The contenders for the GC from the US are Lance, Levi Leiphiemer, and Christian Vande Velde. Christian is actually from the Chicago area. Right now because all three of them are on good Time Trialing teams and are good TT guys themselves they are in good position in the GC early on Lance-2nd, Levi-5th, Christian-12th. The race really wont take off though until we get into the mountains though where all the guys that arent good climbers will fall out of the top 10, all these guys are solid climbers but it is yet to be seen if they can hang with the best of the best. I think Lance will finish 2nd (this may change once i see what kind of climbing form he is in) Levi 5th, and Christian 9th. The US doesnt have too many guys in the Tour, i think only 8, but they are all very competitive and have rode well so far.
The rider i want to win most is Christian but he doesnt have a shot really (i would love him to prove me wrong) top 5 for him would be unreal. I like lance and levi but i dont like Astana because they just made and All-star team and dominated the TTT which is unfair to GC contenders not on great teams. So im hoping that Sastre, evans and the Schleck brothers throw down to make it more of a race in the mountains, plus i dont like contador that much even though he will probably win. Other than wanting a good race i really like Andy Schleck from Luxembourg so i hope he is on the podium at least. My favorite team is garmin slipstream because they are American and have cool riders and jerseys, but i also like eskadel-eskadi a lot because they are made up of all riders from the basque country, a really small part of Spain and usually are really good climbers, look for their bright orange jerseys in the Pyrenees.
Friday, July 10, 2009
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