tour france 2009
If a cycling fan roots for team Astana during the Tour de France, is it the same as a football fan rooting for the Dallas Cowboys throughout football season?
With Team Astana, a team that boasts so much talent, it slightly negates any suspense for a surprise outcome. Of course they'll be on the podium. Heck, five of their Tour squad achieved top-five finishes in previous Tours. If you go nuts rooting for the underdog, then look for another team.
(then again, the 2009 Tour de France rivalry between Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador certainly intensifies suspense)
One peek at their roster would soil the chamois of any pro-peloton team. With four possible GC contenders and years of cumulative Tour de France experience, this team swaggers without even trying. Check out this snapshot of the team:
Johan Bruyneel: Former Tour stage winner and the man responsible for turning Lance into a winning machine. Led US Postal Service, Discovery Channel, and Astana to numerous victories. Fluent in six languages.
Haimar Zubeldia: Spanish climber and all-around consistent rider. Finished fifth in the 2003 and 2007 Tour de France.
Gregory Rast: Former Phonak member. Handsome Swiss, which has nothing to do with cycling. Hey, golf has Paula Creamer and Natalie Golbus. So far in the '09 Tour Rast has proved an excellent domestique. Did I mention he's handsome?
Sergio Paulinho: At 5'8" and 141 pounds, this Portuguese rider should help his eventual team captain fly up the mountains. Second in the '04 Olympic road race and a past stage winner at the Vuelta, Paulinho can sprint as well as climb. Are you trembling yet?
Yaroslav Popovych: As a super-domestique for the Discovery Team in 2005, "Popo" helped shepherd Lance Armstrong to victory and was deemed "the next Armstrong" by Lance himself. A strong rider who always seems to be in the right place at the right time. For example, during stage 3, Popo made the 30-man breakaway with Armstrong and Zubeldia while the rest of the main contenders were left to chase.
Dmitriy Muravyev: In all honesty I don't know much about this rider. Okay, nothing. Except that he has a totally bad ass name. He sounds like he could disable a nuclear weapon while fending off a Saxo-Bank attack.
Levi Leipheimer: The King of California. How many times has he won the Tour of California? How many times has he been on the Tour podium? Enough said.
Andreas Klöden: Astana's stealth bomber. If Astana were the Beatles, Klöden is George Harrison--the quiet one. While the peloton fusses over Contador and Armstrong, watch out for the quiet Klöden to make a statement with his legs.
Alberto Contador: Three-time grand tour winner Alberto Contador nearly lost his life when his brain hemorrhaged after a crash in the 2003 Vuelta a Asturia. While few returns from illness or injury can compete with Armstrong's, Contador's convalescence and return to cycling took more than one of Paul Sherwin's suitcases of courage. After winning the '07 Tour, he switched from Discovery to Astana and through an incredibly unfair case of guilt by association was banned from the '08 Tour for Astana's past sins. Among his numerous victories he has stood atop the Tour de France podium. Of course, that was the year of Armstrong's absence.
And then there's Lance Armstrong. Love him or hate him, because it's impossible to remain neutral about him. Regardless of his life outside of cycling, from ignoble pursuits like canoodling celebrities to his higher purpose of kicking cancer's ass, no one can deny that he is a fierce competitor. Perhaps the fiercest.
This team, under Bruyneel's direction, could be an unstoppable force. Commend Astana for their commitment, courage, and competitiveness. Give these guys some pads and toss them a football and my money would be on them thrashing the Dallas Cowboys at their own game.
All of which makes Astana so Astanashing.
If a cycling fan roots for team Astana during the Tour de France, is it the same as a football fan rooting for the Dallas Cowboys throughout football season?
With Team Astana, a team that boasts so much talent, it slightly negates any suspense for a surprise outcome. Of course they'll be on the podium. Heck, five of their Tour squad achieved top-five finishes in previous Tours. If you go nuts rooting for the underdog, then look for another team.
(then again, the 2009 Tour de France rivalry between Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador certainly intensifies suspense)
One peek at their roster would soil the chamois of any pro-peloton team. With four possible GC contenders and years of cumulative Tour de France experience, this team swaggers without even trying. Check out this snapshot of the team:
Johan Bruyneel: Former Tour stage winner and the man responsible for turning Lance into a winning machine. Led US Postal Service, Discovery Channel, and Astana to numerous victories. Fluent in six languages.
Haimar Zubeldia: Spanish climber and all-around consistent rider. Finished fifth in the 2003 and 2007 Tour de France.
Gregory Rast: Former Phonak member. Handsome Swiss, which has nothing to do with cycling. Hey, golf has Paula Creamer and Natalie Golbus. So far in the '09 Tour Rast has proved an excellent domestique. Did I mention he's handsome?
Sergio Paulinho: At 5'8" and 141 pounds, this Portuguese rider should help his eventual team captain fly up the mountains. Second in the '04 Olympic road race and a past stage winner at the Vuelta, Paulinho can sprint as well as climb. Are you trembling yet?
Yaroslav Popovych: As a super-domestique for the Discovery Team in 2005, "Popo" helped shepherd Lance Armstrong to victory and was deemed "the next Armstrong" by Lance himself. A strong rider who always seems to be in the right place at the right time. For example, during stage 3, Popo made the 30-man breakaway with Armstrong and Zubeldia while the rest of the main contenders were left to chase.
Dmitriy Muravyev: In all honesty I don't know much about this rider. Okay, nothing. Except that he has a totally bad ass name. He sounds like he could disable a nuclear weapon while fending off a Saxo-Bank attack.
Levi Leipheimer: The King of California. How many times has he won the Tour of California? How many times has he been on the Tour podium? Enough said.
Andreas Klöden: Astana's stealth bomber. If Astana were the Beatles, Klöden is George Harrison--the quiet one. While the peloton fusses over Contador and Armstrong, watch out for the quiet Klöden to make a statement with his legs.
Alberto Contador: Three-time grand tour winner Alberto Contador nearly lost his life when his brain hemorrhaged after a crash in the 2003 Vuelta a Asturia. While few returns from illness or injury can compete with Armstrong's, Contador's convalescence and return to cycling took more than one of Paul Sherwin's suitcases of courage. After winning the '07 Tour, he switched from Discovery to Astana and through an incredibly unfair case of guilt by association was banned from the '08 Tour for Astana's past sins. Among his numerous victories he has stood atop the Tour de France podium. Of course, that was the year of Armstrong's absence.
And then there's Lance Armstrong. Love him or hate him, because it's impossible to remain neutral about him. Regardless of his life outside of cycling, from ignoble pursuits like canoodling celebrities to his higher purpose of kicking cancer's ass, no one can deny that he is a fierce competitor. Perhaps the fiercest.
This team, under Bruyneel's direction, could be an unstoppable force. Commend Astana for their commitment, courage, and competitiveness. Give these guys some pads and toss them a football and my money would be on them thrashing the Dallas Cowboys at their own game.
All of which makes Astana so Astanashing.
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