El Pistolero said:Leipheimer? But you guys just complained BMC had too many chiefs already!
I'll give you Sivtsof though.
Better to have a "chief" that can actually be of use when things get hot in the mountains than a bunch of stage chasers.
The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to
In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.
Thanks!
El Pistolero said:Leipheimer? But you guys just complained BMC had too many chiefs already!
I'll give you Sivtsof though.
La Pandera said:If you think Gilbert and Hushovd are going to the Tour strictly to ride as domestiques for the focus of your man-crush, well let me say that I'm not surprised. Thus we can anticipate a never ending series of high pitched rants from you when this dream of yours does not come true.
La Pandera said:If you think Gilbert and Hushovd are going to the Tour strictly to ride as domestiques for the focus of your man-crush, well let me say that I'm not surprised. Thus we can anticipate a never ending series of high pitched rants from you when this dream of yours does not come true.
auscyclefan94 said:I am very sure Gilbert will. Like El Pisterlero said, Phil wants his stage and then will ride for Cadel. At the get together, Cadel Phil & Thor sat together talked about each others goals for the season and it resulted in a position where everybody was happy. Thor has won that many stages at the tour already. I can't say I am 100% sure he will but what has come from Lelangue & Evans is that the team will be around Cadel at le tour. Having Thor up the road going for a stage could actually be advantageous to the team.
El Pistolero said:Gilbert has said he'll go to the Tour as a domestique. He just wants to win his stage in Liège.
Orvieto said:That's a somewhat contradictory. If you are a domestique, you are a domestique, you might get a stage win if the circumstances allow it, but if you go in with a stage marked as a goal, you aren't in domestique mode. You aren't riding for your team leader that day. You probably aren't riding for him 100% the preceding day, and you probably won't have much to give the following day. I realize that Gilbert's target day is the second day of racing, but what if he doesn't get that win? Someone with the competitive spirit of Gilbert will start looking at other opportunities.
Thor will also want his stages. That's two riders who are looking out for their own interests at least part of the time.
Perhaps someone with a better recall of history can tell me when the last time two domestiques won stages the same time their leader took the GC.
La Pandera said:The last I can recall is Popo and Hincapie w/ Armstrong but I'm not sure that was the same year of the Tour.
auscyclefan94 said:Paris Roubaix
Hushovd (leader)
Ballan (leader)
Hincapie (super dom)
Burghardt
Schar
Phinney
Quinziato
Lodewyck
Wyss
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Gilbert (leader)
Ballan (leader)
Thor (super dom)
Hincapie (super dom)
Quinziato
Van Avermaet
Schar
Phinney
Burghardt
Tour de France
Evans
Gilbert
Thor
TJVG
Frank
Morabito
Cummings
Burghardt
Hincapie
Evans will be the leader. Gilbert = domestique. Thor = domestique.
No problems!
really? those two have their own interests in the Giro & Vuelta-so don't expect the label domestiqueEl Pistolero said:They bought Steve Cummings, Tejay van Gardenen, Klaas Lodewyck and Marco Pinotti. That's 4 extra domestiques they bought. George Hincapie, Marcus Burghardt, Mattias Frank, Santaromita, Santambrogio and Alessandro Ballan have already proven thay they're ok with doing domestique work.
auscyclefan94 said:Paris Roubaix
Hushovd (leader)
Ballan (leader)
Hincapie (super dom)
Burghardt
Schar
Phinney
Quinziato
Lodewyck
Wyss
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Gilbert (leader)
Ballan (leader)
Thor (super dom)
Hincapie (super dom)
Quinziato
Van Avermaet
Schar
Phinney
Burghardt
Tour de France
Evans
Gilbert
Thor
TJVG
Frank
Morabito
Cummings
Burghardt
Hincapie
Evans will be the leader. Gilbert = domestique. Thor = domestique.
No problems!
hfer07 said:really? those two have their own interests in the Giro & Vuelta-so don't expect the label domestique
common sense always prevail - and to prove my point -just look at the "domestiques" in red & how they're utilized by the time the TDF arrives- & you haven't included the remaining races those "domestiques" are going to do in between their duties....IAW they'll be burnt out at the Tour because they won't have enough quality riders to swap responsibilities with.......
Mellow Velo said:Little known fact: Phil Gil won races in every month of the season, bar October.
(only missed out in October by not taking his usual Lombardy title)
The guy had a superman season and virtually no rest break.
I'm not sure riding 3500 kms in the heat of July again, but without any personal ambition, (stages + Olympics) as a workhorse, is something he would wish to undertake.
Likewise, I cannot see Thor turning his nose up at the sniff of a green jersey.
I think this: one for all and all for Cadel, Tour philosophy is a bit naive.
Armstrong-Savoldelli - 2005Orvieto said:That's a somewhat contradictory. If you are a domestique, you are a domestique, you might get a stage win if the circumstances allow it, but if you go in with a stage marked as a goal, you aren't in domestique mode. You aren't riding for your team leader that day. You probably aren't riding for him 100% the preceding day, and you probably won't have much to give the following day. I realize that Gilbert's target day is the second day of racing, but what if he doesn't get that win? Someone with the competitive spirit of Gilbert will start looking at other opportunities.
Thor will also want his stages. That's two riders who are looking out for their own interests at least part of the time.
Perhaps someone with a better recall of history can tell me when the last time two domestiques won stages the same time their leader took the GC.
Mellow Velo said:Little known fact: Phil Gil won races in every month of the season, bar October.
(only missed out in October by not taking his usual Lombardy title)
The guy had a superman season and virtually no rest break.
I'm not sure riding 3500 kms in the heat of July again, but without any personal ambition, (stages + Olympics) as a workhorse, is something he would wish to undertake.
Likewise, I cannot see Thor turning his nose up at the sniff of a green jersey.
I think this: one for all and all for Cadel, Tour philosophy is a bit naive.
Gilbert did work for him: he spared him the tiresome podium and press obligations which come with a stage win, by closing the gap on the Mur de Bretagne and handing the stage to Evans.Panda Claws said:It's a shame that VDB2 fell this year. It would have been interesting to see how much Gilbert would have worked for him.
theyoungest said:Gilbert did work for him: he spared him the tiresome podium and press obligations which come with a stage win, by closing the gap on the Mur de Bretagne and handing the stage to Evans.
There's not much I've seen in Gilbert's racing habits to suggest that he'll be a good helper to anyone. He wants to win races himself, period.El Pistolero said:1) He was never going to win that stage
2) He made a mistake and already admitted that quite some time ago
3) VDB2 never said what he was planning to do. Gilbert thought he was leading him out.
4) Some people actually learn from their mistakes. Phil is one of them.
El Pistolero said:Ah, but I'm merely calling them out for their bad 2011. Navarro was great in 2010, but failed in 2011. The pessimist in me isn't very confident in the likes of Navarro for next year.
The thing is, he had a weak team this year and Riis has done nothing to make it stronger for next year.
Another Tour favorite, Leipheimer, who does he have in the mountains? The only ones with a strong team for the Tour are Radioshack-Nissan-Trek.
Froome, I believe, will do the Vuelta next year, so he won't be there at the Tour(correct me if I'm wrong). And since Cavendish will be on Wiggins' team a lot of team support will go to him instead.
Besides, who cares about mountain domestiques! Contador had none this Giro and he won! Evans had none this Tour and he won! According to you the Tour is a one week race without mountains anyway. So why would they even bother buying mountain domestiques?
Ryo Hazuki said:leipheimer is no tourfavorite and has has velits as a good helper. but he doesn't need any as he's not going to attack in the mountains
theyoungest said:There's not much I've seen in Gilbert's racing habits to suggest that he'll be a good helper to anyone. He wants to win races himself, period.
theyoungest said:There's not much I've seen in Gilbert's racing habits to suggest that he'll be a good helper to anyone. He wants to win races himself, period.
Panda Claws said:I remember him leading out Greipel quite a few times.
Was this before or after Greipel left the team bus utterly frustrated that Gilbert wouldn't let him have his chance?El Pistolero said: