Rider schedules for 2016.

[Velolover2]

Katusha's rumored team for the Tour De France:

Kristoff
Mørkøv
Guarnieri
Haller
Rodriguez
Taaramäe
Van Den Broeck
Losada
Vicioso

That's a strong one.

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

Kwiatkowski's calendar is almost identical to the one of Valverde from what I know.

Spanish opening races
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (?)
Strade Bianche (sole leader)
T-A
Milano-Sanremo
Dwars (likely leader)
E3 (?)
Flanders (co-leader along with many)
Ardennes (sole leader)

I like that schedule very much. Hopefully no Algarve though. Then will move on to Tour and Olympics, at least that's my guess

 

[Velolover2]

Yeah. As many one day races and a less small stage races as possible would be ideal.

I've always seen Kwiatkowski as the ideal classics rider. Could win all the Monuments maybe with the exception of Roubaix. Hope that we will see him along with Nibali and Valverde from a supergroup on Cipressa in Milano-Sanremo.

 

[MatParker1711]

Re:

Yeah. As many one day races and a less small stage races as possible would be ideal.

I've always seen Kwiatkowski as the ideal classics rider. Could win all the Monuments maybe with the exception of Roubaix. Hope that we will see him along with Nibali and Valverde from a supergroup on Cipressa in Milano-Sanremo.

Think he'll be riding for Viviani.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Yeah. As many one day races and a less small stage races as possible would be ideal.

I've always seen Kwiatkowski as the ideal classics rider. Could win all the Monuments maybe with the exception of Roubaix. Hope that we will see him along with Nibali and Valverde from a supergroup on Cipressa in Milano-Sanremo.

Nah.

 

[MatParker1711]

Some sprinters might change there schedules as there going up the steeper side of the kemmelberg in GW.

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

Yeah. As many one day races and a less small stage races as possible would be ideal.

I've always seen Kwiatkowski as the ideal classics rider. Could win all the Monuments maybe with the exception of Roubaix. Hope that we will see him along with Nibali and Valverde from a supergroup on Cipressa in Milano-Sanremo.

Think he'll be riding for Viviani.

I think Viviani is their main man if it comes down to a sprint. But Kwai is better as a wildcard they can use in a break.

Viviani will have plenty of lead-out men like Swift, Stannard and Puccio.

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

Yeah. As many one day races and a less small stage races as possible would be ideal.

I've always seen Kwiatkowski as the ideal classics rider. Could win all the Monuments maybe with the exception of Roubaix. Hope that we will see him along with Nibali and Valverde from a supergroup on Cipressa in Milano-Sanremo.

Nah.

One of the. if not the smartest cyclist in peleton with decent engine. He defintely has a chance in each monument, but winning all is unlikely to happen

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

Yeah. As many one day races and a less small stage races as possible would be ideal.

I've always seen Kwiatkowski as the ideal classics rider. Could win all the Monuments maybe with the exception of Roubaix. Hope that we will see him along with Nibali and Valverde from a supergroup on Cipressa in Milano-Sanremo.

Nah.

You think.. let's say GVA.. has a better chance?

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Yeah. As many one day races and a less small stage races as possible would be ideal.

I've always seen Kwiatkowski as the ideal classics rider. Could win all the Monuments maybe with the exception of Roubaix. Hope that we will see him along with Nibali and Valverde from a supergroup on Cipressa in Milano-Sanremo.

Nah.

One of the. if not the smartest cyclist in peleton with decent engine. He defintely has a chance in each monument, but winning all is unlikely to happen

Jack of all trades; master of none. Winning none is more likely than all, I fear. He has bloomed early, and I expect that someone (who is yet to perform at v. high in monuments) will always be slightly better than him. If this Lombardia's course is repeated again, then I feel it is too hard for him, and he may need to lose a bit of weight for it, losing TT-ing ability and raw power affecting him in other monuments like the northern ones. The Bergamo one is more suited to him, or an easier Como one. Paris-Roubaix is a very, very long shot (especially at SKY not Etixx), and Tour of Flanders is top 5 at best really. Benoot and Lampaert are the biggest talents in cobbled classics and are two or three levels up from flower on cobbles. Liege-Bastogne-Liege, OTOH, is one he really should win. MSR with Pompeiana will be basically made for him, but can't see it [adding Pompeiana] happening any time soon. Needs Sky to focus on him and just make it a ridiculously hard race. If Le Manie returns, then he will have more of a chance. I do, actually, believe he will win another Worlds at least, as they seem to be often the perfect mix for him: Hilly but not too hard; fast finish but not for sprinters; a run-in that is roughly 2-5km that suits his TTing and power but not too long that he is caught and as you said he is a very smart rider and it is often a race won by smarts as well as strength on the day.

However, I am often overly pessimistic about his chances. I think focusing on GTs was a very dumb idea on etixx's part. He will never win one, but has a great chance in monuments. Those couple of indecisive years could hurt him in the long run. I reckon he should aim for between 3-5 monuments.

 

[damian13ster]

He is not focusing on the GTs, not yet. Hence the flanders this season in calendar. For next 2-3 years he will focus on classics and gradually improve his climbing. Right now he has a chance at Flanders and MSR, and I wouldn't be shocked if he placed really high in Roubaix if he focused on it within next 2 years. He will probably start aiming at GTs in his early 30s, improve his climbing and then also target Lombardy.

Of course it is more likely that he won't won win a monument than that he will win all, but he is one of the very few unique cyclists that have legitimate shot at contending in all of them

 

[Velolover2]

Winning all 5 Monuments is a hard task in the age of specialization, but if I had to pick one with a chance, it would be Kwiatkowski. He is still young and is good at adapting to any terrain.

He could bulk up when riding the cobbled classics and lose a lot of weight in the summer/autumn when the Classica delle Foglie Mort is near.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Winning all 5 Monuments is a hard task in the age of specialization, but if I had to pick one with a chance, it would be Kwiatkowski. He is still young and is good at adapting to any terrain.

He could bulk up when riding the cobbled classics and lose a lot of weight in the summer/autumn when the Classica delle Foglie Mort is near.

Easier said than done. No rider in modern era has ever done this, and there have been better riders (Bettini, to name but one).

 

[WheelofGear]

Re:

Winning all 5 Monuments is a hard task in the age of specialization, but if I had to pick one with a chance, it would be Kwiatkowski. He is still young and is good at adapting to any terrain.

He could bulk up when riding the cobbled classics and lose a lot of weight in the summer/autumn when the Classica delle Foglie Mort is near.

No. It would be this man.

If Degenkolb wasn't there, he could be a leader in MS, Vlaanderen and Roubaix. He is large, young and build for everything.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Fabio Aru:

Possible start of the season at Volta ao Algarve.
Either Tirreno-Adriatico or Paris-Nice
Tour of the Basque Country
Fleche-Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Criterium Dauphine
Tour
Olympics

Plan B is to ride Volta a Catalunya instead of PN/Tirreno.

Link?

An article in todays La Gazzetta dello Sport.
According to Martinelli the returning Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana will be his first race before the Volta.
Source: http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/27-...butto-febbraio-valenciana-1301097065696.shtml

 

[Wallenquist]

Edvald Boasson Hagen:

Tour of Qatar
Tour of Oman or Volta ao Algarve
Tirreno Adriatico
Milano San Remo
Cobbled Classics
Tour de France

Brian Smith wanted Eddy to ride Liege Bastonge Liege but it's not certain for now.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

Edvald Boasson Hagen:

Tour of Qatar
Tour of Oman or Volta ao Algarve
Tirreno Adriatico
Milano San Remo
Cobbled Classics
Tour de France

Brian Holm wanted Eddy to ride Liege Bastonge Liege but it's not certain for now.

I think Amstel Gold Race is more suited for Eddy. In 2009, we thought that he could win all the Monuments. But he definitely has his limitations when it comes to climbing. Liege is simply to hard for him.

 

[Velolover2]

Speaking of Monuments, I made a list of doubles. From "easiest" combination to hardest to get.

Roubaix, Flanders
Liege, Lombardia
Roubax, Sanremo
Sanremo, Flanders
Flanders, Liege
Flanders, Lombardia
Liege, Sanremo
Sanremo, Lombardia
Roubaix, Liege
Roubaix, Lombardia

Do you agree?

 

[Nick C.]

Re:

Speaking of Monuments, I made a list of doubles. From "easiest" combination to hardest to get.

Roubaix, Flanders
Liege, Lombardia
Roubax, Sanremo
Sanremo, Flanders
Flanders, Liege
Flanders, Lombardia
Liege, Sanremo
Sanremo, Lombardia
Roubaix, Liege
Roubaix, Lombardia

Do you agree?

I assume = most likely? I might move Liege and Lombardia/San Remo up above Flanders duo. Otherwise it seems about right. Come to think of it Roubaix/Flanders and Liege/Lombardia are the two combos that have the same sets or types of riders focusing on.

 

[Velolover2]

Most likely, yeah. And you may be right about that.

The only real specialist combinations are Flanders/Roubaix and Liege/Lombardia. And sometimes even those races are won by very different type of riders.

 

[MatParker1711]

Neither EQS, Sky or Tinkoff will be in Qatar. Assume it's just Dubai and Oman of the middle east races for them. Also Knees, Rowe, DVP, Puccio & Moscon were reconing the Roubaix cobbles, so that's most of Sky's classics squad confirmed.

 

[Squire]

Any news on the schedule of Dan Martin? I assume something, something, Catalunya, Ardennes, something, Tour, Rio?

 

[Wallenquist]

Astana team for Algarve:

Aru, Rosa, Tiralongo, Cataldo, LL Sanchez, Lopez, Kangert and Kozhatayev

It's like 80% of their TDF squad. Just add Fuglsang and probably switch Kozhatayev (and maybe Lopez) for Boom/Westra (unless they switch to Giro because of depart from the Netherlands).

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

Astana team for Algarve:

Aru, Rosa, Tiralongo, Cataldo, LL Sanchez, Lopez, Kangert and Kozhatayev

It's like 80% of their TDF squad. Just add Fuglsang and probably switch Kozhatayev (and maybe Lopez) for Boom/Westra (unless they switch to Giro because of depart from the Netherlands).

Giro: Nibali, Scarponi, Fuglsang, Westra, Capecchi, Grivko, Malacarne, Vanotti and Guardini for sprints.
Tour: Aru, Tiralongo, Rosa, Cataldo, Kangert, LL Sanchez, Boom, Lutsenko, Zeits.

I my guess is that López will get his GT debut in the Vuelta.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Astana team for Algarve:

Aru, Rosa, Tiralongo, Cataldo, LL Sanchez, Lopez, Kangert and Kozhatayev

It's like 80% of their TDF squad. Just add Fuglsang and probably switch Kozhatayev (and maybe Lopez) for Boom/Westra (unless they switch to Giro because of depart from the Netherlands).

Giro: Nibali, Scarponi, Fuglsang, Westra, Capecchi, Grivko, Malacarne, Vanotti and Guardini for sprints.
Tour: Aru, Tiralongo, Rosa, Cataldo, Kangert, LL Sanchez, Boom, Lutsenko, Zeits.

I my guess is that López will get his GT debut in the Vuelta.

Martinelli recently said in an interview that Guardini won't ride the Giro and Kangert seems to be one of Nibali's trusted domestiques.