everyone seems to have forgotten about saxo bank.­ astana are troubled at the moment, especially regarding­ vinokourov's comments in the run up. andy schleck­ has the strongest chance within they're team and i­ peronally think overall. this years race is so open. i­ love it!!!

neshobeguy-
No offense taken regarding your comments­ about my yahoo id of "livestrong"...

Figured­ you were just using the old liberal, bush-league tactic­ of if you can't argue on the FACTS, simply resort­ to personal attacks.

Regardless, your apology is both­ appreciated and accepted!

As far your follow-up­ comments about Lance not closing the time gaps near the­ end of the Giro...
Remember, he "waited" to­ assist Levi on at least a couple of late stages (hence­ time lost for him)! Which was my point in asking if­ you had actually watched the Giro. His times on­ "paper" did nothing to actually reflect how­ much he was actually improving towards the end.

I am still trying to figure out all the hype over­ Alberto. Lets see he won Nice maybe twice then he won­ the Tour by forfeit when he could not beat the Dane, he­ won the Giro but sorry the Giro is not the Tour, then­ he won the Tour of Spain and if it would have not been­ for Levi helping him then it would have been Levis to­ win. Then I saw him totally crack in Castilla Leon. So­ why is Alberto the designated leader?

armstrong has nothing to prove he won 7 straight times­ that is unheard of and will never be surpassed if he­ had intentions of trying to win i think he would come­ out and say so

Contador can climb, attack on the climbs and time­ trial, on paper he has to be the favourite. Lance has­ experinence and only he knows how strong his current­ fitness is, and what he is capable of doing. Watching­ Lance on Eurosport last night I honestly believe he­ feels he can win this years Tour, and I believe that­ Albert thinks that Lance could win to. We will find­ out in the mountains, this years Tour is going to be­ awesome.

I don't know what the fuss is about? Contador is­ the leader and has proved his worthiness for the role­ with his rides over the last three years or so. The­ other well know domestiques - Leiphiemer is always a­ 'nearly but not quite' man, Kloden too lacks­ the ability to be the outright winner and Armstrong is­ clearly past his best and has only got a place on the­ team because of past sucess and realistically has­ little chance of a podium finish. Contador will­ undoubtedly remain the leader throughout the tour, even­ if Armstrong tries to manipulate some of the other­ Astana riders to ride for him rather than for Contador­ (perhaps with a promise of a team place with the new­ Bruyneel/Armstrong team for 2010?). It all smacks of­ the Stephen Roche/Visentini in the Carrera team of 1987­ (if any of you are old enough to remember that!!!!).

the giro was the giro. this is le tour. everyone want­ this, including myself if work would let me get my 70­ kg into shape. no only joking. i had my chance but blew­ it thanks to my genetic affliction to drink thanks to­ my parents. never mind. the people that make it resist­ any dire habits. well done to the world of cycling,­ except for you cheating %$&^$&%$. learn a­ lesson

nesho. we could be mates:) i have my thoughts on astana­ and i am unsure about they're prospects. i believe­ in fighting will occur due to rider ambition, although­ lance has nothing to prove. alberto is trying to shout­ 'i am number 1'. to be fair this new team is­ built around him. i would love to see him in a katusha­ situation and see how he does

peter w, you are correct. These posts have been­ pretty factual, civil so my apologies to board and­ livestrong. But I do think Lance faded in the Giro,­ contrary to most opinions. Yes, he held station at­ around 12th place for the last half, but his time­ differentials vs. leader were widening by an avg of 55­ seconds in each stage in the second half of the Giro. ­ And at the end, those differentials weren't­ narrowing. So that's my point ... I don't see­ that having a zippy opening time trial is a predictor­ of future success in this TdF, either.

"I dont really see contador being that much of a­ factor­ in the race. " hahahahaha

sorry to all. my opinion shouldn't be portraid.­ this is about facts. bruyneel is amazing but i think­ riders do what they want. this isn't the army so­ court-marshall's aren't going to happen. let­ these 2 fight it out amongst themselves as i have no­ doubt they will

neshobeguy that is unnecessary. everyone has­ they're right to a view, whether biased or not.this­ persons name can be whatever they want it to be. did­ you try to get and missed out. you seem jealous

Don't forget that Bruyneel is an expert at bluffing­ - you don't think he's going to tell us and the­ other teams what he really thinks, do you?

livestrong, cant you find a better Yahoo id and come­ out from underneath the skirt of your hero?

neshobeguy,
Did you even watch the Giro? Lance­ actually started the Giro quite poorly, not with a­ bang, as you state! His condition noticeable and­ significantly improved throughout the race. Late in­ the Giro he actually slowed to wait for Levi on a­ couple of occasions. He finished much stronger than he­ started, your the ONLY person I've seen suggest­ otherwise.

As for 53rd finish in the final TT at the­ Giro, it had started raining of an extremely dangerous­ course...Lance actually "tweet'ed" before­ the start when it starting raining that he would­ basically soft pedal it and take no chances. That­ finish said NOTHING about his condition.

As a general­ rule, if Johan Bruyneel says something about a stage­ race, you might want to pay attention...he hasn't­ directed the winner of 10 Grand Tours by accident. ­ Besides, he's not the only person talking about the­ significance of stage one...J Vaughters and Lance have­ basically said the same, just to name a couple of other­ guys that know a "little" about cycling.­

But hey, maybe you know more than them to!

have you seen bruyneel's most video? i love the­ beginning where he says 'at the start of the race­ alberto will be the leader and wearing number 1'. i­ think they will have a lot of in fighting come the­ final week. it will only pay of to the others. come on­ saxo!

Liam,
Because Levi gas a quality Contawhiner sadly­ lacks - loyalty. And respect for his team mates.

Contawhiner blew Paris Nice with a stupid tatics. He­ isn't a good tactitian. He rode the Dauphine like­ a Valverde flunkie. Lance's showing in the Giro­ six weeks after a broken collar bone was incredible. ­ He won in Nevada City.
So what has Contawhiner done so­ far? Beat Sanchez in a TT. Big whoop. After­ Contawhiner does an entire tour with the likes of a Jan­ nipping at his heals he is just another good an­ hithertoo very lucky rider....not a great one.
And­ Sastre could have won three grand tours if his DS was­ JB and not Riis. Contawhiner would do good to remember­ it was JB and JB's teams that are most responsible­ for his successes.

Still gotta wonder, was Armstrong really tired during­ the Giro, or was he bluffing on his condition?
He is a­ master of the game.....just gonna have to wait to see.

well put, the first TT will have a relatively small­ influence on the final outcome. a more physcological­ advantage. lance may only reveal his true form around­ stage 9. we'll soon see!!