Chris Horner...

by rocketpress on Nov 16, 2007 1:37 PM EST Comment 24 comments

signs with Astana! VeloNews coverage.

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Crap!

America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, badass speed. -Eleanor Roosevelt

by ELVISGOAT on Nov 16, 2007 2:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Better than Rock and Republic

I happy for Horner and I'm glad he is staying in Europe. I can't say that I'm overly excited because I think he will be stuck in domestique roll and won't be able to ride for himself much.

I thought Slipstream would have been a good fit for him, but obviously he thought otherwise.

It looks like P-L traded Horner to Bruyneel and got Popovych in exchange.

by John.. on Nov 16, 2007 2:29 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yep

I would have been bummed if Horner was stuck stateside.

I'm ready to give DiscoStana a waiver on it's recent past.

I hope he gets a shot at some of the classics.

-K-

by KevinK on Nov 16, 2007 3:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Psyched for Horner getting paid what he's worth, he'll work his ass of for anyone on that team. I'm still not sure how I feel about Johan - on the one hand he's a savvy tactical director who gets a lot of out his riders, on the other there's the whole feeling that he's been dabbling in those shady areas of performance low these many years.

Astana certainly has a lot of name riders though, don't they? Personally happy that Chechu didn't have to take a pay cut. He's always been one of my favorites.

"Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals ... except the weasel. "

by Drew on Nov 16, 2007 3:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Crap is right!

I would have preferred to see him at CSC, where Mr 60% would probably do him good.

I hope they let him ride in a break or two in the Tours!

Racing for Victory and Free Beer!

by DemonCats on Nov 16, 2007 3:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Just Coincidence?

Horner has been very outspoken regarding doping in cycling and has even spoken about LA in particular. Is it no coincidence that he has signed with Astana after Johan talked about their anti-doping program? Of course, Rock and Republic can't complete with oil money and I am sure Chris likes to be able to "pay the bills"...

David

by David on Nov 16, 2007 3:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

So sick!

C'mon, the Goose is poised to bring some Classics thunder and now Horner, a wily Grand Tour rider (and one of the savviest riders around), is on board? I am so pumped for next season!

Of course Johan is sketchy! He was in the peloton in the Nineties! They're ALL sketchy. You got guys plural who've publicly admitted EPO use who are running teams --- my point being, they're ALL sketchy.

Good move, Chris, best of luck --- and here's hoping Astana throws down a draconian anti-doping policy --- AND has the PR machine in place to tell people about it.

by 72andSunny on Nov 16, 2007 3:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

They have already signed on

with the program of Rasmus Damsgaard, the same man who has done testing on CSC this year.

by Jens on Nov 16, 2007 3:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Any guesses

on who Anne Gripper's gonna be targeting this year?

The Astana boys better come correct...

by 72andSunny on Nov 16, 2007 8:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

nah . . .

the teams with the bullseye:

Caisse d'Epargne

LPR

Tinkoff

and whatever team signs Di Luca

by R Mc on Nov 16, 2007 9:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Kazak Cycling Federation

"Astana number one tester for doping products, all other teams have inferior tester for doping products. Astana greatest team in peleton, all other teams run by little girls."

"Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals ... except the weasel. "

by Drew on Nov 16, 2007 3:56 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Kazachstan has best Bicycle Racing Team

All other Bicycle Racing Teams are inferior.

America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, badass speed. -Eleanor Roosevelt

by ELVISGOAT on Nov 16, 2007 6:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm sorry but I can't help but laugh

at how the KFC and the new management at Astana are trying to place all the blame for what happened last year on Marc Biver. It's like classic old school eastern bloc history-revisionism. I'm expecting to see 2007 Astana teampictures with undesirables cleverly photoshop'd out in the near future. Didn't Vino play a large part on this team, or maybe I'm remembering wrong, it's so easy to forget these things.

by Jens on Nov 16, 2007 4:09 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

KFC?!?!?!?!?

Since when has Kentucky Fried Chicken sponsored a team?

Racing for Victory and Free Beer!

by DemonCats on Nov 16, 2007 7:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Someone suggested we use KFC

as the official name for the Borat-clowns earlier this year, and it seeemed appropriate.

by Jens on Nov 17, 2007 5:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Astana is the last team I would have guessed

... if you had taken all the Pro Tour teams and all the U.S. domestic teams and asked me which one Horner would sign with.

Horner once joked that he was the only top American cyclist that USPS/Disco had never tried to sign.

And that's just the tip of that iceberg.

Heh.

by socal on Nov 16, 2007 4:22 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Well

now that Bruyneel has freed himself from Lance's clutches (or that Lance has chosen to clutch whatever it is that he's clutching), Bruyneel can go after whoever he wants to . . .

Also, I'd expect to see Astana give Horner lee-way in the hilly classics, not tour breakaways.

by R Mc on Nov 16, 2007 5:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Go get'im Chris!

Glad he'll finally be paid what he's worth.

by ghisallo on Nov 16, 2007 5:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I wanna...

see a Bike Spike at the end of a Tour stage!!!

Racing for Victory and Free Beer!

by DemonCats on Nov 16, 2007 8:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

More transfers: Gustav Larsson to CSC

I know, local swedish news and I'm the only one who cares....
Could be a good signing for CSC though. He's a solid TT'er with pretty decent climbing skills. At 27 he has a lot of potential and would have had more results this season had Unibet been allowed to race more, he did really well in the smaller stageraces.

by Jens on Nov 17, 2007 5:25 AM EST reply actions 0 recs