Sky Grand Tour Line Up

[Squire]

Pretty much the teams I'd go for, a lot stronger in all 3 teams than last year. Although I think they should have uran as the focal point for the tour, he can top 5 I think with a strong ttt and support from wiggins, lofkvist and rogers

What has Uran ever done to suggest he could do a top five in the Tour?

 

[Anonymous]

The white jersey is based on your age as of January 1, not your age as of the Grand Départ. Schleck is going to win white again.

you are indeed correct. Frankly that is bloody stupid.

 

[Havetts]

The white jersey is based on your age as of January 1, not your age as of the Grand Départ. Schleck is going to win white again.

That just makes no sense honestly. Oh well, another jersey for Andy..

 

[hrotha]

No, Schleck won't qualify. It's for riders born after 1-1-1986.

As for the sprinters, I'd bring Swift instead of Henderson (or Sutton).

 

[Anonymous]

No, Schleck won't qualify. It's for riders born after 1-1-1986.

As for the sprinters, I'd bring Swift instead of Henderson (or Sutton).

correct. just done the maths, it was 83 in the 2008 tour manual so 86 this year. So Gesink in, Schleck not.

 

[Havetts]

If wiggins has a year like 2009, he might come top 5 / 6. This year he was quite disappointing, hopefully he can get a good result.

 

[Wiesmier]

Swifty
Downing
EBH
Flecha
Mr Cummings
Thomas

and others

 

[meandmygitane]

Pretty much the teams I'd go for, a lot stronger in all 3 teams than last year. Although I think they should have uran as the focal point for the tour, he can top 5 I think with a strong ttt and support from wiggins, lofkvist and rogers

What has he done to deserve that confidence? Might as well have Steve Morabito, BMC to go for GC over Cadel Evans in the tour based on that he beat Uran in Tour de Suisse 2010...

 

[ingsve]

Thats the "EBH" character everyone keeps mentioning

You mean that isn't the new british talent Stephen Ebh?

 

[The Hitch]

You mean that isn't the new british talent Stephen Ebh?

Nah. For some reason Stephen decided to ride for Ireland.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

I'd have thought Xandio would ride the Tour. Arvesen and Gerrans need a good early season to get in after last season.

I'd also prefer to see how Swift gets on than Henderson. Let him duck out at Gap maybe.

 

[Jamsque]

Swifty
Downing
EBH
Flecha
Mr Cummings
Thomas

and others

That's a great sprint train without a great sprinter.

I hope Uran is given a fair shot at the Tour, I don't expect much from Wiggins and while Uran isn't going to win it, I think a top 10 would be possible if he rode his own race and got a modicum of support.

 

[maltiv]

My team:

Arveson
EBH
Henderson
Wiggins
Uran
Gerrans
Rogers
Thomas
Flecha

Agree with this, except from Arveson (it's Arvesen, very important!).

Think that team could win the team time trial. It also has a lot of power on the flats, fairly decent leadout with Rogers-Flecha-Thomas-Henderson-EBH. It is also quite a decent team for the mountains, it's not like Wiggins needs a much better team anyway because at best he is looking at a top 10 overall. Uran could win a stage or perhaps even the KOM jersey.

Remember, last year EBH had no hard training leading in to the tour as he had to be careful as not to worsen the achilles, with some real form this year he should be able to do a lot more. Green jersey should be a possibility, if he tries.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

What has Uran ever done to suggest he could do a top five in the Tour?

What had Wiggins ever done before the 2009 Tour to suggest he could?

Urán has been in excellent form in week 3 of the '09 Tour (in several breaks and coping well in the mountains), and was a superdomestique for Arroyo in the Giro, riding him to the finish line over Monte Grappa, and pacing him almost all the way up the Mortirolo, plus coming 7th to Kronplatz when let off the leash. Urán was a monster at the junior level and, lest we forget, is still only 23. And bear in mind that when Morabito beat him at the Tour de Suisse, the Tour de Suisse is Morabito's home race, which he fought for, and Urán was just coming off a brutally tough Giro. And he was 2nd in the Tour de Suisse until that final ITT. He was also placed inside the top 10 of the Vuelta before his chances were derailed by Antón's crash.

Do I think Rigo will top 5 the Tour next year? No. But I think he's got a better chance of doing it than Wiggins.

 

[ingsve]

I'd have thought Xandio would ride the Tour. Arvesen and Gerrans need a good early season to get in after last season.

I'd also prefer to see how Swift gets on than Henderson. Let him duck out at Gap maybe.

Perhaps if they made a team that was 100% about supporting a GC leader then he'd have a shot at the Tour but I think that now with both Wiggins, Uran and Rogers on the team there are better candidates to fill out the last mountain slots than Zandio. I always saw him as a given Vuelta rider and perhaps Giro+Vuelta but not the Tour.

If they know what they are doing then Arvesen should be a given in the team unless he is unfit like last year. He was a solid member of the Tour squad and probably the best road captain they have by far.

I'm a little mixed about Gerrans. In the role of mountain domestique I think they have better candidates and for the flats they have better also but he has won a few GT stages in very specific types of courses and the question is if that's a good enough reason to bring someone. Last year it made a little sense to bring him since they didn't have that many mountain domestiques but now it's thougher I think. Same with Flecha. He's also a guy that can win a stage in a breakaway group but his main reason for being in the Tour last year was to be a road captain and for the cobbled stage in my mind. Arvesen has the same ability to win stages in breaks and is also a more experienced road captain so to me that should take presedence.

 

[ingsve]

Remember, last year EBH had no hard training leading in to the tour as he had to be careful as not to worsen the achilles, with some real form this year he should be able to do a lot more. Green jersey should be a possibility, if he tries.

I would hope that he stays out of the competition for the green jersey. I think that would increase his chances of winning a stage. If it turns out that for example Cavendish is as impossible to beat as he usually is in the Tour then a backup plan could be to go in one of those 15 man breaks that sometimes are let go. If he's high up in the green jersey standings they would never let him get in a break like that. Then again those breaks have become very unusual in the past few years since HTC decided that they want to win every single flat stage there is with their sprints.

 

[taiwan]

Wiggins
Rogers
Lofkvist
Cummings
Gerrans
Thomas
Arvesen
Henderson
Boasson Hagen

Gives you a strong TTT team which will be crucial for Wiggins. Mountain support comes from Rogers-Cummings-Gerrans, and Arvesen-Thomas-Henderson can set up the sprints for Boasson Hagen. Arvesen has the role of captain. If Lofkvist is way above the level of Wiggins, you switch leaders, but in any case they can help each other, similarly to last year.

[edit] swapped Gerrans for Possoni: leaves Possoni (one of the strongest climbers) and Uran totally free for the Giro. Vuelta squad would include quite a few who rode the Giro.

 

[Frosty]

Might he find it hard to stay out of the green jersey competition though? He should be up there in the first week in both the uphill and flat finishes and could well stand a good chance of being in the green jersey at least for a time.

There is also the chance of a Sky team member getting into yellow after the TTT - wiggo, thomas, rogers, ebh are a good starting point although the leopard team, htc and garmin will all be big challengers. The final selections could partly depend on how much the management fancy their chance on that stage.

 

[ingsve]

Might he find it hard to stay out of the green jersey competition though? He should be up there in the first week in both the uphill and flat finishes and could well stand a good chance of being in the green jersey at least for a time.

There is also the chance of a Sky team member getting into yellow after the TTT - wiggo, thomas, rogers, ebh are a good starting point although the leopard team, htc and garmin will all be big challengers. The final selections could partly depend on how much the management fancy their chance on that stage.

Ya, thats' always a "risk". One way could be to sprint with Henderson some times as well. They have done that in the past a few times where EBH wasn't getting the sprints right they switched and had EBH lead Henderson out and that gave Hendo a stage in ENECO tour last year for example.

 

[Ferminal]

My team:

Arveson
EBH
Henderson
Wiggins
Uran
Gerrans
Rogers
Thomas
Flecha

More or less agree with this.

I'd probably drop Henderson for Froome though.

Sky are never going to out-train HTC in the Tour, so don't waste everything trying. Even without Henderson they could use Rogers -> Flecha -> Thomas -> EBH if they really wanted to.

 

[meandmygitane]

What had Wiggins ever done before the 2009 Tour to suggest he could?

Urán has been in excellent form in week 3 of the '09 Tour (in several breaks and coping well in the mountains), and was a superdomestique for Arroyo in the Giro, riding him to the finish line over Monte Grappa, and pacing him almost all the way up the Mortirolo, plus coming 7th to Kronplatz when let off the leash. Urán was a monster at the junior level and, lest we forget, is still only 23. And bear in mind that when Morabito beat him at the Tour de Suisse, the Tour de Suisse is Morabito's home race, which he fought for, and Urán was just coming off a brutally tough Giro. And he was 2nd in the Tour de Suisse until that final ITT. He was also placed inside the top 10 of the Vuelta before his chances were derailed by Antón's crash.

Do I think Rigo will top 5 the Tour next year? No. But I think he's got a better chance of doing it than Wiggins.

Yeah, but the question was: why should Uran be the "focal point" over Wiggins? Ok, that he could be a protected rider and given chances in the mountains...

http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/rider_palm.asp?riderid=4099&year=2010&all=1&current=0

No, Wiggins has a better shot at top 10 this year (next year is 2012 you know) but in the future, who knows?

 

[taiwan]

Don't worry Dave, it's all under control

Right, here we go.

Giro Uran Possoni Froome Cioni Nordhaug Gerrans Knees Appolonio Sutton

Tour Wiggins Lofkvist Rogers Cummings Arvesen Thomas Hayman Henderson Boasson Hagen

Vuelta Uran Possoni Kennaugh Gerrans Flecha Downing Swift Boasson Hagen

Kennaugh is 90% confirmed for the vuelta. Its on his season training plan, and then hes doing the Italian end of season classics afterwards.

High probability that Downing will be given a grand tour shot.

So I swapped Kennaugh in for Augustyn at the Vuelta, and Downing for Sutton at the Giro. You'd think that Downing could be better at the Tour, but it'd be hard to fit him in. Incorporated Nordhaug in the Giro squad because of something said earlier in the thread. Lofkvist better at the Tour than the Giro, I think.

I've read somewhere that Swift and Downing are riding the Vuelta. Swift is riding California (if they get an invite) rather than the Giro.

Fixed.

 

[Anonymous]

Right, here we go.

Giro Uran Possoni Froome Cioni Pauwels Gerrans Knees Swift Sutton

Tour Wiggins Lofkvist Rogers Cummings Arvesen Thomas Hayman Henderson Boasson Hagen

Vuelta Uran Possoni Gerrans Augustyn Thomas Flecha Henderson Boasson Hagen

Kennaugh is 90% confirmed for the vuelta. Its on his season training plan, and then hes doing the Italian end of season classics afterwards.

High probability that Downing will be given a grand tour shot.

 

[auscyclefan94]

My team for sky would be

EBH
Sutton
Thomas
Wiggins
Rogers
Arvesen
Hayman
Flecha
Knees

This team would be very good fior the ttt and the sprints. I see it as a very strong train that IF they time their leadout right that they could win some stages.

 

[Reverend_T_Preedy]

Right, here we go.

Giro Uran Possoni Froome Cioni Nordhaug Gerrans Knees Downing Swift

Tour Wiggins Lofkvist Rogers Cummings Arvesen Thomas Hayman Henderson Boasson Hagen

Vuelta Uran Possoni Kennaugh Gerrans Thomas Flecha Henderson Boasson Hagen

I've read somewhere that Swift and Downing are riding the Vuelta. Swift is riding California (if they get an invite) rather than the Giro.

The Vuelta squad is a difficult one to guess because, with the worlds course this year, I'd imagine EBH and Henderson will want to ride that.