Can Levi win the Giro or TDF?

dave_1

I think so...reckon the Contador-LA conflict is more likely Levi-Contador

richard wants a baum

Doubt Lance wont make the TdF and even an injured Lance is better than a fully fit Levi. He has 16 sec on Contador which isnt enough as soon as the road tilts upwards.

dave_1

richard wants a baum wrote:

Doubt Lance wont make the TdF and even an injured Lance is better than a fully fit Levi. He has 16 sec on Contador which isnt enough as soon as the road tilts upwards.

am quite impressed by Levi...that's the second time he's delieverd in a TT this season. I think his lack of explosiveness on the climbs could just about be made up for by his TTing this summer

Kléber

He was 13:1 with some bookmakers. Given he's come close before, that looks like value. As for explosiveness on climbs, he ripped up the field in California. But January is not July of course. Still, it is possible he's on the podium in July.

skavanagh.bikeradar

If Lance is at the Tour (of course he will be!) and so is The Accountant and Levi is on this sort of form.........good luck to Brunyeel with that lot.

blazing_saddles

They could lose all on the road, arguing about who has to fetch the water!
Shaping up like another 2007.....all coming down to the Ventoux.

calvjones

He only lost the Vuelta on bonus seconds, so I'd say yes.

teagar

calvjones wrote:

He only lost the Vuelta on bonus seconds, so I'd say yes.

I'd recon had the bonus seconds not been there Contador would have just eeked out a little more time to win anyway.

timoid.

Of course he can. Needs a mishap from Contador though.

Besides Contador, I would expect Shleck (the younger better one), Sastre, Evans and Menchov to be too strong for Levi, but he definitely has a shout.

TheStone

Could be the best tour for years. I'd like to see Levi get a chance, but unless something big happens to the top 2, he'll be working for one of them.

I think it'll be Schleck (the younger) vs Contador, but loads of oldies (inc Armstrong, Evans and Sastre) and youngens (Gesink, Kr..., ) to make it really interesting.

Is there much chance of Basso getting a ride? I've not seen much about him.

pb21

I really cant see him winning it. Its possible but there are others more capable than him.

I cant see anyone stopping Contador.

alanmcn1

I'd like to see Contador and Levi's "time trial training" made public........................................

If Leipheimmer wins the tour am turning my attention to a sport with more realistic champions.......baseball maybe

afx237vi

Cadel > Levi.

Leipheimer is a bigger wheelsucker than Evans, who always gets knocked for being boring.

crown_jewel

Actually, I think Levi and Cadel are quite similar in that they are very cautious. For that reason mainly, I think it would take a crash or major error by Contador to give Levi a chance. Not to mention Levi will be riding for AC one would think.

donrhummy

The Giro - yes. The TDF - no, because he'll be fighting Contador and I don't think Bruyneel will have the team give Levi the support instead of Contador. I think he has the ability to win the TDF, but he'd need a really strong team and i think if he and Contador were on diff. teams with equal strength domestiques, Contador would win. In the mountains, Contador can handle tons of speed changes, accelerations, attacks. Levi can handle any mountain but has a lot more trouble with constant attacks and speed changes. In the time trials, Levi's definitely better but Contador's improved enough that overall I don't think levi could overcome the mountain deficits.

donrhummy

The Giro - yes. The TDF - no, because he'll be fighting Contador and I don't think Bruyneel will have the team give Levi the support instead of Contador. I think he has the ability to win the TDF, but he'd need a really strong team and i think if he and Contador were on diff. teams with equal strength domestiques, Contador would win. In the mountains, Contador can handle tons of speed changes, accelerations, attacks. Levi can handle any mountain but has a lot more trouble with constant attacks and speed changes. In the time trials, Levi's definitely better but Contador's improved enough that overall I don't think levi could overcome the mountain deficits.

suspectdevice

Blazing Saddles wrote:

They could lose all on the road, arguing about who has to fetch the water!
Shaping up like another 2007.....all coming down to the Ventoux.

I really hope so, been watching the tour since 87 this is the first year i get to see it live.

ACMadone

Timoid. wrote:

Of course he can. Needs a mishap from Contador though.

Besides Contador, I would expect Shleck (the younger better one), Sastre, Evans and Menchov to be too strong for Levi, but he definitely has a shout.

Evans maybe, but do you really see Sastre or Menchove being too strong for Levi?

I'm expecting Contador to show Baby Shleck how to climb properly exactly the same way as he rode away from big brother in Paris - Nice up La Montagne de Lure

mclarent

ACMadone wrote:

Timoid. wrote:

Of course he can. Needs a mishap from Contador though.

Besides Contador, I would expect Shleck (the younger better one), Sastre, Evans and Menchov to be too strong for Levi, but he definitely has a shout.

Evans maybe, but do you really see Sastre or Menchove being too strong for Levi?

I'm expecting Contador to show Baby Shleck how to climb properly exactly the same way as he rode away from big brother in Paris - Nice up La Montagne de Lure

I can't see anything wrong with that - it would take a crash / freak of nature to beat Contador. If he remembers to eat, looks like he has the TdF in his pocket. Actually, biggest challenge could be having a team around him - if Kloden, Levi and LA all start, Astana could have at least 2 podium places. Going to be fascinating to see what happens!!

blazing_saddles

With Lance a probable Giro non-starter and Levi already pencilled in and in great form, he should be going all out for this.
Unfortunately, after Contador winning the race, last year, Bruyneel will now relegated it on his list of "must wins", to below the Vuelta e Castilla y Leon and California.

Levi will "switch off", until JB/LA switch him back on, again, by placing a water bottle in his hand, while shouting: "Go fetch, boy!"

mclarent wrote:

I can't see anything wrong with that - it would take a crash / freak of nature to beat Contador. If he remembers to eat, looks like he has the TdF in his pocket. Actually, biggest challenge could be having a team around him - if Kloden, Levi and LA all start, Astana could have at least 2 podium places. Going to be fascinating to see what happens!!

Is it? fascinating, I mean.

Zubeldia will be on domestique duties, too.

Seems to me, most "fans" of Astana would rather 2 podium spots in the Tour, to winning both the Giro and the Tour.
I find that to be a narrow field of vision, rather than fascinating.
Nobody has the Tour in their pocket, until it's won.
Especially as the Paris-Nice appears to have been lost for want of a jam sandwich.
All the eggs in one basket....

mclarent

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Is it? fascinating, I mean.

Zubeldia will be on domestique duties, too.

Seems to me, most "fans" of Astana would rather 2 podium spots in the Tour, to winning both the Giro and the Tour.
I find that to be a narrow field of vision, rather than fascinating.
Nobody has the Tour in their pocket, until it's won.
Especially as the Paris-Nice appears to have been lost for want of a jam sandwich.
All the eggs in one basket....

Tell you what I think is fascinating:

Contador would have won the P-N except for a jam sandwich, and any kind of team support whatsoever. He was so isolated it was almost funny. Implies to me that they need at least Kloden and Levi to be there and on v good form to have a chance.

Then you have Saxo Bank, who have a Shleck or two amongst their ranks, as well as a Voigt, a Cancellara, a Riis, and experience of winning the race - maybe enough to win it again if they play it correctly.

Then there are the "smaller" teams, who may not have the strength to play the team game as well, but could do damage (names as above, plus possible cameos from Valverde, Cunego and others).

Then you have the sprint battle - will Cav dominate Bonnen? Will anyone else get a look in? Will Cav make it to the Champs Elysee?

All that I think could lead to a fascinating race. Although of course, Astana might just dominate it from the first TT...

On the Astana fans: I'm not suprised that they would want the team to dominate the race really, given they were excluded last year, and it's par for the course if you have such a talented squad that those on Domestique duty can end up close to the top of the order - especially if you're as good a cyclist as (e.g.) Levi.

For the record, I'm a Cav fan

kickerbri

I'm sure Levi can have a good crack at the Giro but not sure he will be given the license to at the Tour unless something goes badly wrong for Contador. Levi will be the team leader at the Giro and should have a half decent team with him but I am not sure his climbing ability is good enough to actually win it.

I actually think this is the perfect year for the top riders away from Astana to snatch the Tour, Astana have to many captains and to much of an ongoing internal affair for them to all suddenly be working as a team come July. What happens for example if on the last climb of the day and the lead group contains Armstrong, Contador and Levi? Who works for who? Who covers attacks?

Kléber

If he was on another team, he'd be rated alongside Menchov and Evans as an outside contender. But yes, he's very boring. I enjoyed Sastre's win as he went for it, attacking and dropping the others when it mattered. Leipheimer just appears, relying on consistently finishing 7th each day to work up the GC. No panache.