With Armstrongs return and riding in the Giro, and Contador chance at the Tour......things are looking good for Astana...... THings may get dicey if Vinokourov slinks back into the team......but wow, what a line-up.

Basso will be back, Sastre, Levi, even Vandevelde has a shot.

Maybe Ullrich will come out of the med tent to join the fun.


Predictions?

Armstrong- Giro
Contador- France
Levi- Vuelta

No predictions for next season, but I have a race you might be interested in, its called the Bare Hare Sprint, a nude triathlon. You race totally in the buff and said to be very professionally run. Just think of all the gear you wont need to bring.
If that one is a little to soft for you try the Norseman Xtreme, reported to be the toughest triathlon.
 
Alone in the woods, who stands to be King?

Lance is probably my favorite for the Giro, but who will comprise the team will have a big influence on the outcome. Contador will probably skip this race to focus on France like Lance used to do, this will also alleviate most inter-team tension for this event.

Have to go with Contador in France, my gut tells me he will be able to drop Lance on the big climbs. Lance may get ahead of Contador in the individual time trials however, creating an interesting scenerio going into the last mountain stages. With the return of the team time trial this year, Astana may have several riders at the front of the field. Could be Astana vs Astana vs Astana for the GC, may get ugly.

Vuelta? Who knows? I would love to see the team ride in full support of Levi, but there may be too many hurt feelings from France for this to happen.

If Vino rejoins Astana, all of this may not matter as France would probably pull the team's invitation. No chance this will happen IMO.
 
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