Garmin-Cervelo TdF

[Eric8-A]

As well all know now, some riders from the Cervelo Test Team will be joining the Garmin squad for 2011. I think that for 2011, JV and Matty White will be having a hard time to choose a Tour roster considering that some of the riders joining Garmin have had good success in the Tour. Haussler and Thor have both been stage winners and Christophe le Mevel has placed in the top 10. So what will be Garmin's main objective for the 2011 Tour? Will it be the GC or stage wins? Since 2008, they have placed 3 different riders in the top 10. But I find that there's a lack of support for the GC leaders on the climbs. This year, I give props to Van Sumeran for doing what he could with Ryder this year since he was the only one who could have given real support.
Assuming that no injuries occur in 2011, my guess is that this will be their roster:
Christian Vandevelde
David Zabriskie
David Millar
Tyler Farrar
Julian Dean
Ryder Hesjedal
Hainrich Haussler
Thor Hushovd
Martijn Maaskant

In my opinion, they should add some more climbers to their squad. Dan Martin had a breakthrough season this year, so he could work. Le Mevel would be good too. I still wonder why Danielson hasn't done a Tour.

What's your guys take on this?

 

[Kwibus]

Christian Vandevelde
David Zabriskie
David Millar
Tyler Farrar
Julian Dean
Ryder Hesjedal
Hainrich Haussler
Thor Hushovd
Martijn Maaskant

Tough call, but I think Maaskant isn't going next year. Allthough they do want a train for their sprinters...
Leaving Dan Martin and Le Mevel at home is a luxury problem, allthough they could send Martin to the Giro and Vuelta. Le Mevel will probably be very very dissapointed if he didn't go to the Tour.

 

[Ferminal]

Very tough for Masskant to get selected, if anyone it would be Vansummeren, but that spot might go to one of the better climbers.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Unless vandevelde becomes apart of the leadout or takes up at bert grabsch role then I think he will have to miss out.

Farrar
Haussler
Hushovd
Zabriske
Van summeren
Hesjedal
Le Mevel
Dean
Millar

 

[online-rider]

Unless vandevelde becomes apart of the leadout or takes up at bert grabsch role then I think he will have to miss out.

Farrar
Haussler
Hushovd
Zabriske
Van summeren
Hesjedal
Le Mevel
Dean
Millar

Surely they'll take vandevelde for the TTT and for Yankee pride. Who else from Cervelo is coming accross .. Won't Brett Lancaster make the grade?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Surely they'll take vandevelde for the TTT and for Yankee pride. Who else from Cervelo is coming accross .. Won't Brett Lancaster make the grade?

Lancaster would have to have a good season for him to get a tour spot. For CVV and garmin's sake's I don't think they should take him.

 

[online-rider]

Lancaster would have to have a good season for him to get a tour spot. For CVV and garmin's sake's I don't think they should take him.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Taking all 3 of Farrar, Hushovd and Haussler would be a quite moronic waste of resources; non of them are a shoe-in for stages wins if fully supported, and if they try to split resources they would each have absolutely no chance at all.

This isn't the spring classics where sheer volume of options is a tactic in itself; when it comes to the sprint stages everyone else remotely serious will be focussing on their 1 guy, and if Garmin are sensible they will do the same. At that point I wonder at the sense in bringing Hushovd AND Haussler along as leadout men.

 

[ingsve]

Taking all 3 of Farrar, Hushovd and Haussler would be a quite moronic waste of resources; non of them are a shoe-in for stages wins if fully supported, and if they try to split resources they would each have absolutely no chance at all.

This isn't the spring classics where sheer volume of options is a tactic in itself; when it comes to the sprint stages everyone else remotely serious will be focussing on their 1 guy, and if Garmin are sensible they will do the same. At that point I wonder at the sense in bringing Hushovd AND Haussler along as leadout men.

+1

I see no point in bringing Haussler to the Tour this year. Farrar will be the supported rider for the sprints and Hushovd is world champion and will cover the stages that are a little thougher in the end. That leaves no real stages for Haussler to hunt without being a redundancy and that leaves working in the lead out train and Hasuller is too good to be relegated to that job and frankly he hasn't been the best at it in the past.

My team would be:

CVV
Hesjedal
Millar
Zabriskie
Le Mevel
Farrar
Hushovd
Dean
Lancaster

That gives them pretty good support both for a leader and for the sprints without crippling either side of the team.

 

[c&cfan]

good choice. still i believe that this team will have a bad season.

they dont have a bonen or a cancellara or a shleck or contador or a cavendish.

humm... let's see.. there's a high possibility that they end the season with small wins.

 

[Zaschrona]

They will go for top 10 result in GC, green jersey and stage wins, so this would be my squad:

Tyler Farrar
Thor Hushovd
Heinrich Haussler
Julien Dean
David Millar
David Zabriskie
Ryder Hesjedal
Christophe Le Mevel
Christian Vande Velde

 

[Ferminal]

+1

I see no point in bringing Haussler to the Tour this year. Farrar will be the supported rider for the sprints and Hushovd is world champion and will cover the stages that are a little thougher in the end. That leaves no real stages for Haussler to hunt without being a redundancy and that leaves working in the lead out train and Hasuller is too good to be relegated to that job and frankly he hasn't been the best at it in the past.

There was nothing like Bos and Haussler riding together in Qatar, had no idea what they were doing trying to lead each other out or what.

 

[ingsve]

There was nothing like Bos and Haussler riding together in Qatar, had no idea what they were doing trying to lead each other out or what.

Ya, that's the problem that comes when having two finishers in the end rather than one finisher and a talented lead out. It was like the old Credit Agricole situation with O'Grady and Hushovd when both of them were sprinting on either side of the road.

 

[Dalakhani]

Tyler Farrar
Thor Hushovd
Heinrich Haussler

Surely it'll only be 2 from this 3?

IMO, the interesting question is whether they think they have a chance at winning the Green Jersey. And, if so, with whom?

The change to the intermediate sprints could be a big factor. Is it beneficial to Hushovd, or will it rob him of any chance of winning?

Anyone got an opinion on this?

Steve

 

[Ferminal]

Surely it'll only be 2 from this 3?

IMO, the interesting question is whether they think they have a chance at winning the Green Jersey. And, if so, with whom?

The change to the intermediate sprints could be a big factor. Is it beneficial to Hushovd, or will it rob him of any chance of winning?

Anyone got an opinion on this?

Steve

It depends on how the mountain/intermediate stages are designed. If Thor can use that to his advantage he might be able to do what he's done in the last two years, he might have to do it on more days. You would think that on the flat days Hushovd would want the break to get out before the sprint, I don't think HTC would be willing to work every day to ensure a bunch sprint in the middle. On the mountain stages (with a tough climb before the sprint) Cav gets no points, but on the flat Hushovd can still get top10.

It's actually very hard to predict how it will pan out.

 

[ingsve]

Surely it'll only be 2 from this 3?

IMO, the interesting question is whether they think they have a chance at winning the Green Jersey. And, if so, with whom?

The change to the intermediate sprints could be a big factor. Is it beneficial to Hushovd, or will it rob him of any chance of winning?

Anyone got an opinion on this?

Steve

Hushovd has said that he will not be going for the green jersey next year but only a stage win in the thougher finishes in the first week. Though I guess if someone was to happen to Farrar so that Farrar is hopelessly behind on points then perhaps they could reassess but initially it will be Farrar for Green.

The change in intermediates will certainly force anyone interested in green to at least place in most intermediate sprints. It's the top 15 that gets points and not just top 3 like before so even when there is a break there will be points to grab on every stage. I think that favors a quick sprinter like Cavendish if he can get himself to actually sprint for the points.

 

[TERMINATOR]

Assuming that no injuries occur in 2011, my guess is that this will be their roster:

Christian Vandevelde
David Zabriskie
David Millar
Tyler Farrar
Julian Dean
Ryder Hesjedal
Hainrich Haussler
Thor Hushovd
Martijn Maaskant

This roster is a disaster for the Tour. Vande Velde is not going to contend for the GC and everyone else on that roster has their best years behind them.

Also, bifurcating a Tour strategy between the green jersey (Thor and Farrar) and the GC (VandeVelde) is a reckless strategy. No team I know of does both - at least not successfully.

Vaughters is desperate for a Tour de France stage win or at least something more than just "being there." For all the money Garmin has dumped into this team, its results in the Tour de France are non-existent.

 

[maltiv]

This roster is a disaster for the Tour. Vande Velde is not going to contend for the GC and everyone else on that roster has their best years behind them.

Also, bifurcating a Tour strategy between the green jersey (Thor and Farrar) and the GC (VandeVelde) is a reckless strategy. No team I know of does both - at least not successfully.

Vaughters is desperate for a Tour de France stage win or at least something more than just "being there." For all the money Garmin has dumped into this team, its results in the Tour de France are non-existent.

There is no problem in going for a top 10 GC as well as the green jersey. You are right that the teams with the top 3 usually don't have a green jersey contender, but Garmin does not have anyone that can be on the podium in the end anyway so not focusing on the green jersey at the same time would be crazy. You don't really need much support to be 6-10th overall, considering you won't have to control the race at all.

I guess the problem is that even the best possible leadout doesn't change the fact that Cavendish is the fastest sprinter by far in july, and they will need some luck in order to get a stage from a bunch sprint. Their best chance for a stage victory is either the uphill finish in stage 1, where both Hushovd and Farrar could win, or in one of the semi-hard stages where Cavendish will be dropped while Garmin controls the peloton so it ends in a reduced bunch sprint.

 

[luckyboy]

Wonder which rider will suddenly make the top 10 for them this year.

 

[ingsve]

Wonder which rider will suddenly make the top 10 for them this year.

I'm guessing the next in line ought to be Dan Martin.

 

[ingsve]

I guess the problem is that even the best possible leadout doesn't change the fact that Cavendish is the fastest sprinter by far in july, and they will need some luck in order to get a stage from a bunch sprint. Their best chance for a stage victory is either the uphill finish in stage 1, where both Hushovd and Farrar could win, or in one of the semi-hard stages where Cavendish will be dropped while Garmin controls the peloton so it ends in a reduced bunch sprint.

Well, they shouldn't give up fighting against Cav before the race even starts. I think that if anyone could possibly beat Cav in a fair sprint then it's Farrar and think that had he not injured himself last year Farrar would have been able to really make Cav work for any win.

 

[sublimit]

Definate -

Farrar
Millar
Zabriskie
Dean
Hushovd

another 4 from -

Haussler
Van Summeren
Vande-Velde
Hesjdal
Le Mevel
Maaskant
Danielson
D Martin
Petersen

unlikely-

Wilson
meyor
Lancaster
bobridge
Hunter


I'd give Danielson a go as he rode well at the Vuelta, Petersen, Hesjedal, Van Summeren ,Millar, Zabriskie,Dean,Hushovd,Farrar.

 

[royalpig180]

I'm guessing the next in line ought to be Dan Martin.

Seems to me Martin has shown he's good on shorter climbs and has a good kick, but has he really shown anything to suggest he's good on longer climbs like l'Alpe d'Huez? (to be honest, I would have said the same thing about Hesjedal before this year's tour)

 

[mycenos]

Haussler said shortly after the merge that he didn't expect to be doing the Tour in 2011, but would probably do the Giro and Vuelta. Since then Vaughters has mentioned the possibility of taking HH to the Tour, so I doubt it's set in stone--but I thought it was worth mentioning.

 

[ingsve]

Seems to me Martin has shown he's good on shorter climbs and has a good kick, but has he really shown anything to suggest he's good on longer climbs like l'Alpe d'Huez? (to be honest, I would have said the same thing about Hesjedal before this year's tour)

Well, going from being good at shorter climbs to being able to handle high mountains is a fairly minimal change I would say. I see no reason why he couldn't develop that way.

As of yet his best effort on tough mountains is probably his 9th place on Zoncolan this year.