"Escarabajos" Who is the best climber?

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Atapuma, Chaves, Duarte, Chalapud, Pantano, Suarez, Valencia...

With this team they're going to get less Top 10 placings as NetApp this year.

 

[Jason_Mercier]

With this team they're going to get less Top 10 placings as NetApp this year.

These are the better riders they have. First 5 secure. And IMO with that team they could win one or two stages, fight for the mountain jersey and aim a Top10 in the final GC.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

they need some freaking european big guy rouleurs....weren't they supposed to sign? if they will go only for stage wins it's ok though

only if big opportunites for them would rise, but name me anyone without a contract. they better stick to colombians. they also have good rouleurs, although not in coldeportes

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

These are the better riders they have. First 5 secure. And IMO with that team they could win one or two stages, fight for the mountain jersey and aim a Top10 in the final GC.

never mind. he's trolling

 

[Jason_Mercier]

The long-awaited moment has finally come, and the*100th Tour de France’s*route was unveiled to the World by Director*Christian Prudhomme*in a ceremony held in Paris on Wednesday October 24th.
The centenary edition of theGrande Boucle*will take place from*June 29th to July 21st, 2013, and will start from Corsica for the very first time in its long and illustrious history: 21 stages and 3.479 kilometres (90 against the clock) expect the riders, while six high-mountain stages – including four uphill finishes – are set to shape the final overall classification.
Colombia Coldeportes*General Manager*Claudio Corti*attended the ceremony with Sports Director*Valerio Tebaldi*and rider*Esteban Chaves, who first showed his amazing talent in an ASO race – the*Tour de l’Avenir*– back in 2011. Warmly welcomed by Director Prudhomme, Corti and Chaves expressed very positive feedbacks on 2013 Tour de France, that will definitely suit climbers much more than in the near past.
“The route is great*– General Manager Corti stated –*everything seems in place for a great show. Four uphill finishes and plenty of other big mountains will give climbers the chance to shine, and “grimpeurs” like ours could play a big part in 2013 Tour’s plot. Should we be at the start in Corsica, we will go for every opportunity.”

The presentation gave Esteban Chaves a first taste of what the Grande Boucle is all about. The exciting Colombian prospect carefully observed the profile of the toughest stages of the race, but one made his eyes shine in delight: “The 18th stage features two climbs up theAlpe d’Huez, one of the mythical climbs of the Tour de France. The stage is not very long (168 km), but it will definitely be long and testing, coming in the final part of the race: I dream of taking part to this race, hopefully we will manage to deserve ASO’s trust.”
Just more than 5 years ago, in 2007,*Juan Mauricio Soler*delighted Colombian fans by winning a Tour de France stage in Briançon and clinching the illustrious polka-dot jersey. Just behind him, in the team car, sat Claudio Corti and Valerio Tebaldi: will they be part of the next Colombian dream?
Photo: Claudio Corti and Esteban Chaves with Tour de France Director Christian Prudhomme
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[uphillstruggle]

And Henao wasn't sacrificed for Froome at Vuelta ?

Henao also did Giro this year ( 2 GT's ), where he got 9th place

Yeah I forgot about him doing the Vuelta 9th is a good result as a domestique but the stage where Valverde was gapped by Sky after the crash Quintana burnt a lot of energy trying to get Valverde back on. He also went up the road a lot waiting for Val, this burns more energy than riding tempo.

Quitana has shown that he can mix it with the top climbers and even attack them. With Henao it looked more like he was just about managing to stay with the other climbers (this being a tried and tested way of placing well, but never winning stage races). For me, if Quintana can develop some consistency (It's just too early to tell if he has it for GT's) his ability is good enough to place him highly is stage races.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

What about Argiro Ospina, riding for Movistar next year, he any good?

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

What about Argiro Ospina, riding for Movistar next year, he any good?

he's the best u23 rider in colombia. of or near the level of quintana I'd say. although somewhat different type of rider. more explosive and also bigger. he's only been riding since a few years and already this past rcn proved to be the best climber in the entire field. beter even than his leader cano. so he should have quite some margin left still.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Great, another climber who might turn out to be the level of Quintana is very welcome as far as I'm concerned.

Any other new Colombians in Europe this year?