Caught between a rock and a hard place, Godefroot has one star rider who has failed to do justice to his responsibility, and another who seems allergic to it. Andreas Klöden lies fourth on general classification, within two minutes of Lance Armstrong, but according to Godefroot “doesn’t want responsibility”. “There are some riders who thrive under pressure, others who collapse. If you make demands of Andreas he stops performing. For that reason Jan remains the team leader.
Finally, has Klöden learned anything from Ullrich? To this question Godefroot responds with a wry smile: “Andreas learn something from Jan?… Hmmm.”
Ullrich vs. Kloden
Mon, 07/19/2004 - 6:10am
Wed, 07/21/2004 - 2:04pm
#1
Who's riding for second?
"More confusion in the T-mobile camp
http://www.procycling.com/news.aspx?ID=312
If somebody is critizing Riis for ""riding for second"", answer this Rhetorical question for the T-Mobile ""Brain Trust"":
In Stage 15, Why is Kloden trying to lead out Ullrich, when Kloden has already fallen on the stage? Seems like you want Ullrich to get to his customery 2nd place on GC. And if that's the case, why not put Kloden/Ullrich on Basso's wheel and get ahead of him on the sprint for the 2nd & 3rd place bonus seconds, leaving Basso for fourth (conceding 1st to Lance)? Instead, Basso gets second and 7 more seconds on Jan, 15 on Kloden (combining 3 second gap plus bonus)
Today's results notwithstanding, I would be interested to see who's gonna work for who on Team Pink for a podium spot tomorrow and Friday."
Thu, 07/22/2004 - 3:19pm
#2
the plot thickens...
In the individual Time trial up the l'Alpe d'Huez, Ivan Basso had a decent result,(even though he was passed by Lance on the road) finishing 8th 2:23 behind Armstrong brilliant winning time of 39:41.47
But Ullrich's fierce ride trailed Lance by 1:01, and Kloden 3rd place finish trailed by 1:41.
Result: At the Start of today's 17th stage
Kloden was in 3rd place 1:15 behind 2nd Place Ivan Basso
Ullrich moved into 4th place 4:07 behind Basso.
If you haven't seen today's 17th stage, don't miss it to see how this German soap opera plays out.
Thu, 07/22/2004 - 8:55pm
#3
Opera
What is Ulrich thinking? Pointing at someone he chased down to keep pulling? Take me to the win? Not much desire to win.
Fri, 07/23/2004 - 1:32pm
#4
The Lance - Jan conversation on Stage 17
"From http://www.procycling.com/news.aspx?ID=328
The final descent was where Armstrong and Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) could be seen together, deep in conversation. What had been said?
“Ullrich wanted us to work as we had two guys there [Armstrong and Landis],” Armstrong explained. “I understood a little bit, but at the same time, he was trying to make up time on Ivan Basso [CSC], so it was in Jan’s best interests to do the work.” [end quotation]
Jan to self ""Hmm, my own team can't work for me, I'll ask Postal to help...Hallo Lance...Vat, I vill have pedal myself...und you don't have any strudel? Mein Leiber Gott""
T-Mobile has problems. There is no sense of any consistent strategy for their two contenders. Thus:
1. Team Pink shouldn't whine about CSC's tactics. CSC at least knows that their best chance is to hold onto second, that they weren't going to displace Armstrong. On stage 17, CSC had Carlos Sastre attack twice on the last climb to put the pressure on Ullrich and Kloden. It didn't work out, but it was a good tactic. But on Stage 15, having Jens Voigt come to a STOP on the road, wait for the chasing Basso-Armstrong group and then Voigt made tempo with Postal put Jan Ullrich's escape attempt to bed.
2. Post TDF analysis will ask the inevitable ""What if Alexandre Vinokourov hadn't gotten hurt in the Tour of Switzerland?"" Vino said that he would have worked for Ullrich. How believable is that considering Ullrich and Kloden can't work out tactics?
3. T-Mobile doesn't have as strong a team as the Pain Merchants, US Postal. Despite their time lead, they may not be as good as CSC.
"
Fri, 07/23/2004 - 1:38pm
#5
Zabel + Ullrich = Eddy Merckx ?!
"Andreas Kloeden, current road race champion of Germany has moved up to second place in the General Classificaton of the 2004 TDF by riding today's 19th stage, the individual time trial in 1:08:16, 3rd best of the day. He swapped spots with Ivan Basso whose 6th place time of 1:09:39 still has him on the podium in 3rd place on GC.
Jan Ullrich had the 2nd best time of the day -- 61 seconds greater than stage winner Armstrong. A great ride, he will finish this year's TDF in 4th place, off the podium -- a place he has never been before.
The T-Mobile team manager, Walter Godenfroot had some interesting comments about his riders:
""...if you could put together Erik Zabel’s professionalism with Ullrich’s talent, we’d have Eddy Merckx."
