2011 speculation.

[The Hitch]

On the Giro route, it starts in Turin with a ttt and finishes in Milan with an itt. Its good to see them keep up with the recent tradition of a ttt for first stage on italian soil. This tells us nothing about the mountains, but seeing as it finishes in Lombardy it seems they will have another stage 20 as a big mountain stage like it was last few years, and they wont have to travel far afterwards.

I do hope the stelvio is in there, and would like another visit to Strade Bianchi seeing as its on route.
Im looking forward to this, better start learning Italian so i can watch it on Gazzetta dello sport stream

Also looks like they will stay in Italy the whole race, which makes sense considering god knows how much giro will actually take place in Italy when the giro enters washington in 2012

 

[theyoungest]

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.

I think you're wrong there. Yes, he has the ability to suffer, but that's a prerequisite to be up there in the Tour. But he's also got the highest VO2max of any Rabo rider, ever. So there's the mentality and the physical talent. Agreed, it never looks easy, but that's just the way he rolls.

It's funny you use Basso as a comparison BTW, as Aldo Sassi always says that Evans is more naturally talented than Basso, but Basso has the right mentality. Kind of the same thing you say about Gesink.

It also doesn't make sense to go stagehunting if what distinguishes you from others is your consistency.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I think the most interesting team to follow next year will be Movistar. With so many great riders (Arroyo, Tondo, Uran, Intxausti, Bruseghin, Plaza, Cui Costa, Soler etc.) who will be their leader for the Tour? For the Giro and for the Vuelta? Who will it be for the ardennes?

 

[auscyclefan94]

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?

theyoungest is now my fav poster!!!!

Anyone who thinks Cadel will skip the tour is dreaming. Cadel is a very determined character and Tour de France is still his goal. I hope he gets his program right this year so he does not peak too early for races such as the tdf where he seems to be too good in the first week and is on the downhill in the last. He has the best support he has ever had and I think 2009 was a very good season for him but a year of missed opportunities for him especially as he should of won the giro and probably should of had some wins in other races he has entered.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Indeed. A lot of people here are suggesting riders skip the tour, because clearly they have better hope at the giro/vuelta. Fact of the matter is, all these riders prioritize the tour highly, and will ride to a top ten, rather then challenge the other GTs. It is a shame, but woteva.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Indeed. A lot of people here are suggesting riders skip the tour, because clearly they have better hope at the giro/vuelta. Fact of the matter is, all these riders prioritize the tour highly, and will ride to a top ten, rather then challenge the other GTs. It is a shame, but woteva.

I agree with this...but those top riders have the choice to go for the races they want and achieve the goals they want to achieve.

 

[Sydney21]

I'll give my podiums for the Major Races:

2010 WC: Kolobnev, Evans, Barredo

roubaix: Boonan, Cancellara, Flecha

Flanders: Haussler, Cancellara, Gilbert

Amstel: Gilbert, Bole, Kolobnev

LBL: Cunego, Hejadel, Gerrans

Giro: Nibali, Evans, Scarponi

Cali: Hejadel, Hincapie, Rogers

TDF: Schleck, Gesink, Contador

Vuelta: Contador, Rodriguez, Szymd

2011 WC:

Other Riders to have a stand out season will be:
Sicard, Cantwell, Sagan, Phinney, Machado, Uran (at sky), Boom, Bole, Farrar (will upstage Cav in a couple of Tour stages), Chichi, Porte and Kolobnev.

 

[Ney the Viking]

Well Contador more or less confirmed a Tour-Vuelta combo with less spring activeness. So I guess some GT contesters will opt in for the Giro, or we will have two extremely hard GT and a walkover giro(which seems unlikely)?

 

[El Pistolero]

My predictions for 2011:

Milan- San Remo:

1: Oscar Freire/Tom Boonen

Ronde van Vlaanderen:

1. Cancellara
2. Tom Boonen

Paris-Roubaix:
1. Tom Boonen(and I'm nicknaming him mister Paris-Roubaix then!)
2. Cancellara
3. Who cares

Giro d'Italia:
1. Ricardo Ricco if he's invited.
2. Nibali

Tour de France:
1/2. Alberto Contador/Andy Schleck(random order, both have high chances of winning)
3. Who cares.

Vuelta a Espana:
1. Alberto Contador

World champs:
Not a clue at all

Giro di Lombardia:

Philippe Gilbert, Ricardo Ricco(if he gets an invitation), Andy Schleck(if he tries for it), Samuel Sanchez, etc

Amstel Gold Race:
1. Philippe Gilbert. No doubt about it tbh unless he gets unlucky

La Fleche Wallonne:

1. Cadel Evans/Rodriguez

LBL:
Hmm though one. Gilbert came in third after Kolobnev and Vinokourov. Vino is aging fast, but he has shown that his form isn't diminishing. So Philippe Gilbert, Vinokourov, Andy Schleck, Kolobnev are top favourites. But can't decide who'll win. Dark horse: Cadel Evans

 

[Hugo Koblet]

In that case, I'll give it a go also:

MSR: 1. Petacchi, 2. Boonen, 3. Freire

RVV: 1. Cancellara, 2. Boonen, 3. Gilbert

PR: 1. Cancellara, 2. Boonen, 3. Hushovd

AGR: 1. Gilbert, 2. Nibali, 3. Cunego

FW: 1. Rodriguez, 2. Anton, 3. Gilbert

LBL: 1. Gilbert, 2. Anton, 3. A. Schleck

WC: 1. Gilbert, 2. Freire, 3. Pozzato

Giro: 1. Nibali, 2. Scarponi, 3. Sastre

Tour: 1. Contador, 2. A. Schleck, 3. S. Sanchez

Vuelta: 1. Contador, 2. Nibali, 3. Rodriguez

 

[The Hitch]

So we are predicting the actual results now. Why not?

MSR: Tyler Farrar (or someone else from Garmin Cervello)

RVV: Phillipe Gilbert

PR: Tom Boonen

AGR: Alexander Kolobnev

FW: Frank Schleck

LBL: 1 Phillipe Gilbert 2 Roman Kreuziger 3 Alexander Vinokourov

WC: Cav

Giro di Lombardia: Sammuel Sanchez Gil

Tour de Pologne: Alberto Contador

Paris Nice - Joaquim Rodriguez

Giro d Italia:Michelle Scarponi, Vinczenzo Nibali, Riccardo Ricco

Tour de France: Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, Henao

Vuelta a España: Cadel Evans, Sammuel Sanchez, Igor Anton

 

[Sydney21]

I scrolled through 17 pages of threads to find an appropriate thread (im sure there is a faster way) to announce that Niki Terpstra will win a big race next year and Sylvester Szymd will top 5 in a GT.