Tom Danielson Left Off Garmin-Chipotle Tour Squad

The last time most of us saw Danielsen was at the Tour of California

Once again, Tom Danielson will miss the Tour de France. A promising rider on paper, Danielson has yet to even attempt the Tour de France, an astonishing fact considering that he has been riding with Tour eligible teams since 2004. Whether he'll ever get a chance to contest the world's biggest cycling race remains unknown. Suffereing from multiple injuries, Garmin team director Jonathan Vaughters puts his stage race hope at only 80%.

What a shame for Vaughters and the Garmin-Chipotle squad. After a decent spring campaign and a nice Giro d'Italia, the American team will head into the tour without a leader. And without clear team leadership, the "Argyle Gang" will have to be careful not to become anonymous in the year's second grand tour.

Another American left out of the Tour line up is Tyler Farrar, one of the faster finishers on the team. The New Zealander Julian Dean will be expected to contend in the bunch finishes, but he remains untested in big time sprinting. Hopefully Magnus Backstedt will be able to lend some of his race wisdom, and some solid lead outs for Dean.

Going back to Danielson, what next for the mercurial ex-phenom? Can he regroup in time for the Vuelta, a race he has had modest success in before? Or will he instead shut it down for the rest of the year and attempt a big time comeback next year? Hopefully the Durango resident will find his form before it's too late. There is very little room on a top ranked team for riders that don't ride. Danielson will need a solid second half of the year or an explosive early 2009 if he is to remain a rider of the Garmin-Chipotle team. One thing that can be counted on: his his fans will cheer him to the end, Tour de Fance rider or not.