2015 Richmond WCRR features cobbles!

[Velolover2]

Re:

Does Nibali have a chance? He will be motivated

He'll have to attack with 3-4 laps to go and hope for extreme weather conditions. As bad as in the US road race this year.

Let's hope for heavy rain. It tends to make the races better.

 

[Velolover2]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rodriguez-valverde-lead-spain-in-world-championships-road-race/

Spain announce their team with two captains. They should have ridden for Lobato instead IMO. The final is perfect for him.

 

[TommyPlus]

Re: Re:

No Yates boys or Thomas in the GB squad.
Ian Stannard
Mark Cavendish
Ben Swift
Stephen Cummings
Andy Fenn
Luke Rowe
Scott Thwaites
Alex Dowsett
With one more to be added. Where is Kennaugh?

Hilariously bad team from GB. Swifty is the best option here

Agreed it's rubbish, should have Owain Doull and Teo Hart in there. Even if it's just for experience.
Cummings and Dowsett are just non entities unless GB plan on riding on the front and then having nobody at the end as usual.

 

[togo95]

Re: Re:

Let's hope for heavy rain. It tends to make the races better.

nah, I would rather see the race.

 

[Bushman]

Re:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rodriguez-valverde-lead-spain-in-world-championships-road-race/

Spain announce their team with two captains. They should have ridden for Lobato instead IMO. The final is perfect for him.

Rodriguez as a leader on this course? Moreno and Lobato would be better options along with Luis Leon. Purito isn't gonna make a difference at all.

 

[TommyPlus]

Not sure if it's been posted but here are the team rider entitlements:-
Nine riders: Spain, Italy, France, Colombia, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Netherlands
Six riders: Algeria, Canada, Venezuela, the United States (hosts), Iran, Slovenia, Ukraine, Russia, Denmark, Poland, Norway
Three riders: Morocco, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Japan, South Korea, Austria, Belarus, Portugal, Turkey, Lithuania, Estonia, Croatia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Costa Rica
One rider: Latvia, Tunisia, Eritrea, Chile, Guatemala, Ecuador, Azerbaijan, Greece, Romania, Serbia.

Good to see those cycling powerhouses Algeria and Iran getting 6 man teams.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Good to see those cycling powerhouses Algeria and Iran getting 6 man teams.

Iran aren't sending a team and Algeria are only sending Reguigui.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Does Nibali have a chance? He will be motivated

He needs to be at his absolute best and some bad weather conditions. And even in that case there are several riders with a much better chance.
I don't think Italy will ride for him anyway.

I think the same, but he have his chances.

Who is the better italian for this? Pozzato? I rely more for this in Nibali than in Ulissi.

 

[TommyPlus]

Re: Re:

Good to see those cycling powerhouses Algeria and Iran getting 6 man teams.

Iran aren't sending a team and Algeria are only sending Reguigui.

That's by the by really

 

[crispy]

Re: Re:

Does Nibali have a chance? He will be motivated

He needs to be at his absolute best and some bad weather conditions. And even in that case there are several riders with a much better chance.
I don't think Italy will ride for him anyway.

I think the same, but he have his chances.

Who is the better italian for this? Pozzato? I rely more for this in Nibali than in Ulissi.

Italy will have a strong team and it looks like they're riding for Ulissi but I think they definitely need to protect Viviani as well. He's shown in Britain that he has good form and the race may well come down to a sprint. The finish is very technical and if it's all together in the last 5k it will all come down to positioning and bike handling. The hills aren't long enough for someone like Nibali to get away I don't think.

 

[bala v]

Re:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rodriguez-valverde-lead-spain-in-world-championships-road-race/

Spain announce their team with two captains. They should have ridden for Lobato instead IMO. The final is perfect for him.

Not a race for Rodriguez at all! Don't know why Minguez insisted so much. Valverde is the best option of course, although Lobato and Luisle could do well too...

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Does Nibali have a chance? He will be motivated

He needs to be at his absolute best and some bad weather conditions. And even in that case there are several riders with a much better chance.
I don't think Italy will ride for him anyway.

I think the same, but he have his chances.

Who is the better italian for this? Pozzato? I rely more for this in Nibali than in Ulissi.

Italy will have a strong team and it looks like they're riding for Ulissi but I think they definitely need to protect Viviani as well. He's shown in Britain that he has good form and the race may well come down to a sprint. The finish is very technical and if it's all together in the last 5k it will all come down to positioning and bike handling. The hills aren't long enough for someone like Nibali to get away I don't think.

Viviani? This is not for pure esprinters, Cav has his chances, but difficult.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

I can live with Degenkolb as WC, but not with Matthews and certainly not Kristoff.

I'd rather none of them win but a Degenkolb win would be my ultimate nightmare.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rodriguez-valverde-lead-spain-in-world-championships-road-race/

Spain announce their team with two captains. They should have ridden for Lobato instead IMO. The final is perfect for him.

I don't know. First, Lobato has never done the WC before so it makes sense to not make him a captain just yet. Second, Lobato has been quite disappointing and has failed to produce any noteworthy results since the spring.

Rodriguez as a captain? I guess that doesn't make much sense, but Spain really has limited options on an easy course like this. I'm shocked that Rojas hasn't been elected as he's at least somewhat fast and was just incredidle during the Vuelta. After Valverde, Rojas should be first in line in my book.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

I can live with Degenkolb as WC, but not with Matthews and certainly not Kristoff.

I'd rather none of them win but a Degenkolb win would be my ultimate nightmare.

Really? At least those guys aren't one dimensional like Kittel, Viviani, Guardini etc and are somewhat capable of attacking when the opportunity presents - eg: Matthews at Giro last year.

I'd take any of the three over a pure sprinter or negative racer like Gerrans, Valverde or Pozzato.

 

[SafeBet]

Italy's best bets are Felline and Trentin. But they really don't have a clear cut favorite so it doesn't make sense to ride protecting someone.

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

I can live with Degenkolb as WC, but not with Matthews and certainly not Kristoff.

I'd rather none of them win but a Degenkolb win would be my ultimate nightmare.

Really? At least those guys aren't one dimensional like Kittel, Viviani, Guardini etc and are somewhat capable of attacking when the opportunity presents - eg: Matthews at Giro last year.

I'd take any of the three over a pure sprinter or negative racer like Gerrans, Valverde or Pozzato.

Uh, did you actually watch Valverde's one day wins this year? He won none of them by racing "negatively"

I'd mind a Bling win the least of the three. I don't particularly want to see another Kristoff win, especially since that would likely mean a decent sized bunch sprint and I have an admittedly irrational dislike for Degenkolb and I just couldn't take it if that guy won the biggest one day race of the year to go along with his two monuments.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

Italy's best bets are Felline and Trentin. But they really don't have a clear cut favorite so it doesn't make sense to ride protecting someone.

Agree with Felline particularly, and though I wouldn't mind seeing it, I'm not sure he's ready to take a win of this magnitude. I'd love to see a Ulissi win but he seems to disappoint in these longer races and I'm not sure if the parcours will suit him.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Being a worthy World Champion is totally subjective obviously. But IMHO, I'd rather see a guy tearing up the road in the stripes, than wearing the stripes as a trophy of the past year. Comparing Thor vs. Costa, for example. While Costa had a good year leading up to the WCs, Thor's performance in them was much more special.

So in my mind, thinking about the WC is the same as thinking about who will have the better season next year. Can Degenkolb repeat his successes? Probably not. And especially with Gaint's new found GC ambitions, he will have less support in GTs. Not to say he hasn't earned it if/when he wins, but again, I'd like to see somebody show off in the jersey, rather than just before getting the jersey.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Being a worthy World Champion is totally subjective obviously. But IMHO, I'd rather see a guy tearing up the road in the stripes, than wearing the stripes as a trophy of the past year. Comparing Thor vs. Costa, for example. While Costa had a good year leading up to the WCs, Thor's performance in them was much more special.

So in my mind, thinking about the WC is the same as thinking about who will have the better season next year. Can Degenkolb repeat his successes? Probably not. And especially with Gaint's new found GC ambitions, he will have less support in GTs. Not to say he hasn't earned it if/when he wins, but again, I'd like to see somebody show off in the jersey, rather than just before getting the jersey.

Whoever wins the WC will probably go on next year to be very strong in the spring classic season (Kristoff, Degenkolb, Matthews?, GVA, Boonen ect.) and then get 1 to 2 gt wins. If one of these dudes ends up with the jersey they won't just sit around....their teams rely on them very much for success. They should have decent seasons next year. IMO Kwiatkowski hasn't been a very good champion....you almost don't even notice though because their team still wins so much.

 

[Gloin22]

It's a different kettle of fish though, the amount of media pressure on you and extra media stuff WC has to do can't be understated..it definitely affects whole next season from the day WC is won, mostly not a good way.

 

[togo95]

Yeah, the last rider to have a better season in terms of CQ ranking the year following a WC win was Boonen in 2006.

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

I can live with Degenkolb as WC, but not with Matthews and certainly not Kristoff.

I'd rather none of them win but a Degenkolb win would be my ultimate nightmare.

Really? At least those guys aren't one dimensional like Kittel, Viviani, Guardini etc and are somewhat capable of attacking when the opportunity presents - eg: Matthews at Giro last year.

I'd take any of the three over a pure sprinter or negative racer like Gerrans, Valverde or Pozzato.

Valverde 2014-2015 is among the most aggressive racers in the peloton. Degenkolb on the other hand, except for his PR win, is a negative racer.

So is Kristoff except for his Flanders win.

And Matthews except for his try in Amstel where he just tried to follow Gilbert.

Valverde is more aggressive than those 3 combined.

 

[BigMac]

Kristoff: ''I hope it comes down to a sprint''.

Ergh...!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/kristoff-hoping-world-championships-comes-down-to-bunch-sprint/

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Kristoff: ''I hope it comes down to a sprint''.

Ergh...!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/kristoff-hoping-world-championships-comes-down-to-bunch-sprint/

Well obviously Kristoff wants it to be a bunch sprint

Norway have a small but strong team for this, Kristoff is a big favourite and EBH would've been a dark horse had he not been Norwegian, and will probably be sacrificed for Alex