Another one for Sanchez, although Basso definietly has a shot at it, he might not be as strong as in his pre-Puerto days but 400 Watts(like his performance at the Zoncolan) seem to be enough these days.
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simo1733 said:I think Basso would have the best chance.Evans would find a way to defeat himself.Too early for Ricco.Menchov on the podium.
Libertine Seguros said:2007? Eh, he was a youngster.
2009 I don't recall him crashing at all.
And what's to say he can't work on his bike handling skills and get better at them? I mean, Denis Menchov has 3 GT wins, and he's well known for crashing all the time too - he even crashed when attacking solo uphill on Prato Nervoso in 2008... but he still has 3 GT wins, and nobody would count him out of a GC battle until he's several minutes down, unless they were stupid.
Jancouver said:Voted: Other
1.LoLrner
2.Kreuziger
3.Velits
I thought everybody agreed Velits would never again reach that level in GTs. More exactly, I thought my opinion was universally valid even though I've never heard other people's take on it.Parrulo said:he got lucky this years tour with the breakaway and everything. besides he was never by any chance on the same level as the second tier contenders(taking into account that this thread assumes there are no first tier)
kreuziger is a good choice but tbh velits seems like the best of those 3.
hrotha said:I thought everybody agreed Velits would never again reach that level in GTs. More exactly, I thought my opinion was universally valid even though I've never heard other people's take on it.
Well, for starters, I don't think Richie Porte is a future GT winner.Parrulo said:.... rly? why will he never reach that potential again while guys like richie porte(whom i do consider less talented GT wise) and future GT winners?
hrotha said:Well, for starters, I don't think Richie Porte is a future GT winner.
As for Velits, I guess my problem is that I think his performance at the Vuelta was unbelievable - in the bad sense of the word.
Parrulo said:he got lucky this years tour with the breakaway and everything. besides he was never by any chance on the same level as the second tier contenders(taking into account that this thread assumes there are no first tier)
kreuziger is a good choice but tbh velits seems like the best of those 3.
La Pandera said:Additionally even Bruyneel is giving Horner no props. He's talking up Brajkovic as one of Radioshack's hopefuls in the Tour with no mention of Horner's chances. Horner will be left fetching bottles and playing chaperone for Brajkovic should he falter and/or escorting Leipheimer when he inevitably gets dropped in the mountains by the real contenders.
I'm going with Basso and Samu Sanchez battling it out with Sanchez taking the win. Menchov will be on the 3rd step with Nibali just missing the podium.
Ricco's team will be his primary burden.
Glockers said:IT would be interesting if they swapped Horner and Leipheimer's roles. I wonder if Horner would do better than Leipheimer as leader?
M Sport said:Basso for me, and I think he would probably beat Schleck anyway if he skips the Giro.
La Pandera said:I agree. For me I can't help thinking that for someone with so much talent as Andy Schleck has, he has 2 Tour stage wins to his credit, one that he lucked up on because Samuel Sanchez cramped up just before the finish, allowing Andy to get the win and the 2nd pretty much an uncontested guilt/gift from Contador as a result of Chaingate. He's got LBL to his credit too but in the years since his Giro breakthrough he's won very little. No major week long stage races to his credit which is odd to me for a stage race specialist/hilly classic rider like him.