2012 Giro d'Italia wildcards:Who would you like to see?

[Ryo Hazuki]

Well, i know 0 about NetApp, so i got a few questions:

what kind of riders they have?
who's their best rider?
what they can do at the giro?

they have flat riders, classic riders mostly and itt
their best rider is konig, a climber, pretty allround
they can be in breaks and hopefully for them finish giro with 4 or 5 riders. nothing else

 

[MADRAZO]

they have flat riders, classic riders mostly and itt
their best rider is konig, a climber, pretty allround
they can be in breaks and hopefully for them finish giro with 4 or 5 riders. nothing else

I think their Giro team will be something like this:

König (solid stageracer)
Hollenstein (solid stageracer)
Brändle (has finihed a GT )
Dietziker (decent in stageraces)
Huzarski (has finished a GT)
Barta (solid climber)
Eichler (has finished a GT)
Schulze
Baugnies (okay climber)/Benedetti (okay climber)


Of these I really only think the sprinter Schulze will have troubles finishing without any crashes

Besides that the results will not be to impressive, but it is a fairly solid team.

 

[plooton]

I think Konig's top 15 finish is absolutely real, and hope he can make several top 5 stage finishes. And as his endurance and stamina are pretty well, he can finally reach top 10 finish.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

there's nobody that cares about a top 15 finish.

 

[Mellow Velo]

there's nobody that cares about a top 15 finish.

How about 7th?

 

[Granville57]

I've been out of the loop for a couple weeks, but has anyone posted this awesome Giro 2012 promo vid yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sSqFgvL244

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Net App dont deserve to be there but at least it will be the highlight of their season, what the whole year will gear towards.

But the idea that Greenedge, BMC, Saxobank, RadioshackNissan, Euskaltel-Euskadi, FDJ, Movistar, Lotto Belisol Omega Pharma Quickstep and Rabobank, get to ride a their TDF warmup with c teams, ahead of a team that has Garzelli, Di Luca and Betancur and has lightened up the Giro for almost a decade, and has provided some major entertainment in all recent years at that race, is the most disgusting news I have heard in a while.

The most ****ed off I have been with this sport in years.

Truly painful.

While you mention several teams that will probably send out some lame squads there, I think Movistar could feel aggrieved at being included. Yes, Arroyo's podium in 2010 was due to fluky circumstances, but he did plenty of race-animating to try to inject himself in the GT mix last year (and he was on the move lots in the mountains in 2009 too); Bruseghin has been on the podium there before and was off the front almost all the time in the Vuelta's key stages, and could be a race animator; Giovanni Visconti will make things interesting in more or less any type of stage; and Nairo Quintana and Sergio Pardilla are both people who could well be down for the Giro, Pardilla because he raced in Italy for a while and knows the roads better than the others. They may not be at the top of the GC mix, but we'll certainly know they're there, which is more than can be said for some of the teams you mention.

there's nobody that cares about a top 15 finish.

True, but if he can do it by dropping some time and then getting in some breakaways in week 3, then it will be very interesting, since it'll be his first GT, and his recovery is a total unknown.

 

[Benotti69]

and italian friend of mine told me some weeks ago acqua wouldn't be invited because of di luca. he was right

I would've thought that Acqua&Sapone/Masciarelli would've checked before signing Di Luca.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

acqua and sapone never saw this coming. there's already turmoil in italy masciarelli is saying the sponsor wants out immediately of their contract

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Stefano Garzelli threatens retirement after Acqua & Sapone’s Giro d’Italia non-invita

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...Cycling+News+&+Race+Results+|+VeloNation.com)

 

[jens_attacks]

if acqua sapone doesn't receive the 5th wildcard i hope some tifosi will do a belli with acquarone this time.you got two guys that brought emotions for amost 15 years to the cycling world and you bring leopold fuccin konig hilarious...

 

[craig1985]

Acqua didn't receive a wildcard to the 2008 Giro, and if the sponsor didn't pull out then, why would they pull out now? TBH I'm more interested in seeing how Betancur would go than di Luca and Garzelli.

 

[jens_attacks]

Acqua didn't receive a wildcard to the 2008 Giro, and if the sponsor didn't pull out then, why would they pull out now? TBH I'm more interested in seeing how Betancur would go than di Luca and Garzelli.

it wasn't an economic global crisis back then.now acqua sapone really needed il giro.i think both farnese and colnago should have been under them by far.
let's see what will happen with di luca,the official signing wasn't announced and in these circumstances probably it won't happen

the same thing is said on cicloweb:

Di Luca e Betancur non sono ancora stati registrati nell'Acqua & Sapone sul sito dell'UCI e a questo punto, se effettivamente non avessero firmato alcun contratto, potrebbero anche decidere di tentare fortuna altrove se gli venisse data una garanzia di correre il Giro d'Italia: l'abruzzese farebbe comodo a molti se tornasse ai suoi livelli, il giovane talento colombiano invece era stato protagonista di un intrigo di mercato con la Liquigas che ora potrebbe rifarsi sotto.

i think they both waited.so probably now betancourt will go to liquigas and di luca....farnese,lampre???still sucks big time what they did to masciarelli

 

[El Pistolero]

it wasn't an economic global crisis back then.now acqua sapone really needed il giro.i think both farnese and colnago should have been under them by far.
let's what will happen with di luca,the official signing wasn't announced and in these circumstances probably it won't happen

I'm pretty sure there was an economical global crisis going on in 2008. If Europe and the USA count as global.

 

[jens_attacks]

I'm pretty sure there was an economical global crisis going on in 2008. If Europe and the USA count as global.

we're in an economic global crisis since they invented the exchange and the money.
but this one,the big one,it wasn't bad in 2008 i remember there were just whispers

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

To be honest I'm not all that devestated or upset with A&S exclusion. Of the 4 big italian pc teams, they are my least favorite. While Garzelli I like, he knows the risk of riding for a pc team. No guarantees.

NetApp over Coldportes? What bs!!

I agree, tho coldeportes always seemed like a fairytale, thier inclusion was no doubt the most exciting prospect.

Certainly better teams missed out. Odd decision.

Net App dont deserve to be there but at least it will be the highlight of their season, what the whole year will gear towards.

But the idea that Greenedge, BMC, Saxobank, RadioshackNissan, Euskaltel-Euskadi, FDJ, Movistar, Lotto Belisol Omega Pharma Quickstep and Rabobank, get to ride a their TDF warmup with c teams, ahead of a team that has Garzelli, Di Luca and Betancur and has lightened up the Giro for almost a decade, and has provided some major entertainment in all recent years at that race, is the most disgusting news I have heard in a while.

The most ****ed off I have been with this sport in years.

Truly painful.

Well look at it in another perspective. A lot of these teams have put huge money and time into the sport. They have managed to make it to the WT and a perk of such is racing the best races.

Furthermore I might remind you that people last year were saying similar things. For example many critisized and got angry with rabo's sqaud. However the team did admirable. CAS also had a good giro for saxo etc. While the teams on a whole might priotrtize the tour more, many riders in these teams will have the giro as thier biggest race of the year.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...Cycling+News+&+Race+Results+|+VeloNation.com)

acqua and sapone never saw this coming. there's already turmoil in italy masciarelli is saying the sponsor wants out immediately of their contract

see this is sad

Hopefully they all continue, sighting future prospects.

 

[Ryaguas]

K thanks, with regard too Net App the reality is that Germany has a larger more affluent population than Columbia and a bigger viewing audience, we live in economically sensitive times.

Germany hates cycling... fact...

While you mention several teams that will probably send out some lame squads there, I think Movistar could feel aggrieved at being included. Yes, Arroyo's podium in 2010 was due to fluky circumstances, but he did plenty of race-animating to try to inject himself in the GT mix last year (and he was on the move lots in the mountains in 2009 too); Bruseghin has been on the podium there before and was off the front almost all the time in the Vuelta's key stages, and could be a race animator; Giovanni Visconti will make things interesting in more or less any type of stage; and Nairo Quintana and Sergio Pardilla are both people who could well be down for the Giro, Pardilla because he raced in Italy for a while and knows the roads better than the others. They may not be at the top of the GC mix, but we'll certainly know they're there, which is more than can be said for some of the teams you mention.

No Andrey Amador? they guy is a massive talent... I rate him above Quintana and Pardilla

 

[rzombie1988]

I still maintain that it should be required that people who won jerseys in the last tour must be invited to the one after. I'm not really sure what the Giro guys were thinking when they decided to leave out a former winner and a former mountains jersey winner.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Team Net.App...for crying out loud

What's next? Willems Verandas in the Tour?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Who actually rides for netapp?

 

[Kazistuta]

Strange and unexpected for sure. There's no doubt something happening behind the curtains that we don't see. They have to line up over half their squad for this event!!!

Leopold König might very well be a massive surprise for the giro, and they do have some decent prospects:

Jerome Baugnies - he's being foreseen a great season by his team manager, showing potential in harder one day races
Blaz Jarc - Opportunistic and fast
Daniel Schorn - bad 2011, but very fast (might not be selected)
André Schulze - Teams main sprinter, has never really had the chance on a bigger scene
Mathias Brändle - Away from the Geox circus he might find back to his promising 2010, still very young


And if we have to look at it rather objectively, here's my thoughts on some of the left out teams:

- Acqua E Sapone can't put their faith in two "on the downhill" riders like Di Luca and Garzelli - neither will bring anything else than a desperate urge to show themselves one last time. But the rest of the teams more prominent riders all fit better in week long stage races or one day classics (Taborre, Napolitano, Betancur, Ginanni)

- 1t4i with a lot of better names might want to put everything on a tour wild card (Degenkolb, Kittel, Geniez, Bonnin, Gretsch would all fit perfectly for various reasons). It's a team that deserves a GT spot in 2012.

- Coldesportes was more like a romantic hope for us cycling fanatics. Objectively they can't field any more interesting names than Duarte. (And before I'm being attacked: YES, I know Atapuma, Suarez, Chalapud, Pantano etc. are interesting, but they aren't household names)

 

[joe_papp]

- Acqua E Sapone can't put their faith in two "on the downhill" riders like Di Luca and Garzelli - neither will bring anything else than a desperate urge to show themselves one last time. But the rest of the teams more prominent riders all fit better in week long stage races or one day classics (Taborre, Napolitano, Betancur, Ginanni)

Whether one likes Garzelli or not, the disrespect for him you seem to show is unfortunate. He won the KOM at the Giro in 2011 if I'm not mistaken. He doesn't make any pretense about trying to win the overall again, but clearly aims to animate the Giro - something that very few of the current generation of professionals seem to know anything about. What's so desperate about wanting to once again - one more time - honor yourself and the race that made you before you retire after a storied career?

 

[the asian]

It's a pity that Acqua & Sapone are not invited. They certainly are more deserving than Farense Vini or Colnago.
It's not fair that Garzelli is denied the chance to defend his K.O.M jersey.

I thought that the organizers would go 3 and 1 in giving out the wild cards.
3 local teams and one foreign, but certainly didn't think Acqua would miss out.

From a cycling fans perspective it's also disappointing that Coldesports missed out to NetApp.
Even from a commercial aspect it's strange because Germany is not a big cycling market after the Ulrich doping saga.

 

[profff]

Strange and unexpected for sure. There's no doubt something happening behind the curtains that we don't see. They have to line up over half their squad for this event!!!

Leopold König might very well be a massive surprise for the giro, and they do have some decent prospects:

Jerome Baugnies - he's being foreseen a great season by his team manager, showing potential in harder one day races
Blaz Jarc - Opportunistic and fast
Daniel Schorn - bad 2011, but very fast (might not be selected)
André Schulze - Teams main sprinter, has never really had the chance on a bigger scene
Mathias Brändle - Away from the Geox circus he might find back to his promising 2010, still very young


And if we have to look at it rather objectively, here's my thoughts on some of the left out teams:

- Acqua E Sapone can't put their faith in two "on the downhill" riders like Di Luca and Garzelli - neither will bring anything else than a desperate urge to show themselves one last time. But the rest of the teams more prominent riders all fit better in week long stage races or one day classics (Taborre, Napolitano, Betancur, Ginanni)

-
you overrate a lot netapp riders: the hope of ds does not make real contenders
konig could the next machado ( i hope not), big hopes based on nothing. anyway , at this point he cannot be compared to betancur: the colombian won the vuelta colombia sub23 at 19 years, won the giro bio and in his first year pro distinguished himself in sestriere stage(240km) and in lombardia (250), fighting with the best ....and that it is sign of massive talent, in plus he won emilia, a very hard race with a strong field ( just read the albo d' oro of emilia).how can you say that he is just a one day racer and not a gt contender,with two of the most important stage races for elite in his palmares and the ability to recover and improve in the third week shown at the giro, that it is unexplicable.
i do not know how can you compare that accomplishments to a 3rd place in kitzbuelhorn at the austria tour ( 130 km) won by kessiakoff, a 2 tier climber.

 

[Benotti69]

Whether one likes Garzelli or not, the disrespect for him you seem to show is unfortunate. He won the KOM at the Giro in 2011 if I'm not mistaken. He doesn't make any pretense about trying to win the overall again, but clearly aims to animate the Giro - something that very few of the current generation of professionals seem to know anything about. What's so desperate about wanting to once again - one more time - honor yourself and the race that made you before you retire after a storied career?

Garzelli won KOM 2009 as well as 2011. Won a stage in 2010 too.

Acqua&Sapone had a strong season last year and now all that effort for nowt.

Could well be the end of the team as sponsorship will be hard to find for 2013 as i imagine a lot of sponsors wont pay up for 2012 with no Giro.