Confirmed Tour Teams/Pre-Selections

[l.Harm]

They didnt sign new contracts.

Both will be leaving at the end of season.

Still I'd expect Tjallingii instead of Leezer.

But yeah, I didn't pay attention to the contract issues.

 

[pastronef]

Still I'd expect Tjallingii instead of Leezer.

But yeah, I didn't pay attention to the contract issues.

yep, Tjallingii or Martens instead of Leezer.

what about Bos? without him they'll have to be present in breakaways and protect Mollema in the mountains

 

[Ferminal]

Renshaw is coming back from injury and isn't great anyway, but no Bos? That doesn't make sense at all, unless he didn't want it.

 

[theyoungest]

Soo many flat sprints and no Bos. Lol.

What has Leezer done to be in that squad too? ..

Leezer has a great sense of positioning in the peloton, I actually think including him is pretty smart. Mollema can use him as a leadout to the bottom of a mountain.

Renshaw is coming back from injury and isn't great anyway, but no Bos? That doesn't make sense at all, unless he didn't want it.

Bos is a very careful fellow, sometimes a little too much so. He doesn't feel he's ready.

 

[l.Harm]

Conflicts with GC interests of Mollema. And they want to develop him step by step. Sprints in TdF are hectic as f... He even loses the wheel of his lead-out man in ****ty sprints with weak competition. I think they want to improve this first in smaller races and maybe next year going to a Grand Tour.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Leezer has a great sense of positioning in the peloton, I actually think including him is pretty smart. Mollema can use him as a leadout to the bottom of a mountain.


Bos is a very careful fellow, sometimes a little too much so. He doesn't feel he's ready.

The guy's 30 this year. You can't win if you won't risk losing.

 

[maltiv]

Blanco:

Mollema
Boom
ten Dam
Gesink
Leezer
Nordhaug
Tankink
Vanmarcke
Wynants

Surprised they didn't bring Bos, he's one of few guys in the peloton fast enough to beat all the top sprinters. Sure, he needs some luck with the positioning etc but I'm pretty sure he'd have won a stage if they had brought him.

 

[theyoungest]

The guy's 30 this year. You can't win if you won't risk losing.

True. But I don't get the feeling Bos or his team really see him as a potential world beater.

 

[RHRH19861986]

AGAIN no Paul Martens... Same procedure as every year...

 

[theyoungest]

AGAIN no Paul Martens... Same procedure as every year...

He wasn't even in the preselection. Nor was he planning to ride the Tour.

 

[jaylew]

Sure, he needs some luck with the positioning etc but I'm pretty sure he'd have won a stage if they had brought him.

Not so sure about that. I don't think he's ever performed well at a GT. Come to think of it, I can only remember him in a couple. He didn't even finish in the top 100 on any stage at the Giro last year.

 

[search]

...after crashing on stage 1 (?) and continuing to ride with a fractured vertebra

 

[Netserk]

Cannondale:

Peter Sagan
Maciej Bodnar
Edward King
Kristjan Koren
Alan Marangoni
Alessandro De Marchi
Moreno Moser
Fabio Sabatini
Brian Vandborg

 

[gjb483]

Cannondale:

Peter Sagan
Maciej Bodnar
Edward King
Kristjan Koren
Alan Marangoni
Alessandro De Marchi
Moreno Moser
Fabio Sabatini
Brian Vandborg

Wooohooo Ted King!! Glad he finally made it to the big show.

 

[Steady]

Cannondale:

Peter Sagan
Maciej Bodnar
Edward King
Kristjan Koren
Alan Marangoni
Alessandro De Marchi
Moreno Moser
Fabio Sabatini
Brian Vandborg

Who will be the lead-out man for Peter Sagan? That is IF he really needs one

 

[roundabout]

Koren and Sabatini are probably best finishers out of that lot.

 

[trevim]

Koren and Sabatini are probably best finishers out of that lot.

Moser is quite fast too.

 

[b.broadhurst]

Sky must be confident, Knees is the 9th man!! So Dauphine 8 plus Knees

 

[JRanton]

Sky must be confident, Knees is the 9th man!! So Dauphine 8 plus Knees

Froome
Porte
Lopez
Kennaugh
Kiryienka
Thomas
EBH
Knees
Stannard


So Eisel misses out? Very surprised by that but I suppose Stannard's inclusion was always going to place a bit of doubt on Eisel's place. Knees is much more versatile than Eisel of course and presumably he's recovered well from the Giro. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a little Cav, Renshaw, Eisel reunion at OPQS in 2014...

No Uran too which means it's realistic to get Sky down to ''just'' Porte and Froome reasonably early on the final climb of the big mountain stages.

Effectively, Wiggins, Rogers, Siutsou, Eisel and Cavendish have been replaced in 2013 by Lopez, Kiryienka, Thomas, Kennaugh and Stannard. I was going to say definitely weaker in the mountains compared to last year but much depends on Lopez and Kiryienka refinding their spring form.

 

[akrogirl]

I wouldn't be surprised if we see a little Cav, Renshaw, Eisel reunion at OPQS in 2014...

I would love to see the old HTC train get back together, but will miss Eisel in the Tour.

 

[Escarabajo]

Froome
Porte
Lopez
Kennaugh
Kiryienka
Thomas
EBH
Knees
Stannard


So Eisel misses out? Very surprised by that but I suppose Stannard's inclusion was always going to place a bit of doubt on Eisel's place. Knees is much more versatile than Eisel of course and presumably he's recovered well from the Giro. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a little Cav, Renshaw, Eisel reunion at OPQS in 2014...

No Uran too which means it's realistic to get Sky down to ''just'' Porte and Froome reasonably early on the final climb of the big mountain stages.

Effectively, Wiggins, Rogers, Siutsou, Eisel and Cavendish have been replaced in 2013 by Lopez, Kiryienka, Thomas, Kennaugh and Stannard. I was going to say definitely weaker in the mountains compared to last year but much depends on Lopez and Kiryienka refinding their spring form.

With this team there could be problems in the mountains.

 

[masking_agent]

With this team there could be problems in the mountains.

I don't think so. This is the "tour de snore" after all, without many days in the mountains, nor summit finishes so i think the Porte-Froome duo will be able to hang on to the barage of Contador attacks

 

[JRanton]

With this team there could be problems in the mountains.

I think so too. One of the biggest risks is that if something happens to Porte (crash/illness) then Froome can become extremely isolated. If you have two elite mountain helpers (Porte + Uran/Henao) then that reduces the risk a lot.

Anyway, good news for the Colombians that they can focus on Vuelta/Worlds.

 

[JRanton]

I don't think so. This is the "tour de snore" after all, without many days in the mountains, nor summit finishes so i think the Porte-Froome duo will be able to hang on to the barage of Contador attacks

Probably but they can be islolated early the first time up Alpe d'Huez for instance. Saxo or Movistar should set a hellish pace, drop all of Sky apart from realistically Porte and Froome, and then attack both of them all the way (50km+) to the finish.

 

[Boeing]

Some real intriguing teams and strong riders this year... on the surface. However maybe it's like that every year before the start only to realize 2 men with the physical build of a choir boy are in the hunt for yellow