Bernhard Kohl was one of the revelations of this past year's Tour de France. A tiny climber, Kohl resembles a snake as he sways from side to side on his way up cycling's steepest ascents. And today, cyclingnews.com reports that the former KOM at the Tour of California has reached an agreement with a new team. It is widely held that Kohl will sign with either Quick Step or Lotto, with Columbia and Milram as possible outsiders.
However, no one has mentioned the Garmin-Chipotle team as a possibility. Kohl has already stated that people will be very surprised with his decision. What would be more surprising than Garmin? The fact is that Kohl would fit in nicely with the Garmin outfit as a second option along side Christian Vande Velde in the Tour, and would also be valuable in the early season stage races such as the Tour of California, which features a mountain top finish this year, and Paris Nice, which is often used as a prep race for Tour hopefuls.
At only 26 years old, Kohl is coming into the prime of his career. Behind Vande Velde, he would make an excellent second option, and would be able to grow into the team leader over the next couple of seasons. He has never been close to suspicion of doping, and is fluent in English, the language of the Garmin team. To all appearances, he looks like an ideal fit for Garmin. Whether Garmin guru Jonathan Vaughters will be able to land the lithe climber is yet to be seen. If he can't, Garmin will still be fine for next year, but Kohl would add a defferent dimension to an already powerful team.
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