Giro 2017 Field Discussion/Speculation

[May0maniac]

Re:

Navardauskas has to skip the Giro, so Nibali needs a new man...

That sucks, I like him and he already missed the whol classics season, do we know anything about his problems?

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: Re:

Navardauskas has to skip the Giro, so Nibali needs a new man...

That sucks, I like him and he already missed the whol classics season, do we know anything about his problems?

Intestinal, gastric infection. Gasparotto to replace him.

 

[Poursuivant]

Quintana won't get it all his own way, the Giro is still the Giro, and he will be worked very hard like Contador was in 2015, this time by the likes of Nibali, Kruijswijk and Landa. Quintana certainly deserves favourite status though. I am really looking forward to it.

 

[Arked]

CCC Sprandi Polkowice:
Bialoblocki
Grosschartner
Hirt
Owsian
Paterski
Ponzi
Samoilau
Schlegel
Tratnik.

Quite interesting roster with some climbing prowess in likes of Grosschartner, Hirt or Schlegel. It should be much better Giro for CCC than 2 years ago, which was rather abysmal.

 

[alexix7]

Hi gang! What do you think which of the sprinters like Gaviria, Pelluchi, Bennet, Ewan, Greipel, Modolo and Nizzolo wil finish Giro because of the 13th stage is the last stage for them to have chance of winning.

 

[Eshnar]

Hi gang! What do you think which of the sprinters like Gaviria, Pelluchi, Bennet, Ewan, Greipel, Modolo and Nizzolo wil finish Giro because of the 13th stage is the last stage for them to have chance of winning.

TBH no one of them should finish. Perhaps the Italians will, because why not.

 

[MADRAZO]

Hi gang! What do you think which of the sprinters like Gaviria, Pelluchi, Bennet, Ewan, Greipel, Modolo and Nizzolo wil finish Giro because of the 13th stage is the last stage for them to have chance of winning.

TBH no one of them should finish. Perhaps the Italians will, because why not.

I would expect Nizzolo and Modolo to finish and likely have a nice battle for the Points competition. Other Italian sprinters like Ruffoni, Mareczko, Pelucchi would likely like to finish too but will likely not make it through the mountains. It seems very unlikely that he rest of the sprinters should stay in the race after stage 13, but ofcourse if someone like Gaviria, Ewan or Bennett (Greipel will most likely not care about that, compared to being fresh at the TDF) leads the points classification after stage 13 they might potentially try to stay to win that.

 

[staubsauger]

Gaviria ain't got no business at the Tour, so I honestly expect him to go for the purple jersey if he's got a shot at it!

 

[RedheadDane]

Astana will start with only 8 riders.

ASTANA PROTEAM RENOUNCES TO SUBSTITUTE MICHELE SCARPONI, WILL START 100TH GIRO D’ITALIA WITH 8 RIDERS
To honor the memory of our Italian rider Michele Scarponi, who tragically died last week while training, Astana Proteam renounces to substitute the designated captain and will ride the 100th edition of the Giro d’Italia with 8 riders instead of 9.
- What has happened to Michele is a real tragedy that no one could expect or face out. It is a huge blow for the whole team. Michele should have been our leader for the Giro and in this reason we decided not to substitute Michele in the line-up for the race, leaving his race number free. Every day in this Giro d’Italia as well as in all other races Michele will be with us and day by day we will ride trying to honor his memory, fighting and smiling as he taught us all to do, - said general manager of the team Alexandr Vinokurov.
The complete roster of Astana Proteam for the 100th Giro d’Italia is: Pello Bilbao, Zhandos Bizhigitov, Dario Cataldo, Jesper Hansen, Tanel Kangert, Luis Leon Sanchez, Paolo Tiralongo and Andrey Zeits. The team will be directed by Alexandr Shefer, Giuseppe Martinelli and Stefano Zanini.
- I think, this is right decision and I am sure the organizers of the Giro d’Italia as well as the whole cycling community will accept and understand it. Obviously, this will not the only initiative that Astana Proteam is promoting to remember Michele and also to help his family. We initiated such an important thing as the fundraiser for his family, while many others will be developed in the next weeks and months, - added Alexandr Vinokurov.

I think that's understandable, especially considering how horrible it would be for anyone else wearing the 1-number, knowing that it should have been Michele's.

 

[SafeBet]

Number 1 should belong to Nibali, being the reigning champion.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

Astana will start with only 8 riders.

ASTANA PROTEAM RENOUNCES TO SUBSTITUTE MICHELE SCARPONI, WILL START 100TH GIRO D’ITALIA WITH 8 RIDERS
To honor the memory of our Italian rider Michele Scarponi, who tragically died last week while training, Astana Proteam renounces to substitute the designated captain and will ride the 100th edition of the Giro d’Italia with 8 riders instead of 9.
- What has happened to Michele is a real tragedy that no one could expect or face out. It is a huge blow for the whole team. Michele should have been our leader for the Giro and in this reason we decided not to substitute Michele in the line-up for the race, leaving his race number free. Every day in this Giro d’Italia as well as in all other races Michele will be with us and day by day we will ride trying to honor his memory, fighting and smiling as he taught us all to do, - said general manager of the team Alexandr Vinokurov.
The complete roster of Astana Proteam for the 100th Giro d’Italia is: Pello Bilbao, Zhandos Bizhigitov, Dario Cataldo, Jesper Hansen, Tanel Kangert, Luis Leon Sanchez, Paolo Tiralongo and Andrey Zeits. The team will be directed by Alexandr Shefer, Giuseppe Martinelli and Stefano Zanini.
- I think, this is right decision and I am sure the organizers of the Giro d’Italia as well as the whole cycling community will accept and understand it. Obviously, this will not the only initiative that Astana Proteam is promoting to remember Michele and also to help his family. We initiated such an important thing as the fundraiser for his family, while many others will be developed in the next weeks and months, - added Alexandr Vinokurov.

I think that's understandable, especially considering how horrible it would be for anyone else wearing the 1-number, knowing that it should have been Michele's.

You mean Domenico Pozzovivo?

 

[RedheadDane]

Not number 1, the 1-number. Whatever number in the number set Astana is given which ends in 1. 11... 21... 31... 41... 51... and so on.

What's Pozzovivo got to do with this? He'll - probably - get his team's (Ag2r) 1-number. That won't stop Astana from leaving theirs out.

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

Not number 1, the 1-number. Whatever number in the number set Astana is given which ends in 1. 11... 21... 31... 41... 51... and so on.

Sorry, I didn't understand.

 

[yaco]

One or two surprises in the Orica Scott team for the Giro.

- Ewan
- Edmondson
- Hepburn
- Tuft
- Verona
- Plaza
- Juul-Jensen
- A.Yates
- Mezgec

A.Yates only has two dedicated helpers for the mountains in Verona and Plaza - Somehow Ewan has lost Kluge for the lead outs, even though Kluge has been riding with Ewan all along inc the Tour of Yorkshire - Hepburn and Tuft to be the workhorses - Juul Jensen to play an utility role. The interesting addition to the team is Edmondson - Last minute addition to the back end of the cobbled classics squad and the same with Edmondson. Edmondson must be flying.

Expectations should be at least one stage win with Ewan - Top 5 for A.Yates in GC.

 

[Squire]

His 4th place at the Tour would make Yates deserving of a little more support, wouldn't it?

 

[Anderis]

I'm afraid that Orica doesn't have the climbing depth to send a strong climbing squad for all 3 GTs. Who have they left home? Kreuziger, Power, Haig and maybe you can count Howson. Power may not be ready to ride the Giro yet and the rest will be needed to cover other GTs.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Gazprom announce their team, with a lead triumvirate of Alexander Foliforov, Sergey Firsanov and Ivan Savitskiy.
Foliforov for whatever GC placing they can get, Savitskiy for sprints, and most of their ambitions based on breakaways.

Pavel Brutt,
Ivan Savitskiy,
Sergey Lagutin,
Sergey Firsanov,
Alexander Foliforov,
Evgeny Shalunov,
Ivan Rovny,
Alexey Tsatevich,
Dmitry Kozonchuk.

Porsev had been widely listed as expected to ride: he seems to have been the one to miss the cut.

 

[Squire]

Re:

I'm afraid that Orica doesn't have the climbing depth to send a strong climbing squad for all 3 GTs. Who have they left home? Kreuziger, Power, Haig and maybe you can count Howson. Power may not be ready to ride the Giro yet and the rest will be needed to cover other GTs.

That's obviously a good point, and considering Chaves' results, it's fair he gets the priority. And the way Yates races, he doesn't really need a big team for the mountains. But on the other hand, the Giro is where such a team can be more useful. The "lesser" contenders in the Tour doesn't really need a lot of mountain domestiques. They'll just sit in the wheels of Sky for as long as they can, and then limit as best they can.

 

[dirkprovin]

Re:

I'm afraid that Orica doesn't have the climbing depth to send a strong climbing squad for all 3 GTs. Who have they left home? Kreuziger, Power, Haig and maybe you can count Howson. Power may not be ready to ride the Giro yet and the rest will be needed to cover other GTs.

Think that's a very fair summation. They could perhaps have given Haig a ride but maybe they have him down specifically for the Vuelta and feel that 2 GT's in one season is too much for a 2nd year rider. Power is a long way from even being a consideration for GT selection; and they would just be carrying excess baggage as he'd be of little utility on any terrain.

One or two surprises in the Orica Scott team for the Giro.

- Ewan
- Edmondson
- Hepburn
- Tuft
- Verona
- Plaza
- Juul-Jensen
- A.Yates
- Mezgec

A.Yates only has two dedicated helpers for the mountains in Verona and Plaza - Somehow Ewan has lost Kluge for the lead outs, even though Kluge has been riding with Ewan all along inc the Tour of Yorkshire - Hepburn and Tuft to be the workhorses - Juul Jensen to play an utility role. The interesting addition to the team is Edmondson - Last minute addition to the back end of the cobbled classics squad and the same with Edmondson. Edmondson must be flying.

Expectations should be at least one stage win with Ewan - Top 5 for A.Yates in GC.

Mezgec probably offers wider all round utility than Kluge (he was of some use to Dumoulin at 2015 Vuelta in hilly terrain).

Whilst in many ways, Edmondson deserves a run; by selecting him they are essentially locking themselves into being 2 riders down come business end as there's SFA liklihood of him finishing the Giro and only a slight marginal increase in said odds for Ewan. Not sure any team with legit GC aspirations can/should be locking themselves into such a scenario.

No issue with Mezgec's selection. Nor so with Joker (who may be of some utility in the hills/lower slopes) nor Hepburn who might even be useful there as well as flat land grunt.

I am, however, worried about Tuft's selection. A truly great servant for the team and should be honoured as such but just not sure he can really deliver what may be called of him; going off his 2016. Would love to be proven wrong but ......

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Quintana's train is confirmed: little brother misses out, but a lot of watts for controlling it on the flat (although Dowsett also left out, so maybe not as much as there could have been):
AMADOR BIKKAZAKOVA Andrey
ANACONA GOMEZ Winner Andrew
BENNATI Daniele
DE LA PARTE GONZALEZ Victor
HERRADA LOPEZ Jose
IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka
QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander
ROJAS GIL Jose Joaquin
SUTHERLAND Rory
(formatted thus because I'm updating the CQ game selector sheet)

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

And LottoNL support Kruijswijk with:
Stef Clement
Twan Castelijns
Jos van Emden
Bram Tankink
Victor Campenaerts
Enrico Battaglin
Jurgen van den Broeck
Martijn Keizer

 

[deValtos]

Ewan has more support than Yates. I guess they're saving most of their GC protection for the TDF. Risky as A.Yates could prove to be their best shot this year honestly considering Chaves is injured/ill (I forget.) Then again it could pay off but I feel like they could have throw Howson into the line-up.

And ofc Si Yates being re-directed had to have changed their plans.

 

[liamito]

Re:

And LottoNL support Kruijswijk with:
Stef Clement
Twan Castelijns
Jos van Emden
Bram Tankink
Victor Campenaerts
Enrico Battaglin
Jurgen van den Broeck
Martijn Keizer

You'd say at least one out of Bennett, Gesink, Roglic should have been included.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Disappointing Orica squad

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Re: Re:

And LottoNL support Kruijswijk with:
Stef Clement
Twan Castelijns
Jos van Emden
Bram Tankink
Victor Campenaerts
Enrico Battaglin
Jurgen van den Broeck
Martijn Keizer

You'd say at least one out of Bennett, Gesink, Roglic should have been included.

Their announcement makes a point of saying that Clement and Van den Broeck were signed specifically for supporting SK here, but they do indeed have more support resources that they are not using.