Jayco al-'Ula and its GreenEdge predecessors

[janraaskalt]

and to a lesser extent Jack Richards

Who?

(10chars)

 

[greenedge]

Also on the Matthews topic, at the Dauphinie there is not that great a startlist of sprinters, Bouhanni, Meersmann and EBH seem to be the most prominent, so there is a chance he could get a win there.

 

[42x16ss]

Who?

(10chars)

Sorry, Jack Edwards. Another young gun, similar age to Ewan, had an amazing Bay Series for his age. Even bridged up to a break being driven by Mouris and Matthews by himself into a raging headwind.

 

[Gloin22]

Also on the Matthews topic, at the Dauphinie there is not that great a startlist of sprinters, Bouhanni, Meersmann and EBH seem to be the most prominent, so there is a chance he could get a win there.

Bouhanni is quite faster tough, can't see him beating him. Other than that Matthews should be competitive here.

If he's not there's something wrong.

 

[maltiv]

Bouhanni is quite faster tough, can't see him beating him. Other than that Matthews should be competitive here.

If he's not there's something wrong.

There aren't really any stages where Bouhanni is likely to be able to contest for the sprint really, depending on how hard it's raced of course. EBH won't be given the chance to ride for himself on any stages.

Let's not forget Hushovd though, he wasn't sprinting too badly in California and definitely got a good chance vs the likes of Meersman and Matthews.

 

[JRanton]

How the hell did GreenEdge manage to miss out on signing Dennis? He should have been a huge priority signing for them.

 

[Gloin22]

How the hell did GreenEdge manage to miss out on signing Dennis? He should have been a huge priority signing for them.

They are missing on all almsot aussie talents it seems

 

[blaxland]

They are missing on all almsot aussie talents it seems

Yeah but why?Howcome all the good local under 25 riders seem to want to sign for other teams?rather than orica/greenedge?me thinks there maybe more than meets the eyes"any news yet where Caleb will ride?Lets hope they sign young Ben Dybal he can climb?

 

[movingtarget]

They are missing on all almsot aussie talents it seems

GE signed up many good young riders. Probably only budget stopped them signing Dennis after already spending a lot of money on others. Many teams sign good young talents that don't go on to make the next step up the ladder. It's calculated guesswork unless the rider is a Sagan or Contador.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Can mountain stage race be held in the Australian alps with a hard climb or a hard mtf?

 

[Tragic]

Can mountain stage race be held in the Australian alps with a hard climb or a hard mtf?

Check out this blog, descriptions and profiles of the best climbs, even a fantasy "Tour of Australia"

http://theclimbingcyclist.com/

 

[blaxland]

Gotta say well done Cam Meyer you rode well last night in stage 7 tour de suisse"must admit i never thought he would climb so well,keep it up"

 

[movingtarget]

Gotta say well done Cam Meyer you rode well last night in stage 7 tour de suisse"must admit i never thought he would climb so well,keep it up"

Yes I thought he did well.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Check out this blog, descriptions and profiles of the best climbs, even a fantasy "Tour of Australia"

http://theclimbingcyclist.com/

Thank you. Will be a ripper of a tour.

 

[karlboss]

Thank you. Will be a ripper of a tour.

note this is only one region of australia, though granted the one with the best climbs. In the race design thread i put a tour of australia together, fairly tricky to do due to the distances between interesting terrain.

 

[greenedge]

If there was a stage in Sydney (would be smart) it should either be a crit around a beach, a hilly ride around Bobbin Head or West Head and then have a long ITT- going across the Harbour Bridge.

Congrats to Svein/ Wesley for their good results as of late.

 

[bikeit]

With vacansoliel looking likely to break apart it maybe a good opportunity for OGE to go after some decent riders.

Surely De gendt would be a great acquisition and help fill the mch discussed GC void. $$ may an issue but Im assuing they still have left aftetr Porte rejected their advances. Poels mayeb a cheaper option too. Wiestra maybe another good pick up with Tuft etc aging and it would help build/maintain a great TTT squad.

Who else? tbh I dont know the team that well apart from the 'bigger guys'

I'd also love to see them on Bianchis.......

 

[42x16ss]

With vacansoliel looking likely to break apart it maybe a good opportunity for OGE to go after some decent riders.

Surely De gendt would be a great acquisition and help fill the mch discussed GC void. $$ may an issue but Im assuing they still have left aftetr Porte rejected their advances. Poels mayeb a cheaper option too. Wiestra maybe another good pick up with Tuft etc aging and it would help build/maintain a great TTT squad.

Who else? tbh I dont know the team that well apart from the 'bigger guys'

I'd also love to see them on Bianchis.......

Marcato is good but there would be too much overlap with Gerrans, Matthews and Hepburn.

 

[karlboss]

I hope these guys aren't invisible this tour. With Goss not on best form I'm hoping for some attacking riding. Personally even if he was on form I'd prefer to them attack, as lotto and OPQS should be strong enough to bring breaks back and control the tempo in the finale.

 

[Kender]

I hope these guys aren't invisible this tour. With Goss not on best form I'm hoping for some attacking riding. Personally even if he was on form I'd prefer to them attack, as lotto and OPQS should be strong enough to bring breaks back and control the tempo in the finale.

they cant be invisible otherwise they'd have no footage for backstage pass episodes

 

[Wilba60]

Remember guys that this is just Year 2 for the squad and at the moment there are no vacancies to sign new riders. With the 2 year contracts ending this year there could be some movement but I hope they stick with the majority of the current riders....give them some time. Young Caleb Ewan would be my pick of the up and coming Aussies.

I reckon this forum is over the top on Goss, 95% of his races are against the very best sprinters and he is still clearly above Howard and Kroupis. I am confident he will do well this TdF if he can stay healthy and not crash. Impey and Lancaster are excellent lead out men and with Tuft, Meyer, Gerrans and Clarke also getting into the lead out work they should be very competitive in what is shaping as one of the best sprinting fields in years. It is really important in these early years that the young fellas have guys like Goss, O'Grady, Tuft, Cooke, etc to give them some leadership and guidance.

Meyer won't go for GC this year but it will be interesting to see how he goes in the mountains for future years. His form in California last year and Swiss this year is encouraging. Clarke, Alba and Gerro for attacking days and I think we will see plenty of the OGE boys in the big race.

 

[TANK91]

I think Goss is right to get criticised, yes he is not an elite sprinter but everyone made you think that way and his results are just awful, even last year at the Giro 1 stage win and 0 at the TDF. And don't start me on this year, you hardly see him win atall I think he won a stage in Tirreno that's it?.

 

[bikeit]

Remember guys that this is just Year 2 for the squad and at the moment there are no vacancies to sign new riders. With the 2 year contracts ending this year there could be some movement but I hope they stick with the majority of the current riders....give them some time. Young Caleb Ewan would be my pick of the up and coming Aussies.

I reckon this forum is over the top on Goss, 95% of his races are against the very best sprinters and he is still clearly above Howard and Kroupis. I am confident he will do well this TdF if he can stay healthy and not crash. Impey and Lancaster are excellent lead out men and with Tuft, Meyer, Gerrans and Clarke also getting into the lead out work they should be very competitive in what is shaping as one of the best sprinting fields in years. It is really important in these early years that the young fellas have guys like Goss, O'Grady, Tuft, Cooke, etc to give them some leadership and guidance.

Meyer won't go for GC this year but it will be interesting to see how he goes in the mountains for future years. His form in California last year and Swiss this year is encouraging. Clarke, Alba and Gerro for attacking days and I think we will see plenty of the OGE boys in the big race.

Yeah, I do wonder who is on two year contracts. Teh hack that is Anthony Tan mentioned ten riders were but he is a useless 'journalist' so I wont take that as gospel. I think someone like Vaitkus can be moved on, I dont think he has added much to the team. I do wonder if the Teklehaimanot experiment will be extended. I would love for him to succeed but I'm u sure how many years they may need to start getting decent results from his development.


Goss would be on a huge salary after his MR win and OGE put a lot faith and resources into him as the winner for the team, something he has failed to do.

I am looking forward to seeing how Meyer goes. Obviously an introduction to le Tour but I think he'll be given the green light to stay as high in GC as possible - but problably won't get any help with resources diverted to opportuist stage wins or Goss for the finales.

 

[blaxland]

To me this is Matt Goss's last chance to show what he's got.Cause the last two years of grand tours have been really invisable.(finishing on the podium in stages is not the same as winning them)If his contract is up they should let him go and sign young Caleb Ewan and look for more mountain domestiques for Meyer in the future?Im really glad there giving Cam a chance? he showed in Toc and TDS that he is slowing improving his climbing skillset.Lets hope they score a stage win or two this tdf?

 

[Ferminal]

The criticisms of Goss are more to do with the fact that he's now one of the weakest sprinters in the bunch, therefore he's lost what was his main asset.