In case you're new around here, let me emphasize that this is a community blog. Were it otherwise -- say, a soapbox for Ursula, Majope, Gav, me and others -- well, it would still kick some ass, but not as much. No, our strength is our chorus of voices. In that spirit, I am announcing a group preview project:
Tell me why -- and why not -- your favorite rider will win the Tour de France. We'll get around to power polls later in the race, but let's take a good look at all the favorites. Notice, that's the favorites, and your favorite: this project is intended to cover the guys worth covering, but reasonable minds might differ on who they all are, and anyway if there's a guy you just really want to write about as a GC contender, have at it. This post will serve as the master locator, and as new Why Not Me?s come in they will be linked to here. The candidates:
- Alberto Contador
- Lance Armstrong
- Levi Leipheimer
- Cadel Evans
- Carlos Sastre
- Denis Menchov
- Robert Gesink
- Andy Schleck
- Frank Schleck
- Luis Leon Sanchez
- Kim Kirchen
- Mikel Astarloza
- Christian VandeVelde
- Roman Kreuziger
- Linus Gerdemann
- er, Tom Boonen
- Bradley Wiggins!
- Filippo Pozzato
- Thomas Voeckler
- Daniele Bennati
- Fabian Cancellara
As new names come in, I'll add them. And to establish the template, I'll go first. You go next: make a fanpost, and tell us why your guy will and/or won't win. Follow the Andy Schleck version, above. I will link your post to the list here. This invitation/challenge is open to everyone, from the editors to someone who just created a login this morning. Have at it!
UPDATED! Well, this has turned into one of the more spirited efforts in PdC history... inside of 18 hours and you guys have fairly well flooded the site with rider previews. Sure, they tend to get a little less serious as you get further down the list -- another PdC tradition. Awesome job either way. Let's finish this off. I am removing a bunch of the earlier ones from the front page and reposting the full set of links instead, for organization's sake.