I'm curious if he's serious enough to get back to his 2005 weight this year. I watched the 2005 and 2006 Giro again this week and his weight gain in 2006 was quite noticeable. Not a good thing for a climber.

Riding for Caisse he should be able to get all the other "training aids" he wants so his results are going to come down to how determined he is after the consecutive meltdowns in 2006 and the Unibet fiasco last year.

He's only had one good race in his entire pro career. I'm not sure why folks thought he was going to be the next big thing. He's flailed around, had a few second chances, and I don't see him "coming back" anytime soon, not that he was ever anywhere he could get back to.

I recall reading that he also had some serious discipline and professionalism issues when he was briefly with QuickStep -- Patrick Lefevre wasn't too thrilled with him.

I recall reading that he also had some serious discipline and professionalism issues when he was briefly with QuickStep -- Patrick Lefevre wasn't too thrilled with him.

I think I read the same thing. Basically, he didn't want to do what he was told. He grew a little too big for his britches, with really no good reason to do so is how I read it.

He's only had one good race in his entire pro career. I'm not sure why folks thought he was going to be the next big thing. He's flailed around, had a few second chances, and I don't see him "coming back" anytime soon, not that he was ever anywhere he could get back to.

I think people thought he was the next big thing because his one big race happened to be a grand tour. It not like he did well at some po-dunk race he tore the Giro up that year. That said I don't see him coming back soon either.