Saur-Sojasun in the Tour de France 2011 (Early Thread)

[Dewulf]

It the Tour de FRANCE and I'm very happy its all wildcard teasm are from France. It will be attack after attack race strategy.

Its bad enough Saur got flicked. Geox should have know they were toast and look at the management of the team. Lots of questions.

BUT its the Tour de FRANCE. All four wildcards should go to French teams. Its not called the "Tour de best teams in the world".

meh, if France can't support it's teams to be in the best teams of the world, do they really deserve ALL the wildcards? Methinks not, 2 should be enough.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Rujano is going to be a bit tired after contending for that Giro.

besides rujano is going to do vuelta colombias right after the giro in june.

 

[DAOTEC]

jan might be right

Jérôme Coppel is a serious contender for a top 10 GC spot in the Tour de France.

If Coppel is a candidate for top-10 in the Tour, a lot of people are. But maybe Saur can fool the ASO into thinking he can do it.

http://www.dailyhaggis.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/o_rly.jpg

if he's lucky maybe top 30 but it'll be damn hard.
DAOTEC,i still think that is absolutely no chance to see saur sojasun in le tour.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahahwhahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahaha

 

[taiwan]

Of course, none of this means he'll be in the top 30.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Jerome Coppel might be the annual French top 15 rider of the year.. Other than that I can't see much going on there.

 

[taiwan]

I agree, but does Le Mevel count, because Vaughters has the knack (or whatever) of putting a random rider in the top 10?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Even though it was assisted by a big break, Le Mevel doesn't really count as random since he's already been there once before. He'll probably turn someone like Dave Zabriskie into a climber this time round. Or Heinrich Haussler, he'll suddenly pull out riding like his 2009 stage win every day and turn into a new Valverde.

 

[taiwan]

Even though it was assisted by a big break, Le Mevel doesn't really count as random since he's already been there once before. He'll probably turn someone like Dave Zabriskie into a climber this time round. Or Heinrich Haussler, he'll suddenly pull out riding like his 2009 stage win every day and turn into a new Valverde.

The Haussler comment is noted. I'll laugh heartily if that happens.

 

[Sasquatch]

This is good news from a betting perspective.

Saur will be last year's Footon and come last in the teams classification, making it compulsory to bet for the team that the books pit them against.

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

Coppel? Potential future Top 5 Tour rider. Nothing less. But potential of course. Right decision to include Saur this year, even if behind Coppel the team IMO is a bit thin. Casper won't play a role in the sprints, that's roughly 3 levels to high for him. Hivert hasn't shown much since his good Paris Nice years ago. Nr 2 of the team might turn out to be Julien Simon (is he related to the 4 Simon brothers?) after all.

But Coppel deserves the chance to show his progress. He might be the french stage racer of the next years, more than Sicard and the other climbers. Simply because Coppel is complete, strong in TT and improving in the mountains. Dauphiné 10 was untypical, his TT there was horrible. But to have a chance to reach your potential, most riders (Ullrich, Schleck who reach the podium in their first GC are clearly the exception) need experience. Now he gets the chance to learn in a GT, good. And at Saur of course the only GT where he could hope to ride was the TdF (his change from FdJ was a very strange decision actually). Top 10 this year? Possible. He could end up like Rolland in 2010 as well, a failure, but IMO Coppel is stronger than Rolland and has the bigger potential.

Second reason to give the team a chance: For 2 years Heulot has managed to get results in the races he could start, regularly beating the other french teams. Yes, for Saur the top team was at the start, while for Cofidis etc. it was the the weaker riders that start. Still, Saur has had good results in 2 years, give them a chance to prove they can compete at a higher level. Maybe I'm wrong and Casper will be seen. etc. Won't know without giving them the chance. Main reason that the decision to invite Saur is the correct one is still Coppel though.

Too bad ASO didn't have the guts to kick Cofidis. That's the team that should have been kicked. Catastrophic TdF in 2010, worse than Footon in some respects, at least Valls showed himself. And except Moncoutié at the Vuelta the whole year was basically bad. Moncoutié coming back to the TdF probably saved them, the name. Even if I don't expect he'll get a stage. Sure, El Fares, Taaramäe, 2 fairly young guys with potential, apart Coppel Saur doesn't have riders like that. But Cofidis (for the Tour) doesn't really have much more than El Fares, Taaramäe and Moncoutié either. Plus, Cofidis unlike Saur had good chances to get an invitation for the Vuelta, thanks to Moncoutié in the last years. IMO Cofidis out, Geox in the rest the same would have been the better decision. Saur in, good decision. Give Coppel a chance to get some experience, reward Heulot's results in the last 2 years.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

And except Moncoutié at the Vuelta the whole year was basically bad.

Mickaël Buffaz won Paris-Corrèze. Samuel Dumoulin was 3rd at the GP Le Marseillaise, won a stage and the GC of the Étoile de Bessèges, won the GP dell'Insubria, a stage of the Volta a Catalunya and a stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe plus multiple top 10s in the Tour and Vuelta, Leonardo Duque won the Coupe de France thanks to good results including a win of the GP Cholet-Pays de la Loire, 5th in Paris-Camembert, 2nd in the Tour du Finistère, 4th at Plouay and 3rd at the Tour du Doubs. Julian El Fares won a stage of the Tour Med and was top 30 at both the Giro and Tour. Tony Gallopin won a stage of the Tour of Luxembourg. Jens Keukeleire proved he's a big name for the future, winning the GP Le Samyn, a stage and the GC at the Driedaagse van Westvlaanderen, and Nokere-Koerse, and was 5th at Paris-Bruxelles. Sébastien Minard won Paris-Camembert. Amaël Moinard won a stage and the KOM at Paris-Nice. David Moncoutié was 3rd in the Tour of Turkey, won the Route du Sud outright, 3rd in the Tour de l'Ain, and of course got his now customary KOM and stage win at the Vuelta (with a higher GC finish than last year, but not as good as 2008). Damien Monier won a stage of the Giro d'Italia. Rémi Pauriol was 9th in the Tour of Turkey but highly visible throughout as a challenger for the title. Nico Sijmens was 2nd in a mountain stage of the Vuelta. Rein Taaramäe was 7th at Paris-Nice, 3rd at the Volta a Catalunya (with 2 2nd places), led the Tour of Turkey.

Cofidis scored 4877 CQ points in 2010. They scored 4646 in 2009. They were well over 5000 in 2008, but they actually had a better 2010 than 2009.

 

[DAOTEC]

21/01/2011 à 15h08 | Saur Sojasun in the WorldTour

The contract between Saur-Sojasun and Stephane Heulot his team expires at the end of 2011. Saur boss confirms this Friday at Cyclism'Actu that the partnership should be extended for 3 to 4 more seasons, about which we also are confirmed by Stephane Heulot.

The target set by Stephane Heulot clearly "be a member of the World Tour". He explains that to Cyclism'Actu it is "a request from the sponsors and the budget will follow accordingly. " Saur Sojasun will not hesitate to "recruit foreign top riders to do so."

(http://cyclismactu.net/saur_sojasun_etre_dans_le_world_tour.html)


en à demain

 

[DAOTEC]

Jimbo nails it

The last time many of us saw Casper though, he was sliding down the steep cobbled surface of the Kemmelberg on his face in one of 2007’s grizzliest YouTube classics.

“It’s felt like I’m on a health cure since I’ve been here,” he said. “I have found the confidence that I had lost and that’s thanks to Stéphane [Heulot] and his team managers. At my previous teams I felt that I was just not good enough and had no confidence, and when you’re not good in your head you can’t win.”

During the 2008 Tour de France he tested positive for corticosteroid in the Tour. He was entirely exonerated after it transpired that the therapeutic use exemption (TUE) certificate that he’d held for 12 years. But the incident was a contributor to his team Agritubel not renewing his contract.

“I needed support at that time,” he said, slightly bitterly.
On signing for his current team he has been able to relax and his result have reflected this.
"Before, I did not hold all the cards,” he said. “I fought too often and didn’t leave myself enough energy to win races; now I have guys who ride for me. We are the only ones doing that and it brings me serenity; it is very important.”

Friday, January 21 | Read more: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/7...ench-sprinter-Jimmy-Casper.aspx#ixzz1BildRHZK

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

And that's basically bad.

For what was basically a PT Team (I know, no licence, but thanks to the agreement with the organizers could ride a full PT programm anyway) these 4877 poins are... bad.

Only teams that did all 3 GTs that did worse were obviously Milram and Footon, plus BBox.

The TdF then was horrible, the rest of the season wasn't horrible, after all Cofidis wasn't Footon. But it was fairly bad. The tour horrible. Those 2 things combined, plus that the team didn't really get stronger either, would have made me invite Geox and Saur, not Cofidis.

But then it was a hard decision to make anyway, basically all 5 teams kind of deserve to be there. Prudhomme chose not to invite Geox, I would have kicked Cofidis, many people probably would have kicked Saur. In the end there is no 100% right and 100% wrong decision.

 

[DAOTEC]

Must read >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And that's basically bad.

For what was basically a PT Team (I know, no licence, but thanks to the agreement with the organizers could ride a full PT programm anyway) these 4877 poins are... bad.

Only teams that did all 3 GTs that did worse were obviously Milram and Footon, plus BBox.

The TdF then was horrible, the rest of the season wasn't horrible, after all Cofidis wasn't Footon. But it was fairly bad. The tour horrible. Those 2 things combined, plus that the team didn't really get stronger either, would have made me invite Geox and Saur, not Cofidis.

Agree !, if it wasn't for this result and the guy that goes with it Cof would have been dead meat.

Leonardo Duque Wins The Coupe de France 2010
Classement final :

1. Leonardo DUQUE (COL/Cofidis), 145 pts
2. Florian VACHON (FRA/Bretagne-Schuller), 144
3. Jonathan HIVERT (FRA/Saur-Sojasun), 130
4. Romain FEILLU (FRA/Vacansoleil), 89

LA ROCHE-SUR-YON, – The Colombian Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) won the Coupe de France 2010 at the end of the 39th Tour de Vendee, won the sprint on Sunday at La Roche-sur-Yon, over Spaniard Koldo Fernandez (Euskaltel).

Leonardo Duque had a total of 145 points, ahead by a point over Florian Vachon (Brittany Schuller).

Koldo Fernandez finished the 206 km from the twelfth and final stage of the Coupe de France in 4 hours 44 minutes 7 seconds, ahead of Italian Davide Appollonio (Cervelo TestTeam) and Jonathan French Hivert (Saur-Sojasun).


Complete review of French cycling 2010 and why ASO did what was their obligation @ : [http://cyclismactu.net/coupe-en-france-ASO-TdF-2011.html]

 

[DAOTEC]

Young French hope Jerome Coppel ready for his first Tour de France


24 year old showing signs that he could be a Grand Tour overall contender for the future.

"I'm going to fall back on the Ruta del Sol where the level will be high," said Coppel to L'Equipe. "My first peak was expected to be at Paris-Nice, but I'll now wait to time my first peak until late April and early May for the Criterium International, and then peak again in July."

smart people keep a hold on the fella not to engage in races like P-N - these are no good for a TdF prep


There's little questioning that Coppel's progression and excellent 2010 season were extremely intriguing to the Amaury Sports Organization. Dare it be said aloud? Could Coppel be the long awaited young French Grand Tour talent in quite a few years? The label has been a curse for many so far, but if Coppel continues on this same trajectory, the hope seems well founded.

Read more: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/7...r-his-first-Tour-de-France.aspx#ixzz1Bm9PXtbF

 

[theyoungest]

smart people keep a hold on the fella not to engage in races like P-N - these are no good for a TdF prep

Ah, that's why Contador, Sanchez 1, Sanchez 2, Kreuziger, Rodriguez, and Van den Broeck all raced it last year.

 

[DAOTEC]

Ah, that's why Contador, Sanchez 1, Sanchez 2, Kreuziger, Rodriguez, and Van den Broeck all raced it last year.

Right yeah, these suckers have to clean up their messed up system before the TdF. If you have any brains at all except for the TdF 'fluke' from Van den Broeck ... open a topic in the Clinic please, cause the mods will take me down if I open me mouth about your hunch, these Dalton 4 comprènde señor youngest.

 

[Tuarts]

You forgot to add FACT! at the end of your post...

 

[profff]

imho the only potential "fuoriclasse" among the young french is t. pinot, which has strong climbing attitudes and decent tt.
coppel is overrated, but I admit he is now the best french candidate for a top ten place in the tour. he is a good tt rider and can climb. he has the advantage that heulot protected his growth and he arrives at the tour after good results in fall semiclassics and in dauphinee and ruta del sol.
he arrives at the tour with some self-esteem and he knows he can probably handle the pressure and he has already beaten or stayed with some of the contender for a place 5-15. at the opposite , all the other french hopes, like roelland or di gregorio have been thrown into the tour with great hype after just decent escapee.... in other words they come into the tour just knowing that they can ride fast part of a race or part of a stage, but no real results achieved and they bounced back very hardly.

i hope that coppel proves that saur was worth of the invitation , but i will not be astonished if he does not enter in the top ten.
i think french have to wait for pinot, sicard, may be geniez to see a real tour contender.

 

[DAOTEC]

January 23, 19:36

Very good stuff from CyclingNews ...

Heulot: “It’s not a reward, we’re going there to shine”

Coppel made his Tour debut as a 22-year-old with Française des Jeux in ...


More indept: [http://cyclingnews.com/coppel-aiming-for-top-finish-at-tour-de-france]

 

[DAOTEC]

Program leading up to the tour:

TOUR MÉDITERRANÉEN (du 9 au 13 février)
Jimmy CASPER, Jérémie GALLAND, Fabrice JEANDESBOZ, Sébastien JOLY, Laurent MANGEL, Rony MARTIAS, Yannick TALABARDON, Ludovic TURPIN. DS: Nicolas GUILLÉ et Lylian LEBRETON.

TOUR DU HAUT VAR (19 et 20 février)
Anthony DELAPLACE, Jérémie GALLAND, Fabrice JEANDESBOZ, Sébastien JOLY, Laurent MANGEL, Julien SIMON, Yannick TALABARDON, Ludovic TURPIN. DS: Gilles PAUCHARD et Jean*‐Baptiste QUICLET.

RUTA DEL SOL (du 20 au 24 février)
Jimmy CASPER, Jérôme COPPEL, Arnaud COYOT, Jimmy ENGOULVENT, Jonathan HIVERT, Guillaume LEVARLET, Jean*‐Marc MARINO. DS: Stéphane HEULOT et NicolasGUILLÉ.

HET NIEUWSBLAD (26 février)
Jimmy CASPER, Arnaud COYOT, Anthony DELAPLACE, Jimmy ENGOULVENT, Cyril LEMOINE, Rony MARTIAS, Romain MATHÉOU, Stéphane POULHIÈS. DS: Lylian LEBRETON.

BOUCLES DU SUD ARDECHE (27 février)
Jérôme COPPEL, Jérémie GALLAND, Fabrice JEANDESBOZ, Laurent MANGEL, Julien SIMON, Yannick TALABARDON, Ludovic TURPIN. DS: Gilles PAUCHARD.

GRAND PRIX D’ALMERIA (27 février)
Cyril BESSY, Jonathan HIVERT, Sébastien JOLY, Christophe LABORIE, Guillaume LEVARLET, Jean*‐Marc MARINO,Jean*‐Lou PAIANI, Paul POUX. DS: Nicolas GUILLÉ.

KUURNE–BRUXELLES–KUURNE (27 février)
Jimmy CASPER, Arnaud COYOT, Anthony DELAPLACE, Jimmy ENGOULVENT, Cyril LEMOINE, Rony MARTIAS, Romain MATHÉOU, Stéphane POULHIÈS. DS: Lylian LEBRETON.

(http://saur-sojasun.com)

 

[The Hitch]

Turns out DAOTEC got another thing wrong

Saur never did appear at the 2011 Tour de France

 

[hrotha]

Turns out DAOTEC got another thing wrong

Saur never did appear at the 2011 Tour de France

Well, I saw Hivert once, teaching Voeckler how to descend, but he was disappointing overall. Coppel was about as highly placed in the GC as could be expected before the Tour, but in my opinion he was slightly disappointing. After so many contenders withdrew, he should have been in the top 10. Still, his result suggests he's got it.

 

[Benotti69]

Shock horror French race invites French team. Easy. You want another French winner, invite as many French teams as possible.