2012 Speculation (and confirmation) thread - rider schedules and parcours

[roundabout]

There isn't much really.

A stage finish in Terni and a stage starting and ending in Offida on the penultimate day.

 

[jens_attacks]

good signs for poggio 2012?

Mark Cavendish
Just had a meeting with my nutritionist and I'm losing weight..... In December! That's new. I want to cry actual tears of joy


imagine cav like that too:

)))

also i wonder if henao will also have to lose weight,i'm extremely curious of what will happen

 

[taiwan]

What do ppl seriously reckon der T-Mart can do at a Tour with 100kms of tt, at this stage in his career? Top ten this time? Better?

 

[roundabout]

Martin still hasn't proven that he can handle stages with multiple big climbs.

Secondly, with QS he might add to the long list of GC contender busts.

I am rather skeptical, in short.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Yeah, it would be a huge surprise if he could all of a sudden ride for GC.

 

[auscyclefan94]

No, he won't. His program will be:

23.01. - 29.01. Tour de San Luis
05.02. - 09.02. Challenge a Mallorca (1 or 2 races)
15.02. - 19.02. Volta ao Algarve
07.03. - 13.03. Tirreno-Adriatico
19.03. - 25.03. Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
02.04. - 07.04. Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco

03.06. - 10.06. Critérium du Dauphiné
22.06. - 24.06. Campeonato de España
30.06. - 22.07. Tour de France
01.08. Olympic Time Trial London

(18.08. - 09.07. Vuelta a España)

We are certainly going to see plenty of battles between Evans and AC before the tour.

Evans' schedule
Mallorca Challenge
GP di Lugano
GP Friuli
Monte Paschi Eroica
Tirreno Adriatico
Amstel + Fleche + possibly Liege
Possibly Romandie
Dauphine
Tour de France
Olympics (possibly both tt and rr)
Worlds

Could be another race in between Olympics and Worlds but we'll see. Evans and AC go head to head quite a few times throughout the season

 

[auscyclefan94]

Any news on the Tirreno Adriatico route?

I've been wondering about that as well. Hopefully they bring back Montelupone.

I supppose it must have been mentioned before but here's the very likely route for the Tour de Romandie next year

Prologue: Lausanne

Morges-La Chaux-de-Fonds

?-Moutier

La Neuveville - Charmey

Bulle - Sion

MTT: Crans-Montana

What is Crans Montana like? Also are there any other mountain stages?

 

[El Pistolero]

We are certainly going to see plenty of battles between Evans and AC before the tour.

Evans' schedule
Mallorca Challenge
GP di Lugano
GP Friuli
Monte Paschi Eroica
Tirreno Adriatico
Amstel + Fleche + possibly Liege
Possibly Romandie
Dauphine
Tour de France
Olympics (possibly both tt and rr)
Worlds

Could be another race in between Olympics and Worlds but we'll see. Evans and AC go head to head quite a few times throughout the season

No Pais Vasco and/or Catalunya doesn't seem a good idea if you're bothering with the Ardennes classics.

 

[theyoungest]

Evans and AC go head to head quite a few times throughout the season

We know how that usually ends up. Except for that one race this year.

No Pais Vasco and/or Catalunya doesn't seem a good idea if you're bothering with the Ardennes classics.

Evans can turn up with virtually no race kilometres in the legs and he'll still be good. He's not a rider who races himself into form.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

evans to beat ac at ta

 

[Parrulo]

We are certainly going to see plenty of battles between Evans and AC before the tour.

Evans' schedule
Mallorca Challenge
GP di Lugano
GP Friuli
Monte Paschi Eroica
Tirreno Adriatico
Amstel + Fleche + possibly Liege
Possibly Romandie
Dauphine
Tour de France
Olympics (possibly both tt and rr)
Worlds

Could be another race in between Olympics and Worlds but we'll see. Evans and AC go head to head quite a few times throughout the season

if they meat in T-A, romandie and the dauphine and contador beats him everytime evans may get to the tour as broken man mentally, or at least it would be a blow to his morale

 

[auscyclefan94]

if they meat in T-A, romandie and the dauphine and contador beats him everytime evans may get to the tour as broken man mentally, or at least it would be a blow to his morale

Well Contador is not doing Romandie and Evans was beaten on the two mountain stages quite easily at the Dauphine. I don't see it being a problem. I think Evans certainly has a good chance to beat in Tirreno.

 

[The Hitch]

Could be another race in between Olympics and Worlds but we'll see. Evans and AC go head to head quite a few times throughout the season

I would love to see a AC vs CE super series, cumulating with the biggest prizes in sport - TDF and Olympic Gold.

Would be great for the sport IMO.

I doubt it will happen though.

 

[Parrulo]

Well Contador is not doing Romandie and Evans was beaten on the two mountain stages quite easily at the Dauphine. I don't see it being a problem. I think Evans certainly has a good chance to beat in Tirreno.

for some reason i thought contador was also doing romendie, the dauphine is a preparation race above all so it has less impact mentally ofc

and yes tirreno suits evans very well, i would say more then it suits contador, but don't forget that's one of the few week long races contador doesn't has so i think he really wants to add it to his palmares and with san luis, mallorca and algarve already in his legs he will prolly be very close to top shape there which will make it hard for any1 to beat him.

with romandie out of the equation tho the mental aspect i was talking about should no longer be a factor indeed even if evans gets beaten in T-A

 

[El Pistolero]

for some reason i thought contador was also doing romendie, the dauphine is a preparation race above all so it has less impact mentally ofc

and yes tirreno suits evans very well, i would say more then it suits contador, but don't forget that's one of the few week long races contador doesn't has so i think he really wants to add it to his palmares and with san luis, mallorca and algarve already in his legs he will prolly be very close to top shape there which will make it hard for any1 to beat him.

with romandie out of the equation tho the mental aspect i was talking about should no longer be a factor indeed even if evans gets beaten in T-A

Pais Vasco is quite similar to T-A. I wouldn't say it suits Contador less than Evans(or vice versa)

 

[auscyclefan94]

I would love to see a AC vs CE season series, cumulating with the biggest prizes in sport - TDF and Olympic Gold.

Would be great for the sport IMO.

I doubt it will happen though.

It would be hard to do the Olympic RR with two riders in it! I think their will be 'cat and mouse' tatics for the full 250km

 

[roundabout]

I've been wondering about that as well. Hopefully they bring back Montelupone.


What is Crans Montana like? Also are there any other mountain stages?

There are many routes possible for the stage to Crans Montana so I won't speculate.

But it's 1000 vertical meters in about 24km from Sion.

As to other stages, it's possible to make a challenging route on stages 1 and 2 and the stage to Sion has been considered a high mountain stage so they must be planning to climb Ovronnaz or Veysonnaz (or both ) before the end.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I've been wondering about that as well. Hopefully they bring back Montelupone.


What is Crans Montana like? Also are there any other mountain stages?

Sion will almost inevitably be a mountain stage like in 2010 when Valverde won, sorry, Antón won. The climb to Ovronnaz is near there and is quite steep, and you could do some variation on the Nendaz climbs too. And of course Crans-Montana.

What is Crans-Montana like? They climb it nearly every year in either Romandie, Suisse, or both. It's the one Soler won in 2011, and that Martin won in 2009. There are lots and lots of routes to the top; none are super-hard or anything, but some are good for pure power climbers and some are a bit more for the flyweights.

 

[taiwan]

Yeah, it would be a huge surprise if he could all of a sudden ride for GC.

I'd guess it was still his long term goal, though. I'll hedge and say top 20 this time.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Sion will almost inevitably be a mountain stage like in 2010 when Valverde won, sorry, Antón won. The climb to Ovronnaz is near there and is quite steep, and you could do some variation on the Nendaz climbs too. And of course Crans-Montana.

What is Crans-Montana like? They climb it nearly every year in either Romandie, Suisse, or both. It's the one Soler won in 2011, and that Martin won in 2009. There are lots and lots of routes to the top; none are super-hard or anything, but some are good for pure power climbers and some are a bit more for the flyweights.

Well it seems to be a lot better than what this years route was. I guess having a Mountain time trial on Crans-Montana should really decide the gc and should be a good stage.

 

[greenedge]

with romandie out of the equation tho the mental aspect i was talking about should no longer be a factor indeed even if evans gets beaten in T-A

Evans will also not worry about T-A as he shall be doing the Ardennes after and will improve his form their.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I would love to see a AC vs CE super series, cumulating with the biggest prizes in sport - TDF and Olympic Gold.

Would be great for the sport IMO.

I doubt it will happen though.

again, just no.

edit: never-mind, I see you say sport in general, and not "the" sport.

 

[Lupetto]

I've been wondering about that as well. Hopefully they bring back Montelupone.

Normally, we'll have to wait till Mid/End-February before the route is released.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Well Contador is not doing Romandie and Evans was beaten on the two mountain stages quite easily at the Dauphine. I don't see it being a problem. I think Evans certainly has a good chance to beat in Tirreno.

who cares...

 

[The Hitch]

I think Evans certainly has a good chance to beat in Tirreno.

Evans might be the best challenger (though maybe Scarponi as well) but I would expect Contador to beat them both.

again, just no.

Whats wrong with it?