Pre Tour de France-thread

[Escarabajo]

Katusha does not have much anyway. So I am not sure what was expected from them.

And BMC has always been weak in the mountains. Hopefully they will make sure they win the TTT.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Has Katusha done anything memorable this season? Or am I forgetful?

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Bevin, Caruso, van Garderen, Gerrans, Küng, Porte, Schär, Van Avermaet

Decent team, but no Dennis for the TTT. I fear for Porte TJ and Caruso wont cut it in the mountains, but thats probably not his biggest problem. Funny that Gerro got selected, but he is Australian and experienced, that probably helps.

Gerrans will be the road captain in place of Roche. Not surprised that Dennis is not riding after a tough Giro and he would have only contributed in the first week. The TTT was probably not enough to select him. That is still a strong team for the TTT. Only Sky would be better on paper and maybe Dumoulin's team. Michelton also has a pretty good team for the TTT.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Haas will be disappointed - One of the main reasons he went to Katusha was to ride the TDF - He'll be hoping he goes to the Vuelta.

Don't understand that non selection at all.

 

[silvergrenade]

Re:

Bevin, Caruso, van Garderen, Gerrans, Küng, Porte, Schär, Van Avermaet

Decent team, but no Dennis for the TTT. I fear for Porte TJ and Caruso wont cut it in the mountains, but thats probably not his biggest problem. Funny that Gerro got selected, but he is Australian and experienced, that probably helps.

Can this team win the TTT against Christopher Froome, Thomas, Bernal, Moscon, Jonathan, Woet Poels, Dylan Van Baarle, Rowe without Rohan putting in those huge turns at the front?
I dont think so. Lets see.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Re: Re:

Bevin, Caruso, van Garderen, Gerrans, Küng, Porte, Schär, Van Avermaet

Decent team, but no Dennis for the TTT. I fear for Porte TJ and Caruso wont cut it in the mountains, but thats probably not his biggest problem. Funny that Gerro got selected, but he is Australian and experienced, that probably helps.

Can this team win the TTT against Christopher Froome, Thomas, Bernal, Moscon, Jonathan, Woet Poels, Dylan Van Baarle, Rowe without Rohan putting in those huge turns at the front?
I dont think so. Lets see.

What about Kwiato?

 

[silvergrenade]

Re: Re:

Bevin, Caruso, van Garderen, Gerrans, Küng, Porte, Schär, Van Avermaet

Decent team, but no Dennis for the TTT. I fear for Porte TJ and Caruso wont cut it in the mountains, but thats probably not his biggest problem. Funny that Gerro got selected, but he is Australian and experienced, that probably helps.

Can this team win the TTT against Christopher Froome, Thomas, Bernal, Moscon, Jonathan, Woet Poels, Dylan Van Baarle, Rowe without Rohan putting in those huge turns at the front?
I dont think so. Lets see.

What about Kwiato?

***. Sorry.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Re: Re:

Bevin, Caruso, van Garderen, Gerrans, Küng, Porte, Schär, Van Avermaet

Decent team, but no Dennis for the TTT. I fear for Porte TJ and Caruso wont cut it in the mountains, but thats probably not his biggest problem. Funny that Gerro got selected, but he is Australian and experienced, that probably helps.

Can this team win the TTT against Christopher Froome, Thomas, Bernal, Moscon, Jonathan, Woet Poels, Dylan Van Baarle, Rowe without Rohan putting in those huge turns at the front?
I dont think so. Lets see.

What about Kwiato?

****. Sorry.

Yes. Kwiato will be one of the most important domestique for 5th TDF Froome win.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Fuglsang started a guessing game on his twitter feed, asking people to guess the roster, based on the riders having "won 10 times in 2018 season already".

I am thinking:

Fuglsang 1
Valgren 2
Cort 2
Sanchez 2
Fraile 2
Grivko 1
Kangert 0
Cataldo 0

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Have the stage profiles been posted somewhere?

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Katusha's squad:

Zakarin, Kittel, Zabel, Martin, Politt, Boswell, Kiserlovski, Kochetkov.

Absolutely lame.

Hahah, Katusha is just such a mess.

It's Katusha, do you really expect any different from them? They have the 2nd largest budget in the peloton and I don't think anyone has any clue what they do with that budget.

 

[b.broadhurst]

Looks like it’s Rowe not Bernal after all.

No Bernal in any training pictures.

Kwia, G, Poels, Rowe and Froome in Italy today. Moscon, Van Barrle and Castro at Nationals.

Van Baarle won Dutch TT today, the TTT could be a massacre plus with that lineup Sky could look to do some damage on the cobbles with 5 classics men dragging Froome.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Looks like it’s Rowe not Bernal after all.

No Bernal in any training pictures.

Kwia, G, Poels, Rowe and Froome in Italy today. Moscon, Van Barrle and Castro at Nationals.

Van Baarle won Dutch TT today, the TTT could be a massacre plus with that lineup Sky could look to do some damage on the cobbles with 5 classics men dragging Froome.

Yes, that's absolutely not obvious.
I doubt if Bernal is ready for GT, especially TdF.
But it would be amazing for future years of cycling to watch SWOT analysis of Bernal: his strengts, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.. :razz:

 

[dacooley]

Looks like it’s Rowe not Bernal after all.

No Bernal in any training pictures.

Kwia, G, Poels, Rowe and Froome in Italy today. Moscon, Van Barrle and Castro at Nationals.

Van Baarle won Dutch TT today, the TTT could be a massacre plus with that lineup Sky could look to do some damage on the cobbles with 5 classics men dragging Froome.

it would be quite predictable. with this kind of parcours, including one more rolleur is more helpful rather than an extra pure climber.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Re:

Have the stage profiles been posted somewhere?

Yes, front page, click on the TDF link up top.... as well as on TDFs own HP

 

[rick james]

Bernal is in Europe so..... :geek:

 

[Anderis]

Looks like it’s Rowe not Bernal after all.

No Bernal in any training pictures.

Kwia, G, Poels, Rowe and Froome in Italy today. Moscon, Van Barrle and Castro at Nationals.

Van Baarle won Dutch TT today, the TTT could be a massacre plus with that lineup Sky could look to do some damage on the cobbles with 5 classics men dragging Froome.

Very strong all-around roster but actually not too many pure climbers. I wouldn't be shocked if they manage to isolate Froome quite early at one stage. And that's assuming he will be a contender, which is not sure after riding the Giro.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re: Re:

Have the stage profiles been posted somewhere?

Yes, front page, click on the TDF link up top.... as well as on TDFs own HP

Ah, i was hoping for an overview with all profiles on one page, but this will have to do untill then. Thanks.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Katusha's squad:

Zakarin, Kittel, Zabel, Martin, Politt, Boswell, Kiserlovski, Kochetkov.

Absolutely lame.

Hahah, Katusha is just such a mess.

It's Katusha, do you really expect any different from them? They have the 2nd largest budget in the peloton and I don't think anyone has any clue what they do with that budget.

Powerful shampoo and golden combs to groom Kittel's hair, I would suggest.

 

[Jspear]

Looks like it’s Rowe not Bernal after all.

No Bernal in any training pictures.

Kwia, G, Poels, Rowe and Froome in Italy today. Moscon, Van Barrle and Castro at Nationals.

Van Baarle won Dutch TT today, the TTT could be a massacre plus with that lineup Sky could look to do some damage on the cobbles with 5 classics men dragging Froome.

Very strong all-around roster but actually not too many pure climbers. I wouldn't be shocked if they manage to isolate Froome quite early at one stage. And that's assuming he will be a contender, which is not sure after riding the Giro.

Their riders usually always rise to the occasion. I don't think you need many pure climbers. They've got great riders who do more than what you would expect from them once July comes around. They'll all be climbing quite well. Great comeback from Rowe if he does make the team.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Re:

Katusha's squad:

Zakarin, Kittel, Zabel, Martin, Politt, Boswell, Kiserlovski, Kochetkov.

Absolutely lame.

I see nothing much wrong with that team on paper. Haller's injury has hurt them but still no reason why they shouldn't get multiple stage wins and top 6 on GC

 

[kiszol]

Re: Re:

Have the stage profiles been posted somewhere?

Yes, front page, click on the TDF link up top.... as well as on TDFs own HP

Ah, i was hoping for an overview with all profiles on one page, but this will have to do untill then. Thanks.

Something like this?

https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-france/2018/stages/all-stage-profiles

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Katusha's squad:

Zakarin, Kittel, Zabel, Martin, Politt, Boswell, Kiserlovski, Kochetkov.

Absolutely lame.

Hahah, Katusha is just such a mess.

It's Katusha, do you really expect any different from them? They have the 2nd largest budget in the peloton and I don't think anyone has any clue what they do with that budget.

Powerful shampoo and golden combs to groom Kittel's hair, I would suggest.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Sounds like as good of an explanation as anything else.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Katusha's squad:

Zakarin, Kittel, Zabel, Martin, Politt, Boswell, Kiserlovski, Kochetkov.

Absolutely lame.

I see nothing much wrong with that team on paper. Haller's injury has hurt them but still no reason why they shouldn't get multiple stage wins and top 6 on GC

I think Zakarin has a shot at a good GC IF he survives the first week. That's a big if (hence the capital letters), though.

But the rest of the team is just so sexless (for want of a better word).

Haas would definitely have made it look better but otherwise they are just a boring team.

 

[Robert5091]

... otherwise they are just a boring team.

"Boring teams" tend to do well at GT's