Giro: Danielson delighted with American rivals' successes
By Jean-Francois Quenet in Milan, Italy
from cyclingnews.com:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/may09/may18news
It's something special to see Lance Armstrong and Tom Danielson riding in the same peloton again at the Giro d'Italia although none of the two really occupies the top spots of the classification. Four years ago, Danielson and Armstrong were Discovery Channel teammates during the famous stage five of the Tour of Georgia to Brasstown Bald Mountain. A few days after Armstrong announced his coming retirement, he encouraged Danielson to drop their rival Floyd Landis who had left them for Phonak. Clearly, Armstrong showed with his finger that his designated successor was Danielson, not Landis. Danielson went on to win that year's Tour of Georgia.
Danielson, however, wasn't at the start of the 2006 Tour de France with Discovery Channel. Instead, Danielson won stage 17 and finished 6th overall at the Vuelta a España. Now 29, the winner of the 2002 Tour of Qhingai Lakes and the 2003 Le Tour de Langkawi is yet to make his debut at the Tour de France.
"For now I have to take the Giro day by day," Danielson told Cyclingnews on Piazza del Duomo at the start of stage nine. "My goal is to finish it after giving everything for the team time trial [where his team Garmin-Slipstream finished in second place behind Team Columbia-Highroad, ed.]. Now we race for Tyler Farrar to win a stage. My other goal is to go back to my race weight, I'm not at 100% yet."
Although a little bit overweight, the man from Colorado looked happy to be back in good spirits without the troubles endured in the past few years. This is primarily thanks to Jonathan Vaughters, Garmin-Slipstream's team manager.. "We are pretty similar, he helps me out with advice in a lot of areas", said Danielson of Vaughters who has also become his personal coach this year.
Danielson feels no jealousy towards the successes of his compatriots. About Armstrong's come back, he said, "It's great! It's amazing when you see him attracting all these crowds at the Tour of California and the Giro d'Italia. He makes the races bigger and better. Luckily they have him in the Astana team right now, he's the man to attract sponsorship to resolve their financial problems. I hope it will save the team."
He also appreciated what Team Columbia-Highroad, Garmin-Slipstream's rival American team, achieved so far at the Giro d'Italia. "It's great to see a team with such a good message doing so well. It's an inspiration for all of us."