TdF 2009 : Presentation of the teams

Diarmuid

Popped along to watch the presentation of the teams yesterday in Monaco. Took a few pics for your enjoyment here. The circus surrounding LA is crazy. After Astana were presented half the audience left. Armstrong looks lighter than in the Giro but the tension between him and Contador was evident for all to see. Both standing beside each other, didn't even look in each others direction and a few subtle digs thrown during the televised interview.

Personally speaking I hope LA does poorly so the TdF can get back to a cycling event not a PR vehicle for Mr Ego.

kenmc

Diarmuid wrote: »

Personally speaking I hope LA does poorly so the TdF can get back to a cycling event not a PR vehicle for Mr Ego.

Oh thankfully I'm not alone in my thoughts then. Are you hoping for another broken collarbone too ?

great to see Nicky up there in the green! Pity Dan isn't on the start too.

lukester

Just looking at the photos of Astana, the tension is palpable. LA, Bertie and Bruyneel all looking stern.

This will be interesting.

Edit: See the compere chatting with Roche, anything of interest?

ednwireland

contador is probably p***sed off that he has to ride a trek with a lower spec when other teams get better spec than him for less money (except LA why do you think he has special livestrong bikes)

couldnt agree more on the circus and LA bring back joop zoetmelk and ti raleigh i say

Diarmuid

kenmc wrote: »

Are you hoping for another broken collarbone too ?

No, getting dropped (by Contador preferable) on a climb will suffice for me ..

lukester

Diarmuid wrote: »

No, getting dropped (by Contador preferable) on a climb will suffice for me ..

I'd like to see that scenario too.

But then I want to see Contador get dropped in the GC by Sastre, Evans or Frank Schleck.

kennyb3

watched it last nite on eurosport before heading out for a spin. enjoyed it alot. the astana team situation is fascinating. was fairly obvious the split between La and Con. think the TT on sat and that long mountain stage friday week will be crucial. both will be looking to get an early advantage

kenmc

Heh couple of the LA fanboys on the team wearing those sh;tty yellow bracelets - wonder if you can measure the divide in the camp by that?

kennyb3

kenmc wrote: »

Heh couple of the LA fanboys on the team wearing those sh;tty yellow bracelets - wonder if you can measure the divide in the camp by that?

good spot didnt notice that myself

godihatethehils

great pics!! nicolas looks great in the irish top, will he be wearing that for the whole tour?

apologies to the anti lance brigade but i luvim

lukester

godihatethehils wrote: »

apologies to the anti lance brigade but i luvim

Can't resist a cowboy, eh?

lukester

kenmc wrote: »

Heh couple of the LA fanboys on the team wearing those sh;tty yellow bracelets - wonder if you can measure the divide in the camp by that?

Only one I can see wearing it is Levi, who would definitely be in the Lance camp.

kenmc

Why does the cretin have to be so individualistic compared to the rest of the team?
- different coloured bike
- different decaled wheels (also why doesn't contador have deep section wheels?)
- rest of the team have white saddles, he has black
- rest of the team have black runners, he has white
- even on the astana website everyone has a white/light background, his is black.

He's almost the very definition of a negative! There's no 'I' in "team", but there is an "M" and an "E" if your name is Lance.

theo4130

anyone notice the SIDI shoes ad was three lads playing spin the bottle (with a sidi shoe!) that had me in stitches!
great to see nicholas up there, i hadnt heard about dans injury until he wasnt on the stage, i was gutted. it would have been the first time in 17 years since 2 irish have ridden in the tour de france

kenmc

lukester wrote: »

Only one I can see wearing it is Levi, who would definitely be in the Lance camp.

There looks to be a few others:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I889GsxYvBo

Not great quality, but 3rd and 4th from the right, @ 3m17s seem to have yellow bands on too. Dunno who they are from that shot though. Even still, might be a good indicator

Diarmuid

kenmc wrote: »

Not great quality, but 3rd and 4th from the right, @ 3m17s seem to have yellow bands on too. Dunno who they are from that shot though. Even still, might be a good indicator

Had a look on some other pics I took (but didn't upload). Only LA and Levi had the Livestrong band.

kenmc

Who else would likely be on LAs 'team' then, or is it just a team of 2 vs 7?

pgibbo

Great pics. Thanks for posting. The Irish colours look great on Roche. Great to see them featuring in the tour. Hope he goes well.

scottreynolds

godihatethehils wrote: »

great pics!! nicolas looks great in the irish top, will he be wearing that for the whole tour?

Only in the road race stages I think, although not 100%. Your allowed to wear the jersey at an equivalent event and since this is a road race jersey he can wear it. I'm not 100% clear on whether the TT stages are classified as TT's meaning the current national TT champs can wear there tops or they are classifed as road stages.

Simple question -- complicated answer

lukester

kenmc wrote: »

Who else would likely be on LAs 'team' then, or is it just a team of 2 vs 7?

Chris Horner would have been in Lance's camp, but he was left off the team at the last minute.

The rest of the riders would AFAIK have varying levels of allegiance either to Contador, or 'the team'. The latter meaning they don't want to rock the boat, and Contador is very much the team leader on paper.

How it pans out in the race itself will be interesting. They team have stated that they'll support whoever's strongest in the race. I can't see Lance being able to muster much support unless he pulls something special out of the bag and Bruyneel gives out orders to back him.

kenmc

So a yellow-wristed team of 2 then most likely, unless contador goes down....

el tel

Nice pictures.

Who is the wee dude on the right? He looks like his stabilizers have gone missing



Cav must be playing along with the joke that he looks like Bingo from the Banana Splits

lukester

kenmc wrote: »

So a yellow-wristed team of 2 then most likely, unless contador goes down....

Sure looks that way. LA really wanted Horner in the team, and Horner had been vocal in his support for Lance.

His omission has been seen as Bruyneel bowing to Contador's wishes- Contador wanted Sergio Paulinho, who got the place instead of Horner.

Really can't see Contador not being ahead of Lance either. There is a poll in L'Equipe of 10 former winners and 20 current directeurs sportif of who will win the Tour, only Oscar Pereiro and Roger Walkowiak (won in 56) tip Lance, the rest mainly favour Contador. (via CyclingFans- Twitter)

michaelm

Great photos Diarmuid, as a matter of interest was it difficult to get into such a vantage point? By the way don't Merckx and Hinault look great.