General News Thread

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Oct 18, 2009
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Seems like IAM is getting promoted by the UCI to WorldTour in a desperate move to fill up all 18 places.

This opens up the Wild Card game for the GTs 2015 again:

Giro: Androni, Bardiani, Neri Sottoli, Nippo-Vini Fantini
Tour: Bretagne, Cofidis, Bora, MTN
Vuelta: Caja Rural, Cofidis, Bora, MTN

... would be my guesses now.
 
Ryo Hazuki said:
mtn won't do both tour and vuelta. also giro is a certianty for colombia with corti as manager

I would normally agree, but with four Italian ProConti teams in 2015 there will be simply no place left for Colombia. Nippo-VF has Cunego, Bardiani has Colbrelli, Neri Sottoli has won the Coppa Italia so is guaranteed a wildcard. So it will be Androni vs. Colombia or Savio vs. Corti. My money is on Savio.
 
Apr 15, 2013
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Bye Bye Bicycle said:
Seems like IAM is getting promoted by the UCI to WorldTour in a desperate move to fill up all 18 places.

This opens up the Wild Card game for the GTs 2015 again:

Giro: Androni, Bardiani, Neri Sottoli, Nippo-Vini Fantini
Tour: Bretagne, Cofidis, Bora, MTN
Vuelta: Caja Rural, Cofidis, Bora, MTN

... would be my guesses now.

You could see Cofidis getting invited to all 3 GTs... with Bouhanni in the wings, one could imagine Bouhanni going to the Giro just for the first 10 stages, then doing the Tour full on and the end of season races, whereas a guy like Navarro would do the Tour for stages and the Vuelta for GC. Add some riders here and there (including some quality sprinters in Ashstrand and a couple of young belgians) and Cofidis can field decent teams on the 3 GTs.

Really having IAM promoted makes Cofidis the unofficial 19th WT team as it means they will get all the invitations they want basically.
 
veji11 said:
Really having IAM promoted makes Cofidis the unofficial 19th WT team as it means they will get all the invitations they want basically.
What's the difference if IAM would move up to WT? They would ride 2 GTs anyway, so that's 1 wild card less. Verbrugghe denied IAM would take that 18th spot.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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IAM shouldn't have done this methinks. They will be invisible in most races, instead of being able to pick and choose the races they participate in, and actually excell at them. Cofidis has got it figured out. They are basically WT without all the hassle of being WT. They got participations at all big French and Spanish races guaranteed, while being able to do whatever the hell they want
 
Christian said:
IAM shouldn't have done this methinks. They will be invisible in most races, instead of being able to pick and choose the races they participate in, and actually excell at them. Cofidis has got it figured out. They are basically WT without all the hassle of being WT. They got participations at all big French and Spanish races guaranteed, while being able to do whatever the hell they want

Cofidis may be able to pick and choose, but they certainly don't "actually excel"!

Perhaps their new status as a sprint train will bring them more success.
 
Sep 8, 2010
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Vuelta al País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Itzulia 2015

1ª etapa: Bilbao - Bilbao
2ª etapa: Bilbao - Vitoria-Gasteiz
3ª etapa: Vitoria-Gasteiz - Zumarraga
4ª etapa: Zumarraga - Arrate (Eibar)
5ª etapa: Eibar - Aia
6ª etapa: Aia - Aia
 
Mar 12, 2014
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Interesting news. It's a good thing, environmentally, but it's a pity riders won't be allowed to throw their empty bottles away at places where, for instance, young kids are watching. I've more than once seen an extremely happy face on a kid, when this happened and it would be a shame, if this weren't allowed anymore.
 
HSNHSN said:
Interesting news. It's a good thing, environmentally, but it's a pity riders won't be allowed to throw their empty bottles away at places where, for instance, young kids are watching. I've more than once seen an extremely happy face on a kid, when this happened and it would be a shame, if this weren't allowed anymore.

This is so true. Half of the reason all these people come to the side of the road is because the kids actually want to have these memorabilia. The rule by the Tour de France that stated that riders were only allowed to throw away stuff near spectators makes much more sense.

Think of it, throwing away bottles only in waste zones will be more energy unfriendly than just giving it to a kid.