might not only be stronger, but much stronger. More smoke and mirrors? Perhaps, but there was really no reason for him to add that "much" in there. At any rate, we'll know in about 40 hours.

 

[SpeedWay]

I dunno. I think they really have no choice but to go with the strongest guy.

What a stroke of genius, how did you figure that out? I know the whack jobs didn't help you.

 

[Ninety5rpm]

What a stroke of genius, how did you figure that out? I know the whack jobs didn't help you.

Apparently my effort to try not to be rude was lost on you.

 

[patswana]

I dunno. I think they really have no choice but to go with the strongest guy. I'm guessing that during the TTT training this week there was some mutual ball sniffing and... well Lance himself said that AC might not only be stronger, but much stronger. More smoke and mirrors? Perhaps, but there was really no reason for him to add that "much" in there. At any rate, we'll know in about 40 hours.

I still think Armstrong is all about Armstrong. Whether his return is about cancer awareness/research or making a run at politics, a win will be worth far more to him than a top 5, even though both would be major achievements in a comeback.
I also think because he 'owns' the team and Bruyneel loves him more than life itself, he'll be in charge. I also think Contador owes him for saving him from being busted after the '08 Giro.
With this in mind, the best chance that Armstrong has is having the competition being overly focussed on his teammate(s).
Riis's comments today ( http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riis-astana-leadership-rift-exaggerated ) I think were calling Astana out on this issue and perhaps even making Contador a preliminary offer to join Saxo Bank at the end of the year.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I don't think people can read too much into AC being#21 and LA#22. If the oppurtunity presents itself for armstrong to take over leadership. Bruyneel, Armstrong and Contador can say it's all happy family but once racing starts things might not be that smooth.

 

[Publicus]

I don't think people can read too much into AC being#21 and LA#22. If the oppurtunity presents itself for armstrong to take over leadership. Bruyneel, Armstrong and Contador can say it's all happy family but once racing starts things might not be that smooth.

I think folks are being VERY optimistic right now. Lance looks like he is in decent shape, but he also looks . . . what's the word . . . old. I expect him to give it his all and frankly PUSH Contador, but I think when push does come to shove, Contador has more physical talent (at this stage of their respective lives) than Lance. That's just my uninformed opinion.

 

[byu123]

Chris Horner should keep his suitcase packed...

Finally . . . a Alpe d'Huez post I get to agree with 100%. Horner appears to be staying top shape. He spent the month of June in Aspen with Leipheimer and "that other guy." I get Murayev (per Astana) but Gregory Rast??? Either Horner of Brajkovic would have been far better. What is up with Rast? What is the argument for him over either of the above two?

 

[Publicus]

Finally . . . a Alpe d'Huez post I get to agree with 100%. Horner appears to be staying top shape. He spent the month of June in Aspen with Leipheimer and "that other guy." I get Murayev (per Astana) but Gregory Rast??? Either Horner of Brajkovic would have been far better. What is up with Rast? What is the argument for him over either of the above two?

Rast is the big engine for the flats and chasing down breaks. He basically took Noval's place. Paulhino is who took the spot Horner wanted to occupy.

 

[Snake8]

If you add AC's two numbers together 2+1=3. I believe this is a sign where AC might end up in the final GC. Also LA 2+2=4 has him showing up in fourth position on the Final GC.
But I think the most surprising thing of all is if you take AC's #21 and subtract it from LA's # 22 you get #1. This is a sign that either LA or AC could be #1.

Nah you got that all wrong. 2+1+2+2=8 which is the number of tours lance will win!







;-)

 

[mherm79]

If you add AC's two numbers together 2+1=3. I believe this is a sign where AC might end up in the final GC. Also LA 2+2=4 has him showing up in fourth position on the Final GC.
But I think the most surprising thing of all is if you take AC's #21 and subtract it from LA's # 22 you get #1. This is a sign that either LA or AC could be #1.

now we're talking!

 

[Jojopoates]

My two cents - AC earned the #1 spot as the reigning tour(s) winner on the team. LA has to earn back that spot. If LA says he is there primarily for cancer awareness than it shouldn't matter what number he wears. Yes he wants to win, but he has always wanted to win no matter what competition he is/was in, that's him.

The smart thing is for LA to teach AC the little things to being a great grand tour rider, kind of like Indurain taught LA. Plus he takes alot of media pressure off of AC. I just hope egos do not get in the way. I want an exciting tour, and one not riddled with doping news and internal fighting.

 

[Parrot23]

Rast is the big engine for the flats and chasing down breaks.

There's a risk Rabo will try to tear the race apart again on the flats into a wind (did it at Paris Nice, and caught Contador out of place). CSC seems to like trying this too (sure tried at Paris-Roubaix this year).

So maybe this partly helps to explain Rast. Dunno, though.

 

[auscyclefan94]

At astana's press conference and team presentation how serius did Contador look. From Bruyneel's comments for example

"He's wearing number 21, and I discussed this with Lance, that I wanted him to have the 21. It's a sign of how we value him and how we respect him for what he has done. We could have had an alphabetical order, just to avoid any polemics - but then Lance would have had the 21."

It sounds like Bruyneel is trying to accomadate both of these egos so they don't have temper tantrum. It sounds like everything isn't that calm in the astana camp. I think Bruyneel is having to deal with 2 little children fighting over who wants #21. I know #21 means you are the leader but things change out on the rode. On an interview with versus lance said that he wants to win the tour de france but if conti is the best then he will backdown. He goes on to say that things change easily out on the road and i could be the leader.

I think Astana seems like a team who needs to solve some social and egotistical issues

 

[Ninety5rpm]

At astana's press conference and team presentation how serius did Contador look. From Bruyneel's comments for example

"He's wearing number 21, and I discussed this with Lance, that I wanted him to have the 21. It's a sign of how we value him and how we respect him for what he has done. We could have had an alphabetical order, just to avoid any polemics - but then Lance would have had the 21."

It sounds like Bruyneel is trying to accomadate both of these egos so they don't have temper tantrum. It sounds like everything isn't that calm in the astana camp. I think Bruyneel is having to deal with 2 little children fighting over who wants #21. I know #21 means you are the leader but things change out on the rode. On an interview with versus lance said that he wants to win the tour de france but if conti is the best then he will backdown. He goes on to say that things change easily out on the road and i could be the leader.

I think Astana seems like a team who needs to solve some social and egotistical issues

The problem is that Armstrong's condition relative to Contador's is unknown, at least to us. I'm starting to get the impression that to Bruyneel and even to Armstrong it's pretty clear that Contador is strongest, but it's hard to tell for sure. However, in about 17 hours we'll probably know.

 

[Publicus]

At astana's press conference and team presentation how serius did Contador look. From Bruyneel's comments for example

"He's wearing number 21, and I discussed this with Lance, that I wanted him to have the 21. It's a sign of how we value him and how we respect him for what he has done. We could have had an alphabetical order, just to avoid any polemics - but then Lance would have had the 21."

It sounds like Bruyneel is trying to accomadate both of these egos so they don't have temper tantrum. It sounds like everything isn't that calm in the astana camp. I think Bruyneel is having to deal with 2 little children fighting over who wants #21. I know #21 means you are the leader but things change out on the rode. On an interview with versus lance said that he wants to win the tour de france but if conti is the best then he will backdown. He goes on to say that things change easily out on the road and i could be the leader.

I think Astana seems like a team who needs to solve some social and egotistical issues

This is the stuff that makes me dislike Lance. He's just being a duplicitous ******e, saying whatever he thinks needs to be said to get what he wants . . . to be the designated leader. He's never successfully raced a Tour where he wasn't the unquestioned leader and it looks like this old dog is going to have to learn this trick the hard way. Interesting that Lance will be one of the early riders tomorrow. First time I recall that happening ever.

And btw, Contador looks totally focused and completely and utterly tired of this crap. I read an article by Wilconson (sp) saying that he looked scared, but nothing in his eyes reads as scared to me.

 

[klodifan]

The smart thing is for LA to teach AC the little things to being a great grand tour rider, kind of like Indurain taught LA. Plus he takes alot of media pressure off of AC. I just hope egos do not get in the way. I want an exciting tour, and one not riddled with doping news and internal fighting.

Seriously???

LA will never mentor someone like AC or anyone at all. To mentor is to give of oneself; LA is incapable of that!