[maddog17]

so i saw on Velonews today the teams that were "invited" to the TdF this year.

http://velonews.com/article/89361/the-tour-de-france-announces-its-team-selection-for-the--09

good to see that ASO got their head out of their asses and invited Astana. curious if it was due to LA returning or maybe they realized what aholes they were by not including them last year. and as ususal they have more french teams than need to be there. i'll give ASO one nod of aproval in that they didn't invite the old Saunier/Duval team due to what happened to them last year. can i say that they are showing consistancy with not inviting teams that have been caught doping? jury is still out on that one... for me at least.

i really don't think there needs to be 5 french teams, and one isn't a Pro Tour team! there isn't another team that can get in that isn't french? i realize it's their national tour but let's fill the race with teams that are going to be competitive.

 

[JRogers]

so i saw on Velonews today the teams that were "invited" to the TdF this year.

http://velonews.com/article/89361/the-tour-de-france-announces-its-team-selection-for-the--09

good to see that ASO got their head out of their asses and invited Astana. curious if it was due to LA returning or maybe they realized what aholes they were by not including them last year. and as ususal they have more french teams than need to be there. i'll give ASO one nod of aproval in that they didn't invite the old Saunier/Duval team due to what happened to them last year. can i say that they are showing consistancy with not inviting teams that have been caught doping? jury is still out on that one... for me at least.

i really don't think there needs to be 5 french teams, and one isn't a Pro Tour team! there isn't another team that can get in that isn't french? i realize it's their national tour but let's fill the race with teams that are going to be competitive.

Well the 5 French teams isn't really that remarkable because 4 of them are ProTour and the only ProTour team that didn't get in was Fuji-Servetto (I don't know why you seem upset that they didn't invite Astana last year, but you support the non-invite to Fuji this year- both had big doping scandals during the Tour and both are likely to serve one year...even if Astana made a few more internal changes than Fuji might have). Agritubel isn't a bad team, so I don't see a problem with it in a French race since they're not taking away spots from ProTour teams. Although it is noteworthy that Agritubel doesn't have wildcard status, who else would they invite?

Glad that Cervelo got an invite too. A little surprised that Skil-Shimano did, though.

 

[sanjuro]

I agree with the inclusion of Astana this year.

Two years ago, after Vino tested positive, didn't the whole team drop out?

I know one year Mario Cipolini won 4 stages in a row, his team partied super hard that night then dropped out just before the climbing began.

He and his team were not invited back even when he was wearing the rainbow stripes.

 

[ire]

I agree with the inclusion of Astana this year.

Two years ago, after Vino tested positive, didn't the whole team drop out?

I know one year Mario Cipolini won 4 stages in a row, his team partied super hard that night then dropped out just before the climbing began.

He and his team were not invited back even when he was wearing the rainbow stripes.

Chipo wasn't invited back because he never finished the Tour in all the starts he had. ASO was sick of his BS and quit inviting his team. As much as I liked Super Mario, I couldn't blame ASO. I was happy to see Astana made it in this year...its going to be one hell of a Tour (and Tour of Italy for that matter)

 

[James]

I think it was a year-long punishment for Astana, everyone kind of assumed that they would be in the next year. Just another stupid French thing.
But honestly, if it were any other team but Astana, things might have been different. Look at Rabobank? After arguably one of the biggest black-eyes during a tour, they're always back...
I am a little bummed for the Fuji-Servetto guys, mostly because that team has had a long year, sponsors dropping out, coming back, dropping out again, and I was kind of stoked to see Fuji step up like they did this year. Hopefully next year will be different, and they won't be the Unibet of the peloton...
Go-Go-Garmin!

 

[maddog17]

Well the 5 French teams isn't really that remarkable because 4 of them are ProTour and the only ProTour team that didn't get in was Fuji-Servetto (I don't know why you seem upset that they didn't invite Astana last year, but you support the non-invite to Fuji this year- both had big doping scandals during the Tour and both are likely to serve one year...even if Astana made a few more internal changes than Fuji might have). Agritubel isn't a bad team, so I don't see a problem with it in a French race since they're not taking away spots from ProTour teams. Although it is noteworthy that Agritubel doesn't have wildcard status, who else would they invite?

Glad that Cervelo got an invite too. A little surprised that Skil-Shimano did, though.

my being upset about Astana not being invited is based on the fact that they did change the team quite a bit and didn't have the same people they did the year before. as far as Fuji not being invited, all i meant was that ASO was at least consistant in not giving invites to teams that burned them with doping. so since they didn't invite Astana last year for their previous years doping problems, good for ASO to do the same for Fuji. that's all i'm saying. the Fuji team has been thru quite a bit, i feel for them, but i think ASO gets a thumbs up from me for being consistant for not inviting teams back who got caught doping from the previous year. as to who else they could invite... i really don't have an answer for that. and i'm really not going to do any kind of research into D1 teams/non pro tour teams that deserve a shot, unless i get paid for it!!! LOL!!