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Sky Grand Tour Line Up

Page 10 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
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Anonymous

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Frosty said:
Tour squad?

Lack of Cummings and Hayman suggest that they will be in the tour squad. Cummings did the Giro last year and was a bit tired by the time the tour came round. Would be good riders for the TTT which Sky have said they will prioritise as well as good domestiques/breakaways.

maltiv said:
What about Swift? Since he's not going to the giro, shouldn't he get a spot in TDF?

Swift doing the vuelta. Cummings i beleive was in the extended giro roster but is currently in hospital with pneumonia
 
Jul 5, 2010
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ingsve said:
Nordhaug is currently sick with a cold so his Giro might be in danger as well so there might be someone who has to step in for him on short notice. Nothing decided yet though.

Nordhaug:
Tour de Suisse: got sick with a cold
Vuelta 2010: sick with a cold before the start
Giro di Lombardio: sick in the week before the start
Criterium International: sick the week before the start
Tour of the Basque country 2011: sick with cold before the start
Amstel gold race 2011: allergy
Giro d'Italia 2011: sick with a cold before the start

:rolleyes:
 
Frosty said:
Tour squad?

Wiggins
Rogers
Henderson
Thomas
Cummings
Hayman
Boasson Hagen
Flecha/Gerrans
Uran

Lack of Cummings and Hayman suggest that they will be in the tour squad. Cummings did the Giro last year and was a bit tired by the time the tour came round. Would be good riders for the TTT which Sky have said they will prioritise as well as good domestiques/breakaways.

The guy in the studio on ITV 4's coverage mentioned that Swift was on Sky's 15 man long list for the Tour. So maybe take Swift instead of Henderson?

Sprint train - Rogers - Flecha - Hayman - Thomas - EBH - Swift
 
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Anonymous

Guest
JRanton said:
The guy in the studio on ITV 4's coverage mentioned that Swift was on Sky's 15 man long list for the Tour. So maybe take Swift instead of Henderson?

Sprint train - Rogers - Flecha - Hayman - Thomas - EBH - Swift

No chance against the serious sprint trains in the Tour, but then again, I wouldnt give Hendo or EbH much chance against the sprint trains in the tour either.
 
TeamSkyFans said:
No chance against the serious sprint trains in the Tour, but then again, I wouldnt give Hendo or EbH much chance against the sprint trains in the tour either.

It would be difficult but it's still Sky's best chance of winning a stage. They're not exactly renowned for their breakaway and climbing abilities are they?
 
It shall be hard to decide as to who to take with EBH for sprint options. Swift, Hendo or CJ. They have all been quite succesful too. I think GT could go well at this TDF maybe a top 20 pefromance, if he works on climbing. Rogers, Uran and Wiggins should go as well as well TL and maybe Kennaugh. They could maybe win 2 stages a TTT and maybe one sprint or break. Gerrans, Hayman, Flecha, Cummings and Froome could be considered too.
Especially Flecha for a few stages in 1st week.
 
JRanton said:
It would be difficult but it's still Sky's best chance of winning a stage. They're not exactly renowned for their breakaway and climbing abilities are they?
EBH used to be a first class breakaway expert, so if they bring him back to his old role and realize that he's not a sprinter for the flats then he'll surely pick up a stage. Could also win a reduced bunch sprint in one of the medium hard stages.
 
Yeah they are all first class riders. I suppose they are all recognisable by the fact CN show them in every article. They have however been succesful all yr wins in ( TDU, Paris Nice, Cummings beating Contador, Hayman coming 4th in Dwars Door Vlaanderen and 3rd in Omploop along with Flecha's 2nd there, the CJ's win the next day. Uran has put in good performances in some classcs is an aspiring rider, Wiggins 3rd Paris Nice, Thomas the TANK smashing the classics and now winning two stages of AMGEN already. ) Long enough
 
Jul 24, 2010
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maltiv said:
EBH used to be a first class breakaway expert, so if they bring him back to his old role and realize that he's not a sprinter for the flats then he'll surely pick up a stage. Could also win a reduced bunch sprint in one of the medium hard stages.

In that sense I wonder if EBH and Swift are just too similar, in that they both excel at the hillier, reduced bunch sprints. Personally I'd bring EBH and Henderson, and send Swift to the Vuelta.
 
hatcher said:
In that sense I wonder if EBH and Swift are just too similar, in that they both excel at the hillier, reduced bunch sprints. Personally I'd bring EBH and Henderson, and send Swift to the Vuelta.

EBH could be a chance for the green jersey? Not sure how fit he is after injury but if he is able to place reasonably high in both the flat sprints and the uphill sprints then could stand a chance?

Surprised to see that Zandio is the fourth name on the provisional team sheet at cycling startlists

http://cyclingstartlists.com/2011/07Jul2011/01TDF2011.htm
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Frosty said:
EBH could be a chance for the green jersey? Not sure how fit he is after injury but if he is able to place reasonably high in both the flat sprints and the uphill sprints then could stand a chance?

Surprised to see that Zandio is the fourth name on the provisional team sheet at cycling startlists

http://cyclingstartlists.com/2011/07Jul2011/01TDF2011.htm

Im not surprised, support for wiggins and uran, although i tend not to pay cyclingstartlists too much attention.

What we do know is half of the tour de france squad was riding in Bayern Rundfahrt so take your pick of 4 or 5 riders from:

Edvald Boasson Hagen, Christian Knees, Serge Pauwels, Michael Rogers, Chris Sutton, Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins

Rogers? Knees?
 
Yeah true i suppose. Had wondered if they might prioritise the TTT to try and get yellow and then allow Rogers, Wiggins and Uran to sort themselves out when it gets to the climbs, ie work out who is going best and then the others support him or the the weakest supports the others etc. I suppose having only one weaker TTer isnt that bad although Uran makes two. Would show they are serious about having multiple GCers?

Id take Rogers if he is fit, Knees is a strong rider too though.
 
I wonder how Rogers is doing. He hasn't really been that impressive lately since he seems to have been having trouble with illness or injury and not to mention being a recent father. I guess though that it would take more for his Tour form to be in jeopardy since their options seem to be slightly limited.

I doubt that Löfkvist will ride the Tour. His plan was to ride the Giro for himself and the Tour in support of Wiggins but his Giro form left more to be desired and it doesn't look like he was on an upswing in the last week either.

I gues at this point Zandio is in consideration to help out in the mountains. I wouldn't have thought so if all riders were on top form but I guess right now he might be a good option.

I also wonder what the plans are with Cummings. My guess is that he is destined for one of the spots in the Tour as well.

I think Arvesen is out of consideration now. He hasn't had any good form this year and he says himself that he isn't good enough right now.

I'm hoping they'll dedicate half their team to the sprints/stages. I hope they consider bringing Hayman as a road captain/train organizer.

My guess right now would be something like this:

Wiggins
Uran
Zandio
Rogers
Cummings
Thomas
Hayman
Henderson
EBH

I would go for both EBH and Henderson in the sprints by mixing it up a bit. I think it's better for EBH that he isn't a threat in the green jersey since that could give him more chances of going in a break.
 
ingsve said:
My guess right now would be something like this:

Wiggins
Uran
Zandio
Rogers
Cummings
Thomas
Hayman
Henderson
EBH

I would go for both EBH and Henderson in the sprints by mixing it up a bit. I think it's better for EBH that he isn't a threat in the green jersey since that could give him more chances of going in a break.

I think Flecha will ultimately get the nod ahead of Hayman. I suppose the main concern at this stage will be the health concerns over both Rogers and Cummings which might vindicate Sky's decision to leave the likes of Knees and Gerrans out of the Giro team. Thankfully Appollonio's second place finish to Cav and his other top 5 efforts saved the Giro from being a complete write-off for Sky but it was still a pretty massive fail on their part. Not a surprise though considering the line-up.
 
ingsve said:
I would go for both EBH and Henderson in the sprints by mixing it up a bit. I think it's better for EBH that he isn't a threat in the green jersey since that could give him more chances of going in a break
Unlike last year there are actually some sprints that suit him, particularly stage 1 and stage 6 looks good for him, and in top form could get quite an advantage over the other sprinters. If he manages to win one of them he might as well try to get the green jersey.
 
maltiv said:
Unlike last year there are actually some sprints that suit him, particularly stage 1 and stage 6 looks good for him, and in top form could get quite an advantage over the other sprinters. If he manages to win one of them he might as well try to get the green jersey.

There are obviously other contenders so it might be unlikely, but from a British perspective i would quite like to see a Sky v Cav green jersey tussle
 

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