Tour aftermath
I presume TD is busy driving his UHAUL across America now and unable to respond to my emails. So, I'll just post my own version of Tour reviews, not that anyone is checking this page anymore. Usually this works better when TD rebuts my comments, but he ain't got no internet access in BFE. But he's wrong about most things, so do you really need his comments?
2005 TdF All-Star team.
GC Men: Lance Armstong (Discovery) & Ivan Basso (CSC)
This is the most obvious pick every time. Lance is the strongest climber and time trialist. Basso’s the second best climber, and he’s good enough at the time trial. Lance rode passively in the Tour and still won comfortably. Basso showed he can attack in the mountains too. He made everyone else crack but Lance.
Sprinters: Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) & Robbie McEwen (Lotto)
McEwen was clearly the best sprinter in the Tour. He won three stages and dominated everyone (with the exception of Boonen before he crashed) in the bunch sprints. Hushovd won the green jersey without winning a stage. How is that possible? Consistently finish high without getting a goose egg in points & go after the intermediate sprint points. That’s how.
Climbers: Mickael Rasmussen (Rabobank) & Jan Ullrich (Telekom)
Armstrong and Basso are better, but they’re already taken. Several readers will probably cry protest because Rasmussen gets on the All-Star team, but Virenque didn’t. Well, Rasmussen was climbing with the elite every day, which is something Virenque wouldn’t do. He was with the big guns on the final climbs, not just the early ones, and that nearly put him on the podium. Who would have thought I’d put Ullrich on the team as a climber? Look, the man was strong in the mountains. He attacked a lot and dropped Mancebo, Vinokourov, Rasmussen, Landis, Leipheimer, et al. It’s unexpected but he earned it.
Time Trialist: Alexandre Vinkourov (Telekom)
This is also bizarre, but the guy finished third in both time trials. The only riders to beat him were Armstrong (twice), Ullrich, and Zabriskie, and I’m not putting Zabriskie on the All-Star team for 19km of riding. We would have expected Ullrich to be on the All-Start team as time trialist and Vino as mountain climber, but it turned out just the opposite.
Domestiques: Fred Rodriguez (Lotto) and George Hincapie (Discovery)
Rodriguez is the best lead out man in the peloton. He’s so good, even Robbie McEwen decided to follow him on some of the bunch sprints. Hincapie is the superman of domestiques. How many sprinters learn to climb the big mountains so they can stay with their team leader? He can lead the peloton on flat roads or 7% grades, and he never has a bad day.
Most aggressive rider: Oscar Pereiro (Phonak)
The Tour directors got it right. It’s hard to be more aggressive than Vinokourov, but Pereiro was. I lost track of how many times he attacked or got into long breakaways in the mountains. What’s cool is that last year he finished 10th without getting noticed because he never attacked and just followed the leaders. He did the exact opposite this year and still finished 10th.
Best rider we never mentioned: Cadel Evans (Lotto)
It’s almost a crime that we never talked about him. He finished 8th overall on a team that didn’t lift a finger to support him. In stage 16 he sacrificed his shot at a stage win by doing the lion’s share of the work for the breakaway. The trade-off was picking up more time on the contenders. Worth it! He should sign with a team that is willing to support him.
Iron man award: none
There was no amazing act of toughness in this Tour. Andrey Kashechkin got a bloody nose after a fan accidentally smacked him in the face, but that doesn’t compare to Nardello’s bloody shirt, Hamilton’s broken collarbone, or Kessler’s punctured lung.
Best surprise: George Hincapie winning a mountain stage.
Worst surprise: Vladimir Karpets. We’ve gotten used to Mayo and Heras laying an egg. Karpets usually rides well. Aside from a decent final time trial, he was AWOL.
Best attack: I was torn between Moncoutie’s excellent Bastille Day escape and Guerini’s perfectly timed attack that delivered him a stage win, but when Vinokourov beat everyone to the line on the Champs Elysees, that settled it. When’s the last time you saw an escape survive on the Champs Elysees? It’s been the property of sprinters for years. Vino stole the show and it also moved him up to 5th in GC.
Best tactic: Rabobank sent three riders ahead of the field so that they could claim mountain points instead of anyone else, thus protecting Rasmussen’s lead.
Worst tactic: Kloden & Ullrich chasing down Vinokourov’s attack in the mountains. Juan Garate’s idea of going for little points on cat. 3 & 4 climbs after Rasmussen had already built up a 130 point lead was also pretty dumb, but not as bad as Telekom.
Most forgettable moment: It was sad when Jens Voigt got eliminated on time. He was burned out after defending the yellow jersey against all odds in the mountains the previous day. They guy dug deep out of respect for the race and lost his spot in it as a result.
Most memorable moment: Lance passed Ullrich on a time trial. It still seems surreal.
Team Review
Tete de la course
Discovery Channel. (Armstrong, 1st)
Yellow jersey, white jersey, 4 stage wins
The team changes names, but it’s still the cream of the crop. The list of hardware is just gluttonous. They took home over half a million euros in prize money, more than double the next highest team. Armstrong’s yellow jersey was routine. Stage wins by Hincapie and Savoldelli were bonuses. Popovych’s white jersey lets everyone know they’ve got designs on the future.
Telekom (T-Mobile) (Ullrich, 3rd, +6:21)
Team champion, 3 stage wins.
They may not function like a team, nor ride with great tactics, but outstanding talent goes a long way. Plus, Kloden was 1 cm away from another stage win. If they got their heads screwed on right, they’d be even better.
CSC (Basso, 2nd, +4:40)
1 stage win
I wasn’t sure if they belong at Tete de la course, because they didn’t win a whole lot, but outside of Basso’s great Tour, they had two guys wear the yellow jersey. Also they are the only team besides Telekom and Discovery to win more than a quarter million in prize money. Money talks—go to the head of the course.
Credit Agricole (Moreau, +16:26)
Green jersey
With the green jersey and two riders in the top 20, you’d think they’d be a lock for Tete de la course. But my problem is that they didn’t win a stage. There’s something wrong about winning the green jersey without winning a stage. Still, I’m going to give them the nod because they competed for everything. Kashechkin was the runner-up for the white jersey, and he and Moreau did a decent job in the KoM.
I’m still not sure. Putting them in the class with Telekom and Discovery seems like an insult to those superpowers.
Poursuviants
Rabobank (Rasmussen, 7th, +11:33)
Polka dot jersey, 2 stage wins.
Could you imagine saying Rabobank had a great Tour without being a factor in the green jersey race? Two days in the mountains made their Tour, and Rasmussen was strong enough as the race went on to hold a high spot in GC. Aside from him, the team owned the KoM jersey. Three different guys wore it for a total of 18 days.
Lotto (Evans, 8th, +11:55)
3 stage wins
McEwen was the strongest sprinter, but didn’t win green because he head-butted Stuart O’Grady and never bothered to go for IS points. Cadel Evans gave them a reason to be interested in the GC. I can’t believe they finally took it seriously. Evans had a great first Tour.
Phonak (Landis, 9th, +12:44)
1 stage win
Landis was great as the subtle team leader. Pereiro got the stage win and was the most aggressive man in the race, a true madman. Botero was a disappointment, but this team still did a fine job. Everyone would like to have two riders in the top 10. Just a couple steps behind the best teams.
Gerolsteiner (Leipheimer, 6th +11:21)
1 stage win
Levi had his best Tour ever. Totschnig didn’t, but he got his first stage win and finished a respectable 26th. They even borrowed the KoM jersey from Rabobank for a day.
Illes Balears (Banesto) (Mancebo, 4th +9:59)
1 stage win
Mancebo had his best Tour ever too. Valverde looked great until he got hurt and abandoned. He and Vlad Karpets each wore the white jersey briefly. An average Tour for them, which is better than most teams get.
Peloton
Cofidis (Vasseur, 44th +1:33:17)
1 stage win
They have nothing in GC, but Moncoutie got a nice stage win and O’Grady was runner-up for the green jersey. It’s the typical Cofidis Tour. Do a couple things well to get noticed, then get outshined by the good teams.
Liberty (Jaksche, 16th, +24:07)
1 stage win.
Another textbook “average Tour.” Serrano got them a stage win. Jaksche had a strong ride and threw in a couple attacks in the mountains to climb up to 16th. Alan Davis was 5th in the points competition. Their talent isn’t great, but they managed to get something good out of it.
Autobus
Quickstep (Rogers, 41st, 1:24:32)
2 stage wins
Had Tom Boonen stayed in the race, he would have dominated the green jersey. Almost doesn’t count. After he left the race, they retreated to the Autobus and put it on cruise control. Finishing dead last in team time ain’t good.
Fassa Bortolo (Bernucci, 62nd, +2:03:67)
1 stage win.
This team doesn’t give a damn. They took their stage win and called it a day. Hardware is hardware, and that keeps them out of the basement.
FDJ (Casar, 29th, +56:47)
Their tactics in the green jersey race were stupid, as they couldn’t decide who their leader would be—McGee or Eisel. Note to team: Don’t alternate leaders day-to-day. Casar isn’t very good, but at least he tried. It seemed like he and Carlos DaCruz were constantly in breakaways during the last week. Not a good Tour, but their effort keeps them out of the bottom tier.
Saunier Duval (Piepoli, 23rd, +36:20)
Another team that at least gave a stab at it. Peipoli must have ridden just out of the view of the camera, because I hardly ever saw him, yet he finished 23rd. Chris Horner was 33rd, and was pretty aggressive to get into a couple breakaways. Not a good team, but at least they had a pulse. Their logo looks like the Wu-Tang Klan logo.
Bogus Telekom (Brochard, 28th, +55:29)
They put 3 riders in the top 50 and Thomas Voeckler wore the KoM jersey for a day. Brochard and Voeckler at least tried to get into some breakaways.
Abandon
Euskaltel (Zubeldia, 15th, +23:43)
Bravo to Zubeldia for having another solid ride. I think he finished 10th on one stage. Wow! These mountain climbing specialists distinguished themselves only by their absence. It’s like they didn’t even try. And it shows. In addition to having the lantern rouge on their team, they were also dead last in prize money, picking up a measly 9300 euros. Seven teams won over 10 times that amount. Euskaltel sucked again and should not be invited to the Tour again. That will also thin down the crows on the mountains.
Lampre (Mazzolini, 13th, +21:16)
Mazzolini had a nice tour. No one else on his team did. They challenged for nothing. Only three of their guys finished in the top 100. Only 5 finished the Tour.
Liquigas (Garzelli, 32nd, 1:04:49)
Not impressed. The only thing I liked about this team was the way Phil Liggett pronounced the name: “Leaky-gas.” I think it’s Italian for “fart.”
Domina Vacanze (Iglinskiy, 38th, +1:18:44)
Their highest placed rider is someone I can’t recall seeing on the TV screen at all. That about sums up this team. Their jerseys looked cool, but I only caught a brief glimpse.
Ag2R (Astarloza, 27th + 54:03)
This team can never make progress, can it? Every year we look at them and say, they have very little to offer, but maybe another team will sign Astarloza to be a domestique. Ditto.
2005 TdF All-Star team.
GC Men: Lance Armstong (Discovery) & Ivan Basso (CSC)
This is the most obvious pick every time. Lance is the strongest climber and time trialist. Basso’s the second best climber, and he’s good enough at the time trial. Lance rode passively in the Tour and still won comfortably. Basso showed he can attack in the mountains too. He made everyone else crack but Lance.
Sprinters: Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) & Robbie McEwen (Lotto)
McEwen was clearly the best sprinter in the Tour. He won three stages and dominated everyone (with the exception of Boonen before he crashed) in the bunch sprints. Hushovd won the green jersey without winning a stage. How is that possible? Consistently finish high without getting a goose egg in points & go after the intermediate sprint points. That’s how.
Climbers: Mickael Rasmussen (Rabobank) & Jan Ullrich (Telekom)
Armstrong and Basso are better, but they’re already taken. Several readers will probably cry protest because Rasmussen gets on the All-Star team, but Virenque didn’t. Well, Rasmussen was climbing with the elite every day, which is something Virenque wouldn’t do. He was with the big guns on the final climbs, not just the early ones, and that nearly put him on the podium. Who would have thought I’d put Ullrich on the team as a climber? Look, the man was strong in the mountains. He attacked a lot and dropped Mancebo, Vinokourov, Rasmussen, Landis, Leipheimer, et al. It’s unexpected but he earned it.
Time Trialist: Alexandre Vinkourov (Telekom)
This is also bizarre, but the guy finished third in both time trials. The only riders to beat him were Armstrong (twice), Ullrich, and Zabriskie, and I’m not putting Zabriskie on the All-Star team for 19km of riding. We would have expected Ullrich to be on the All-Start team as time trialist and Vino as mountain climber, but it turned out just the opposite.
Domestiques: Fred Rodriguez (Lotto) and George Hincapie (Discovery)
Rodriguez is the best lead out man in the peloton. He’s so good, even Robbie McEwen decided to follow him on some of the bunch sprints. Hincapie is the superman of domestiques. How many sprinters learn to climb the big mountains so they can stay with their team leader? He can lead the peloton on flat roads or 7% grades, and he never has a bad day.
Most aggressive rider: Oscar Pereiro (Phonak)
The Tour directors got it right. It’s hard to be more aggressive than Vinokourov, but Pereiro was. I lost track of how many times he attacked or got into long breakaways in the mountains. What’s cool is that last year he finished 10th without getting noticed because he never attacked and just followed the leaders. He did the exact opposite this year and still finished 10th.
Best rider we never mentioned: Cadel Evans (Lotto)
It’s almost a crime that we never talked about him. He finished 8th overall on a team that didn’t lift a finger to support him. In stage 16 he sacrificed his shot at a stage win by doing the lion’s share of the work for the breakaway. The trade-off was picking up more time on the contenders. Worth it! He should sign with a team that is willing to support him.
Iron man award: none
There was no amazing act of toughness in this Tour. Andrey Kashechkin got a bloody nose after a fan accidentally smacked him in the face, but that doesn’t compare to Nardello’s bloody shirt, Hamilton’s broken collarbone, or Kessler’s punctured lung.
Best surprise: George Hincapie winning a mountain stage.
Worst surprise: Vladimir Karpets. We’ve gotten used to Mayo and Heras laying an egg. Karpets usually rides well. Aside from a decent final time trial, he was AWOL.
Best attack: I was torn between Moncoutie’s excellent Bastille Day escape and Guerini’s perfectly timed attack that delivered him a stage win, but when Vinokourov beat everyone to the line on the Champs Elysees, that settled it. When’s the last time you saw an escape survive on the Champs Elysees? It’s been the property of sprinters for years. Vino stole the show and it also moved him up to 5th in GC.
Best tactic: Rabobank sent three riders ahead of the field so that they could claim mountain points instead of anyone else, thus protecting Rasmussen’s lead.
Worst tactic: Kloden & Ullrich chasing down Vinokourov’s attack in the mountains. Juan Garate’s idea of going for little points on cat. 3 & 4 climbs after Rasmussen had already built up a 130 point lead was also pretty dumb, but not as bad as Telekom.
Most forgettable moment: It was sad when Jens Voigt got eliminated on time. He was burned out after defending the yellow jersey against all odds in the mountains the previous day. They guy dug deep out of respect for the race and lost his spot in it as a result.
Most memorable moment: Lance passed Ullrich on a time trial. It still seems surreal.
Team Review
Tete de la course
Discovery Channel. (Armstrong, 1st)
Yellow jersey, white jersey, 4 stage wins
The team changes names, but it’s still the cream of the crop. The list of hardware is just gluttonous. They took home over half a million euros in prize money, more than double the next highest team. Armstrong’s yellow jersey was routine. Stage wins by Hincapie and Savoldelli were bonuses. Popovych’s white jersey lets everyone know they’ve got designs on the future.
Telekom (T-Mobile) (Ullrich, 3rd, +6:21)
Team champion, 3 stage wins.
They may not function like a team, nor ride with great tactics, but outstanding talent goes a long way. Plus, Kloden was 1 cm away from another stage win. If they got their heads screwed on right, they’d be even better.
CSC (Basso, 2nd, +4:40)
1 stage win
I wasn’t sure if they belong at Tete de la course, because they didn’t win a whole lot, but outside of Basso’s great Tour, they had two guys wear the yellow jersey. Also they are the only team besides Telekom and Discovery to win more than a quarter million in prize money. Money talks—go to the head of the course.
Credit Agricole (Moreau, +16:26)
Green jersey
With the green jersey and two riders in the top 20, you’d think they’d be a lock for Tete de la course. But my problem is that they didn’t win a stage. There’s something wrong about winning the green jersey without winning a stage. Still, I’m going to give them the nod because they competed for everything. Kashechkin was the runner-up for the white jersey, and he and Moreau did a decent job in the KoM.
I’m still not sure. Putting them in the class with Telekom and Discovery seems like an insult to those superpowers.
Poursuviants
Rabobank (Rasmussen, 7th, +11:33)
Polka dot jersey, 2 stage wins.
Could you imagine saying Rabobank had a great Tour without being a factor in the green jersey race? Two days in the mountains made their Tour, and Rasmussen was strong enough as the race went on to hold a high spot in GC. Aside from him, the team owned the KoM jersey. Three different guys wore it for a total of 18 days.
Lotto (Evans, 8th, +11:55)
3 stage wins
McEwen was the strongest sprinter, but didn’t win green because he head-butted Stuart O’Grady and never bothered to go for IS points. Cadel Evans gave them a reason to be interested in the GC. I can’t believe they finally took it seriously. Evans had a great first Tour.
Phonak (Landis, 9th, +12:44)
1 stage win
Landis was great as the subtle team leader. Pereiro got the stage win and was the most aggressive man in the race, a true madman. Botero was a disappointment, but this team still did a fine job. Everyone would like to have two riders in the top 10. Just a couple steps behind the best teams.
Gerolsteiner (Leipheimer, 6th +11:21)
1 stage win
Levi had his best Tour ever. Totschnig didn’t, but he got his first stage win and finished a respectable 26th. They even borrowed the KoM jersey from Rabobank for a day.
Illes Balears (Banesto) (Mancebo, 4th +9:59)
1 stage win
Mancebo had his best Tour ever too. Valverde looked great until he got hurt and abandoned. He and Vlad Karpets each wore the white jersey briefly. An average Tour for them, which is better than most teams get.
Peloton
Cofidis (Vasseur, 44th +1:33:17)
1 stage win
They have nothing in GC, but Moncoutie got a nice stage win and O’Grady was runner-up for the green jersey. It’s the typical Cofidis Tour. Do a couple things well to get noticed, then get outshined by the good teams.
Liberty (Jaksche, 16th, +24:07)
1 stage win.
Another textbook “average Tour.” Serrano got them a stage win. Jaksche had a strong ride and threw in a couple attacks in the mountains to climb up to 16th. Alan Davis was 5th in the points competition. Their talent isn’t great, but they managed to get something good out of it.
Autobus
Quickstep (Rogers, 41st, 1:24:32)
2 stage wins
Had Tom Boonen stayed in the race, he would have dominated the green jersey. Almost doesn’t count. After he left the race, they retreated to the Autobus and put it on cruise control. Finishing dead last in team time ain’t good.
Fassa Bortolo (Bernucci, 62nd, +2:03:67)
1 stage win.
This team doesn’t give a damn. They took their stage win and called it a day. Hardware is hardware, and that keeps them out of the basement.
FDJ (Casar, 29th, +56:47)
Their tactics in the green jersey race were stupid, as they couldn’t decide who their leader would be—McGee or Eisel. Note to team: Don’t alternate leaders day-to-day. Casar isn’t very good, but at least he tried. It seemed like he and Carlos DaCruz were constantly in breakaways during the last week. Not a good Tour, but their effort keeps them out of the bottom tier.
Saunier Duval (Piepoli, 23rd, +36:20)
Another team that at least gave a stab at it. Peipoli must have ridden just out of the view of the camera, because I hardly ever saw him, yet he finished 23rd. Chris Horner was 33rd, and was pretty aggressive to get into a couple breakaways. Not a good team, but at least they had a pulse. Their logo looks like the Wu-Tang Klan logo.
Bogus Telekom (Brochard, 28th, +55:29)
They put 3 riders in the top 50 and Thomas Voeckler wore the KoM jersey for a day. Brochard and Voeckler at least tried to get into some breakaways.
Abandon
Euskaltel (Zubeldia, 15th, +23:43)
Bravo to Zubeldia for having another solid ride. I think he finished 10th on one stage. Wow! These mountain climbing specialists distinguished themselves only by their absence. It’s like they didn’t even try. And it shows. In addition to having the lantern rouge on their team, they were also dead last in prize money, picking up a measly 9300 euros. Seven teams won over 10 times that amount. Euskaltel sucked again and should not be invited to the Tour again. That will also thin down the crows on the mountains.
Lampre (Mazzolini, 13th, +21:16)
Mazzolini had a nice tour. No one else on his team did. They challenged for nothing. Only three of their guys finished in the top 100. Only 5 finished the Tour.
Liquigas (Garzelli, 32nd, 1:04:49)
Not impressed. The only thing I liked about this team was the way Phil Liggett pronounced the name: “Leaky-gas.” I think it’s Italian for “fart.”
Domina Vacanze (Iglinskiy, 38th, +1:18:44)
Their highest placed rider is someone I can’t recall seeing on the TV screen at all. That about sums up this team. Their jerseys looked cool, but I only caught a brief glimpse.
Ag2R (Astarloza, 27th + 54:03)
This team can never make progress, can it? Every year we look at them and say, they have very little to offer, but maybe another team will sign Astarloza to be a domestique. Ditto.
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