Jayco al-'Ula and its GreenEdge predecessors

[PCutter]

Don't think sky will be too upset by this. I may be missing something, but other than the Denmark gig, he really seems to have underperformed over the last 2 years...

He was injured a good chunk of last year (which made him a good buy for CQ) and has ridden support role for most of this year to different leaders. Did finish 3rd in Amstel as well as Denmark. But good move for him, between Wiggo and Cav, free roles in Sky will begin to become pretty scarce next year.

 

[thehog]

There appears to be a lot of "free roles" going on there at GreenEdge. Way too many promises being made of freedom.

 

[Andy99]

He was injured a good chunk of last year (which made him a good buy for CQ) and has ridden support role for most of this year to different leaders. Did finish 3rd in Amstel as well as Denmark. But good move for him, between Wiggo and Cav, free roles in Sky will begin to become pretty scarce next year.

Fair do's. Didn't realise that.

 

[PCutter]

There appears to be a lot of "free roles" going on there at GreenEdge. Way too many promises being made of freedom.

Well given they probably won't have a GT GC rider worth protecting or need to build a sprint train with the control of HTC/Sky-Cav, they will presumably (and Bannan has said as much) look for stage hunters in the GTs, ergo, free roles.

3 GTs, 9 riders per....there's some scope there. Sky...mix of support for Wiggo, Cav, maybe Uran in the GTs, a rider with Gerro's abilities, probably isn't a consistent enough climber to be a true mountain support, and there's better lead out train riders in Sky, so not much space there for a stage sniper.

 

[JRanton]

There was a link posted in the General news thread which showed that Cycling Quotient had calculated GreenEdge as currently being outside the top 15 highest ranked teams based on rumoured signings.

 

[Praetor]

I get the feeling that Green Edge are just contracting interesting riders without too much vision behind it.

Like it's not really a well thought out team, but just a bunch of riders thrown together, hoping that somehow it'll work out.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

There appears to be a lot of "free roles" going on there at GreenEdge. Way too many promises being made of freedom.

could make for an awesome attacking team though

 

[mickkk]

I get the feeling that Green Edge are just contracting interesting riders without too much vision behind it.

Like it's not really a well thought out team, but just a bunch of riders thrown together, hoping that somehow it'll work out.

Whah?

Do you know who they have signed and do you know why they were signed? Looks clear to me.

 

[Andy99]

Whah?

Do you know who they have signed and do you know why they were signed? Looks clear to me.

Care to enlighten the rest of us then ?

 

[Ferminal]

Care to enlighten the rest of us then ?

Why is easy... because they have an Emu and a Roo on their passport.

 

[lanternrouge]

He was injured a good chunk of last year (which made him a good buy for CQ) and has ridden support role for most of this year to different leaders. Did finish 3rd in Amstel as well as Denmark. But good move for him, between Wiggo and Cav, free roles in Sky will begin to become pretty scarce next year.

So which is is the protected rider in the Ardennes? Cav or Wiggo? Don't let the door hit you on the back of the head on the way out Gerrans.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I get the feeling that Green Edge are just contracting interesting riders without too much vision behind it.

Like it's not really a well thought out team, but just a bunch of riders thrown together, hoping that somehow it'll work out.

What? They said they are going to be a classics team with some sprinters. They also have a decent climber in Weening. They also have invested inguys for the future. Seems like they have a direction.

 

[PCutter]

So which is is the protected rider in the Ardennes? Cav or Wiggo?

He probably plans on riding more than 2 weeks in the year.

With the team being formed, at least GE's bus shouldn't be the most talked about member of their team in the first year.

 

[hatcher]

Yeah the GE bus IS pretty average.

 

[hrotha]

So which is is the protected rider in the Ardennes? Cav or Wiggo? Don't let the door hit you on the back of the head on the way out Gerrans.

Yes, the Ardennes were Gerrans and Urán's turf and would be next year as well. Doesn't mean he can't move to Green Edge if he damn wants to.

 

[thehog]

could make for an awesome attacking team though

At this rate they'll be attacking each other or they'll become FDJ Part 2!

Know one is expecting GT wins or sprint trains but I'm not so sure what they're all about. Nothing wrong with that but I wouldn't expect them to be the force that some are touting.

I see them as pack fodder. Just making up the numbers.

Winning bike races it's not just signing riders. Go ask Sky. They still haven't got an ROI in anyone they've signed. EBH is only now starting to result up which mean he'll leave at the end of 2012.

 

[just some guy]

At this rate they'll be attacking each other or they'll become FDJ Part 2!

Know one is expecting GT wins or sprint trains but I'm not so sure what they're all about. Nothing wrong with that but I wouldn't expect them to be the force that some are touting.

I see them as pack fodder. Just making up the numbers.

Winning bike races it's not just signing riders. Go ask Sky. They still haven't got an ROI in anyone they've signed. EBH is only now starting to result up which mean he'll leave at the end of 2012.

Not really sure anyone expects them to be a force - Probably 6-8 placed out of the teams results early season team- spring classics, TDU Qatar and the like, then go stage hunting Giro onwards and this is where the team will not do as well, but with Goss they will likely get a few podiums and maybe a win ( maybe) but I would expect while there might not be many wins there will be points collected on a regular basis to justify their place to whoever needs it.

High mountains stages is where they will be taken to the cleaners unless in a break but everyone knows this.

 

[hrotha]

And that's alright. If you're going to have a sort of national team, you have to embrace what you're good at. Of course, if Gorka Izagirre's cyclocross pedigree turned him into a force on the cobbles, Euskaltel should do their best to develop that talent, but it's better to focus on what you can do instead of making half-arsed attempts at everything - which in Green Edge's case means not having anyone for the GCs.

 

[PCutter]

Not really sure anyone expects them to be a force - Probably 6-8 placed out of the teams results early season team- spring classics, TDU Qatar and the like, then go stage hunting Giro onwards and this is where the team will not do as well, but with Goss they will likely get a few podiums and maybe a win ( maybe) but I would expect while there might not be many wins there will be points collected on a regular basis to justify their place to whoever needs it.

High mountains stages is where they will be taken to the cleaners unless in a break but everyone knows this.

Hold on, thats sensible analysis. You're likely to get a 1 week ban from the forums for that

 

[Libertine Seguros]

No Surprise again but a geat signiture for the team. Leader for the Ardenne and the hilly classics. Does anyone else think that Simon Clarke could do a top 10 in an Ardenne race. He seems to do well all of the smaller italian races who still have big name riders in it. And even at Poland he proved he's super strong.

I fully expect Simon Clarke to outperform his namesake in the Ardennes and think that at present he's actually a better rider than Gerrans.

 

[BYOP88]

This team is going to suck so much. There's no way they should be in the ProTour/World Tour/whatever it's called these days, they should start out as a pro-conti team and see what happens. Also the UCI should change the stupid rule, concerning points and the team losing them if the rider leaves.

 

[maltiv]

What? They said they are going to be a classics team with some sprinters. They also have a decent climber in Weening. They also have invested inguys for the future. Seems like they have a direction.

You know you've done a bad job recruiting when your best climber is Weening

 

[just some guy]

I fully expect Simon Clarke to outperform his namesake in the Ardennes and think that at present he's actually a better rider than Gerrans.

He is one to watch

 

[hatcher]

Clarke is better than Gerrans in that he doesn't ride for Sky. And that's it.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Gerrans has done nothing this year outside of the Amstel Gold Race. Sure, he got a handful of alright results at the Tour Down Under, but only Aussies care about that anyway. His only other notable results in the last two years is the Tour of Denmark, and winning that is hardly a massive endorsement of your climbing. Clarke is six years younger, hasn't really had much chance to ride for himself, and hasn't had injury woes to consider.

I think Gerrans is highly overrated. He's managed some pretty good results in the hilly classics but he's never really looked like a threat to win (no, Plouay doesn't count) and the story that the Australian team wanted him to lead at Mendrisio instead of Evans is, if not utter hogwash, then evidence that the Australian team have no clue. He's a contender in the hilly classics in the same way as Tadej Valjavec or Marzio Bruseghin are GT contenders.