2011 speculation.

[El Pistolero]

What about Valverde, Evans, Rodriguez and pretty much every top rider with the exception of Andy Schleck?

Valverde= clinic stuff

Evans= lol.

Rodriguez= Yup, he can hold a good condition for a long period of time. I only wished he won a little bit more though, I'm a fan of him.

Let me specify what I meant though. Contador is one of the only few cyclists in this generation that can do the Tour-Vuelta double or the Giro-Tour double.

 

[sublimit]

they are changing it though.. "hi im tyler farrar, leadout man for thor huschovd at garmin-cervelo"

haha, yeah.

I'd love to know whats happening at Garmin.. Hushovd will probably end up leading out Julian Dean for all we know..

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Anton/Sanchez: One of them (most likely Anton) is gonna ride the Giro, Euskaltel is not gonna let their two best guys do the same double.

No they aren't. Euskaltel will sit out the Giro again, most likely. If they do ride it, they probably won't put Antón or Sánchez in - they will be using those guys in the Ardennes, País Vasco, Catalunya, Castilla y León and most likely Asturias too, cos they're the team's top guys and those races are very important to them, so those guys would have little left for the Giro.

 

[The Hitch]

they are changing it though.. "hi im tyler farrar, leadout man for thor huschovd at garmin-cervelo"

Very nice
even if farrar is obviously going to be the main sprinter.

 

[hrotha]

No they aren't. Euskaltel will sit out the Giro again, most likely. If they do ride it, they probably won't put Antón or Sánchez in - they will be using those guys in the Ardennes, País Vasco, Catalunya, Castilla y León and most likely Asturias too, cos they're the team's top guys and those races are very important to them, so those guys would have little left for the Giro.

Exactly. It would be nice to see the likes of Sicard and Castroviejo in a GT with total liberty, but it's probably not going to happen.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I am not gonna predict anything except that:

Multiple suprises will occur at each GT, those suprises will be hyped like there is no tomorrow.
In 2012 those 'suprises' will fall back a little again and then get burned to the ground.

end of.

Anyway, I feel for the likes of Richie Porte. Hope they can confirm, if not, prepare for hell.

 

[The Hitch]

What about Valverde, Evans, Rodriguez and pretty much every top rider with the exception of Andy Schleck?

Good smackdown.

I think Contador is one of the very few modern cyclists that can hold a decent condition for a -relatively- long period.

Valverde doesnt count because of clinic stuff

But Contador does?

Evans= lol

Great argument. Dismiss evans with a "lol"

Lets see. he started his season at Tirreno. Performed very very well in classics - won FW and came 3rd in Lbl then managed to hold this form through the intervening weeks into the giro, wearing pink, winning a legendary stage, coming 5th, contesting mountain stages and getting points jersey. He then had a bit of a rest before going to the Tour, coming 3rd on the cobbles, climbed with the best for a stage and wore a leaders jersey for a day. Sound like a pretty long hold of form to me.

 

[El Pistolero]

Good smackdown.



But Contador does?

Great argument. Dismiss evans with a "lol"

Lets see. he started his season at Tirreno. Performed very very well in classics - won FW and came 3rd in Lbl then managed to hold this form through the intervening weeks into the giro, wearing pink, winning a legendary stage, coming 5th, contesting mountain stages and getting points jersey. He then had a bit of a rest before going to the Tour, coming 3rd on the cobbles, climbed with the best for a stage and wore a leaders jersey for a day. Sound like a pretty long hold of form to me.

Andy Schleck can perform well at the classics and one Tour as well. Doesn't mean he can hold his form in everything he starts. And let's not forget that my lol argument goes for his entire career and not just this season(which is his best ever if we don't include the worlds. Or perhaps his 2007 year).

And are you implying that there's just as much proof against Contador than Valverde? I'm sure Greg Lemond agrees with you on that one.

Must I congratulate Cadel for coming third on a cobbled stage now? It's not like most of the peloton got caught behind a crash. Oh wait...

Ps: Cadel didn't podium in LBL as far as I'm concerned. And you took out the most important part of my post by the way. Or you quoted me before I edited my post.

 

[roundabout]

2002 - one of the first seasons (first full year?) on the road for Evans

(4 Tour Down Under)
10 Paris-Nice after he lost time in the echelons
3 Settimana Coppi e Bartali
6 Pais Vasco
3 Romandie
in pink after 16 stages of the Giro

Seems like good form from early March to the end of May

 

[nvpacchi]

Regardless what GT(s) Ruben Plaza decides to enter next year: he somehow manages to place himself in the Top 12.

Regards to Sicard, I hope he does La Vuelta and not the TDF. Castroviejo maybe for the TDF because of his chrono.

oh and Amets Txurruka WILL win a race next year.

 

[theyoungest]

Valverde= clinic stuff

Evans= lol.

Rodriguez= Yup, he can hold a good condition for a long period of time. I only wished he won a little bit more though, I'm a fan of him.

Let me specify what I meant though. Contador is one of the only few cyclists in this generation that can do the Tour-Vuelta double or the Giro-Tour double.

What's so funny about that? Evans is one of the most consistent riders in the current peloton. He's good to excellent in basically every race he enters. Hate on the guy all you want, but that's just the truth.

 

[El Pistolero]

What's so funny about that? Evans is one of the most consistent riders in the current peloton. He's good to excellent in basically every race he enters. Hate on the guy all you want, but that's just the truth.

A consistent rider with the talent Cadel Evans has shown wouldn't place 30th and 26th in his last two Tours. That's what's funny.

And please keep the "He always had bad luck" or "He never had good teams" for your self. Who lets his team work hard to defend his yellow jersey if he has a so called fracture in his elbow?

 

[theyoungest]

A consistent rider with the talent Cadel Evans has shown wouldn't place 30th and 26th in his last two Tours. That's what's funny.

And please keep the "He always had bad luck" or "He never had good teams" for your self.

The 2009 Tour was an exception. That's the only recent race where he seemed to be really out of form. And in this last Tour he broke his elbow... nothing to do with form. If you can't see that this guy is Mr. Consistency himself, really, do you actually pay attention?

 

[The Hitch]

Andy Schleck can perform well at the classics and one Tour as well. Doesn't mean he can hold his form in everything he starts. And let's not forget that my lol argument goes for his entire career and not just this season(which is his best ever if we don't include the worlds. Or perhaps his 2007 year).

And are you implying that there's just as much proof against Contador than Valverde? I'm sure Greg Lemond agrees with you on that one.

Must I congratulate Cadel for coming third on a cobbled stage now? It's not like most of the peloton got caught behind a crash. Oh wait...

Ps: Cadel didn't podium in LBL as far as I'm concerned. And you took out the most important part of my post by the way. Or you quoted me before I edited my post.

Ok so you edited your post as i was writing mine. Here is what you say.

Let me specify what I meant though. Contador is one of the only few cyclists in this generation that can do the Tour-Vuelta double or the Giro-Tour double.

Proof please.

Contador (barely) winning the vastly easier (more rest in between) Giro Vuelta double does not count as evidence that he can win the giro tour or tour vuelta.

Hell even Nibali ( a 2nd class rider compared to contador) came 3rd at the Giro, and probably would have won had he been given team leadership like Contador was, and is now favourite in many peoples eyes for the Vuelta, so doing the Giro Vuelta definately isnt proof you can do the Tour Giro, Tour Vuelta.

Also i will not violare forum rules, nor pollute my own thread with talk of doping so if you would like to find out why some of us think P (Contador guilty) = P (Val Piti guilty) do feel free to check out and ask about it in the clinc subforum.

 

[El Pistolero]

He wasn't prepared to race the Giro and only got notice of it a week before. And I don't know if you watched the 2008 Vuelta but after stage 13 it was as good as done. Never did Contador get in any problems after stage 13.

Last time I checked the Vuelta takes place after the Giro and not the other way around

And let's not talk about Nibali till after the Vuelta is done

 

[The Hitch]

He wasn't prepared to race the Giro and only got notice of it a week before. And I don't know if you watched the 2008 Vuelta but after stage 13 it was as good as done. Never did Contador get in any problems after stage 13.

Last time I checked the Vuelta takes place after the Giro and not the other way around

And let's not talk about Nibali till after the Vuelta is done

where did i say the vuelta came before the giro

And when i said that Contador won "barely" that doesnt mean he was hanging on by the skin of his teeth every stage. It simply means that while he was succesful, it was close. Dont tell me the Giro wasnt close. And compared to his 5 minute tour win, the 46 seconds he won the Vuelta by wasnt exactly a whitewash was it? teammate or no teammate

 

[El Pistolero]

where did i say the vuelta came before the giro

And when i said that Contador won "barely" that doesnt mean he was hanging on by the skin of his teeth every stage. It simply means that while he was succesful, it was close. Dont tell me the Giro wasnt close. And compared to his 5 minute tour win, the 46 seconds he won the Vuelta by wasnt exactly a whitewash was it? teammate or no teammate

His Giro win was close, but his Vuelta win wasn't. Hence why I said sarcastically that the Vuelta takes place after the Giro. As you were talking about how he barely did the double. He barely won the Giro, but in his next GT he was in full control in all the stages except the time trials. Time difference hardly matters, if Contador needed to distance Leipheimer he would've, but he didn't need to as he was team leader.

He won the Giro by a bigger time margin than the Vuelta and he struggled more at the Giro. Hence why you need to look at these time differences in their context. Why waste energy when you don't need to waste it? It's pretty obvious Contador doesn't care for stage wins all that much as long as he wins the GC. He wanted to gift away stage 14 of the Vuelta 2008 for example, but Valverde cracked bc of the attacks of Mosquera, so he decided to take it him self.

 

[Zoncolan]

Evans: if he is to win a GT, it has to be the Vuelta next year. Giro will probably have climbs that are too steep for him + Contador may be there.
I'd also like to see him try and win in the Ardennes again or San Sebastian or Lombardia. I don't think he is without chances in Flanders.
He should forget about the Tour completely as he will never win it, and he is unlikely even to podium.
I don't even know if they'll get invited. They did sign some good talen recently, so...
If they get an invite, he will ride the Tour.

Basso: I think he will go for the Tour and fail. He might try to save his season at the Vuelta. I doubt he will defend at the Giro.

Sammy Sanchez: Should try and win the Vuelta or the Giro. Skip the Tour. I have no clue what he/they will decide though.

Purito: same as those above + go for the Ardennes. But he will go for the Tour no question. Ardennes/Tour/Vuelta my prediction.

Menchov: I can only see him going for the Tour. He will want it, the sponsors will demand it. If he fails, which he probably will, there's always the Vuelta to fall back on.

Nibali: he should focus on the Giro. He might win it. Wait another year before going for the Tour. If he wins the Vuelta, I doubt it. There'll be no convincing him to sit out the Tour then.

Kreuziger - never.

Gesink - sole leader, might podium at Giro/Vuelta if he goes for it. I doubt it though, as he will ride the Tour.

Teejay - too early for him to deliver big bucks in a GT, maybe a top 10/stage win.

Same goes for Uran/Roche/Porte. I doubt Roche and Porte are podium material anyway.

J. Walker I really don't enough about.

Henao I'm excited to see in Europe. Huge potential there.

Sagan will/should go for classics G-W, RVV, FW all good for him IMO. Should also get a taste in a GT. Go for stages/experience

As for the Giro route, I have no idea.
I'd like to see the Stelvio again.

Cancellara and Boonen will go for the same races they always do.

 

[hrotha]

Obvious problem with that is you have most GC contenders ideally skipping the Tour to focus on the Giro and the Vuelta because they should be easier, but they won't be any easier with the kind of field you're envisioning.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Gesink already practically podium-ed in the Vuelta last year. If it weren't for the big fat hole in his knee and the resulting 4 minutes loss in the final (easy) mountain stage, he would be podium. And let's be fair, that would be well deserved, since he really made Valverde sufffer a few times.
So it's not a question if he can do that.

Only question to me is if he can actually win a race like the Giro or the Vuelta. If I see how Basso won, I think he can.. but..Tour? Definately not. With a bit of luck and not too many TT kms he might do 3/4/5.

 

[Arnout]

Gesink already practically podium-ed in the Vuelta last year. If it weren't for the big fat hole in his knee and the resulting 4 minutes loss in the final (easy) mountain stage, he would be podium. And let's be fair, that would be well deserved, since he really made Valverde sufffer a few times.
So it's not a question if he can do that.

Only question to me is if he can actually win a race like the Giro or the Vuelta. If I see how Basso won, I think he can.. but..Tour? Definately not. With a bit of luck and not too many TT kms he might do 3/4/5.

I still doubt Gesink will ever reach the climbing level that Basso reached in this Giro. It seems to me he is so professional already and that he does race a lot on his ability to suffer instead of racing on raw talent. Which is admirable, but that can mean that he doesn't have the progression margin required to win a GT eventually.

In my opinion he should try to win a mountain stage rather than pursue overall for the next one or two years. A stage win in the mountains has a lot more impact than a 5th place overall in the Tour. And when he is 63, they will have some nice footage of him winning a stage when he appears somewhere.

 

[Mich78BEL]

Contador will certainly focus on the tour again, saw an interview with him a couple of days ago and he was already talking about his preparation for next year's tour so im' guessing no giro for him, he already stated that he wanted to ride 2 grand tours next year, so tour-vuelta next year...

 

[Mich78BEL]

His Giro win was close, but his Vuelta win wasn't. Hence why I said sarcastically that the Vuelta takes place after the Giro. As you were talking about how he barely did the double. He barely won the Giro, but in his next GT he was in full control in all the stages except the time trials. Time difference hardly matters, if Contador needed to distance Leipheimer he would've, but he didn't need to as he was team leader.

He won the Giro by a bigger time margin than the Vuelta and he struggled more at the Giro. Hence why you need to look at these time differences in their context. Why waste energy when you don't need to waste it? It's pretty obvious Contador doesn't care for stage wins all that much as long as he wins the GC. He wanted to gift away stage 14 of the Vuelta 2008 for example, but Valverde cracked bc of the attacks of Mosquera, so he decided to take it him self.

still Contador has to prove he can do 2 Grand Tours with only a month in between, its not only a physical thing, the mental challenge is maybe even bigger, if next years tour is similar to this years i doubt he will have the mental capacity the recharge his batteries for the vuelta sufficiently to win it

 

[The Hitch]

Evans: if he is to win a GT, it has to be the Vuelta next year. Giro will probably have climbs that are too steep for him + Contador may be there.
I'd also like to see him try and win in the Ardennes again or San Sebastian or Lombardia. I don't think he is without chances in Flanders.
He should forget about the Tour completely as he will never win it, and he is unlikely even to podium.
I don't even know if they'll get invited. They did sign some good talen recently, so...
If they get an invite, he will ride the Tour.

Basso: I think he will go for the Tour and fail. He might try to save his season at the Vuelta. I doubt he will defend at the Giro.

Sammy Sanchez: Should try and win the Vuelta or the Giro. Skip the Tour. I have no clue what he/they will decide though.

Purito: same as those above + go for the Ardennes. But he will go for the Tour no question. Ardennes/Tour/Vuelta my prediction.

Menchov: I can only see him going for the Tour. He will want it, the sponsors will demand it. If he fails, which he probably will, there's always the Vuelta to fall back on.

Nibali: he should focus on the Giro. He might win it. Wait another year before going for the Tour. If he wins the Vuelta, I doubt it. There'll be no convincing him to sit out the Tour then.

Kreuziger - never.

Gesink - sole leader, might podium at Giro/Vuelta if he goes for it. I doubt it though, as he will ride the Tour.

Teejay - too early for him to deliver big bucks in a GT, maybe a top 10/stage win.

Same goes for Uran/Roche/Porte. I doubt Roche and Porte are podium material anyway.

J. Walker I really don't enough about.

Henao I'm excited to see in Europe. Huge potential there.

Sagan will/should go for classics G-W, RVV, FW all good for him IMO. Should also get a taste in a GT. Go for stages/experience

As for the Giro route, I have no idea.
I'd like to see the Stelvio again.

Cancellara and Boonen will go for the same races they always do.

Straight to the point. I like that. And you adress the question about Henao, which no one else has. He has potential to beat some of the mentioned guys in the tour, if he goes for it.

Also, would be a tad funny if Evans, Samu, and Purito skipped the tour to get a gt win at the vuelta, because they dont want to come across Contador in the Giro, and then COntador does the vuelta instead

 

[Zoncolan]

Straight to the point. I like that. And you adress the question about Henao, which no one else has. He has potential to beat some of the mentioned guys in the tour, if he goes for it.

Also, would be a tad funny if Evans, Samu, and Purito skipped the tour to get a gt win at the vuelta, because they dont want to come across Contador in the Giro, and then COntador does the vuelta instead

Thanks.

Well, I have DAOTEC to thank for my interest in Henao. He was the one that posted reports on Vuelta a Colombia last year with Rujano winning, and I followed the race again this year thanks to him. Amazing to see them racing at 3000 m altitude on such wide road roads. That kid has huge potential. If he can adjust and avoid injuries, who knows how good he can be?

Hrotha said pretty much the same thing.
They would all have to consider what AC and AS will do and choose between the Giro/Vuelta.
If you look at the list of riders who won the Vuelta in the past, it would be a shame for Cuddles, Sammy, and Purito, riders of such class to retire without a GT win. At least the first two have an Olympic/World title to their name. Purito? This year might be the best chance he gets.