Saxo-Tinkoff Results

[Netserk]

It could be good. I don't really understand Bennati, I think there are better options than him, but be it.

Agreed. Replace Bennati with Mørkøv.

 

[vcampbell]

Agreed. Replace Bennati with Mørkøv.

Yes, he or Boaro.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Agreed. Replace Bennati with Mørkøv.

I personally think Bennati is better for the ttt than Morkov. But imo Morkov should be there instead of Paulinho but I don't really care.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Yes, he or Boaro.

Boaro is too young to ride two GTs imo

 

[Netserk]

I personally think Bennati is better for the ttt than Morkov. But imo Morkov should be there instead of Paulinho but I don't really care.

An old sprinter who rode the Giro is better than a former team pursuiter (who seems to be near top form) in a TTT?

 

[vcampbell]

Boaro is too young to ride two GTs imo

Oops, I forgot he rode the Giro But, then Bennati rode that too. Never mind, I trust in Riis.

And after last years Vuelta I don't care anymore if Paulinho is there or not. He showed that he is a proper domestique.

And actually, more I read that 9 name, the more I like it.

 

[boringboy]

Guess some will never be satisfied with him whatever he does. If you imagined that he'll win it by margin then you are of course dissapointed, but neither he nor the team said it was his goal before race to win it. I don't think he lost form. He had one worse day on Albulapass for whatever reason. Keep in mind that he was mediocre in prologue, clearly was weaker than Mollema or Dan Martin on Crans - Montana and in third stage he made the difference on descent. In TT he was fourth on the mountain regarding GC contenders (although I don't know about Fungert).
1. Costa 33:02
2. Jeannesson 33:03 (ten se ale na rovině flákal) smile.png
3. Mollema 33:08
4. Kangert 33:23
5. Peraud 33:25
6. Kreuziger 33:34
7. Pinot 33:40
Maybe he wasn't even third best in the race, but made it by tactics and agressivness.

Before the race i would have been happy with 3rd, but when you prepar a big attack on the queen stage and have your team do so much work, i am sorry, but then i also expect you to be there or thereabouts in the end. If the 2 or 3 km marker had not gone flat (cant remember which one), he could have lost more time on that stage and finished outside top 3.

I also thought that, view Franck had a very bad last tt, that he could have gone into 2nd spot, which is why i am disappointed. I also believe he has, in the past shown, he can struggle to recover timely after big stages. I do agree Mollema had a very strong race though, but i had hoped, with Roman's form in the earlier days that he could do better, sorry if I have to high expectation to him.

I do hope to see him back at his best in TdF and the Vuelta.

 

[boringboy]

Oops, I forgot he rode the Giro But, then Bennati rode that too. Never mind, I trust in Riis.

And after last years Vuelta I don't care anymore if Paulinho is there or not. He showed that he is a proper domestique.

And actually, more I read that 9 name, the more I like it.

Is this the official team or just what everyone expects as i have not seen any annoucement from them?

 

[BroDeal]

I am completely baffled about how a thread about this subject can have 80+ posts.

 

[Cimber]

I am completely baffled about how a thread about this subject can have 80+ posts.

Your post increased the number by more than 1%

 

[Cimber]

Yes, he or Boaro.

Am pretty sure Boaro is not in the pciture for the Tour. Also he is young and will likely be burned out after the Giro

Cimber :
http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=62978

Cheers. But since the article is from the 14th (midway through TdS), it is likely that the performance in the opening days of the race have been used in the selection for the final spots.

PS: yes agree, pls not Noval

 

[vcampbell]

I wonder, that it's possible for someone in the team (not including Contador of course) to ride for a relatively good GC position (Roche, Kreuziger), to get some WT points? Normally all of them should work for Alberto, but the team is in a hard position, and a top10/15 would be good. Another question, that is there someone who is capable to reach it.

Or we have to wait until Vuelta to watch Majka again?

 

[Netserk]

I wonder, that it's possible for someone in the team (not including Contador of course) to ride for a relatively good GC position (Roche, Kreuziger), to get some WT points? Normally all of them should work for Alberto, but the team is in a hard position, and a top10/15 would be good. Another question, that is there someone who is capable to reach it.

Or we have to wait until Vuelta to watch Majka again?

No one is capable to top-10 other than Alberto, and it would be a waste of energy. In July everything should be about Alberto 100%.

 

[Kokoso]

No one is capable to top-10 other than Alberto, and it would be a waste of energy. In July everything should be about Alberto 100%.

Kreuziger is able to reach top ten.

 

[Kokoso]

Before the race i would have been happy with 3rd, but when you prepar a big attack on the queen stage and have your team do so much work, i am sorry, but then i also expect you to be there or thereabouts in the end. If the 2 or 3 km marker had not gone flat (cant remember which one), he could have lost more time on that stage and finished outside top 3.

I also thought that, view Franck had a very bad last tt, that he could have gone into 2nd spot, which is why i am disappointed. I also believe he has, in the past shown, he can struggle to recover timely after big stages. I do agree Mollema had a very strong race though, but i had hoped, with Roman's form in the earlier days that he could do better, sorry if I have to high expectation to him.

I do hope to see him back at his best in TdF and the Vuelta.

So that's it. Before race everyone would be happy with third place. I don't get what difference makes that team rode for his leader. It's matter of course. In the end of that stage he lost 20 seconds or so, only 4 people were better than him. Even if the inflatable marker didn't went down, he'd be third, because except for Tejay they all were in front of him on the GC in the end. Andy Tejay rode crappy TT. I want to say, Roman wasn't that good at all as you think. Prologue was mediocre. In Crans - Montana he was fourth best, Mollema, Hesjedal, Martin were better. In the third stage he made the difference by riding agressively and using his descending skills, not by climbing like an angel. On the top there was group of more then 10 people including Sagan, so it wasn't that hard climbing. Albulapass wasn't about recovery, stages before weren't so demanding. He had weaker day, one could say Costa had one on the 2nd stage. TT was ok I think. He climbed better then hyped Pinot. So - Mollema was better from beginning to the end. Only he didnt manage to catch decisive groups on stage 3. And Costa after crappy prologue (regarding his usual TT ability and what he showed in last stage) and crappy second stage (where he lost quite some time regarding that Crans - Montana isn't that big climb at all) leaped in his performance surprisingly compared to Kreuziger or Mollema. So they all have worse recovery compared to Costa...

 

[boringboy]

So that's it. Before race everyone would be happy with third place. I don't get what difference makes that team rode for his leader. It's matter of course. In the end of that stage he lost 20 seconds or so, only 4 people were better than him. Even if the inflatable marker didn't went down, he'd be third, because except for Tejay they all were in front of him on the GC in the end. Andy Tejay rode crappy TT. I want to say, Roman wasn't that good at all as you think. Prologue was mediocre. In Crans - Montana he was fourth best, Mollema, Hesjedal, Martin were better. In the third stage he made the difference by riding agressively and using his descending skills, not by climbing like an angel. On the top there was group of more then 10 people including Sagan, so it wasn't that hard climbing. Albulapass wasn't about recovery, stages before weren't so demanding. He had weaker day, one could say Costa had one on the 2nd stage. TT was ok I think. He climbed better then hyped Pinot. So - Mollema was better from beginning to the end. Only he didnt manage to catch decisive groups on stage 3. And Costa after crappy prologue (regarding his usual TT ability and what he showed in last stage) and crappy second stage (where he lost quite some time regarding that Crans - Montana isn't that big climb at all) leaped in his performance surprisingly compared to Kreuziger or Mollema. So they all have worse recovery compared to Costa...

Well, you have your opinion, but i do find it disappointing if you have a chance to become 1st or 2nd but end up 3rd, even if, before the start of the race i was ok with 3rd. It also did not help that the team, went public sayign they believed he could win, so if anything the team should be disappointed rather than me.

You also have to keep in mind that Costa and Mollema was using this as warm up for TdF where they want to compete for GC, whereas for Roman, this was a chance to go for a win before sliding into helper role.

With regards to being in top 10 of TdF, maybe with a team around him, but dont see him being there riding on his own or as Dom for Alberto.

 

[xrayvision]

Well, you have your opinion, but i do find it disappointing if you have a chance to become 1st or 2nd but end up 3rd, even if, before the start of the race i was ok with 3rd. It also did not help that the team, went public sayign they believed he could win, so if anything the team should be disappointed rather than me.

You also have to keep in mind that Costa and Mollema was using this as warm up for TdF where they want to compete for GC, whereas for Roman, this was a chance to go for a win before sliding into helper role.

With regards to being in top 10 of TdF, maybe with a team around him, but dont see him being there riding on his own or as Dom for Alberto.

You just can´t compare form during a preparation period, they all do it differently and all depends of the role they gonna play. You can´t know if one is gonna peak from the first week of the tour or the last, and it´s a huge difference. I think it´s very obvious to anyone that Saxo is going all in with the tour, it´s all that matter and all preparations for the team is scheduled as such. And besides, he wasn´t that far behind, Mollema obviously had one of his best days and rode his best TT ever, Kreuziger have had a couple of off days, and it´s normal during a preparation period. He peaked in march/april, and he delivered.

EDIT: And yes, he can ride a top 10 if the team let him, but it only depends how they will use him and how the race progresses, if they will need him to do a lot of work then its doubtful, but if they will use him a joker, then he can go top 10 any time.

 

[boringboy]

You just can´t compare form during a preparation period, they all do it differently and all depends of the role they gonna play. You can´t know if one is gonna peak from the first week of the tour or the last, and it´s a huge difference. I think it´s very obvious to anyone that Saxo is going all in with the tour, it´s all that matter and all preparations for the team is scheduled as such. And besides, he wasn´t that far behind, Mollema obviously had one of his best days and rode his best TT ever, Kreuziger have had a couple of off days, and it´s normal during a preparation period. He peaked in march/april, and he delivered.

EDIT: And yes, he can ride a top 10 if the team let him, but it only depends how they will use him and how the race progresses, if they will need him to do a lot of work then its doubtful, but if they will use him a joker, then he can go top 10 any time.

But seems Saxo might have gotten something wrong, or could be right time will tell, as all the riders seems to have had off days in last weeks stage races, CAS, AC, Roman, Roche, Rogers, Jesus (or was that mechincal?). Only one who actually performed well was Paulinho in Tour of Norway and guess Rogers in Tour de California, but that was of course longer ago.

I do hope they will really be up for the Tour, but having seen how Sky performs all year and even stronger in the big races (except Vuelta last year), i would be worried if i was Riis.

 

[Cimber]

According Danish media Riis and his DSs had a skype meeting yesterday, where the Tour team was selected (meaning that the team wasnt set in stone earlier). The team is expected to be announced publicly within a few days.

 

[theyoungest]

An old sprinter who rode the Giro is better than a former team pursuiter (who seems to be near top form) in a TTT?

*cough* http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=22149

Bennati is much more than an 'old sprinter'. For one, he's a better TTist than Morkov.

 

[Cimber]

*cough* http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=22149

Bennati is much more than an 'old sprinter'. For one, he's a better TTist than Morkov.

Being a better TTer isnt always the same as being a better TTTer. Said said imo both Benatti and Mørkøv are good TTTers, and honestly I hope both of them get a spot. Sadly I think only one of them will.

My bet:
Contador, Kreuziger, Jesus, Roche, CAS, Nicki, Rogers, Paulinho, Mørkøv/Benatti

 

[Cimber]

http://teamsaxotinkoff.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=4077

 

[notrolfsorensen]

So the line up is:

- Michael Rogers, Australia
- Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic
- Nicolas Roche, Ireland
- Matteo Tosatto, Italy
- Daniele Bennati, Italy
- Sergio Paulinho, Portugal
- Alberto Contador, Spain
- Jesus Hernandez, Spain
- Benjamin Noval, Spain

Foock. Why did they include Noval and not Nicki Sørensen!

 

[jyhjyh]

Think it's the first time without any Danes in the TdF Team.

But maybe Riis saves them for the Vuelta to help Majka?

 

[Nilsson]

So the line up is:

- Michael Rogers, Australia
- Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic
- Nicolas Roche, Ireland
- Matteo Tosatto, Italy
- Daniele Bennati, Italy
- Sergio Paulinho, Portugal
- Alberto Contador, Spain
- Jesus Hernandez, Spain
- Benjamin Noval, Spain

Foock. Why did they include Noval and not Nicki Sørensen!

Improbable. They should have given Nicki and Morkov a spot on the team. They seemed to be in very good condition. Noval can't do it anymore and Bennati wasn't entirely convincing IMHO.