Giro 2019 Field Discussion/Speculation

[Gigs_98]

It's offseason again so what else is there to do other than speculating about who will ride the most beautiful race on the calendar. This thread usually gets started when the wildcards are announced but as a lot of gc riders have lately announced their participation in the giro there is already more than enough to discuss about.
These are the world tour teams that will definitely be there and some riders who have already announced the giro is on their 2019 schedule:

AG2R La Mondiale:
-Tony Gallopin
-Alexis Vuillermoz
-Hubert Dupont
-Ben Gastauer

Astana Pro Team:
-Miguel Ángel López

Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team:
-Vincenzo Nibali
-Domenico Pozzovivo

BORA-hansgrohe:
-Rafal Majka
-Pascal Ackermann
-Davide Formolo

CCC Team:
-Amaro Antunes
-Simon Geschke
-Laurens Ten Dam

Deceuninck - Quick Step:
-Elia Viviani
-Bob Jungels

Groupama - FDJ:
Arnaud Demare

Lotto Soudal:

Mitchelton-Scott:
-Simon Yates

Movistar Team:
-Alejandro Valverde
-Mikel Landa
-Richard Carapaz

Team Dimension Data:

Team EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale:
-Michael Woods?

Team Jumbo-Visma:
-Primoz Roglic

Team Katusha - Alpecin:
-Ilnur Zakarin

Team Sky:
-Egan Bernal
-Gianni Moscon

Team Sunweb:
-Tom Dumoulin

Trek - Segafredo:
-Bauke Mollema

UAE-Team Emirates:
-Fabio Aru
-Sergio Henao

Please just post other names who have already confirmed their participation, I surely missed a lot.

 

[Gigs_98]

So, this is shaping up to be a big battle. With Nibali, Yates and Dumoulin already having confirmed their participation this would already be a decent gc field for giro standards but there is still a lot to come. Roglic hasn't decided his schedule yet, Movistar might send 2 of their 3 amigos compared to 0 this year, Sky is likely to send Bernal who might very well be the best climber in the world next season and iIrc Lefevre hinted after the Vuelta that they plan to send Mas to the giro. Add to that guys like Miguel Angel Lopez and some Italian 2nd or 3rd tier gc contenders and you have one hell of a field.

 

[Eshnar]

afaik Landa tweeted he would race, unless something happened lately and I missed it.
Bernal same. He had already a recon of the mountain stages, so unless plans have changed, he's in.

 

[Red Rick]

Found the secret footage of DS discussing schedules with GC riders

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

Found the secret footage of DS discussing schedules with GC riders

It had to happen at some point

PS: Carapaz should be in, too.

 

[fauniera]

AG2R La Mondiale: Gallopin and Vuillermoz

 

[Eshnar]

https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/s...les-op-tour-de-france-daarna-vuelta-a-espana/
Meanwhile, Kruijswijk seems to be selected as captain for the Tour... With a team in which Roglic is not mentioned.

 

[Red Rick]

Tour's gonna have an Avenir like field at this rate.

Makes sense, given the Avenir length mountain stages.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/s...les-op-tour-de-france-daarna-vuelta-a-espana/
Meanwhile, Kruijswijk seems to be selected as captain for the Tour... With a team in which Roglic is not mentioned.

I'm not surprised Roglic opted out, given his feelings about the team.

Another GC rider who likely won't lose two minutes to Dumoulin in the ITTs. But this was going to be a walkover, right?

 

[Red Rick]

https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/s...les-op-tour-de-france-daarna-vuelta-a-espana/
Meanwhile, Kruijswijk seems to be selected as captain for the Tour... With a team in which Roglic is not mentioned.

I'm not surprised Roglic opted out, given his feelings about the team.

Another GC rider who likely won't lose two minutes to Dumoulin in the ITTs. But this was going to be a walkover, right?

Strawman much?

 

[tobydawq]

https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/s...les-op-tour-de-france-daarna-vuelta-a-espana/
Meanwhile, Kruijswijk seems to be selected as captain for the Tour... With a team in which Roglic is not mentioned.

I'm not surprised Roglic opted out, given his feelings about the team.

Another GC rider who likely won't lose two minutes to Dumoulin in the ITTs. But this was going to be a walkover, right?

Strawman much?

Not really? Didn't you yourself say that it wasn't good for the excitement in neither the Giro nor the Tour that Dumoulin chose as he did? Meaning that he would likely win the Giro without much trouble.

 

[fauniera]

UAE-Team Emirates: Sergio Luis Henao

 

[Red Rick]

https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/s...les-op-tour-de-france-daarna-vuelta-a-espana/
Meanwhile, Kruijswijk seems to be selected as captain for the Tour... With a team in which Roglic is not mentioned.

I'm not surprised Roglic opted out, given his feelings about the team.

Another GC rider who likely won't lose two minutes to Dumoulin in the ITTs. But this was going to be a walkover, right?

Strawman much?

Not really? Didn't you yourself say that it wasn't good for the excitement in neither the Giro nor the Tour that Dumoulin chose as he did? Meaning that he would likely win the Giro without much trouble.

Dumoulin doing the Giro on that route makes it a less open race. Doesn't mean it's a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination.

If Roglic rides the Giro as well you can already write Froome and Thomas down as #1 and #2 in the Tour unless one of them runs into an act of voodoo.

 

[Eshnar]

Alright I'm gonna hijack the thread and include these names in the OP.
Also, Zakarin said he would be in.

 

[Gigs_98]

https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/s...les-op-tour-de-france-daarna-vuelta-a-espana/
Meanwhile, Kruijswijk seems to be selected as captain for the Tour... With a team in which Roglic is not mentioned.

This is getting comical. I love it

 

[Tim Booth]

It's offseason again so what else is there to do other than speculating about who will ride the most beautiful race on the calendar. This thread usually gets started when the wildcards are announced but as a lot of gc riders have lately announced their participation in the giro there is already more than enough to discuss about.
These are the world tour teams that will definitely be there and some riders who have already announced the giro is on their 2019 schedule:

AG2R La Mondiale:
-Tony Gallopin
-Alexis Vuillermoz

Astana Pro Team:
-Miguel Ángel López

Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team:
-Vincenzo Nibali
-Domenico Pozzovivo

BORA-hansgrohe:

CCC Team:

Deceuninck - Quick Step:
-Enric Mas ?

Groupama - FDJ:

Lotto Soudal:

Mitchelton-Scott:
-Simon Yates

Movistar Team:
-Alejandro Valverde
-Mikel Landa ?
-Richard Carapaz

Team Dimension Data:

Team EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale:

Team Jumbo-Visma:
-Primoz Roglic ??

Team Katusha - Alpecin:
-Ilnur Zakarin

Team Sky:
-Egan Bernal ?

Team Sunweb:
-Tom Dumoulin

Trek - Segafredo:
-Not Ivan Sosa

UAE-Team Emirates:
-Fabio Aru ?
-Sergio Henao

Please just post other names who have already confirmed their participation, I surely missed a lot.

http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjkyNTQ=

 

[yaco]

A couple of things - The parcours of the TDF with its high altitude suits Kruijswijk while the Giro is perfectly suited for Roglic - This is one year that you try Lopez at the TDF with the possibly diminished field - Mitchelton Scott will also send Chaves and Nieve to the Giro - Reckon the Giro is a good fit for Mas with the way he TT'ed at the vuelta.

 

[May0maniac]

As far as I know Sky will send Bernal with Moscon and Sosa to support him, probably also guys like Sebastian Henao and Elissonde for the mountains.
I guess that Trek will give Conci, Ciccone and Eg a chance to ride the Giro without a real gc guy, maybe a 2nd rate sprinter and also Felline because he has a good chance of being up there on the gc and going for stage wins on the first 12 stages.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

As far as I know Sky will send Bernal with Moscon and Sosa to support him, probably also guys like Sebastian Henao and Elissonde for the mountains.
I guess that Trek will give Conci, Ciccone and Eg a chance to ride the Giro without a real gc guy, maybe a 2nd rate sprinter and also Felline because he has a good chance of being up there on the gc and going for stage wins on the first 12 stages.

I imagine Sky might also bring Sivakov, add Geoghegan Hart and bring the entire junior squad. Literally bring the bois

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Re:

As far as I know Sky will send Bernal with Moscon and Sosa to support him, probably also guys like Sebastian Henao and Elissonde for the mountains.
I guess that Trek will give Conci, Ciccone and Eg a chance to ride the Giro without a real gc guy, maybe a 2nd rate sprinter and also Felline because he has a good chance of being up there on the gc and going for stage wins on the first 12 stages.

Yes.. and assuming Bernal progressing, Egan should win it. But it might be quite interesting: The Best World TT racer vs. The Best (future) climber. More interesting than French squad vs. Sky at TdF.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

As far as I know Sky will send Bernal with Moscon and Sosa to support him, probably also guys like Sebastian Henao and Elissonde for the mountains.
I guess that Trek will give Conci, Ciccone and Eg a chance to ride the Giro without a real gc guy, maybe a 2nd rate sprinter and also Felline because he has a good chance of being up there on the gc and going for stage wins on the first 12 stages.

I imagine Sky might also bring Sivakov, add Geoghegan Hart and bring the entire junior squad. Literally bring the bois

Nope, just the good, Catholic ones.

 

[Anderis]

Antunes, Ten Dam and Geschke are supposed to ride for CCC.

My source is in Polish: https://rowery.org/2018/12/15/antunes-ten-dam-i-geschke-przygotuja-sie-do-giro-ditalia/

 

[Koronin]

The GIro is shaping up to have one of the best GT GC fields of any GT in awhile.

 

[roundabout]

Well, duh. Very few GC riders can do 2 GTs consecutively at a high level so for lesser GC riders who are unlikely to win the Tour having 2 attempts at GC and not having to face July-Sky is kind of an obvious choice.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

The GIro is shaping up to have one of the best GT GC fields of any GT in awhile.

It’s bizarre. The point of doing the Giro is usually to get a run at a highly prestigious race with a relatively limited field. This year it looks like every serious GT contender apart from Froome, Thomas and Quintana will be prioritizing it over the Tour.