Down but not out: Discovery moves forward
In the end, it was just good TV. There will be no replacement for Lance Armstrong. The "Race 2 Replace" is over and no winner has emerged. Maybe it was simply too big a burden to place on the shoulders of Armstrong’s former Discovery Channel teammates. Maybe it was just a good way to sell advertising.
Whatever the case, there were no regrets following the 2006 Tour de France’s brutal stage 11. In their hearts, members of America’s lone ProTour team knew they were just role players in a drama whose star had long ago ridden into the sunset.
"Whether it’s good or not so good, as long as the people talk about you it’s a good thing," said team director Johan Bruyneel about the Discovery Channel program. "With Lance retiring we knew it was going to come to an end. That’s the way it is. It’s now clear that we are in a transition period. I think we brought the strongest possible team to the Tour de France but maybe the objectives were not realistic."
Indeed, in hindsight the idea that longtime Armstrong lieutenant George Hincapie could magically transform himself from classics ace to Tour titan was little more than good theater. Hincapie may have initially bought into the script, but the run to Pla de Beret brought the notion to an abrupt ending.
"I think it was fair," said Hincapie about the expectations he carried into the Tour, which stayed high after he grabbed the yellow jersey at the end of stage 1. "I came here in the best shape of my life, but things didn’t work out as I had hoped. It’s not the end of the world. But once I saw that I couldn’t go with the best guys [on stage 11], I just lost all morale and hope."
Hincapie also lost more than 20 minutes to race leader Floyd Landis. Now stage wins remain his lone possible consolation. For now he’ll have to relish teammate Yaroslav Popovych’s successful late race flyer on stage 12, but you know the New York native wants one for himself before the 93rd Tour is over.
As for what caused his improbable implosion, Hincapie didn’t know for sure. He said he felt good coming into the day, and wasn’t willing to blame his crash in April’s Paris-Roubaix, which sidelined him with a separated shoulder.
"I was really tired and finished empty," said Hincapie. "I don’t think I bonked. I just didn’t have it. I don’t have an excuse for what happened, it just wasn’t there. I don’t think [it was the crash at Paris-Roubaix]. I arrived [at the Tour] better than ever. I almost won the prologue and I grabbed the yellow jersey, so the crash is already in the past. I just couldn’t change rhythm. Once I saw I couldn’t go, I didn’t see the point to keep going. Yesterday was maybe one of the toughest days of my career, just because I had a lot of hope to do well. Once I saw that wasn’t going to happen it was really hard."
Bruyneel had his own notions about his team’s collapse. He continues to believe in his riders and their abilities, but guessed that like a kingdom that’s lost its ruler, the post-Armstrong Discovery team simply lacked the central focus that had so clearly defined its role in the world’s most important bike race.
"I think physically they are okay, but they are definitely not [able to ride] with the very best at this moment," Bruyneel said. "I’m not very happy to see what happened yesterday, but it is also a good moment to analyze the team and figure out what we need to do in the future. What we need is maybe no leader at all, and just stage hunters.
"In the past when our guys started the Tour de France, they knew that Armstrong was strong and that without a crash or illness, he would win. That’s a big difference. If you have to kill yourself for someone, but you know he is going to be in yellow in Paris, it’s easier. It’s a completely different effort than trying to follow somebody else. They have to adjust, adjust mentally."
Adjustment came quickly, though. While the team was scratching its collective head the morning after its GC hopes were left ruined in Spain’s high Pyrenees, riders and staff were given renewed hope with Popovych’s stage win.
"Right now is a moment where you have to try to stay focused and try to win a stage, try to get in breakaways," said Hincapie, all but predicting Friday’s eventual outcome. "We are still the same team we always are and that’s never going to be taken away from us. Now we are here to try to win stages."
Maybe things are better this way. Few would argue that the Tour had grown sleepy in the Armstrong years, the outcome usually certain long before the race reached Paris. That’s surely not the case now. And while Discovery will no longer figure in this year’s final outcome, the team will surely do its part to shepherd the race into its next chapter.
"It’s good to be brought down to the level of other teams," said Discovery director Sean Yates. "There are other teams that have suffered through the past seven years to try to justify their existence to get results in the Tour because the Tour is the pinnacle of bike riding. It is a humbling experience to be car No. 11 after being car No. 1. It certainly gives you motivation to get back up to car No. 1, and in the meantime it’s good to share the spoils of victory. It keeps the sponsors happy."
And without happy sponsors the "Race 2 Replace" would never have gotten on the air in the first place.
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