The Last Postal Campaign June 3rd – June 25th
1. Lance! A conspiracy theorist would claim that someone plotted to make him angry with the last minute charges of doping and no one wants to face the controlled rage of Lance. You have to take it from him before you get the top spot. Despite a change up in his training schedule so he could stay in the states and close to his kids, his form is excellent and looked good in the Dauphin? Lib?r?. This’ll be one of his most aggressive races.
2. Tyler Hamilton. Sorry, Ullrich is amazing, but Hamilton is hot and tough. Beat Lance on a Mt. Ventoux and last years performance was perhaps the most amazing non-winning effort I’ve seen in 15 years of watching the Tour.
3. Jan Ullrich. Won the Tour of Switzerland, but lost teammate Alexandre Vinoukorov who was number 3 last year. Ullrich will challenge, but there is little to suggest he can take Lance in top form. The loss of Vinoukorov will reduce his ability to be aggressive in the mountains and Lance still has a strong climbing contingent around him even with Heras going to his own team.
4. Ibn Mayo. Talented climber, but not balanced enough in the sprints. Strong win in Dauphin? Lib?r?, but that is a shorter race.
5. Roberto Heras. Has his own team and has improved Time Trialing (TT) over the years. Can he beat Lance in the mountains. Yes. Can he blow him out enough to make up for TTs? Nope.
6. Levi Lepheimer. Crashed out last year. Question is how he can handle the mountains.
Four of the six were or are members of Postal–3 are Americans. So while Postal will be switching sponsors next year, it’ll be around for a long time.
ON the Podium in Paris
1. Lance
2. Tyler
3. Jan
Expect Floyd Landis to surprise a bit and show himself to be stronger than expected.
Biggest danger? Fan interference–last year the fall was Lance’s fault, but in Merckx was beaten in his attempt for a sixth when he was punched in the stomach.
Other Americans:
Bobby Julich on CSC
Christian Van Velde on Heras’ Liberty Seguros