Lidl-Trek (no longer Radioshack-Leopard Trek)

[qwerty16]

So now it is revealed that Becca took a loan over €1.5 million from Bruyneel last year to cover riders' wages, but has never paid the money back. How much skechier can this guy be??!

Not to change the subject but rather bring up a seperate point of discussion. What do people think RSLT's Tour-team will be? I know the team will be mostly invisible but it is still a somewhat interesting question for me. Here is a short wrap-up:

Out: Fränk Schleck, Chris Horner, Yaroslav Popovych

Maybe out: Fabian Cancellara

In: Andy Schleck, Haimar Zubeldia, Maxime Monfort, Andreas Klöden, Tony Gallopin.

That leaves 3 or 4 slots to fill. If we take the Dauphiné and Suisse teams, the remaining candidates are:

Matthew Busche
Laurent Didier
Ben Hermans
Markel Irizar
Ben King
Thomas Rohregger

Stijn Devolder
Grégory Rast
Hayden Roulston
Jens Voigt

My analysis:

Jens Voigt**** - besides being a machine is good for Andy's spirits, publicity, visibility and maybe even a breakaway win
Matty Bouché**** - token american on the team, but still well-deserved IMO with consistent performances over the last years
Laurent Didier*** - Andy's private bodyguard, raced with him all season except Tour de Suisse, but likely only because RSLT wants the Luxembourg champion in their home race. However if Andy shows bad form his chances go down
Markel Irizar*** - maybe requested by Zubeldia if the latter shows good form at the Dauphiné and becomes the undisputed leader, chances rising if Cancellara does not ride
Stijn Devolder** - maybe requested by Cancellara, or else called up so that the average age doesn't drop too much. Also has shown good form this year. But if Cancellara renounces, will follow the same schedule as the swiss powerhouse
Hayden Roulston** - has a chance if Cancellara renounces, recent Giro participation might work against him
Ben Hermans** - showed slight promise in last year's Giro and has performed well in smaller stage races this year

Ben King, Thomas Rohregger and Gregory Rast do not have a chance IMO.

Devolder is already in, according to himself.
"Eind juni hoop ik wel over de juiste conditie te beschikken. Dan staat immers de Tour de France op mijn programma. Ik heb mijn ticket al beet. Ik weet dit al sinds de Brabantse Pijl. Ik vind ook dat het nodig is om als renner voldoende op voorhand te weten of je al dan niet naar de Ronde van Frankrijk mee mag."
source:
http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/952/Wielre...k-ben-zeker-nog-niet-top-na-rustperiode.dhtml

 

[Christian]

Devolder is already in, according to himself.
"Eind juni hoop ik wel over de juiste conditie te beschikken. Dan staat immers de Tour de France op mijn programma. Ik heb mijn ticket al beet. Ik weet dit al sinds de Brabantse Pijl. Ik vind ook dat het nodig is om als renner voldoende op voorhand te weten of je al dan niet naar de Ronde van Frankrijk mee mag."
source:
http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/952/Wielre...k-ben-zeker-nog-niet-top-na-rustperiode.dhtml

Thanks for the info. Does not make too much sense IMO, but to be fair he has shown good form. Still I cannot imagine him being in contention for any stage wins.

Also the article on the front page says Matthew Busche will not be part of the team - so it appears there will be no American this year, unless we see another soap opera like last year. But I think the sponsor already doesn't care anymore. Too bad for Busche, I think he would have deserved it!

 

[HCl+HN03]

Wasnt it Nisssan who wanted Horner in the team last year. It seems RadioShack havent cared since Armstrongs buddy who sign the sponsorchip deal got fired.

What about Horner? Is he injured? If so its a shame because he was clearly their best climber last year and should have been the leader in the first place instead of babysitting Schleck in the first week and then Klödi in Planche des Belles Filles.

 

[Afrank]

That's incredibly stupid not to include Busche in the team, not because he's American, but because he's got really good form at the moment. He would have a good chance of bringing them a good result from a breakaway I think.

 

[roundabout]

He is in good form now. The mountains are a month away.

 

[Afrank]

Good form and results now should and usually does contribute to riders chances of being selected for big races like the Tour.

 

[roundabout]

He is following his schedule, the riders who plan to do the Tour are following their.

 

[Afrank]

Schedules are never set in stone, things change for riders throughout the season. A rider might get sick or fatigued or come into some good form or get a good result and their schedule can be change to work around those types of things.

Besides, what would be the point of not including him? Radioshack isn't like Sky who need to carefully consider every rider they send to the Tour. Just send the riders that have the best form and best bet at success.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Odd that Bakelandts isn't on the TdS startlist. Good result in Switzerland today and he'd be one of the first names on my Tour team

 

[Christian]

Wasnt it Nisssan who wanted Horner in the team last year. It seems RadioShack havent cared since Armstrongs buddy who sign the sponsorchip deal got fired.

Ah yes I think you are right about that

What about Horner? Is he injured? If so its a shame because he was clearly their best climber last year and should have been the leader in the first place instead of babysitting Schleck in the first week and then Klödi in Planche des Belles Filles.

Yeah Horner I believe is still working out his knee injury... he hasn't raced since Tirreno and will target the American stage races later in the season as I understand

Odd that Bakelandts isn't on the TdS startlist. Good result in Switzerland today and he'd be one of the first names on my Tour team

My analysis is that Radioshack has a very tight circle of riders even to be considered for the Tour, and not much of it is based on form or merit. Other riders are cronically underappreciated, Bakelants being a prime example.

As for Busche, I agree with Afrank - he has done the build-up, he has shown better form than most, gotten good results - reward the guy! It's not like leaving out Devolder will ruin your Tour. But then again who knows maybe racing the Vuelta (which I assume he is) will be a great move and he will do well there.

 

[search]

Odd that Bakelandts isn't on the TdS startlist. Good result in Switzerland today and he'd be one of the first names on my Tour team

he is struggling with some kind of (knee?)injury all season, so that's propably why they didn't even consider him. He was on the startlist for the Dauphiné but had to be replaced a couple of days before the start of the race, so I doubt he is already up for three weeks of racing on a decent level

 

[search]

As for Busche, I agree with Afrank - he has done the build-up, he has shown better form than most, gotten good results - reward the guy! It's not like leaving out Devolder will ruin your Tour. But then again who knows maybe racing the Vuelta (which I assume he is) will be a great move and he will do well there.

today's stage was the first ever decent result for Busche outside the US. In europe he has a total of 5 top 10 placings in all those years for Radioshack - and he propably peaked for the Tour of California and US championships, so he benefitted from that with most other guys being in preperation mode. No way I would take him on the roster for the tour

 

[Christian]

today's stage was the first ever decent result for Busche outside the US. In europe he has a total of 5 top 10 placings in all those years for Radioshack - and he propably peaked for the Tour of California and US championships, so he benefitted from that with most other guys being in preperation mode. No way I would take him on the roster for the tour

Yeah it is true a lack of results on European soil might speak against him. I was just thinking compared to the average performance of the team recently he sticks out as a slight glimmer of hope, hence my consideration for him

/edit: re: Bakelants. He has also had knee surgery and not raced very much because of it this season, I believe

 

[pastronef]

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013...purchase-radioshacks-worldtour-license_289979

Frank Schleck, Demol and Andersen could leave

 

[Christian]

So no Cancellara either! That is interesting news and personally I would say a good decision. They do not have a real GT contender so there is no absolute need to have Fabian in the TTT. Now he can focus on other goals and someone new can get his slot

 

[pastronef]

So no Cancellara either! That is interesting news and personally I would say a good decision. They do not have a real GT contender so there is no absolute need to have Fabian in the TTT. Now he can focus on other goals and someone new can get his slot

here is cycling-fever starlist now

DEVOLDER Stijn
GALLOPIN Tony
KLÖDEN Andreas
MONFORT Maxime
SCHLECK Andy
VOIGT Jens
ZUBELDIA AGIRRE Haimar

so the other 2 can be... Didier, Rast, Hondo, Irizar, one of the 3 NZL guys?

 

[roundabout]

Rohregger is one of the possibilities.

Edit: although he has done next to nothing this year, so I don't really see why he should get a spot

Edit 2: there is also Hermans who seems to be in good form

 

[all_in]

here is cycling-fever starlist now

DEVOLDER Stijn
GALLOPIN Tony
KLÖDEN Andreas
MONFORT Maxime
SCHLECK Andy
VOIGT Jens
ZUBELDIA AGIRRE Haimar

so the other 2 can be... Didier, Rast, Hondo, Irizar, one of the 3 NZL guys?

Rast is very probably to be at the start.The last one I think will be Popovich.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

here is cycling-fever starlist now

DEVOLDER Stijn
GALLOPIN Tony
KLÖDEN Andreas
MONFORT Maxime
SCHLECK Andy
VOIGT Jens
ZUBELDIA AGIRRE Haimar

so the other 2 can be... Didier, Rast, Hondo, Irizar, one of the 3 NZL guys?

Does anybody know what the objectives are?

Andy GC?

Team competition (dear me)?

Stages?

Maybe they should bring Nizzolo along considering the 12 flat stages. He can always drop out after the 2nd rest day.

 

[trevim]

Does anybody know what the objectives are?

Andy GC?

Team competition (dear me)?

Stages?

Maybe they should bring Nizzolo along considering the 12 flat stages. He can always drop out after the 2nd rest day.

Nice idea. Even if he ended up not winning anything, he can always show the jersey in the sprints. Although having ridden the Giro he's probably more or less cooked by now.

 

[Christian]

Rohregger is one of the possibilities.

Edit: although he has done next to nothing this year, so I don't really see why he should get a spot

Edit 2: there is also Hermans who seems to be in good form

Yeah Rohregger I doubt he has done nothing in close to 3 years with the team (first Leopard, then Radioshack), from what I understand the main reason he got on the team in the first place is because Tirol Tourism pays his salary

Does anybody know what the objectives are?

Andy GC?

Team competition (dear me)?

Stages?

Maybe they should bring Nizzolo along considering the 12 flat stages. He can always drop out after the 2nd rest day.

Nizzolo is doing Tour of Luxembourg. If he could carry his form from the Giro he should have some nice opportunities there. For the Tour I think he is too cooked from the Giro though, let's not forget this was only his 2nd GT. I would say the same counts for the whole Giro team, but I might be wrong. That would mean no Popovych and no NZL guys. Although Roulston left early and is now doing Suisse, he is the only one that I could imagine doing it. And Hondo maybe too.

My best bets with the new info would be Rast, Didier, Irizar, Hermans. I am pretty confident the remaining riders will come from that group.

As for the goals I think it can only be stage wins and top-10 for Zubeldia. Team GC could be possible but will be more difficult this year I think. Stages will also be tough, pretty much only possible from breakaways. My prediction is they will be invisible throughout the race and Zubeldia will finish somewhere between 8th and 12th

 

[Christian]

Personally I would root for Hermans, he deserves it and is a type of rider who could actually win something from a breakaway

 

[PeteTheSpinner]

I guess Cancellara's absence means they've gave up of the GC.

 

[Afrank]

Does anybody know what the objectives are?

Andy GC?

Team competition (dear me)?

Stages?

Maybe they should bring Nizzolo along considering the 12 flat stages. He can always drop out after the 2nd rest day.

IMO their primary goal should be going for stage wins. I could see them going for the team competition again, but I'd much rather prefer they not. They should race like a French wildcard team. Go in breaks and try to get stage wins from those breaks. I could see Andy in with a good chance at winning a mountain stage from the break.

 

[movingtarget]

Looks like stage wins only.