Pre La Vuelta-thread

[Singer01]

Re:

At the end of the day, it comes down to Valverde and Quintana. Both have realistic hopes of winning the race.

Valverde has no chance, he hasn't been near to winning a GC since 2009, he might 'hope' to win it, I don't see how he actually does though.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Ion Izagirre will lead the Bahrain team while Nibali will use the race to get back into form.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

TBM - Vincenzo Nibali, Franco Pellizotti, Ion Izagirre, Gorka Izagirre, Ivan Garcia Cortina, Luka Pibernik, Hermann Pernsteiner and Mark Padun.

Exciting team. Don't know if anyone will go for the gc but I think this team should go all out stage hunting. Excited to see how Pernsteiner will perform in a race with a really high level.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

At the end of the day, it comes down to Valverde and Quintana. Both have realistic hopes of winning the race.

Valverde has no chance, he hasn't been near to winning a GC since 2009, he might 'hope' to win it, I don't see how he actually does though.

Alright then...

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Strange to have Carapaz as a last minute replacement for Landa - I question Movistar's team selection for GT's in 2018.

I thought it was a good replacement. He already was riding good in last year's Vuelta and he must be recovered from the Giro.

 

[Escarabajo]

I’m really glad Porte is Australian, he Is always the favourite bar Chris Froome in these races which means I get really good odds for everyone else. Quintana at 6 dollars Australian is so laughable

Can't really understand Porte being any sort of favourite. One must first routinely be in top 10 to be something like that. Nope. It's just so sad that his motor runs somewhere between Nibali, Froome and Quintana but his skillset does not. As much as I dislike Pinot, on overall, as a complet, Porte is nowhere near.

Not really. Pinot often gets sick in races or something goes wrong. He had problems with his descending and now it's it's his TT. The main problem for Porte at least in the last few seasons is that he can't stay upright. Is Pinot any closer now to winning a GT than Porte ? Not really. Still I think they should both do okay in the Vuelta. No Dumoulin or Froome. Should be an interesting race. As far as betting goes home countries always favour their own riders or athletes, it has little to do with logic.

For a moment I thought there was something more important!

 

[hfer07]

Re: Re:

Movistar squad for La Vuelta

http://movistarteam.com/en/2018-08-20/2018-vuelta-espana-lineup

No Landani ??

what the Fu...

Not properly healed from his fractured back.

my bad - I had forgotten about the San Sebastian crash...

 

[memyselfandI]

Nibali, Pinot, Lopez, Simon Yates.

Maybe it's Rigo at last, he's most complete cyclist with Valverde and Nibali from this startlist by far, Valverde being the one who shows a bit marks of age but who knows. Uran, if stars align, dunno how his injury recovery went, from San Sebastian it looks he's got good spirits left and it means mountains. Prolly quite lowish group from EF as usual but Uran goes high on his own, thumbs up here.

 

[Lequack]

Nibali, Pinot, Lopez, Simon Yates.

Maybe it's Rigo at last, he's most complete cyclist with Valverde and Nibali from this startlist by far, Valverde being the one who shows a bit marks of age but who knows. Uran, if stars align, dunno how his injury recovery went, from San Sebastian it looks he's got good spirits left and it means mountains. Prolly quite lowish group from EF as usual but Uran goes high on his own, thumbs up here.

So you guys are just dismissing the whole Lotto Jumbo team? They were the only ones to compete with Sky in the Tour really.

 

[memyselfandI]

Lotto Jumbo..I think winner comes not from those who dug deep at the TdF so Kruijswijk nope, Sepp Kuss is of course interesting black horse, but kinda freshman if compared say Lopez. George Bennet.

And there it was!

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Lotto Jumbo..I think winner comes not from those who dug deep at the TdF so Kruijswijk nope, Sepp Kuss is of course interesting black horse, but kinda freshman if compared say Lopez. George Bennet.

And there it was!

Why are we rolling our eyes at George Bennett?

 

[memyselfandI]

Because we know he's thereabouts but not quite somehow, some good results but like last year both GT's dnf what is bad for GT contender. Compare for example Pinot, same age, Pinot one season less and very different overall level. Simon Yates, two yrs younger, 3 seasons less..aso.

Edit: and usually we laugh team FDJ when discussing serious GT racing.

 

[tobydawq]

Ah right, the no results argument.

So I guess you also think Porte is not a serious contender and Thomas' Tour victory came out of the blue?

 

[May0maniac]

Trek Segafredo:
BRAMBILLA Gianluca
BRÄNDLE Matthias
CONCI Nicola
FELLINE Fabio
IRIZAR Markel
MOLLEMA Bauke
NIZZOLO Giacomo
REIJNEN Kiel
Source: https://www.tuttobiciweb.it/article...nicola-conci-fabio-felline-gianluca-brambilla
I don't know about Conci already riding a gt, the guy already has 53 race days as a neopro, yes he was able to ride himself into decent shape in Utah after loosing time on the first mountain stage, but I still have my doubts.

 

[Lequack]

Why do these rider posters always end up so weird looking.

Astana

Bahrain Merida, Nibali looks like a trout rather than a shark

Movistar, this one is better, they look pretty moody

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

At the end of the day, it comes down to Valverde and Quintana. Both have realistic hopes of winning the race.

Valverde has no chance, he hasn't been near to winning a GC since 2009, he might 'hope' to win it, I don't see how he actually does though.

Alright then...

Though the bookies have him 5th favourite so what do I know (Porte - S Yates - NQ - MAL - Valverde).

I could realistically see about 20 people getting a podium spot if it went their way, so its pretty f'ing exciting.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

At the end of the day, it comes down to Valverde and Quintana. Both have realistic hopes of winning the race.

Valverde has no chance, he hasn't been near to winning a GC since 2009, he might 'hope' to win it, I don't see how he actually does though.

Alright then...

Though the bookies have him 5th favourite so what do I know (Porte - S Yates - NQ - MAL - Valverde).

I could realistically see about 20 people getting a podium spot if it went their way, so its pretty f'ing exciting.

Not close since 2009??

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

At the end of the day, it comes down to Valverde and Quintana. Both have realistic hopes of winning the race.

Valverde has no chance, he hasn't been near to winning a GC since 2009, he might 'hope' to win it, I don't see how he actually does though.

Alright then...

Though the bookies have him 5th favourite so what do I know (Porte - S Yates - NQ - MAL - Valverde).

I could realistically see about 20 people getting a podium spot if it went their way, so its pretty f'ing exciting.

Not close since 2009??

He hasn't been close in 2009 even. Sanchez crashed and Evans got tricked by the neutral service car. So Valverde ended up winning. He's no grand tour winner material. Never has been. Proven multiple times. Excellent rider. Just no grand tour winner.

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

At the end of the day, it comes down to Valverde and Quintana. Both have realistic hopes of winning the race.

Valverde has no chance, he hasn't been near to winning a GC since 2009, he might 'hope' to win it, I don't see how he actually does though.

Alright then...

Though the bookies have him 5th favourite so what do I know (Porte - S Yates - NQ - MAL - Valverde).

I could realistically see about 20 people getting a podium spot if it went their way, so its pretty f'ing exciting.

Not close since 2009??

Close in position, not close to actually winning.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

Lotto Jumbo..I think winner comes not from those who dug deep at the TdF so Kruijswijk nope, Sepp Kuss is of course interesting black horse, but kinda freshman if compared say Lopez. George Bennet.

And there it was!

The only one with a chance normally would be 2016 Giro Kruijswijk, which I think we saw in the Tour. No way he can do that level again in Vuelta.

Sepp is nice but this isn't America. Bennett no way in hell.
They'll be entertaining in the mountains but that's about it

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

He hasn't been close in 2009 even. Sanchez crashed and Evans got tricked by the neutral service car. So Valverde ended up winning. He's no grand tour winner material. Never has been. Proven multiple times. Excellent rider. Just no grand tour winner.

Right. In 2012, he lost 55 seconds in the fourth stage when the others ploughed on after he had crashed. And in the Giro 2016 he was a couple of minutes from getting back to Nibali on the risoul stage when the motos decided to step in and rescue the Italian dream. But I guess there were no riders with Grand Tour winning material in that race...

 

[tobydawq]

And for the record regarding Bennett:

I don't think he'll win nor podium but I do think he has been riding so well recently that just rolling the eyes at there mere notion of him being up there seems a bit unfair.

 

[Koronin]

Movistar is sending a nice team, but nothing like what they had 2-3 years ago. Their selections are making very little sense.

Valverde has as good of a shot of winning and definitely getting a final podium as any other GC rider has at this race. This is his favorite race of the season AND he's chasing history at it. He needs one more podium and one more green jersey to tie overall records. He already holds the most years between first and most recent win and first and most recent podium.

 

[Robert5091]

No Landa. All in for Quintana for GC. Hope Nairo has something left from TdF.

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

He hasn't been close in 2009 even. Sanchez crashed and Evans got tricked by the neutral service car. So Valverde ended up winning. He's no grand tour winner material. Never has been. Proven multiple times. Excellent rider. Just no grand tour winner.

Right. In 2012, he lost 55 seconds in the fourth stage when the others ploughed on after he had crashed. And in the Giro 2016 he was a couple of minutes from getting back to Nibali on the risoul stage when the motos decided to step in and rescue the Italian dream. But I guess there were no riders with Grand Tour winning material in that race...

Gosh, he wouldn't even have finished on the podium at the 2016 Giro d'Italia without Kruijswijk playing titanic and crashing ice blocks. What a non-argument!