Teams & Riders EF Pro Cycling

[Colonel]

Re: Re:

there are many riders who manage to have one good season in this team but they are unable to mantain that level in the following years. .[/quote][/quote]

Not an attack at you, but this alone makes me rest my case on development and progression in this team.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I think Cannondale will really light the race up in the GT's with breaks in the hillier and mountainous days. Thats their thing, they have very good climbing depth, but none proved GT-riders apart from Talansky who isn't the most consistent guy around either. I could also see them do very well in second-tier stage races such as Tour of the Alps GC-wise this year. However, they should really stop riding WT-evens with 7-8 climbers in their squad unless its Pais Vasco.

Dombro and Rolland seems focused to Nibali-peak for the Giro, but both would be stupid to ride GC. Formolo is a bit of an unknown still, but can top-10.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Intrigued to see how the ones coached by Ken Vanmarcke will go this year? Does anyone know who he all coaches?

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Re:

Yes, JV is good a signing talent, but the team isn't very good at developing them.
He's coaching Dombrowski himself and he seems to be back on track, so maybe JV himself actually knows how to work with a young, pure climber, but the team as a whole doesn't seem to be a great place to develope riders.
Someone like Formolo would a lot of help and guidance when it comes to his TT-skills, he still hasn't found a good positition on the TT-bike that allows him to produce the same kind of wattage that he's able to produce on a roadbike.
I don't like JV, but they've got many talented and likeable riders, I feel bad for them.

Correct, a lot of talented likeable riders you want to back and get behind but thats often where it ends. 1 rider, (Dombrowski) is hardly enough to justify the many that have done worse than before coming onto the team.

Yu're right, I just picked him as an example because JV is coaching him, but he really had a horrible start as a neopro at Team Sky.

Wasn't the main reason Dombrowski went nowhere at Sky was due to health issues? Pretty sure he had to have an operation to clear a blocked artery in his leg.

 

[lenric]

Well, to be fair, prior to joining Cannondale, Rolland was top-10 GT material. And that was only 2 years ago.

 

[barmaher]

I am really looking forward to this improvement we have been promised with Rolland now he is with a professionally run team

 

[Choocher]

Re: Cannondale-Drapac

Does anyone know what's up with Taylor Phinney? Like everyone, I heard about his knee getting dinged up again, then he said it was all good and that he'd be at Catalunya, and then nothing. I was really hoping he could get back on track this spring.

 

[shalgo]

Re: Cannondale-Drapac

Does anyone know what's up with Taylor Phinney? Like everyone, I heard about his knee getting dinged up again, then he said it was all good and that he'd be at Catalunya, and then nothing. I was really hoping he could get back on track this spring.

Phinney is on the start list for E3 Harelbeke on Friday.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Cannondale-Drapac

Does anyone know what's up with Taylor Phinney? Like everyone, I heard about his knee getting dinged up again, then he said it was all good and that he'd be at Catalunya, and then nothing. I was really hoping he could get back on track this spring.

Phinney is on the start list for E3 Harelbeke on Friday.

It is nearly impossible to be good at this point of the classics season with no racing though, even if he is 100% healthy.

Not a good day a DDV today. Vanmarcke appears to have had the runs, which is I suppose better than if the problem was still his ribs. That can't be helped. Everyone missing the break and then also the big selection was pretty bad though.

 

[Ikbengodniet]

Vanmarcke said his ribs were not a significant problem in DDV. He was just bad and could not follow the others on the climbs. He hopes it was just an offday. He also had some stomach problems. Hope he will be allright next week.

 

[IndianCyclist]

I think they have a problem with weight management. Everybody looks too skinny - too low weight and power loss.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

I think they have a problem with weight management. Everybody looks too skinny - too low weight and power loss.

That already happened to a few of their riders, Ryder for example was really thin before the start of the 2013 Giro , 68kg or even lighter, and became rather fragile.
Formolo also had a few problems when he joined the team and lost a few kg (he used to be Jan Hirt thin as an amateur, then he put on a few kg when he turned pro to gain more power for the flat, back than he was 65kg, that was probably the best power to weight ratio for him), so you'd think that by now the team should know better.

 

[janraaskalt]

Re: Cannondale-Drapac

Does anyone know what's up with Taylor Phinney? Like everyone, I heard about his knee getting dinged up again, then he said it was all good and that he'd be at Catalunya, and then nothing. I was really hoping he could get back on track this spring.

Phinney is on the start list for E3 Harelbeke on Friday.

Coppi e Bartali, then Flanders and Roubaix for him.

 

[Anderis]

Re: Cannondale-Drapac

Kind of a decent day for Cannondale today. Skujins saves them from winning the "Last WorldTeam to get a win" competition this year and they had 3 riders in top20 in both Catalunya and E3.

Unfortunately, Vanmarcke doesn't seem to have recovered from his health issues yet, so the win wasn't on cards in E3, but I was really satisfied with the numbers they had near the front late in the race. I was really curious to see if Bettiol could ever become a good cobbled rider after his breakthrough last year and the answer after today seems to be "yes". Van Baarle continues to be perhaps the most consistent u-25 rider on cobbles since last year. Even Tom Scully had a performance worhty of a WT rider, perhaps the first time during his career. Vanmarcke should have a good support for RVV and PR in case he manages to recover.

 

[Anderis]

In E3, each time when peleton was going to split, Cannondale looked like having 5-6 riders in top60 and 3 in top25. Today they barely managed to have 2 in top60. Most of the team was at the back of the peloton all the time. I don't know what happened to these guys in just 2 days. Maybe losing their nominal leader was a hit to the morale?

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

In E3, each time when peleton was going to split, Cannondale looked like having 5-6 riders in top60 and 3 in top25. Today they barely managed to have 2 in top60. Most of the team was at the back of the peloton all the time. I don't know what happened to these guys in just 2 days. Maybe losing their nominal leader was a hit to the morale?

It's a bit weird.

Vanmarcke is out, fair enough. Bettiol was in the big group that almost caught the leaders. Mullen was in the break and then worked on the front of that group after he was caught. Van Asbroeck was in the group with Bettiol until near the end I think. So nothing spectacular from those guys, but a decent day's work. The rest of the team though just seemed to go missing.

 

[nedhill]

Re:

In E3, each time when peleton was going to split, Cannondale looked like having 5-6 riders in top60 and 3 in top25. Today they barely managed to have 2 in top60. Most of the team was at the back of the peloton all the time. I don't know what happened to these guys in just 2 days. Maybe losing their nominal leader was a hit to the morale?

Bummer that van Baarle got a flat and the wrong time. Langeveld tried to bring him back but they couldn't make it.

Bettiol was well placed but missed the move when Keukeleire went, as he had just covered a moved, after getting a bottle and was at the back.

Skuijins had a mechanical in the Coppi e Bartali, he got isolated without team members after many of them suffered crashes in the last few days, but ended a good second. "After almost getting taken out on the final climb, dropping the chain, stopping I just missed the from group by 20m over the top."

 

[TommyGun]

So, I just write here to voice my concern, or at least some questions about Cannondale's management of riders, especially regarding training methods:

I know that Pierre Rolland has spent most of the winter (up to two weeks ago, even) training with an informal group ride from his hometown: usually it is composed of some amateurs or semi-pros, as well as a lot of people that do not engage in any races. They do around 90 km per ride at moderate intensity, and the area is pan flat. Is such training intense enough for a rider of Rolland's quality? Maybe he goes for training camps in the mountains from time to time, but surely this is not the best way to get ready for demanding racing at the pro level?

 

[Anderis]

Re: Cannondale-Drapac

I don't think anyone here can answer your question. It might be that Cannondale decided he shouldn't be doing too hard training at this point of the year (to have a slow start of the year and compensate for that later) or maybe he was instructed to train more but didn't obey the instructions. There are several possibilities and we won't know for sure unless you ask someone from the team what was the plan for him.

I write here to voice another concern.

“The whole group is devoted to giving Sep the best chance to succeed,” said Klier. “The plan is to protect Sep, to keep him in the right place and the right time as much as we can.”

Not that Sep doesn't deserve a protected rider status but "as much as we can" suggests they may be compromising the chances of other riders like Van Baarle or Bettiol who have proved to be good recently for a rider with uncertain form. Surely healthy Vanmarcke is their best bet for this race, but knowing that he has had a plenty of issues so far this spring, wouldn't it be sensible to be open to different scenarios? I actually have an easier time imagining that Van Baarle somehow manages to win being overlooked by the favouirites than Vanmarcke, who will have much harder time to get some freedom from the big guys and he doesn't really have the skills (sprint or ability to succesfully attack alone) to beat riders like Sagan or Greg in a straight fight as he proved this multiple of times.

I hope they get it right because they really looked promising as a team in E3.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Vanmarcke and Phinney both out of Paris Roubaix. Cannondale just have no luck at the moment. That said, they are so strong as a cobbled team on paper that they still have a pretty decent line up for the race. Van Baarle and Langeveld is a better leadership pairing than any team bar Quickstep could set out with after losing their main leader. And Van Asbroeck, Mullen, Clarke etc makes up a competent cast of support riders. Why don't they have Bettiol in this race though?

 

[StryderHells]

Re:

Vanmarcke and Phinney both out of Paris Roubaix. Cannondale just have no luck at the moment. That said, they are so strong as a cobbled team on paper that they still have a pretty decent line up for the race. Van Baarle and Langeveld is a better leadership pairing than any team bar Quickstep could set out with after losing their main leader. And Van Asbroeck, Mullen, Clarke etc makes up a competent cast of support riders. Why don't they have Bettiol in this race though?

He's only 23 and still has the rest of the season to go, Roubaix is a hard race and realistically I doubt he'd finish high up just yet so why not give him the rest for the Ardennes after racing De Ronde, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 and Dwars.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Cannondale-Drapac

Woods was great at PV today

 

[luckyboy]

Still, finishing 3rd and 4th in a 4 man group...

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Still, finishing 3rd and 4th in a 4 man group...

Come on, they lost a small group sprint to Valverde. Even the likes of Alaphillipe, Martin, Kwiatkowski and other puncheurs are expected to do that.

Also it wasn't a four man group when the sprint started. Meintjes and Contador lost more ground.

 

[ThePirate81]

Good showing by Woods. Go Rusty!