Cav's leadout issues

[42x16ss]

Scary strong team right there, can see the potential for Cav more then making up for this years tour with those guys at his disposal.

And with Uran wanting to do the Tour I foresee Lefevere having a hard time deciding what type of tour team he'll go with. Does he go with a power packed team designed around leading out Cav (and send Uran to Giro-Vuelta) or a more balanced team geared toward both Cav and Uran.

He can choose a more balanced team fairly easily.

Uran
Poels
De Gendt
Bakelants
Martin
Boonen
Cavendish
Steegmans
Renshaw

I doubt Ale-Jet will be up for the TdF, use him in the classics and Giro. If De Gendt, Poels or Bakelants ride the Giro then you can swap in Kwiatowski, Terpstra or Trentin and not really lose anything.

Good thing there isn't a TTT - Uran would have a 2 minute head start with that team

 

[movingtarget]

He can choose a more balanced team fairly easily.

Uran
Poels
De Gendt
Bakelants
Martin
Boonen
Cavendish
Steegmans
Renshaw

I doubt Ale-Jet will be up for the TdF, use him in the classics and Giro. If De Gendt, Poels or Bakelants ride the Giro then you can swap in Kwiatowski, Terpstra or Trentin and not really lose anything.

Good thing there isn't a TTT - Uran would have a 2 minute head start with that team

He has Renshaw back now who is worth two lead out riders. Anyway Cavendish has shown plenty of times the he does not need a sprint train to win sprints and Renshaw is fearless in bunch sprints.

 

[42x16ss]

He has Renshaw back now who is worth two lead out riders. Anyway Cavendish has shown plenty of times the he does not need a sprint train to win sprints and Renshaw is fearless in bunch sprints.

Still, OPQS won't be expected to control things in the mountains, that's for the heavy hitters at Sky, Movistar, Saxo and Astana, so Poels, De Gendt and Bakelants/Kwiatowski should be plenty of support for Uran.

If Martin > Boonen > Steegmans > Renshaw > Cavendish combo can't win stages, something is really going wrong.

 

[Ferminal]

Uran
Poels
De Gendt
Bakelants
Martin
Boonen
Cavendish
Steegmans
Renshaw

No babysitter?

 

[42x16ss]

No babysitter?

Umm, who in their would mess with Martin, Boonen, Renshaw and Steegmans?

If you mean the mountains for Uran, there's Poels and De Gendt. Bakelants goes ok too.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Still, OPQS won't be expected to control things in the mountains, that's for the heavy hitters at Sky, Movistar, Saxo and Astana, so Poels, De Gendt and Bakelants/Kwiatowski should be plenty of support for Uran.

If Martin > Boonen > Steegmans > Renshaw > Cavendish combo can't win stages, something is really going wrong.

Or Kittel is faster than Cavendish

 

[42x16ss]

Or Kittel is faster than Cavendish

Renshaw's helmet should sort out that problem

 

[vedrafjord]

I think Cavendish could possibly do with bulking up a little in the off season. He went slimline in the last year or two to become more versatile, and specifically to get over Box Hill in good enough shape to win the Olympic Road Race. It depends what his priorities are. If he wants to regularly beat Kittel on pan-flat TdF stages, more watts might be in order.

 

[trevim]

Still, OPQS won't be expected to control things in the mountains, that's for the heavy hitters at Sky, Movistar, Saxo and Astana, so Poels, De Gendt and Bakelants/Kwiatowski should be plenty of support for Uran.

If Martin > Boonen > Steegmans > Renshaw > Cavendish combo can't win stages, something is really going wrong.

It's also about team chemistry not just the quality of the riders you put in line ahead of your sprinter.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I'm sure cav will get the train he needs. However the big news is Boonen getting involved with the TdF cobbles showdown. It will likely infuriate Cancellara.

 

[greenedge]

With Boonen riding the TDF i think either one of Terpstra or Steegmans will come along- if only because help on the cobbles would be good for him/ they are also beasts on the flats for the rest of the race.

I think OPQS would be foolish not to send Kwiatowski too, he can ride well on the cobbles, will feature on the hilly stages and the mountains may not be as hard as last year.

Crashes will play a big part in the first week too, so we could see half of this vaunted team hurt (hopefully stage 2 sorts out the GC a bit and calms down some nerves).

 

[Gloin22]

Cavendish, Renshaw, Pettachi, Terpstra, Martin, Boonen, Kwiatkowski, Bakelants, Stybar

Preety sure this is the team Lefevre wants at the Tour.

It all depends if he can persuade Uran to do Giro - Vuelta this year and come back to Tour next year.

 

[Pentacycle]

Why should Bakelants be in the TdF team? Uran deserves to be GC leader there, so I'd replace Bakelants for him.

 

[qwerty16]

Lefevere already stated Uran probably will be out of the Tour if Boonen is going to ride.

By the way Poels is riding the Giro for sure, which pretty much rules him out for the Tour.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Lefevere already stated Uran probably will be out of the Tour if Boonen is going to ride.

By the way Poels is riding the Giro for sure, which pretty much rules him out for the Tour.

Boonen will get more Belgian fans sitting in the couch when he goes over the cobbles than Uran will getting on the podium in Paris.

 

[MatParker117]

Why should Bakelants be in the TdF team? Uran deserves to be GC leader there, so I'd replace Bakelants for him.

Bakelants job would be to chase breaks down and set up Martin, Boonen, Ale-Jet, Renshaw and Cav, GC would be the farthest thing from his mind.

 

[theyoungest]

Why should Bakelants be in the TdF team? Uran deserves to be GC leader there, so I'd replace Bakelants for him.

Uran, having done nothing of note in the TDF, deserves to be in the team, whereas Bakelants, stage winner and yellow jersey for a day, doesn't?

Maybe Bakelants is more useful as a stage hunter than Uran as a GC guy, who knows. And I get the impression Kwiatkowski will be their GC guy in the Tour.

 

[Pentacycle]

Uran was 5th on Plateau de Beille and 3rd on Mur de Bretagne two years ago, so to say he's done nothing of note is ridiculous. And if he can combine his consistency from the past two Giros with those kind of performances he deserves to be leader.

But seeing that it's Lefeveres decision, if he's planning on making the whole team work for Cav he might as well take Bakelants. It makes no sense for Uran to even start then.

 

[roundabout]

Bakelants job would be to chase breaks down and set up Martin, Boonen, Ale-Jet, Renshaw and Cav, GC would be the farthest thing from his mind.

Although Bakelants kinda rarely ever wins, making him chase breaks would be dumb.

 

[greenedge]

They need someone too, by that criteria Stybar would not chase either.

Riders like Uran and Kwiatowski have worked for Cav in recent years, so going off that Bakelants would have to work.

 

[roundabout]

How many people do they need to chase a typical 5 rider TdF flat stage break?

And does the "fastest sprinter in the World" or whatever need all of Petacchi, Renshaw and Boonen to lead him out?

Stybar would be a more likely winner, but I'd rather have Bakelants in a break in the Vosges for example.

 

[CycloAndy]

How many people do they need to chase a typical 5 rider TdF flat stage break?

And does the "fastest sprinter in the World" or whatever need all of Petacchi, Renshaw and Boonen to lead him out?

Stybar would be a more likely winner, but I'd rather have Bakelants in a break in the Vosges for example.

They had Martin, Chavanel, Kwiatkowski and Terpstra to chase down breaks this year. Without Chavanel they probably need Boonen/Stybar to get involved in the chase. I doubt Boonen will be involved too much in the lead out itself. Cav did great with 2 lead out men (Renshaw and Goss) before so Renshaw and Petacchi should definitely help his chances.

 

[qwerty16]

So, no De Gendt either.

http://www.nieuwsblad.be/sportwereld/cnt/dmf20131108_00831101

Also states he is going to be a super-domestique in The Giro, even more pointing towards Uran featuring there.

 

[Gloin22]

No surprise, De Gednt would be waste of a spot at Tour considering this years form. Better to let him ride a race that he achieved his best result and hope to rediscover some of that form.

 

[Peter von]

How many people do they need to chase a typical 5 rider TdF flat stage break?

And does the "fastest sprinter in the World" or whatever need all of Petacchi, Renshaw and Boonen to lead him out?

Stybar would be a more likely winner, but I'd rather have Bakelants in a break in the Vosges for example.

It's not so much the chasing down of the breakaway, it's chasing AND still being the strongest team on the last five km.

When Argos show up with 3 to go after Lotto-Quick Step have done all the work, they'll be pretty thrilled to have a couple of very strong guys with a good balance of speed and stamina.

Both great riders who'll probably have a chance of winning themselves a spot on the Tour squad during the spring and races in june.