TELEKOM (Botero)
STEPHEN: Give them points for creativity. Ullrich leaves them high and dry, so instead of crying about the injustice of the whole affair, they steal Botero from Kelme. And Botero might have a better chance of winning than Ullrich this year. Salvodelli won the Giro last year, and
Vinokourov won the Tour de Suisse this year. So Botero’s place as a team leader isn’t even secure from his lieutenants. Then again, Telekom lives to win Zabel the green jersey. After six consecutive
points titles, he finally lost one, giving Telekom a dual focus:
stopping Lance and winning the green. If push comes to shove, I’m willing to bet Telekom plays for Zabel, not Botero, Vino, or Salvodelli. Which is a shame. Botero broke Lance’s air of invulnerability last year, actually taking a time trial from Armstrong.

If anybody has a shot, Botero’s got to be the guy. Unless it’s
Vino.

JASON: This is the best Telekom team since 1997 (Ullrick, Riis, Zabel). They’ve done a masterful job redefining their team post-Ullrich. Zabel’s green jersey has got to be their top priority, but second to that, Botero will be aiming for stage wins. Nardello is such a tough rider. He fell off the map last year, so I’m curious to see how he bounces back. But, he’ll have teammates in the mountains (unlike on his old Mapei team), so that makes a huge difference. Vinokourov is the poster-boy for blue collar riders. He’ll lead Zabel out on sprints and ride with the elite in the mountains.

Paolo Savodelli might miss the Tour because of a stomach virus, but if
he’s in, he’s another threat to win a mountain stage. Mario Aerts is a great addition too–FYI he was second in the King of the Mountains last year. After falling behind the elite teams, Telekom is back. This team could walk away with more hardware than any other.

STEPHEN: Aerts scored a perfect 110 points on the Aimes-Cluses ride. Whoopee. He had 68 for the rest of the race. Hats off to Aerts, but he
Attacked on the day when every big gun had already wasted themselves battling for the Yellow, and he still didn't come within 100 points of the polka dots. I'm supposed to be impressed by a one-day breakway that the leaders let happen because Aerts was so far out contention that it wasn't worth the effort to reel him in?

JASON: That formula isn't bad. By the way, last year Botero lost a good 8-10 minutes on the first climb last year. That's why they let him go in a later mountain stage. He was out of contention, but then he made up huge time because he was so far out. He landed in 4th overall after flying under the radar. I think you're overrating Botero. He's great on any given day in the mountains, but he lacks stamina. The elite will drop him when they have three consecutive mountain stages.

STEPHEN: I'm picking on Aerts because you bring him up. He's a good rider, but nothing special. I'm not disagreeing that Telekom is indeed loadad. Zabel could win the green, Vino could win polka dots, Botero could win polka dots or the yellow. That's one hell of a team.

JASON: Am I overrating Aerts? I'm not predicting he'll win anything, I'm just saying he's one more good climber to help out. By the way, Savodelli is out; they replaced him with Guerini. An older rider, but if you need a last minute substitute, a former winner at l'Alpe d'Huez is a good choice.

STEPHEN: And I don’t believe I’m overrating Botero. He beat Armstrong in a time trial. No one else in the field can say that. He’s legit contender. I don’t think he’ll win, I honestly have more faith in Vino, but I think Botero’s got the will. He just doesn’t have the legs.