MADRAZO said:
Dont forget Sergio Pardilla in that list, he is definetly another Moviestar rider with clear top 10 GT-potential if not more. Samoilau could perhaps even also be included in that list if he should find his best form.
And yes Madrazo (Im not him) is a huge talent, though he has been dissapointing in the first 2 years as a pro. But so was Cunego, so his big breakthrough could easily come soon. The same goes for Amador btw., and of course Rojas, Ventoso and Appollonio is also a very strong trio for other races ..
I agree also that Geox needs mention with Menchov, Sastre and Duarte. And also Danielle Ratto is a huge talent on the verge of a big breakthrough, as well as Felline, Valls and Kump. And most of all David Blanco is another great rider for the GTs that will do very well, so its very strong team, and then Di Luca might even join also.
Do they? Do they really? How many wins will those three have between them at the end of next season? 5 maybe...
Menchov, I think, has very little chance of beating Andy Schleck next year in the Tour. There are only 41 (non-flat) ITT kilometers, and much of the gains that Menchov would make in the ITT will be simply the time he lost with his Geox teammates in the TTT (because if there is one thing that all the guys you praise above have in common, it's that none of them are noted for their TTing, David Blanco excepted). Denis could Top-5 the Tour if he's on his best climbing form. Menchov might be able to win a week-long race or two, and do very well in the Vuelta perhaps, but Denis has in recent years proved that he can be good in, at most, 3 races a year on average.
So Sastre... What will he win? He'll be riding all three GTs (assuming Geox gets invited to them all), which will leave leave little room for being good elsewhere. Will he Top-5 in the Giro or Vuelta (assuming he'll cede leadership to Menchov in the Tour at least)? Maybe he
could, if he's lucky, but I doubt he'll stake a stage victory unless he's so far down in the GC that the favorites will let him go, since I don't think he' still able to outclimb Basso or Nibali to a victory in the Giro, or Anton in the Vuelta.
So Duarte can do well, and will thrive in a race like the Tour of Switzerland and perhaps take a stage, but he's still only a neo-pro, and you can't rely on a neo-pro to always be there for you. David Blanco has owned the Tour of Portugal the last few years, but he'll have to ride the Tour for Menchov at least, and he will be 36 by the time next season gets really underway. He could do well for his own in a race like Catalonia, or perhaps even the Vuelta if he's allowed a free role. But will he still consistently get results against the tougher opposition of the ProTour races, and being forced to work as a domestique in other races (which he doesn't have to do now).
So then: Ratto, Felline, Valls and Kump. All of those guys have talent and will improve, but between them they were still only good for 6 wins with the pros last year (and none in a ProTour race where Geox will have to shine next year). They're promising for the future no doubt, but they can be considered cornerstones of a team, certainly not a team which is to be considered one of the strongest in the world.
So with Geox this is my complaint. They don't have a big-time sprinter (not even a middle-time sprinter in fact). They have a classics team which is uninspiring to say the least. They're severely lacking quality TTers. They do have a pretty good line-up for climbing, but even then there are better teams out there in that respect (like Liquigas or Team Luxembourg). So no... In my opinion they are in no way even close to being on of the best teams in the peloton. They are faaaar to imbalanced to even be considered.
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