auscyclefan94 said:
There you go! Didn't mean to be sarcastic about your favourite race. Was just having a bit of fun! Lighten up Libertine!
I was being serious about your team. I think it is a team that should see big improvements.
Sorry mate, I was having a bit of fun too, I should have put the
or
smiley to show it more clearly - based on our debate over the Volta's relative worth in another thread.
FWIW - My team:
Igor ANTÓN - 952 - a big spend pick, but one with potential to match that or beat it if he can finally finish a Grand Tour he contends in. The surprise hit of the Spring, and the only man to decisively drop Contador all season unless you count Evans and Rodríguez at Flèche Wallonne.
Carlos BETANCOURT - 45 - at such a low cost it was worth the risk on a Colombian neo-pro, on the basis that he'll get to do a fair few decent races on Acqua e Sapone, and as a Girobio winner he has the potential for growth.
David BLANCO - 300 - after a few years in Portugal, Blanco has won his way back to the top level. His age will hold him back somewhat, but even if he only does reasonably, the number of big races Geox will go to compared to Palmeiras Resort-Tavíra means he's got a good chance of bettering this score.
Matti BRESCHEL - 843 - to tell the truth I'd forgotten about his injury, and so selecting him was a bit of brain-fade. However, I did need somebody for the cobbles since my riders are all a bit Mediterranean-facing in their race calendars.
Eros CAPECCHI - 137 - Lots of potential in this guy ever since he won the Euskal Bizikleta's last edition. And we all know what a fertile ground Liquigas is for blooding young talent. Lots of potential to double or triple this score.
André CARDOSO - 124 - with Blanco now gone and Marque moving on, Cândido Barbosa becoming ever less reliable for results, Tavíra will look to Cardoso for A Volta. With a few invites in smaller Spanish stage races, a good showing in August will help Cardoso to improve on this score.
Matteo CARRARA - 561 - Carrara has solidly accumulated results in moderately lumpy stage races; with Vacansoleil obtaining WorldTour status we could be seeing more of him next year - plus he'll be a useful hand for a stage win or a decent showing in the Giro.
Jonathan CASTROVIEJO - 100 - young Basque with a lot of potential, will probably ride some more senior races this year, after being thoroughly reasonable at recovering through week long events this year. He can climb and he can TT, and he can definitely improve on that score.
Juan José COBO - 0 - reunited with Gianetti, Cobo's annus horribilis with Unzué should be swiftly forgotten as a blip on a Saunier Duval-inspired career. And if not, it's not like I've lost anything, is it?
Fabio DUARTE - 181 - riding for a team that seldom races in Europe has left him a bargain; his amazing talent plus being on Geox - with Sastre on the wane and Menchov as hardly Valverde or Evans for contending all-year-round - should see him have plenty of opportunities to add points.
Jesús HERRADA - 7 - hugely talented neo-pro. He may not score big - Unzué does like to carefully shelter his youngsters - but unless he does a Cobo he'll outscore his 2010 score; I'd expect him to do at least some smaller ProTour races like Plouay or Eneco.
Gorka IZAGIRRE - 126 - young Basque who can sort-of-sprint; as a result he'll probably be stuffed into most flatter WorldTour races, and is the likely successor to Koldo Fernández.
Michał KWIATKOWSKI - 87 - supremely talented Pole, beloved of Eusebio Unzué, who was off the front almost daily in the Spanish spring stage races. He can climb, he can TT, just a shame that sponsorship concerns damaged his move to Movistar, and so he finds himself at Radioshack. Still, I guess we might get a few months of entertainment out of him before Bruyneel beats it out of him.
Ángel MADRAZO - 20 - quality young Spaniard who has been handled with kid gloves so far; he'll be 23 in 2011 and should finally be given the ball to run with in some races better suited to him. Has the potential to multiply this score by 5 or 10. Maybe even more given the talent he has, but I think his results will build rather than explode onto the scene Sagan-style.
Alejandro MARQUE - 48 - Spanish (but not Puerto) ITT specialist who has moved from one Portuguese team to another (Onda-Boavista this year). I expect him not to score big, but to get some more than passable tallies from the domestic calendar now that some of the riders that would demote him down the order are gone to the upper echelons (Blanco, Bernabéu, Plaza, Machado) or the naughty step (Guerra)
Javier MORENO - 191 - a constant accumulator of results who has been consistent. Now moves to Caja Rural, a smaller team where he'll have more chances to ride for himself, so potential to add a few.
Pasquale MUTO - 324 - now that Niemiec is gone and Baliani is going to be 37, Muto will be Miche's second in command to Schumi. Muto is another solid accumulator of points in the Italian domestic calendar and who likes going hunting mountains points.
Przemysław NIEMIEC - 426 - as detailed above, I expect to break even on Niemiec - he won't be the team's leader at the Giro or anything, but there are enough races he could lead, and he'll still be brilliant in the domestic Italian calendar.
Sérgio PARDILLA - 585 - and for the first time he's in the big leagues. Again it's a bit of a gamble like Niemiec, but with the might of Movistar behind him and the team having no fixed leader he will have a few chances to ride biggish races for himself and get points.
Franco PELLIZOTTI - 60 - at that price, he's a huge bargain as, like Cobo, you're not exactly losing much if he has no team, is banned, or whatever. And if he does ride... what an upside!
Rubén PLAZA - 353 - didn't ride much in the first half of the season, probably out of shock that he has never been banned or +ve. But two GT top 20s is pretty good for a first year back at the top, and again, no fixed leader means chances to ride for himself.
José RUJANO - 261 - if he can finally manage to harness his talent he'll be a steal.
Cristiano SALERNO - 223 - talented Italian who seems to be able to sniff the right break; with his team hunting a Giro invite after last year's close thing on the national calendar, he'll want to make an impact in the Coppa Italia.
Cayetano SARMIENTO - 86 - young Colombian who will be licking his lips at the Giro parcours. And with Garzelli another year older and Paolini gone, could he step up for Acqua e Sapone?
Patrik SINKEWITZ - 340 - all points scored from June onwards as he hadn't got a team until then. This means that he missed a major portion of the Italian calendar - which is well suited to him. He'll target A Volta again, after a long spring of races where he can accumulate good points, the pressure's off him now he has a team again.
Juan Mauricio SOLER - 47 - one of a very select handful of riders to have put Contador in difficulty in 2010 (the others being Andy Schleck, Igor Antón and Ezequiel Mosquera by my reckoning) in that fabulous stage of Castilla y León, we've had brief glimpses of the old Soler in between injuries. Again, at this price he's no great risk, and if he CAN bring back the old Soler, he's a steal.
Xavier TONDÓ - 653 - quite expensive, but will probably be the de facto Movistar leader at at least one GT, has recoverability, can win stages, likes picking up mountains points, and will be a terror in the early-season stage races. What's not to like?
Amets TXURRUKA - 75 - two broken collarbones derailed his Tour and what would have been a brilliant País Vasco. If they don't, he could easily double or treble this total, without taking his long overdue major stage win.
Ángel VICIOSO - 297 - that he has never been banned is even more shocking than Plaza, but he's collected solid results in every race he's been in. With Androni he'll be in more good points-paying races.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram