Predict the Giro-Tour-Vuelta wildcards

[GenericBoonenFan]

Two teams have left the WT this year.
One team will join the WT next year (Bora Hansgrohe)
And every year 22 teams get to start in the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and The Vuelta.
Now with 18 WT teams next year this means that 4 wild cards will be given away.
Colnago will sponsor a WT team again, so there's no particular reason for the Giro organisation to give Gazprom a second consecutive wildcard. And since Bora has leveled up this opens a spot in both the Tour and The Vuelta.

I tought It might be a fun little game to try and predict the 4 teams who will be awarded those wildcards.
So who's with me? Here's my guess.

Giro
-Androni Giocatolli-Sidermec
-Nippo Vini Fantine
-Willier Trestina
-Bardiani CSF

Tour
-Cofidis
-Direct energie
-Fortuneo-Vital concept
-Wanty Groupe Gobert

Vuelta
-Caja Rural
-Cofidis
-Direct Energie
-Team Manzana Postobon

 

[pastronef]

it would be nice if the new RCS owner, Mr Cairo, let Wilier, Androni and Bardiani out because of their Pay to Race investigation, but it won´t happen

for the Tour I dont know about Wanty. I never liked them very much, no particular reason.

 

[Brullnux]

it would be nice if the new RCS owner, Mr Cairo, let Wilier, Androni and Bardiani out because of their Pay to Race investigation, but it won´t happen

for the Tour I dont know about Wanty. I never liked them very much, no particular reason.

Tha would be counter inituitive imo. If they don't go to the Giro then they make less money as that us their primary source of income, so then more people would be accepted under the pay to race scheme, because they need more money.

 

[staubsauger]

I expect Gazprom once again at the Giro. They've sharpened up their squad and still got Firsanov & Foliforov as leaders.

Androni Giocatolli should be back as they've got a big talent in Bernal and always animate and honor the Italian races they enter!

Bardiana-CSF Group won the Italian cycling cup and got their invitation save already. They've got the best squad anyway. With Cicchone etc. pp.

Nippo-Farnese Vini ain't exactly a high quality team. But if they still plan that Mount Fuji trip they can't afford to close the door for a big Japanese sponsor.

Southeast got Marcezko. They're save. Especially since there ain't gonna be much other big sprinters around.

So I believe it's gonna be:
Androni Giocatolli
Bardiani
Gazprom
Southeast

But I wouldn't be surprised if they give away 5 wildcards and threat the UCI to ignore DD if they ain't gonna accept 23 teams. Happened before already with Vacansoleil.

 

[MatParker117]

Giro-Gazprom, Bardiani, Willier, Nippo

Tour-WGG, Cofidis, FVC, Direct Energie

Vuelta-Caja, Direct Energie, Cofidis, MZP

 

[May0maniac]

I badly want to see Androni at the Giro and I kinda have to agree with staubsauger, Nippo could be the ones to loose their wildcard, personally I could do without Wilier - Southeast. Gazprom should get another wildcard and I'm totally fine with that.
Postobon getting a Vuelta wildcard in their first year at PCT level would be pretty nice.

 

[pastronef]

Colnago is back in the WT with TJ-Sport-Lampre, so maybe next year they won´t "need" to invite a Colnago supplied team.

I dont know Manzana Postobon at all so I dont know if they´d get a Vuelta ride.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Manzana is Colombian, that's enough qualification for some...

I can see Wanty getting two invites, they are probably the best non-French PCT team next year. They just lack the standing far weaker teams have.

 

[pastronef]

Re:

Manzana is Colombian, that's enough qualification for some...

ahah ok

 

[Libertine Seguros]

By two invites for Wanty you mean to the Giro and Tour, yes? Just I can't see that they offer anything whatsoever to the Vuelta, with no local interest and not really any likely stagehunters or GC candidates on recent Vuelta routes, unless ASO strong-arm Unipublic into a consolation pick if they don't get selected for the Tour. That's part of the reason people are suggesting Manzana for the Vuelta, because they have some good young climbers (Reyes, Suaza) and tend to race the Spanish domestic calendar, as well as some riders with decent European experience in Vilela (from Caja Rural) and Antonio Piedra (former Vuelta stage winner). I'm not convinced their lineup is strong enough to usurp some other teams, mind.

Caja Rural and Cofidis are locks, obviously, but beyond that it's a bit more unclear. It's been a long time since an Italian PC team went to the Vuelta, so I would expect those to be out especially as the race clashes with some important domestic one-dayers for the Coppa Italia, which for those teams is often their ticket to the Giro. Delko might be an outside bet, they've got a few Spanish riders including the cult popular Madrazo and some useful potential stagehunters in Diaz, di Gregorio and the like. Direct Energie have some riders who could enliven the race but might be reliant on ASO's stake in Unipublic. Gazprom wouldn't actually surprise me, Firsanov has some good results in Spain and Shalunov got his start racing Spanish domestic races with Lokosphinx, but I'm struggling to see what the motivation for Unipublic would be - a hope that Foliforov develops a GC bid? Lagutin to repeat his anonymous top 20 of a few years ago? As it is, the pickings for the wildcards aren't all that appealing - Manzana may be given the wildcard out of a developmental hope with the Colombians of the 80s in mind, like at the Giro with the Coldeportes team a few years ago.

 

[BalearicBeats]

Does Aqua Blue have any change of getting a wildcard already? Perhaps for the Vuelta?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

To do what exactly? I don't see their current lineup, although pretty decent for a first year ProConti team, being of much interest to the Vuelta - they offer little benefit to Unipublic's sponsors and little interest to the Spanish crowds, and given the parcours trend in recent years in Spain their only real selling point to Unipublic at present is Lars Petter Nordhaug and maybe Larry Warbasse as stagehunters.

I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying there's basically two spots to play for at the Vuelta (Cofidis & Caja Rural are guaranteed) and if I was Javier Guillén, they're well down on the list of teams I'd want to invite, and certainly behind Delko, Manzana, Direct Energie, Androni, Gazprom and Southeast.

I think Aqua Blue will be best served looking for wildcards in Classics season with the team that they've got, and using performances in those to establish themselves to look for stage racing invites later on. Their lineup features some useful sprinters and guys who can justify the team an invite to races like Amstel Gold, but bearing in mind when the Vuelta is, I'd anticipate the Tour of Britain and Canadian WT races to be better priorities for them at the time given they can be much more prominent in those than they can be in the Vuelta at present. Also, as a mostly Anglophone team, the Tour of Britain is one of the best races for the sponsors and in Nordhaug they have somebody who is a former winner at one of the Canadian races, which is good for the hunt for a wildcard there - it would be better imo for them to do those races and be highly prominent, pick up results (which I think they're well equipped to do) and look to progress towards doing GTs into year 2 of the project, than to go to the Vuelta and be break fodder or pick up a few placements in the extremely few remaining flat sprints that Unipublic include.

 

[May0maniac]

Regarding the Giro wildcards, Wilier could really be the ones to loose their wildcard, they'll get a M-S wildcard for Pippo and Vegni said that they put all the sprint stages in the first 2 weeks of the Giro because the big names often leave the Giro afterwards, so I don't think that they really need Marcezko, besides the big names that could ride the Giro there are still Nizzolo, Viviani, Modolo and "lesser" Italian sprinters like Sbaragli, Ruffoni and maybe Pelucchi, so it's not like they really need him.
The japanese connection + having Cunego and Arredondo could save Nippo, Cunego is a former winner who animated the mountain stages durning the last Giro (he did more than the whole Wilier squad combined) and the last time that Arredondo raced the Giro he won a stage and the mountains jersey, for me Wilier - Southeast are the one Italian team that I don't have to see at the Giro.

 

[Ricco']

On the other hand it's the 100th Giro, I could see all the italian teams being invited.

 

[staubsauger]

Yeah, true words pal. But Foliforov, Firsanov, Rybalkin & Tsatevich really deserve another shot at the Giro. Gazprom really impressed at nearly all the Italian races they did last season.

It's a dilemma actually. They can't afford to sideline Savio again normally because it certainly means that his team is finally killed. Ain't nobody needs Dimension Data at the Giro. They shouldn't be present neither there nor in the world tour ...

Now you've got to leave one team out of the Giro simply because the DD goofs kept their place in the wt by threatening the government with a potential lawsuit!

 

[yaco]

Gazprom got a fluke victory in the 2nd TT of the Giro - Otherwise they offered nothing to the race.

 

[staubsauger]

They applied some kinda wrong tactics trying to snatch a top 10 spot on the general classification with Firsanov after he'd won the International Cycling Week and finished 5th at the Tour of Trento. If Firsanov, Foliforov & Rybalkin rather choose to animate the race with mountain breakaways in 2017, Gazprom should absolutely be invited to the Tour of Italy again next year!

As much as I criticized RCS for inviting Gazprom this spring, I truly believe bar Bardiana they're the Pro Conti team that adds the most to the Tour of Italy on paper. They're homebase is in Italy right at the Lake Garda and the Tour of Italy,( just like) the Tour of Trento and the International Cycling Week were the Russians major season highlights and they kept all their powders exclusively for that races. Which should be honored with another wildcard imho!

 

[Nirvana]

Giro - Androni, Nippo, Bardiani (winner of italian cup) and Gazprom.
Tour - Direct Energie, Cofidis, Delko and Fortuneo
Vuelta - Caja Rural, Cofidis, Direct Energie and Manzana.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Giro - Androni, Nippo, Bardiani (winner of italian cup) and Gazprom.
Tour - Direct Energie, Cofidis, Delko and Fortuneo
Vuelta - Caja Rural, Cofidis, Direct Energie and Manzana.

I'd like that, but Manzana Postobon don't really need to ride a gt durning their first year at PCT level, getting invited to races like the Giro del Trentino/Euregio and Burgos should be their main goal.
I wouldn't mind seeing Delko at the Vuelta, that could be fun.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re:

Giro - Androni, Nippo, Bardiani (winner of italian cup) and Gazprom.
Tour - Direct Energie, Cofidis, Delko and Fortuneo
Vuelta - Caja Rural, Cofidis, Direct Energie and Manzana.

I really can't see Delko at the tour this year, I feel like they underachieved the entire year and they're unworthy of a wild-card

 

[Ricco']

Regarding Wilier, what's the marketing value of Pozzato in Italy at the moment? From what I follow on Twitter he is one of the italian riders with more fans, despite not achieving any big wins in a long time. Let's see if RCS wants to keep him from the next Giro.

 

[Nirvana]

Re: Re:

Giro - Androni, Nippo, Bardiani (winner of italian cup) and Gazprom.
Tour - Direct Energie, Cofidis, Delko and Fortuneo
Vuelta - Caja Rural, Cofidis, Direct Energie and Manzana.

I really can't see Delko at the tour this year, I feel like they underachieved the entire year and they're unworthy of a wild-card

With Bora, DD and Bahrein all in WT i think we'll see all french WC at the Tour.

 

[Roku]

Manzana Postobon riding the Vuelta would be shameful... what could they offer? An anonymous top-35 with Vilela in GC and top-15/top-20 placings in flat sprints with Bol? Breakaways where colombian riders would be the first to be left behind?

Giro: Androni, Nippo, Bardiani, Willier (though i would love Gazprom taking the spot of any italian team, they deserve it)

Tour: Cofidis, Direct Energie, Fortuneo and Wanty

Vuelta: Cofidis, Direct Energie, Caja Rural and Gazprom/Delko (i would not be surprised if Delko got the last wild-card, especially if Gazprom goes to the Giro)

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Topsport Vlaanderen seem to be long overdue a chance but unfortunately not happening. Of course it doesn't help that some World Tour teams are barely strong enough to field two GT teams let alone three. Maybe if they lumped all those Italian pro-conti teams together in the Giro and had them competing in the Italian jersey you might get one decent team

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re:

Topsport Vlaanderen seem to be long overdue a chance but unfortunately not happening. Of course it doesn't help that some World Tour teams are barely strong enough to field two GT teams let alone three. Maybe if they lumped all those Italian pro-conti teams together in the Giro and had them competing in the Italian jersey you might get one decent team

The reason they're not riding GTs is because they're not interested in doing that. They only wanna give a handful of guys the chance to step up a level and ride GT with their futur teams.