I fear for Saxo Bank.

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JPM London said:
It's constantly repeated that Saxo is not as strong as some of the other teams - which might be right, although I think a lot are underestimating the team when they hit the mountains - but what they also forget is that last year all you heard was that Astana was far too weak to support Contador. Didn't seem to stop him and he often had more support than Andy in hte mountains anyway...

and then came 2009 when Astana rode against him yet he still won - literally with no support...
 
Archibald said:
and then came 2009 when Astana rode against him yet he still won - literally with no support...

well he had 1 domestic that year, contador demanded sergio paulinho to be selected for the team because they are very good friends (they were always room-mates when they raced together) so he knew sergio would help him out.

ofc horner got all ****ed off and said paulinho wasn't a good enough cyclists to ride the tour and that he only got selected because that dirty spaniard wanted him. lol
 
Feb 14, 2010
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Mambo95 said:
Don't be fooled by that. They're dropping off the back deliberately to save energy.

This +1

Riders have said it, and the team has mentioned it. They've got four guys for the flats and four for the mountains. It will be the others dropping off the back in the mountains. That said, I'm concerned that the ones riding the double MIGHT struggle the last week, I just don't think there's a sign of it yet. This particular squad has had particular reason to gel together - from the team presentation, to people like Schleck calling them weak, to the first stage losses. Jesus cursed on twitter yesterday about the moto driver who took down Sorensen.These guys will be there.
 
Nov 17, 2009
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Parrulo said:
well he had 1 domestic that year, contador demanded sergio paulinho to be selected for the team because they are very good friends (they were always room-mates when they raced together) so he knew sergio would help him out.

ofc horner got all ****ed off and said paulinho wasn't a good enough cyclists to ride the tour and that he only got selected because that dirty spaniard wanted him. lol

Not quite right.

The issue in that tour was balance... and the fact that one Kazak had to be selected.

So you had Lance and Contador. You had Muravyev as the Kazak. Lance had Levi and Popo. Contador had Paulinho and Zubeldia. Kloden had to be added and was unalligned. Horner thought he deserved the last spot, but apparently Contador fought that because it would give Armstrong one more of "his guys" then Contador had. So Rast was chosen instead.


I actually think they needed a flat rider like Rast, so it wasn't a bad move anyway. But it did **** Horner off because he really wanted that spot. Supposedly, if they hadn't had to brink a Kazak, both Muravyev and Rast wouldn't have been there and Horner and Noval/Navarro would have been there instead.

Of course I'm not sure how that really worked out at Zubeldia did pull on the stage where the field split and Lance gained time. But at the time I remember it being said that for the selection Zubeldia was on Contador's list.
 
Dec 18, 2009
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Not really that expected. Saxo have stayed completely anonymous in the first week of the tour before - e.g. 2008 They did absolutely nothing in the first week of racing, and went on to win with Sastre.

And this year they have even more reason to ride passively. They don't have Voigt and Cancellara to try their solo jumps from 3km out. That and half their domestiques are mountain domestiques who just want to get through the first week.
 
I do not fear for Saxo Bank with regards to them being tired after the Giro.

Neither Porte or Navarro peaked in the Giro, and Porte seems much better, then in the Giro. Navarro is still to be seen, but Riis praised both him and Hernandez after the TTT, saying they did far more then could be exspected.
 
Mar 17, 2009
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Guys like Riis, Nygaard and Bruyneel are all very focused on saving team energy, so domestiques rolling in a few minutes down are part of the plan. The big difference that I see so far is that Leopard Trek is investing a lot more effort in keeping their guys up front, while Saxo and Radio Shack are a bit more passive. Perhaps as a result, they've paid a heavier price for crashes, including Leipheimer losing a minute today with his crash at 5km to go. I guess with motors like Cance, O'Grady, and Voigt at their disposal, Leopard has the horsepower to do this-- and it has certainly paid off so far.

Similarly, from a team energy standpoint, all the big GC teams are probably delighted to have Garmin-Cervelo keeping the yellow jersey. For that matter, the big battle shaping up for green is also saving the GC guys a lot of hard riding.
 
dlwssonic said:
im a bit unsure about riders dropping to 20 minutes trying to conserve energy.

They're not paid by their team to com in as fast as possible but to be there when needed, so when the mountains are there. No reason to drive faster than necessary ...it pays aff after three weeks
 
Also I think Chris Sorensen just said after today's stage that he was looking forward to a change of terrain and, hopefully, their turn at the front. He doesn't sound that tired to me :)
 
Oct 29, 2009
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Ibanez said:
All the prominent riders from the Giro seem completely knackered - Dupont and Gadret have been complaining, Arroyo is 12 minutes down.

And from the Saxo domestiques, Navarro and Hernandez are both 20 minutes back, and they have much less representation at the front of the bunch then the other major teams. I know that they will be aiming to save energy going into the Pyrenees, but it doesn't look good. Stronger support could have saved Contador that 80 seconds on the first stage as well.

So are they still exhausted from the Giro? I don't question that Contador can do it, but what about the mere mortals that he will rely on? Navarro was a beast last year but now I'm not sure he is in any position to do it again, and Leopard have so far been everpresent at the front of the peloton. Predictions anybody?

Isn't this exactly what Schleck was talking about in the week before the start? Maybe they are saving energy, but they look physically tired as well. I think it's too early to speculate if it will negatively impact AC in the mountains. What I'd be more worried about if I were AC is my complete inability to ride near the front. If he thinks a surging peloton is going to wait for the alleged doper that sits 1:40 back to pull himself off the tarmac and get a bike change, he's sadly mistaken. Besides, his team is wasting that energy they are trying to conserve bringing him back.
 
Jan 3, 2011
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They do suffer here on the falt and windy stages. But in them mountains they will be much better. Jesus, danny and CAS will be there by then. They are not build for flat and windy stages. Dont read anything into their time losses. They are only here to help Contador, so towards the end of the flat stages they will just take it easy and stroll to the finish line.

Noval has been disappointing though.

PS: The team surprised me positively in the TTT

EDIT: oh they are actually saying that they a looking forward to the mountais, hwich suits the team better:

“This stage was much more calm than the previous stages and I think everything it went as we had hoped for despite of heavy rain and wind. Alberto (Contador) had a completely undramatic bike change due to problems with his pedal. Now we just have to focus on getting through tomorrow-s stage before entering a terrain that suits our team and our riders,” said team owner, Bjarne Riis.

Also Chris Anker Sørensen is looking forward to another kind of scenary:

"It was long, wet and windy day in the peloton but most important thing is that we finished the stage safely. I'm now looking forward to do a little bit of climbing in the hopefully sunny moutains," said the Danish climber.


http://saxobanksungard.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=3273&lang=uk
 
ImmaculateKadence said:
Isn't this exactly what Schleck was talking about in the week before the start? Maybe they are saving energy, but they look physically tired as well. I think it's too early to speculate if it will negatively impact AC in the mountains. What I'd be more worried about if I were AC is my complete inability to ride near the front. If he thinks a surging peloton is going to wait for the alleged doper that sits 1:40 back to pull himself off the tarmac and get a bike change, he's sadly mistaken. Besides, his team is wasting that energy they are trying to conserve bringing him back.

I think the main rider concerned with everyone waiting on him is Andy.;)
 
Jan 3, 2011
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BTW I had noticed that on several stages Contador is without helpers the last 10k-ish. Apparently thats also something Horner has noticed:

“I think he looks the strongest still,” Horner said. “The problem is, he’s by himself a whole lot. He looks really strong at the finishes. He’s doing a lot of work by himself. So maybe that could take some energy away from him. But he still looks like he has the best form of all the favorites."

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011...ays-contador-still-looks-really-strong_182389
 
In all fairness, Riis lost 3 of the best engines in Pro-Cycling: Spartacus, Jens & O'grady -no doubt about it-those guys are unique and irreplaceable, so is understandable that the Team lacks that extra power & mostly experience required to ride the Tour, BUT the current setup for Alberto looks good & currently are doing what they're meant to do before they get set to perform in the mountains-which is when & where it matters the most.
 
Jul 21, 2010
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The danish media considers CAS to be in his best shape ever, so does he. I Think we are gonna see SBS on the attack big time in the mountains.