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

[just some guy]

Bjørn Dæhlie > all

.

Correct ......

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Hushovd will have to go some to beat Dæhlie and Bjørndalen.

As expected, it's more or less a Tour of the Oslofjord, but without the Holmenkollveien loop finale I demanded (would be great - it's not too steep but it's a decent length climb, there's plenty of room at the top thanks to the wintersport facilities, within a stone's throw of the centre of Oslo, the views are awesome (and yet still probably not in the top HUNDRED of Norwegian vistas), and you can get pretty much all the way there on the T-Bane, so crowds would be good too.

Hopefully they finish at the ski jump in Lillehammer - that would be a nice uphill finish.

 

[Christian]

Hopefully they finish at the ski jump in Lillehammer - that would be a nice uphill finish.

I walked up there last month, it didn't strike me as particularly challenging

In other news: Tour de la Méditerranée might still go through:

http://www.cyclismactu.fr/news-2012-le-tour-med-aura-bien-lieu-selon-l-organisation-21262.html

http://www.cyclismactu.fr/news-tour-mediterraneen-la-ffc-soutient-l-organisation-21263.html

They have all their finances in order, just handed in the paperwork late. French Federation supports them

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It's not exactly Montelupone or Huy, but it's better than a flat finish in the town centre.

 

[maltiv]

To answer all the comments about Bjørn Dæhlie, I really don't rate XC skiing highly (despite practicing the sport myself), the competition is really quite weak and the advantage Norwegians had at that time when it came to skis was ridiculous. That being said, I didn't say Hushovd is ahead yet, but in my opinion he certainly will be if he gets a monument or two and continues winning stages in TDF a couple of years forward. After all, he's one of only five cyclists of all time to have won 1 or more TDF stages for 6 editions in a row.

 

[Anonymous]

The route and some of the teams for Glava Tour of Norway (2.1) next year has been released. The WorldTour teams will be Sky, Garmin, GreenEdge and Lotto. Edvald has already guaranteed that he will be there and while the route is quite hilly, it should suit him well. As expected it doesn't seem as if they've included any MTF's. Too bad, because Norway has a lot of spectacular climbs.

Perhaps most surprising is that BMC doesn't want to go - a decision Hushovd was not happy with at all. Obviously a big loss for the organizer that the greatest Norwegian cyclist, if not athlete, of all time will not be starting the first big stage race in his home country.

im stunned that Hushovd isn going. BMC was a big target for the organisers (one of the organisers incendentally is edvalds manager).

the last i heard was that both of them were really keen to do the race... Wonder if we are going to have another Thor rattle, pram thowing paddy now..

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Guys,
Just read Horner's interview.
Sounds like he's not going to ride the ardennes classics?

I hope he does. In 2010 he was one of the strongest with 3 top 10.

Also hope he comes in Europe again in september, he's the strongest american for the WC.

and he's only 40 years young!!

one might hope he starts to decline rather then this yearly improvement.

Of course Bruyneel's boys like to defy logic.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

if you don't know horner or understand what he is then don't bother. horner is most perfect example of you are as young as you feel and nothing to do with doping.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

To answer all the comments about Bjørn Dæhlie, I really don't rate XC skiing highly (despite practicing the sport myself), the competition is really quite weak and the advantage Norwegians had at that time when it came to skis was ridiculous. That being said, I didn't say Hushovd is ahead yet, but in my opinion he certainly will be if he gets a monument or two and continues winning stages in TDF a couple of years forward. After all, he's one of only five cyclists of all time to have won 1 or more TDF stages for 6 editions in a row.

OK, how about Bjørndalen then?

 

[Vicelard]

OK, how about Bjørndalen then?

Biathlon is for not-good-enough XC skiiers atmo.

PS: I love this sport though

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Biathlon is for not-good-enough XC skiiers atmo.

PS: I love this sport though

Maybe in Norway, but elsewhere this doesn't seem to be the case at all. Especially in Germany, where a lot of the time their XC guys suck because all of them want to be mediocre marksmen in biathlon.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

if you don't know horner or understand what he is then don't bother. horner is most perfect example of you are as young as you feel and nothing to do with doping.

I understand what he is, and I just don't like what he repersents

 

[Parrulo]

Rui Costa's calendar for 2012 untill april

Challenge Mallorca 05 a 09 de Fevereiro
Haut Var 18 a 19 de Fevereiro
Insubrica 25 de Fevereiro
Lugano 26 de Fevereiro
Tirreno – Adriatico 07 a 13 Março
Milan – San Remo 17 de Março
Criterium Internacional 24 a 25 de Março
La Sarthe 03 a 06 de Abril
Amstel Gold Race 15 de Abril
Flecha Wallonne 18 de Abril
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 22 de Abril

btw am i the only one that thinks that thats pretty much the perfect calender for some1 trying to become a hilly classics guy?

 

[Ferminal]

btw am i the only one that thinks that thats pretty much the perfect calender for some1 trying to become a hilly classics guy?

Swap Sarthe for Pais Vasco.

 

[Parrulo]

Swap Sarthe for Pais Vasco.

ya you are prolly right on that one but valverde will ride pais vasco and mosvistar prolly wants to give costa as much freedom as possible, notice that he will ride T-A instead of P-N a race that valverde always races and M-SR a race that valverde never races just like lugano for example

 

[roundabout]

There's Visconti and I suppose Rojas if he wants to who can do well in those races (if they'll ride them) but maybe Costa will be free to ride for himself even with them on the start list

 

[Parrulo]

There's Visconti and I suppose Rojas if he wants to who can do well in those races (if they'll ride them) but maybe Costa will be free to ride for himself even with them on the start list

costa is ahead of rojas on the team hierarchy, in montreal costa was already the leader while rojas was the backup plan in case it went down to a mass sprint they are also very different riders and good friends so they can do well on the same line up. visconti i don't know tbh. . .

 

[Libertine Seguros]

In Italy, I'd expect Visconti to lead the team on all except the steepest Tirreno finishes. And even then, possibly. But if he's in perfect form for March that's fine because Costa won't be peaking then.

 

[Parrulo]

In Italy, I'd expect Visconti to lead the team on all except the steepest Tirreno finishes. And even then, possibly. But if he's in perfect form for March that's fine because Costa won't be peaking then.

ya, i think you are right. visconti will lead the team in italy. i wonder if visconti costa and rojas will all ride M-SR, it could be interesting

 

[greenedge]

They should also take Ventoso who is faster in a sprint. It's a pity that Valverde never travels to Italy anymore as the finishes at T-A suit him well.

This year though the mountains at P-N might make his stamina/ form come and prepare him for a long season.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Rui Costa's calendar for 2012 untill april

Challenge Mallorca 05 a 09 de Fevereiro
Haut Var 18 a 19 de Fevereiro
Insubrica 25 de Fevereiro
Lugano 26 de Fevereiro
Tirreno – Adriatico 07 a 13 Março
Milan – San Remo 17 de Março
Criterium Internacional 24 a 25 de Março
La Sarthe 03 a 06 de Abril
Amstel Gold Race 15 de Abril
Flecha Wallonne 18 de Abril
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 22 de Abril

btw am i the only one that thinks that thats pretty much the perfect calender for some1 trying to become a hilly classics guy?

that's what he is/will become

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

costa is ahead of rojas on the team hierarchy, in montreal costa was already the leader while rojas was the backup plan in case it went down to a mass sprint they are also very different riders and good friends so they can do well on the same line up. visconti i don't know tbh. . .

he will have to work for visconti in all the other races

 

[CheeseHead]

Costa's calander changed a bit. Earlier this month he said he was to ride Ruta Del Sol and Classic Almeria in march. Ruta is dropped and Almeria makes way for Lugano (which is logical if you ride Insubrica the say before). All in all, a nice calender, though one or two extra races would not have looked bad, like GP Indurain and/or Klasika Primavera (though maybe clashes with Sarthe).

 

[Parrulo]

he also doesn't know what GT he will ride, the decision is btw the giro and the tour and imo he should ride the tour, no need to force such a young rider to hold a peak for so long as he is peaking for the ardennes and would need to hold it till late may, might as well rest a bit and try for another stage win at the tour

 

[Netserk]

he also doesn't know what GT he will ride, the decision is btw the giro and the tour and imo he should ride the tour, no need to force such a young rider to hold a peak for so long as he is peaking for the ardennes and would need to hold it till late may, might as well rest a bit and try for another stage win at the tour

I would like him to skip the Tour as well, so he can have a long rest, before riding Vuelta and autumn classics.