Menchov & Sastre: What are they thinking?

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May 23, 2011
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Sastre is getting to the age when he might consider a ride with Radio Shack. He lucked out, won the Tour de France, and is now trying to coast to retirement without a scandal. He is finished.
 
Mar 12, 2009
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Duartista said:
According to Nicosix's ranking, Geox are currently in 15th and thus fighting with Lotto and Katusha for the last automatic World Tour place. That CN article doesn't seem too well informed.

What the article said is that they haven't applied for a spot which they haven't according to the official word from UCI (though like Garmin they might just be late with the paperwork). If they haven't applied then they can't get a spot even if they are top 15. The article was talking about being attractive to the Tour organizers as a wild card and they are right in that none of their transfers have really made them more likely to get a wild card. Afterall if Sastre and Menchov wasn't enough this year then I doubt Cobo winning the Vuelta will be enough.

Their chance to ride the Tour is if they are in dact applying for a spot and it was just a mix up that they were not part of the initial list of applicants.
 
Sep 8, 2009
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of course,le tour brings the money,i can understand that.but with 100 km of itt,there is no chance in hell cobo will get on the podium.i wish he'll do il giro and let le tour for 2013.this year,le tour is for menchov
 
Oct 16, 2011
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jens_attacks said:
of course,le tour brings the money,i can understand that.but with 100 km of itt,there is no chance in hell cobo will get on the podium.i wish he'll do il giro and let le tour for 2013.this year,le tour is for menchov

I agree with you, Menchov has his last chance to perform in a very good way in a tour next year ,I think,and as far as cobo is concerned 2012 is an important year for him to show his level , ¿ giro and vuelta?, perhaps , toussuire,luchon or peyragudes would be good stages for him too.
 
Mar 10, 2009
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Didn't Menchov just finish on the podium in 2010, his best finish at the Tour? Granted he has seemed uninspired this year but isn't it a bit early for everyone to be playing taps on his career?
 
Oct 26, 2010
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jens_attacks said:
of course,le tour brings the money,i can understand that.but with 100 km of itt,there is no chance in hell cobo will get on the podium.i wish he'll do il giro and let le tour for 2013.this year,le tour is for menchov

Cobo isn't the worst TT'er like anton or rodriguez
 
Sep 8, 2009
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yes but there aren't enough mountains to take back the time you lose on wiggins,froome,contador.not being the worst at tt is not enough when you have 100 km of it.
 
Jun 7, 2011
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Yeah he should definitely ride the Giro/Vuelta. Geox has to understand that Menchov could actually contend for the win with the TT'ing. Cobo simply can't win a Tour with this much TT'ing. He could possibly win the GIro and Vuelta tho.
 
Oct 7, 2011
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Angliru said:
Didn't Menchov just finish on the podium in 2010, his best finish at the Tour? Granted he has seemed uninspired this year but isn't it a bit early for everyone to be playing taps on his career?

I agree. TdF 2012 has one of the best profile to riders like Menchov. And Geox has also good riders to help him in the few mountain stage races. My preview is 1st Contador 2nd Wiggins 3rd Evans and then 4th Menchov (if Geox gets invited).
 
Jun 7, 2011
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miguelvazpinto said:
I agree. TdF 2012 has one of the best profile to riders like Menchov. And Geox has also good riders to help him in the few mountain stage races. My preview is 1st Contador 2nd Wiggins 3rd Evans and then 4th Menchov (if Geox gets invited).

Hahaha like wiggins is going to beat Evans and Menchov!:p

I agree Contador will win. Maybe 2. Evans 3. Menchov 4. Wiggins

We don't fully know the climbs yet so idk but Ill go ahead and assume there is going to be at least 1 hard climbing stage. Otherwise Wiggins might be 2nd..
 
Jun 14, 2010
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Im increasingly begining to think that Contador will get the ban. In which case all bets are off. Menchov has as good a chance as anyone. If he brings it, he can win it no doubt.

The press will of course ignore him, especially with 2 english speaking riders listed as the 2 favourites, but beware the Pope.
 
Jul 26, 2011
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I don't know. I read that half of the players in the U17 or U18 soccer WCup in Mexico tested positive for clenbuterol, apparently because of beef farm practices in Mexico. None of them were charged, so that sets a pretty big precedent.
 
Aug 13, 2011
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The Hitch said:
Im increasingly begining to think that Contador will get the ban. In which case all bets are off. Menchov has as good a chance as anyone. If he brings it, he can win it no doubt.

The press will of course ignore him, especially with 2 english speaking riders listed as the 2 favourites, but beware the Pope.

For all we know Cont's case could be set back even longer. Menchov can win if he doesn't crash :rolleyes: or loss time on dumb crap.

Press always goes for English speaking riders 1st and than others second.
 
Mar 27, 2011
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Cadel could take time out of Menchov in the 1st week on stage "1" apparent. Especially if Menchov has no form, in the 1st week 9 this year we saw Cadel had good form throughout the whole TDF ). He would be a threat of course though. It was absolutely criminal he was not invited this year. They should be allowed to ride it next year. Hopefully Duarte shall also fire there. I think if they are invited to the TDF they will not go to the Giro as their team will be threadbare their.
 
Apr 14, 2011
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ingsve said:
What the article said is that they haven't applied for a spot which they haven't according to the official word from UCI (though like Garmin they might just be late with the paperwork). If they haven't applied then they can't get a spot even if they are top 15. The article was talking about being attractive to the Tour organizers as a wild card and they are right in that none of their transfers have really made them more likely to get a wild card. Afterall if Sastre and Menchov wasn't enough this year then I doubt Cobo winning the Vuelta will be enough.

Their chance to ride the Tour is if they are in dact applying for a spot and it was just a mix up that they were not part of the initial list of applicants.
I know, but Movistar weren't on the original list either, or Garmin. They were just late sending in paperwork. Geox are definitely applying, in fact the future of their sponsorship depends on it. I doubt ASO will invite them if they don't get WT status.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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The Hitch said:
Im increasingly begining to think that Contador will get the ban. In which case all bets are off. Menchov has as good a chance as anyone. If he brings it, he can win it no doubt.

The press will of course ignore him, especially with 2 english speaking riders listed as the 2 favourites, but beware the Pope.

I initially thought Contador would get banned but after seeing the results of other clenbuterol related cases I think he will survive. Menchov, Evans, Martin, Wiggins and Contador will be happy with the route and even Leipheimer as well. It will be a miracle if either Schleck podiums unless crashes take people out of contention again.

What happened with Sastre ? Didn't he announce his retirement ? I can't understand his change of mind. It's been a while since he showed any form.
 
Oct 7, 2011
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movingtarget said:
I initially thought Contador would get banned but after seeing the results of other clenbuterol related cases I think he will survive. Menchov, Evans, Martin, Wiggins and Contador will be happy with the route and even Leipheimer as well. It will be a miracle if either Schleck podiums unless crashes take people out of contention again.

What happened with Sastre ? Didn't he announce his retirement ? I can't understand his change of mind. It's been a while since he showed any form.

He announced his retirement on September 15. I think he expected to keep a high level this year on GT´s and if he doesn´t just only minor races he did well on retiring but it´s a sad goodbye. Great great cyclist.
 
Jun 14, 2010
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Big news. Might need a new thread on it webvan if you want to start it.

Katusha could do a BMC. Weakest team in the race to winning it the next year;)

Ok, Pope probably isnt going to win it and might fail bad, but he has to be one of the big big favourites, just in case he does bring it.
 
Apr 1, 2009
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The Hitch said:
Big news. Might need a new thread on it webvan if you want to start it.

Katusha could do a BMC. Weakest team in the race to winning it the next year;)

Ok, Pope probably isnt going to win it and might fail bad, but he has to be one of the big big favourites, just in case he does bring it.

Well, even if he does bring it (a big if with Menchov these days), he'd still have to stay on his bike (a tall offer for a rider that likes to prostrate himself).
Seriously though, I think Katusha can bring a good support team, and if Contador is banned, Menchov would have to start as one of the top two favorites (Cadel being the other).
We might see a Evans-Menchov-Wiggins TdF podium after all.

Purito to go for Giro/Vuelta double? And fail miserably, again.