[bas]

Anyone else read their Article where salvodelli downplays his dissing of Danielson (and you read Danielson's article at the end which confirms that he is guilty of wasting energy).. and
then pro cycling goes onto say Salvodelli is a bluff and they are saving Tommy D for the last week??

 

[Guest]

No, unless Savoldelli really isn't in good form and T.D. is sandbagging it - but that would make any sense - I don't think even Johan would go for that big a bluff.

 

[Sintesi]

Anyone else read their Article where salvodelli downplays his dissing of Danielson (and you read Danielson's article at the end which confirms that he is guilty of wasting energy).. and
then pro cycling goes onto say Salvodelli is a bluff and they are saving Tommy D for the last week??

I did read that but looking at T.D.'s role on Sunday's stage I'm inclined to chalk it up to hopeful speculation. However if Paolo continues to flounder (hope not) they could certainly unleash Danielson in the final week on a salvage operation - If he's got the form. Tom certainly did a fantastic job to come back up to Savoldelli to pace him back up the climb but he's still an unknown quantity at this level. He's got to show some serious class soon or I think we can all stop talking about Danielson as a serious US contender. I'd love to see him blitz a stage tho.

 

[Argentius]

Yeah, Falco isn't exactly "dissing" TD -- I think he's telling it like it is.

That's why Danielson is always (rather erroneously) referred to as a "youngster" -- he hasn't got a lot of serious, pro-peloton racing experience.

His results show that the motor is clearly there. He just needs to not run outta gas at the wrong time. Whether he'll ever learn that, I dunno...

 

[JGUTZ]

We all know what Paolo can do, and most expect him to podium. This may be considered a failure to some but with Basso in the race what can you expect, even if he podiums that should not be overlooked. Kind of like Simoni last year, wanted to win but settled for second, that is still a very sought after position in a grand tour.

Danielson: Will it not be consdered a huge success if TD finishes top 10. He is currently 10th (i think). and seems to be climbing well enough to support PS. Or maybe the success is in just finishing.

Oh and where was Beltran and Rubiera during that Sunday stage? i was expecting to see the whole onslaught of Discovery at the front, but maybe those days are over.

J

 

[Bianchigirl]

Trouble is, Danielson really isn't a spring chicken - he did ok in Tirreno-Adriatico, for example, but how old is Thomas Dekker who won it? 22...Basso is the same age as Danielson and already has a GT podium and GT stage wins under his belt, whereas, when the going gets tough, Danielson cracks under the pressure.

Just a point - Danielson didn't make an effort to get up to Savoldelli, Savoldelli waited for his teammate. It seems like Disco can't really expect any more than stage wins and an outside shot at a podium now.

 

[botto]

Trouble is, Danielson really isn't a spring chicken - he did ok in Tirreno-Adriatico, for example, but how old is Thomas Dekker who won it? 22

you can't compare the two. it was an early season race and they both went into it with different goals.

Just a point - Danielson didn't make an effort to get up to Savoldelli, Savoldelli waited for his teammate.

from my TV it looked like Savoldelli couldn't hold the pace of Basso group, so he maintained his own. He even said as much. Seeing as they weren't showing his speed/HR% i wasn't able to tell if he waitied for TD, or TD just managed to bridge up to him.

apples and oranges.

 

[55x11]

It was a bit surprising thougn - unless it was part of the strategy. Usually the last lead-out man has to completely bury himself for their leader. You saw it with Sastre, or with Lance's leadout. So the fact that Danielson was dropped, yet he was able to keep on going not to far off the leading pack doesn't speak very well for either his preparation (can't accelerate with the pack?) or Disco's strategy (they didn't think Savoldelli will need someone to help him?).

I would have expected Danielson to stay with Savoldelli and really go into the red zone making sure they both can hang on with the group. If they got dropped, Danielson should have really gone all out to bridge him to the group. Then of course "the lights" would go out and he would easily lose himself 5 min on the final couple of kms. So why didn't he?

Savoldelli must have known he was struggling early on, with pollen or whatever. Seemed strange to me.

I tend to agree with Bianchi-girl. Danielson is really overrated - not his own fault, but the fault of his fans who think that Mt. Evans or Mt. Washington or Tour De Georgia performance somehow makes him one of the best in the world. Right now there are hundreds of riders with similar credentials/potential, and so it's very strange to hear about possibility of Danielson as the "true" secret leader for Giro.

 

[Sintesi]

Just a point - Danielson didn't make an effort to get up to Savoldelli, Savoldelli waited for his teammate. .

You sure about that? I heard Danielson was much further back and had to come up to the group that Savoldelli drifted back to.

 

[MGSuarez]

Just a point - Danielson didn't make an effort to get up to Savoldelli, Savoldelli waited for his teammate. It seems like Disco can't really expect any more than stage wins and an outside shot at a podium now.[/QUOTE]

I dont really know if a past Giro winner/ team captain would wait for a domestique and loose even more time.
He just wasnt able to stay with the leaders. Its not over yet, did we forget what happened last year? The hard days are just beggining.

 

[Spinnerman]

Maybe Savoldelli is still riding himself into form and maybe the team is saving Danielson a bit for the last week in case they need to salvage something going into the last week. Savoldelli was sick at Romandie and maybe he still had not recovered from it. We will just have to wait and see. As for Danielson to be successful and compete for a podium at a grand tour he just needs to keep improving. This is only his second grand tour. How many grand tours has Basso completed? Big difference in my opinion. Basso was talked about similarly as well until Riis took him under his wing. Maybe Danielson is on the wrong team to get that kick in the pants he might need to take advantage of his talent. He just doesn't have the race experience nor that mental edge that Basso, Valverde seem to have.

 

[dagger]

Your wrong

. Maybe Danielson is on the wrong team to get that kick in the pants he might need to take advantage of his talent.

He's on the right team, and he is about to get his chance in a few days to take over. Yates knows what he has because he personally put alot of time in with Tom in preparing the Giro this year. When a director takes the time to go with you personally to recon every single stage then you are a primary focus for the team. He definitely will be the main GC guy in the Vuelta this year.

 

[Guest]

From thepaceline.com:

For the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team they have to be content with the way things worked out. Paolo Savoldelli was 5th on the day and is now 4th overall. "Eki" Ekimov and Tom Danielson went 8th and 9th today and Danielson is now 5th overall on GC, so certainly some good positioning for the two main DC riders as the roads head up, up, up soon.

"...for the two main DC riders..."

 

[SuperB]

How things change...

Now, a couple days later, Il Falco is back in contention for a podium spot (of course he's no Basso) and TD is only a few spots behind.