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June 22, 2005

Discovery announces final TdF team

Yahoo! Sport | Armstrong Confident Despite Ekimov Blow

Armstrong @ TdG ITT
Armstrong at Tour de Georgia.
Photo by Frank Steele.
Discovery Channel's final Tour squad:

Lance Armstrong
George Hincapie
Jose Azevedo
Yaroslav Popovych
Paolo Savoldelli
José Luis Rubiera
Manuel Beltran
Benjamin Noval
Pavel Padrnos

"I think we have fielded our strongest team ever with this formation," said Armstrong.

"It has many consistent elements from years past, like the Spanish armada for the climbs, strong guys like George, Pavel and Benjamin, the Giro winner in Savoldelli plus a guy like Popo (Popovych) with a very bright future."

Armstrong regrets the absence of ageless wonder Viatcheslav Ekimov, injured training near Austin in April, but says he "plan[s] on riding the race with all the toughness he (Eki) has shown over the years."

Also:

VeloNews.com | No surprises - or controversy - in Discovery's Tour line-up

team.discovery.com | 2005 Tour de France Team Announced

Posted by Frank Steele on June 22, 2005 in George Hincapie, Lance Armstrong, Paolo Savoldelli, Top Stories, Viatcheslav Ekimov, Yaroslav Popovych | Permalink

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Comments

Bruyneel and Lance are priceless: They have the strongest team in the field and yet they still try to project weakness and lower expectations by talking over and over about Ekimov...this is not to say that Ekimov is not important, just that the loss fits perfectly into their long-established strategy...

Posted by: Jason O. at Jun 23, 2005 9:58:04 AM

We're having a "TourWatch 2005" viewing party for the tdf in Austin throughout July. It will be a daily event. We're looking for interviewees to talk about the race on our podcasts via phone or skype. See the press release at http://touroftexas.com for details.

Posted by: Paul Terry Walhus at Jun 25, 2005 4:19:07 PM

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