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I mirrored your hyperbolic use of 'terrible'.carton said:Really? I like Ettix. I enjoy seeing Terpstra, Stybar, Kwiatkowski, Lampaert, Alaphilippe and Co. going off the front. I know they're saving most of those guys for the Tour and that their budget is limited. But if they want Uran to contend for another podium they should at least give him a GC focused team like last year, when he wore the pink for several days and came one stage away from keeping it: Brambilla, De Gendt, Keisse, Pauwels, Petacchi, Poels, Sierry, Vermote.
Only two guys strictly on flat/stage-hunting duty. Contrast that to this year's team when there are four guys in it just for the stages. If you wanted a stage win that badly, and you had no other climbers that made the cut, then at least step it up and sub in Martin for the ITT, his data would also help Uran, plus he'd help in the TTT and he can marshal the team through medium mountain stages, particularly if Uran does somehow manage to pick up the Rosa in Treviso. But when Brambilla got hurt Meersman got the call instead.
It's not just quantity, it's also quality. I'm sure Uran doesn't expect Konig/Nieve/Henao but I'm betting he'd much rather still have Poels/Brambilla/De Gent than rely on Bouet/Sierry/De la Cruz to pace him up the hills. My apparently terrible point is that while he may not be good enough to beat Contador but I think he could have gotten a little more support.
+1carton said:Boy is that a terrible Ettix-QuickStep lineup for Uran. Four guys of any use whatsoever in the long ramps, two of which have never finished a GT, another of which is Pieter Serry (no offense to Serry, who did a quick turn for Uran on Zoncolan from the break on his way to his second-best ever solo GT stage result of 27th; his two GT finishes so far are obviously two more than I'll ever get). No-one from their 2013 TTT gold medal squad for the opener, either. Guess his Movistar contract is as good as signed.Iljo Keisse, Fabio Sabatini, Gianni Meersman, Tom Boonen; Petr Vakoc, David De La Cruz, Pieter Serry, Maxime Bouet
manafana said:Porte for me is probably the favourite based on his 2015 and the route suits him.
miha1234 said:manafana said:Porte for me is probably the favourite based on his 2015 and the route suits him.
Porte will get at least 4min on Mortirolo stage...
nope, tomorrow at 17:00 CET.The Hitch said:Presentation is today isn't it?
Singer01 said:miha1234 said:manafana said:Porte for me is probably the favourite based on his 2015 and the route suits him.
Porte will get at least 4min on Mortirolo stage...
when you say get do you mean gain or lose?
It looks to me that the squad is built to support and keep him out of trouble before the high mountains, where he should be able to exploit the depth and strength of the other teams.Escarabajo said:+1carton said:Boy is that a terrible Ettix-QuickStep lineup for Uran. Four guys of any use whatsoever in the long ramps, two of which have never finished a GT, another of which is Pieter Serry (no offense to Serry, who did a quick turn for Uran on Zoncolan from the break on his way to his second-best ever solo GT stage result of 27th; his two GT finishes so far are obviously two more than I'll ever get). No-one from their 2013 TTT gold medal squad for the opener, either. Guess his Movistar contract is as good as signed.Iljo Keisse, Fabio Sabatini, Gianni Meersman, Tom Boonen; Petr Vakoc, David De La Cruz, Pieter Serry, Maxime Bouet
Not looking good to keep the pink jersey. I am not even sure if they'll get it because I don't think that the TTT would help them.
Considering that you can easily gain 2 minutes per Aprica ascent, and they have to ride Aprica twice on the Mortirolo stage, 4 minutes is not out of this world (although Gibo disagrees)miha1234 said:Porte will get at least 4min on Mortirolo stage...
Netserk said:Contador won't go solo on Mortirolo. Perfect scenario would be for him, Aru and Pozzovivo to go clear together and build an advantage over Porte and Uran on Aprica.
Netserk said:Going solo on Mortirolo means being alone for 35+ km. Not gonna happen. He will have to go clear with at least one other rider and in the case that is Porte or Uran, he will have to try to either make the difference on Aprica or corroborate and hope to take enough time on another stage.
He gets 4 mins but from ContadorJack_89 said:Singer01 said:miha1234 said:manafana said:Porte for me is probably the favourite based on his 2015 and the route suits him.
Porte will get at least 4min on Mortirolo stage...
when you say get do you mean gain or lose?
If he gets 4 min i'll close with cycling
indianfanboy said:By the time the Giro reaches the Mortirolo summit,Porte will be leading the pack(contador solo 1 minute ahead) setting the pace for his leader Konig having lost 20 min at the summit finish of Campitello Matese
ILovecycling said:He gets 4 mins but from ContadorJack_89 said:Singer01 said:miha1234 said:manafana said:Porte for me is probably the favourite based on his 2015 and the route suits him.
Porte will get at least 4min on Mortirolo stage...
when you say get do you mean gain or lose?
If he gets 4 min i'll close with cycling
LaFlorecita said:Ha, in your dreamsMatParker117 said:Netserk said:Sensible choice. Strong team, over or under 3.5 stage wins?
Five three for Viviani and two for Porte. They'll grab a jersey as well.
We'll see. They're missing Martin, Kwiatkowski and Terpstra from they're best TTT unit. Sure, save the latter two for the Tour, but I'll get to Martin later.Jagartrott said:I mirrored your hyperbolic use of 'terrible'.
My main point was that this is not a bad squad for the TTT at all - to the contrary.
Yeah, we agree that EQS is missing a mountain domestique, (I'd say two), and that they're definitely weaker on the climbs than last year. They could've at least given Brambilla the provisional spot while he recovers. I'm actually optimistic on De la Cruz, but between the two climbers and the two all-rounders only Bouet has significant GT experience.Jagartrott said:There should've been one more climber, that's also what I said. Brambilla was scheduled to ride, but he broke his collarbone in LBL. Look at QS's roster - they don't really have mainy alternatives, do they? Meersman can do some work in the many hilly stages. Poels, De Gendt etc. are no longer there, and
Martin has raced 30 days, including 6 at Romandie. They could've easily held him back at Romandie and saved him for the Giro had they wanted to. If Rigo wasn't going well they could pull Martin out after Treviso. Which was perfectly suited for him, unlike the Tour "opening time trial". Have you seen the Tour profile? I doubt there'll be much "featuring" for Martin after the first week, particularly since Stybar/Alaphillipe/Terpstra and definitely Kwiatkowski and Uran (supposedly set to be stage hunting at the Tour) are likely much better (yet still not great) bets for the nine mountain and two hill stages before Champs Elysees.Jagartrott said:Martin has already ridden a lot this year and has to feature in France.
Take some selfies with the riders if you see the,SafeBet said:I'm in San Lorenzo right now. I caught Movistar training this morning, Benat looked super slim.
They're building all the furniture and the ramp for the start, quite a great feeling being around here.
I also had a good ride to Sanremo but no riders. Tomorrow I'll do a recon of the stage with my dad, hopefully we'll meet some riders.
SafeBet said:I'm in San Lorenzo right now. I caught Movistar training this morning, Benat looked super slim.
They're building all the furniture and the ramp for the start, quite a great feeling being around here.
I also had a good ride to Sanremo but no riders. Tomorrow I'll do a recon of the stage with my dad, hopefully we'll meet some riders.