Just from the content of interviews courtes of Versus (who I think does a phenomenal job).

Lance is kind of a smug jerk.

Hincapie has a ton of class and is just a damn hard worker.

VanDeVelde- a nice, honest, humble guy. I think he came into his own just a little late (age-wise).

Andy Schleck- I thought I hated this young guy last year, but now I have the utmost respect for him and think he must be a great guy. I especially loved his comments today before the last stage. Most cyclists seem to be individualists and a little eccentric and aloof. They were (understably)looking forward to the end of the Tour and getting away. Anyway, AS said he was kind of sad about it. That they put a lot of hard work into this and he enjoys all the teamwork, and everyone working together. He said when it's all over, everyone goes their separate ways and he for one is not looking forward to it. That he was kind of sad today. He moves way up in my book, also because of how he tried to repay his brother and drag him along with him. I think he has a lot of integrity.

Finally, Tyler Farrar- He's got star potential all over. Probably the only one on the Tour capable of riding with Cavendish wheel to wheel. He appears to have a ton of desire, confidence, skills, and bike smarts- he's one to watch.

Oh, and Cancellara- another pretty good guy. If any of you read the David Millar diary talking about how Cancellara turned back to pick up the Garmin device that he noticed Millar dropped in an accident. Later, Cancellar rides up to him and produces the electronic "Hey Millar- I've got something for you..."

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Lance is kind of a smug jerk.

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He's a 7 time winner and just kicked all but two guy's arses after 3+ years on the sidelines.

I think he's very competative and like every great champion, has a killer instinct and extreme confidence in himself.

I view him, at times, like I view Roger Federer...it's hard to pass on the greatness every time, sometimes you're going to be a little "cocky." But, I don't think either guy ever means anything but the best for everyone they speak too, except maybe some really open jerks in the French media.

He's been very complimentary about Contador all the way through (something I think would be very hard for all of us to do) and when Contador took over, did nothing but give all he had to try to help Contador and his team win.

From what I feel

Lance- is smug, and probably arrogant, but when it came down to it he played the team card and is not a jerk. He also showed he could have still challenged for the win with the explosion he made in coming across the gap the other day.

Contador- I get the feeling that he is a total a$$ though. I felt that he was the one that wanted Astana to push the pace when Hincappie was yellow on the road. I also felt like he made some attacks from the front at times that Lance couldn't join him on (simply because of the risk that Lance would bring other contenders with him). I also felt like the attack that he sustained when it was him, Kloden, and the Schleck brothers was poor form because it became apparent quickly Kloden was the only one being dropped. He had several opportunities to play the team card and hold the yellow jersey but at the end of the day he only cared about numero uno. He may have felt that he got screwed over when Lance joined Astana and that he didn't owe anything to them, but at the end of the day the team still put him in a position to win it and even though there was another guy on the team who could have challenged him he didn't because the team could have potentially lost out. I hope he gets left out in the cold.

Hincappie- No doubt is a class act. I think he still has it in him to do well and win some stages.

Schleck, A- I hate that he is that good. He will be a force and I don't think will be a domestique again. I think he should put his focus into winning King of the Mountains and improving his ability in time trials. If he does this for a couple of years he will be spending alot of time in Yellow very quickly. I see him and Wiggins being the future.

I have started to put together a wish list of who I want to be on RadioShack. Depending on who I imagine wants to retire/be a team leader on their own, Bruyneel (I presume he will be the director) is going to be able to put together a team that will compete in the GC, for the green and polka dot jerseys and for team classification.

yeah, i agree that I should have left it at just "smug" for Lance. He did show an incredible amount of reserve in dealing with the Contador issue- but I think it was more calculated.

He didn't want to go out on a limb unless until he knew he could beat him. When it was obvious to him he couldn't, he played the team card to the max.

Re Andy, I think you way undersell him. If he improves on his trialing, and gets a good team, he should be among the top three GC contenders for quite a while. He definitely wont be caring about king of the mountain.

AM I missing something? Who is underselling Andy?

Yeah, since when is "spending a lot of time in yellow" and being one of two guys described as "being the future" underselling someone?

Probably took the king of the mountain comment as a knock on Schleck.

While the polka dot jersey is very admirable, it's certainly a competition for those a step below the "real" greats of the race.

Lance was much worse as a junior rider and boy oh boy hit the top after become World Road Champ. The cancer humbled him much and he changed in many ways except his competitive nature, which makes him appear to be smug.

It seems exceptional junior riders have the biggest attitudes . . . Michael Creed for instance. However, a few of the USAC junior world road team riders have great attitudes - most are from Hot Tubes (one is Lawson Craddock from Houston). The girls, on the other hand have the attitude.

Another exception is Taylor Phinney. I think his dad would beat his ass if he came off with an attitude. When he matures he will be super - probably the next great American rider. Dude set a world pursuit record in a track world cup event in his 2nd time on the track . . . as a 17-year old.

As mentioned before, knowing you are great and dealing with it is very very hard. Some pull it off and some do not. George Hincapie is a prime example of a great rider with a very positive and nice demeanor. Even after he won the US Pro championship in his hometown it was not all about him.

yes, the underselling was in reference to recommendation that he focus on the polka dots. He is already in the top 3 or 4. He only has one focus- GC, and to get there he needs to improve his time trialing as was mentioned.