Rio 2016 Olympic Road Race and Time Trial courses

[Pippo_San]

Re: Re:

As much as I love Ulissi, I think Caruso would be the best choice by far.

Ulissi's climbing is very underrated

It's more his endurance I'm worried about. And perhaps his capabilities to give everything as a dom.

Ulissi and Brambilla should be a given considering the season they had.

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

As much as I love Ulissi, I think Caruso would be the best choice by far.

Ulissi's climbing is very underrated

It's more his endurance I'm worried about. And perhaps his capabilities to give everything as a dom.

If Ulissi makes the selection, I don't think he'll go strictly as a dom. He will probably be a sprint option

 

[El Pistolero]

Nibali should be sole leader, so I wouldn't take untrustworthy riders like Ulissi (he'd ride for himself). Diego Rosa is a must. I'd also take Valerio Agnoli, he might not be the strongest domestique Italy can take, but Nibali trusts him 100% and he feels comfortable with Agnoli by his side. Scarponi would be my last choice.

So Nibali, Rosa, Scarponi and Agnoli.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

As much as I love Ulissi, I think Caruso would be the best choice by far.

Ulissi's climbing is very underrated

It's more his endurance I'm worried about. And perhaps his capabilities to give everything as a dom.

Ulissi and Brambilla should be a given considering the season they had.

Too much climbing for Brambilla in Rio. Especially with Aru, Rosa, Scarponi etc around

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Nibali should be sole leader, so I wouldn't take untrustworthy riders like Ulissi (he'd ride for himself). Diego Rosa is a must. I'd also take Valerio Agnoli, he might not be the strongest domestique Italy can take, but Nibali trusts him 100% and he feels comfortable with Agnoli by his side. Scarponi would be my last choice.

So Nibali, Rosa, Scarponi and Agnoli.

If it were nine man teams then Agnoli would've had a fairly good chance, but with five you need to take five best for the job, and Agnoli isn't the best dom around. If he gets dropped on the first ascent Cassani will be really annoyed.

Also, your team has four nor five

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Nibali should be sole leader, so I wouldn't take untrustworthy riders like Ulissi (he'd ride for himself). Diego Rosa is a must. I'd also take Valerio Agnoli, he might not be the strongest domestique Italy can take, but Nibali trusts him 100% and he feels comfortable with Agnoli by his side. Scarponi would be my last choice.

So Nibali, Rosa, Scarponi and Agnoli.

You can't put all your eggs in one basket with a sole leader, and then not have at least one guy who can put in a monster pull on the flat. The first 150km are largely flat. What if Nibali gets caught out there in a split, or has a mechanical? I think they should definitely pick one rouleur as insurance, perhaps someone like Trentin. What purpose would Agnoli serve anyway that Rosa and Scarponi couldn't do?

 

[SafeBet]

Rosa would be an excellent domestique and a very capable co-leader at the same time.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Rosa would be an excellent domestique and a very capable co-leader at the same time.

Rosa's obviously a given - the second name down on the team sheet and a super-domestique. But I think as a protected co-leader you would want a rider with different qualities than the leader; Rosa is basically the same rider as Nibali, but not quite as good in any area. Someone like Ulissi would be a gamble, because his form outside Italy is very flaky, but he offers a genuinely different threat - and gives Italy more of a weapon if the race is ridden at an easier pace.

 

[liamito]

De Marchi also has the potential to be one of the absolute key riders that day, but I was a little disappointed with his Giro. Cassani seems to have a lot of faith in him though.

 

[SafeBet]

Re: Re:

Rosa's obviously a given - the second name down on the team sheet and a super-domestique. But I think as a protected co-leader you would want a rider with different qualities than the leader; Rosa is basically the same rider as Nibali, but not quite as good in any area. Someone like Ulissi would be a gamble, because his form outside Italy is very flaky, but he offers a genuinely different threat - and gives Italy more of a weapon if the race is ridden at an easier pace.

I don't think in a 5 rider team you can afford protecting two riders. Best tactic for me is having a couple of guys working in the first 200km (Moser/Trentin + somebody like Scarponi or De Marchi for instance) and then another couple of guys ready to help Nibali or join an attack and win from it. Rosa surely fits the description. Ulissi is a gamble but I'd probably take him as well.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

As much as I love Ulissi, I think Caruso would be the best choice by far.

Ulissi's climbing is very underrated

It's more his endurance I'm worried about. And perhaps his capabilities to give everything as a dom.

Ulissi and Brambilla should be a given considering the season they had.

Too much climbing for Brambilla in Rio. Especially with Aru, Rosa, Scarponi etc around

Brambilla could be a good domestique, and was 10th last year at Lombardia. I think his climbing is good enough to get into attacks on the second or third to last lap with the lesser favourites, before Rosa does also and then Nibali attacks.

For me Nibali, Moser, Rosa, Brambilla and Scarponi. Ulissi, Trentin, De Marchi and Aru also up in the long list, and depending on their form at the time in the 5.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Rosa's obviously a given - the second name down on the team sheet and a super-domestique. But I think as a protected co-leader you would want a rider with different qualities than the leader; Rosa is basically the same rider as Nibali, but not quite as good in any area. Someone like Ulissi would be a gamble, because his form outside Italy is very flaky, but he offers a genuinely different threat - and gives Italy more of a weapon if the race is ridden at an easier pace.

I don't think in a 5 rider team you can afford protecting two riders. Best tactic for me is having a couple of guys working in the first 200km (Moser/Trentin + somebody like Scarponi or De Marchi for instance) and then another couple of guys ready to help Nibali or join an attack and win from it. Rosa surely fits the description. Ulissi is a gamble but I'd probably take him as well.

Yeah, that makes sense. Definitely agree on having one or two rouleurs. Having three or four climbing doms for Nibali doesn't really make much sense. The climb isn't long enough to need so many, when Rosa could set a ferocious tempo by himself for nearly all of it.

The last place is the interesting one. Whether to go for a wild card like Ulissi or Brambilla. Aru as well staked his claim with the win in the Dauphine a couple of days ago. Though perhaps he would cause too many problems, and would put Rosa in particular in an awkward situation abobut who to work for.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Kléber Ramos and Murilo Fischer will start for the host nation.

 

[jens_attacks]

No alex diniz? I am devastated.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Re:

No alex diniz? I am devastated.

But Diaz will be there!

Argentina for Rio: Sepulveda, Diaz and Richeze (Etixx)

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

brazil as host only 2 riders? and fischer is a bad decision.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

No alex diniz? I am devastated.

Yeah, picking Fischer over Diniz is a joke.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Ramos was okay in the Aquece Rio Race. Did well, but still lost almost four minutes to Vuillermoz. And his current year is good so far. So best decision.

I don't know, if Diniz (same goes for Diaz) was injured, lacks of motivation or his current form is all clinic related, but he showed nothing to be selected for that race. Of course Fischer doesn't make any sense, but you can still acknowledge, that he earned it somehow by beeing Brazil's World Tour guy. So maybe they just know, that they have absolutely zero chance here.

Riders per Team are...

5: Belgium, Colombia, Team Sky, Italy, Spain.

4: Australia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia.

3: Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Iran, Morocco, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine.

2: Algeria, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Croatia, Estonia, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, USA, Venezuela.

1: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Mexico, Namibia, Puerto Rico, Romania, Rwanda, Serbia, Slovakia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates.

 

[portugal11]

I don't understand why is nibali number one favourite for rio... rio's climbs are very steep and quintana and contador are very capable of dropping him.

 

[portugal11]

And i know that rio is a one day race but we never had a classic like this, not even firenze

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

I don't understand why is nibali number one favourite for rio... rio's climbs are very steep and quintana and contador are very capable of dropping him.

I don't think he is the number one fav, Valverde might be but this is a 250k hilly classics one day race which finishes after a technical descent on a relatively flat run in, Contador and Quintana never ever had any kind of results in such races.

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

I don't understand why is nibali number one favourite for rio... rio's climbs are very steep and quintana and contador are very capable of dropping him.

I don't think he is the number one fav, Valverde might be but this is a 250k hilly classics one day race which finishes after a technical descent on a relatively flat run in, Contador and Quintana never ever had any kind of results in such races.

He has the lowest odd

 

[Miburo]

Re: Re:

I don't understand why is nibali number one favourite for rio... rio's climbs are very steep and quintana and contador are very capable of dropping him.

I don't think he is the number one fav, Valverde might be but this is a 250k hilly classics one day race which finishes after a technical descent on a relatively flat run in, Contador and Quintana never ever had any kind of results in such races.

Euh LBL '10? Lombardia '12?

In LBL contador was one of the best tiders, and in Lombardia he was the best besides purito.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: Re:

I don't understand why is nibali number one favourite for rio... rio's climbs are very steep and quintana and contador are very capable of dropping him.

I don't think he is the number one fav, Valverde might be but this is a 250k hilly classics one day race which finishes after a technical descent on a relatively flat run in, Contador and Quintana never ever had any kind of results in such races.

Euh LBL '10? Lombardia '12?

In LBL contador was one of the best tiders, and in Lombardia he was the best besides purito.

I was talking about results, finishing 9th in a bunch with Mollema and Nairo or the same 6 years ago in LBL with another bunch of mostly now retired riders do not make exactly a favorite. Don't get me wrong, Bertie is capable to win on a parcours like in Rio but neither I nor the bookies give him much chances compared to riders who have similar capabilities and proved recently that thwy can succesfully fight for the win.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

I don't understand why is nibali number one favourite for rio... rio's climbs are very steep and quintana and contador are very capable of dropping him.

I don't think he is the number one fav, Valverde might be but this is a 250k hilly classics one day race which finishes after a technical descent on a relatively flat run in, Contador and Quintana never ever had any kind of results in such races.

He has the lowest odd

Because of Lombardia last year. And it's not like he is that bad on steep slopes. In 2011 he stuck with Contador for much of the Zoncolan, and has been good on the Mortirolo in the past. In this year's Giro his best performance came on the Agnello, which isn't exactly flat. Other times he hasn't been as good but he was strong on the Civiglio and San Fermo di Battaglia last year, and they're both steeper than this Rio course.