General News Thread

[Richeypen]

http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjI5MDY=

Pais Vasco provisional start list. Too many contenders to mention! Should be a great race.

Thats one great line up. Is it right Steve Cummings is back? Thought he would be out for months

 

[JRanton]

Updated UCI rankings after G-W and Catalunya:

1 SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) GBR 356
2 GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) AUS 333
3 LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) ITA 326
4 RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) LUX 315
5 KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) RUS 256
6 OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) BEL 209
7 MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) ESP 198
8 VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) NED 198
9 ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) KAZ 130
10 LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) BEL 101
11 GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) USA 97
12 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS) ESP 88
13 LAMPRE - ISD (LAM) ITA 86
14 BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) USA 78
15 RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) NED 77
16 AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) FRA 76
17 FDJ-BIG MAT (FDJ) FRA 71
18 TEAM SAXO BANK (SAX) DEN 2



1 GERRANS Simon GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 210
2 NIBALI Vincenzo LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 182
3 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 167
4 BOONEN Tom OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 166
5 FREIRE GOMEZ Oscar ESP19760215 KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 140
6 SAGAN Peter LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 129
7 ALBASINI Michael GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 112
8 WIGGINS Bradley SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 112
9 WESTRA Lieuwe VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 92
10 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS) 88

11 CANCELLARA Fabian RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 86
12 HORNER Christopher RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 84
13 KREUZIGER Roman ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 78
14 MACHADO Tiago RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 72
15 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) 70
16 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 70
17 URAN URAN Rigoberto SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 63
18 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 62
19 NOCENTINI Rinaldo AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 61
20 ROGERS Michael SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 61

 

[JRanton]

Yea, just a shame it's going to be won by somebody fairly boring in the uncharacteristically flat ITT thanks to the worst parcours in living memory for the race.

Is it really that bad? Normally the Pais Vasco parcours is excellent.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Is it really that bad? Normally the Pais Vasco parcours is excellent.

Yes. It's dreadful. You know how last year everyone had a group ride up Arrate and then it was won in the ITT? It's kind of like that, only the other stages are even worse, and the ITT is less technical.

There's a "mountaintop finish" on Ibardin, which is 5% if we're being generous for 6km, and Arrate, and that's it. If we're lucky we'll see attacks on stage 2 on the Puerto de Vitória, but it's pretty shallow, not steep at all, so I wouldn't expect anything that will give the TTers any trouble. Stage 3 is Arrate, Stage 4 is Ibardin, and doesn't really have any hard mountains before it either - a few climbs but a long period of rolling terrain before the final climb, so it'll come down to the last 2km when the ramps actually get halfway interesting, Stage 5 isn't much more than a flat stage, and the ITT is pancake flat. No typical Basque walls, only one real concerted climbing stage, and I envisage the whole lot of those contenders being on the same time until the ITT unless Arrate is raced much, much more aggressively than it has been the last couple of years. Ibardin will be a sprint of 15-20, and that's best case scenario. I fully expect Valverde vs. Gerrans, round 3, on this finish. There's no Aia-like stage 5 where contenders can make up time ahead of the TT either. I could actually see Francesco Gavazzi winning 3, maybe even 4 stages here, depending on Allan Davis' and Ángel Vicioso's climbing legs.

Absolutely pathetic. I'm glad the race hasn't died, and was desperate to see it survive... but the best thing I can say about this parcours is that it exists.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Updated UCI rankings after G-W and Catalunya:

<snip>
18 TEAM SAXO BANK (SAX) DEN 2

Yes! Moar points!

 

[Arnout]

Even though they doubled their points, they still dropped a place thanks to the 2 seconds of Sanchez. Those two seconds could be vital in October, even though it is laughable now. Weird system and weird race.

 

[theyoungest]

Yea, just a shame it's going to be won by somebody fairly boring in the uncharacteristically flat ITT thanks to the worst parcours in living memory for the race.

There's a guy on this forum, I think he's a Basque (Aguirre?) who said the TT isn't flat at all, and that the profile is misleading.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Even though they doubled their points, they still dropped a place thanks to the 2 seconds of Sanchez. Those two seconds could be vital in October, even though it is laughable now. Weird system and weird race.

It's just weird that with one good race you cannon from nothing to place 12. Luckily other races than the World Tour also count in the ranking that selects the Pro tour teams. (At least that's what I think...)

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I can't even remember since when Rabobank started so awful in the WT (previous PT). The fact that Gesink isn't in his usual early season shape hurts them a lot.

 

[Lupetto]

http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjI5MDY=

Pais Vasco provisional start list. Too many contenders to mention! Should be a great race.

Nibali, Basso, Capecchi, Szmyd, Agnoli and Salerno will do altitude training on Teide. Nibali will return April 7th, so he won't be at Pais Vasco.

 

[The Hitch]

It's just weird that with one good race you cannon from nothing to place 12. Luckily other races than the World Tour also count in the ranking that selects the Pro tour teams. (At least that's what I think...)

Only wt races count. thats why they are so important.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Only wt races count. thats why they are so important.

**** really? What a joke.

Saxo either have to buy lots of points at the end of the year, or they'll have to get Alberto back on their team and make sure he's able to earn points. But I'm not sure either are willing to take that gamble. They can never know if he'll earn enough points.

Movistar it is then.

 

[roundabout]

No, it's not only WT races. OTOH they are behind 8 pro continental teams.

http://nicosix.wordpress.com/category/cyclisme/classements-2012/classement-uci-2012/

 

[hfer07]

http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjI5MDY=

Pais Vasco provisional start list. Too many contenders to mention! Should be a great race.

......and finally Segio Henao is set to compete can't wait to see him in action

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

......and finally Segio Henao is set to compete can't wait to see him in action

starting in pais vasco with almost no racedays...
that'll be..nothing

 

[Libertine Seguros]

There's a guy on this forum, I think he's a Basque (Aguirre?) who said the TT isn't flat at all, and that the profile is misleading.

Oh, I don't doubt that. We're all familiar with the "Basque flat" from profiles.

But it's still a far, far flatter parcours than we've seen in previous years. Last year's Euskal Herriko Itzulia was already easier than we're used to, and this one makes that look like a Zomegnan special.

 

[roundabout]

Yeah, the TT is not flat. Still doesn't make it a good route though.

 

[Froome19]

Yeah, the TT is not flat. Still doesn't make it a good route though.

Yeh it was a good route regardless of the "flatness" of the TT

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yeh it was a good route regardless of the "flatness" of the TT

Evidently you are not familiar with the Vuelta al País Vasco, otherwise you'd realise that 3/6 stages likely to be sprints and a total of about 9km of climbing likely to be decisive (7 on Arrate and the last 2 of Ibardin) is NOT, under any circumstances, a good route.

 

[Parrulo]

21 COBO ACEBO Juan Jose Spain
22 BRUSEGHIN Marzio Italy
23 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro Spain
24 INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Benat Spain
25 LOPEZ GARCIA David Spain
26 KIRYIENKA Vasil Belarus
27 HERRADA LOPEZ Jesús Spain
28 FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto Portugal

movistar are sending a mighty strong squad on paper

 

[Libertine Seguros]

What do you expect? They're from Navarre. It's as close to a home stage race as they get (plus Intxausti and López are Basques so obviously will want to do well here).

 

[Parrulo]

What do you expect? They're from Navarre. It's as close to a home stage race as they get (plus Intxausti and López are Basques so obviously will want to do well here).

i know still they pretty much sent the strongest riders they have so maybe a bit of an overkill?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

i know still they pretty much sent the strongest riders they have so maybe a bit of an overkill?

Perhaps. But then, what's it up against in their mind? They aren't going to be competitive at the Ronde or Roubaix...

on the other hand, I'm surprised neither Rojas nor Ventoso are in the team. Both of them could have won half the stages. It suggests Movistar will be trying to make this race a lot harder than its parcours will suggest.

 

[Parrulo]

Perhaps. But then, what's it up against in their mind? They aren't going to be competitive at the Ronde or Roubaix...

on the other hand, I'm surprised neither Rojas nor Ventoso are in the team. Both of them could have won half the stages. It suggests Movistar will be trying to make this race a lot harder than its parcours will suggest.

that's true, it's not like there are any other appealing races for them going on at the same time. if they want piti or cobo to win they will indeed have to make the race really hard so they may need all that fire power. is cobo in good shape? he has won pais vasco before and this seems to be one of the races where he always performs

 

[nobilis]

What do you expect? They're from Navarre. It's as close to a home stage race as they get (plus Intxausti and López are Basques so obviously will want to do well here).

They're from Navarre, true, but it's a team with a Murcian flavor i think, with Valverde, Rojas...
Any news from Rojas today? Was he seriously injured?