General News Thread

[Michielveedeebee]

Devolder starts his season in Besseges tomorrow

 

[jens_attacks]

it seems that alberto won't accept this huge humiliation and will fight back no matter what.i respect that.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=35230

and eze will lead vacansoleil in ruta del sol.which is very good news.the rats can't do shiit about this.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=35240

and god damn another great one:

tintin will go for the flanders!!!brilliant!

"I'm sure of what I am doing. In this two-year ban, I trained almost every day, and will sign with a new team soon. I am still deciding between two teams, one is part of the ProTour [World Tour],"

 

[issoisso]

Antón is finally confirmed for the Giro. Hooray!
The field there is shaping up nicely

On a side note, Cyclingnews quotes him as saying it'll be his first Giro. I can't find him saying that in any other source. It would be very odd of him, since he's started (and finished) the Giro before.

 

[The Hitch]

Antón is finally confirmed for the Giro. Hooray!
The field there is shaping up nicely

On a side note, Cyclingnews quotes him as saying it'll be his first Giro. I can't find him saying that in any other source. It would be very odd of him, since he's started (and finished) the Giro before.

Wow great news. Do you have a link?

Giro line up will be better than the Tours this year. Another step in the gradual procees to gt equality. Well maybe.

Anton vs Ricco vs Menchov vs Rujano vs Nibali vs Scarponi vs Kreuziger vs maybe Di Luca.

Andrew vs Cadel vs ivan vs Samu vs Bobby vs Fránk vs Vino vs maybe Soler.

Their both good but i think Giros is better, when you consider how close that can be. Anyone can win.

 

[Arnout]

Antón is finally confirmed for the Giro. Hooray!
The field there is shaping up nicely

On a side note, Cyclingnews quotes him as saying it'll be his first Giro. I can't find him saying that in any other source. It would be very odd of him, since he's started (and finished) the Giro before.

It was actually confirmed two months ago. Video presentation 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vliH6nXBbU

 

[issoisso]

Wow great news. Do you have a link?

Sure. Here's a random one.

http://www.deia.com/2011/02/04/deportes/ciclismo/honrad-a-este-pais

Giro and Vuelta for Antón. He wants a stage and maybe a podium. Says he doesn't know the Giro well enough to go for the GC win.

Vuelta al País Vasco and Tour de France for Samuel.

 

[luckyboy]

Wow great news. Do you have a link?

Giro line up will be better than the Tours this year. Another step in the gradual procees to gt equality. Well maybe.

Anton vs Ricco vs Menchov vs Rujano vs Nibali vs Scarponi vs Kreuziger vs maybe Di Luca.

Andrew vs Cadel vs ivan vs Samu vs Bobby vs Fránk vs Vino vs maybe Soler.

Their both good but i think Giros is better, when you consider how close that can be. Anyone can win.

I wouldn't say Frank, Vino or Soler will be contesting the win.

Giro looks infinitely better.

 

[theyoungest]

Wow great news. Do you have a link?

Giro line up will be better than the Tours this year. Another step in the gradual procees to gt equality. Well maybe.

Anton vs Ricco vs Menchov vs Rujano vs Nibali vs Scarponi vs Kreuziger vs maybe Di Luca.

Andrew vs Cadel vs ivan vs Samu vs Bobby vs Fránk vs Vino vs maybe Soler.

Their both good but i think Giros is better, when you consider how close that can be. Anyone can win.

I don't know the current plans, but there was talk of Purito riding the Giro as well. In which case, of course, he would be an instant favourite.

 

[jaylew]

I don't know the current plans, but there was talk of Purito riding the Giro as well. In which case, of course, he would be an instant favourite.

JoRod said he will decide on Giro vs Tour after the Ardennes.

Wow great news. Do you have a link?

Giro line up will be better than the Tours this year. Another step in the gradual procees to gt equality. Well maybe.

Anton vs Ricco vs Menchov vs Rujano vs Nibali vs Scarponi vs Kreuziger vs maybe Di Luca.

Andrew vs Cadel vs ivan vs Samu vs Bobby vs Fránk vs Vino vs maybe Soler.

Their both good but i think Giros is better, when you consider how close that can be. Anyone can win.

We could add Sastre and JVDB2 to the lists. Purito could tip it either way, but right now I'm giving the edge to the Giro. Wow, this is the first time I've even come close to being as excited by the Giro lineup.

 

[The Hitch]

JoRod said he will decide on Giro vs Tour after the Ardennes.


We could add Sastre and JVDB2 to the lists. Purito could tip it either way, but right now I'm giving the edge to the Giro. Wow, this is the first time I've even come close to being as excited by the Giro lineup.

I deliberately left out JVDB

 

[hrotha]

I wouldn't say Frank, Vino or Soler will be contesting the win.

Giro looks infinitely better.

No problem with Rujano?

 

[jaylew]

Good news on the televised cycling front.

 

[rxgqgxnyfz]

Good news on the televised cycling front.

Why would they show Strade Bianchi internationally if organisers made absolutely sure noone but italians would come to the race?

 

[luckyboy]

No problem with Rujano?

We know Soler and Schleck won't be challenging for the win. Vino isn't going to be up there.

Rujano's coming back to the team and DS where he got his best result. He could fail badly, or he could do really well.

But we don't know how he'll get on, whereas we know Vino, Soler and Frank won't be beating Basso, Andy, Cadel, Samu etc.

Soler is a bit of a wildcard in the same respect. Though I'd like to see what he'd do in the mountains of this Giro.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Does anyone know about the route for Tirreno - Adriatico?

 

[roundabout]

Does anyone know about the route for Tirreno - Adriatico?

Don't be surprised if there will be a TTT.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Antón is finally confirmed for the Giro. Hooray!
The field there is shaping up nicely

On a side note, Cyclingnews quotes him as saying it'll be his first Giro. I can't find him saying that in any other source. It would be very odd of him, since he's started (and finished) the Giro before.

indeed, the most disappointing aspect of the giro last year was a thin field of real contenders. Great to see a shift change, even if some have no alternative (menchov etc).

I wouldn't say Frank, Vino or Soler will be contesting the win.

Giro looks infinitely better.

agreed. on both points.

 

[auscyclefan94]

indeed, the most disappointing aspect of the giro last year was a thin field of real contenders. Great to see a shift change, even if some have no alternative (menchov etc).



agreed. on both points.

I wouldn't say it is much better. Menchov is really the rider who makes the field look stronger than last year.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I wouldn't say it is much better. Menchov is really the rider who makes the field look stronger than last year.

it isn't just menchov.
anton, ricco.. some of the best climbers in the world.
Return of rujano (and I'm not one of those guys on the Colombian - yes i know he isn't Colombian blah blah - hype train.. far from it).
Nibali with added self belief and experience... same goes for scarponi really (i can only see him being better at the giro this year, last year he didn't really think about winning the giro.. this year he might)
+ krueziger (even tho i believe he will fail, should add some interest), di luca maybe, the usual suspects (cunego, garzelli etc), sastre(?), sella(?).
Maybe even purito will ride.

There is a lot to like about the field at this stage.
Much better the 10' imo.

 

[jaylew]

That and it looks a whole lot better when you consider the guys the Tour will be missing this year.

 

[The Hitch]

it isn't just menchov.
anton, ricco.. some of the best climbers in the world.
Return of rujano (and I'm not one of those guys on the Colombian - yes i know he isn't Colombian blah blah - hype train.. far from it).
Nibali with added self belief and experience... same goes for scarponi really (i can only see him being better at the giro this year, last year he didn't really think about winning the giro.. this year he might)
+ krueziger (even tho i believe he will fail, should add some interest), di luca maybe, the usual suspects (cunego, garzelli etc), sastre(?), sella(?).
Maybe even purito will ride.

There is a lot to like about the field at this stage.
Much better the 10' imo.

Another way to look at it

GT winners in Giro
Dennis Menchov- Vuelta 2005 Vuelta 2007
Carlos Sastre - Tour de France 2008
Vincenzo Nibali - Giro d italia 2010
Danilo Di Luca? Giro 2007

Gt Winners in Tour
Ivan Basso - Giro 2006 2010
Alexander Vinokourov Vuelta 2006

Undeclared
Damnaino Cunego Giro 2004 (wont be challenging anyway)

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

That and it looks a whole lot better when you consider the guys the Tour will be missing this year.

to be fair, the tour will still have a very good field also. But that is of little surprise.
Anyway it is good; more contenders in both giro and tour, rather then a huge field of contenders-- where some pretty decent riders stay in the shadows as a result --at the tour and a weaker field at the giro.


mmm the giro will be epic
Ricco, Anton and Menchov = podium (undecided on order )

 

[The Hitch]

1 Scarponi
2 Rujano
3 Ricco

for me.

Also this huge depth for the Giro should boost the warmup races. When the guys go for Tour they have Suisse and Criterium to choose from and used to be Austria as well.

Giro doesnt have this variety. Im predicting that Giro Trentino will have a better field than the Tour

 

[hrotha]

I'm not sure why you rate Rujano so much, honestly. It hasn't been long since he didn't do crap at Caisse.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I'm not sure why you rate Rujano so much, honestly. It hasn't been long since he didn't do crap at Caisse.

I kinda agree, though he has the talent.
But I find the podium a big stretch. I can kinda see it being a 5 man race (ricco, scarponi, anton, menchov, nibali) and then rujano possibly being the best of the rest, but I can't see him being up there every stage. He could very well be up there on quite a few stages tho, and prove a great animator of the race (i also think he will win the mountain tt)

as for people claiming he is the best climber or top 3 climber in the world. Dominating in s/america doesn't justify this title.