TdF Team lineups

[Escarabajo]

Indeed. Paulinho used to be a guy who was always attacking.

And Machado used to be the most kamikaze guy in the pro ranks....a few months with Bruyneel and he's already restrained. Sad.

We could be seeing this scene in the Tour:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/92nd-giro-ditalia-gt/stage-5/photos/73954

This is a clipping of some good rider’s wings.

 

[Cobblestones]

By the way, any final decision on Cav/Greipel yet?

 

[Anonymous]

Sky's lineup will be released this week. They are generally big fans of Fridays.

tommorow allegedly for sky. 8 riders known, one to come from hendo, calzati or barry

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Indeed. Paulinho used to be a guy who was always attacking.

And Machado used to be the most kamikaze guy in the pro ranks....a few months with Bruyneel and he's already restrained. Sad.

Machado was ballistic on the attacks the last couple of years. Bruyneel teams are where interesting riders go to die. I was really excited to see what Tiago could do at the top level, and hoped that Bruyneel wouldn't rein him in straight away, but looks like it's already happened. I'd have expected him to have spent this year behaving more like Tondó has after finally getting his shot at the big time. But no. I really hope Team Radioshack falls apart so Tiago can get on a team that will let him be himself. Popo is now a domestique who is happy to get a paycheck. It's depressing that the same is happening to Paulinho and it will be a travesty if it happens to Machado too.

In that respect, I wish they'd got a Vuelta invite cos I wanted to see the likes of him and Brajkovic off the leash. But I'm also happy that they didn't get an invite so it's a bit 50-50.

 

[Ferminal]

So what's new from last year's Astana?

Horner for AC, Brajkovic for Haimar?

 

[warmfuzzies]

Machado was ballistic on the attacks the last couple of years. Bruyneel teams are where interesting riders go to die. I was really excited to see what Tiago could do at the top level, and hoped that Bruyneel wouldn't rein him in straight away, but looks like it's already happened.

Wow - Bruyneel's team has contained the TdF winner 9 times, and I believe at least 1 Vuelta and 1 Giro winner - what DS can make a similar claim? In my view, the guy ranks with Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, and Joe Torre. Is your dislike for Johan and Lance impacting your ability to be objective?

 

[Ferminal]

Wow - Bruyneel's team has contained the TdF winner 9 times, and I believe at least 1 Vuelta and 1 Giro winner - what DS can make a similar claim? In my view, the guy ranks with Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, and Joe Torre. Is your dislike for Johan and Lance impacting your ability to be objective?

You missed the point.

He's claiming that Bruyneel instills defensive tactics in his riders. Nothing to do with his record as a DS.

 

[offbyone]

So what's new from last year's Astana?

Horner for AC, Brajkovic for Haimar?

I think that is correct. Very little difference.

Machado is still young. I am guessing it was between him and Brajkovic. JB is shooting for gc, he doesn't care about stage wins and so an aggressive Machado isn't a benefit. It is bad we don't get to see him at the vuelta.

Same with saxobank, i think their team is almost identical with the exception of Fuglsang and Breschel for Larson and Arvesen.

 

[Cerberus]

Same with saxobank, i think their team is almost identical with the exception of Fuglsang and Breschel for Larson and Arvesen.

Those are the only differences.

 

[richo36]

Just quietly how much better is this years tour shaping up compared to last year. Last year it was all about contador and armstrong. Astana was so strong that is was a question of who in astana will win. This year however there is so many strong teams you dont know who will win. You have astana, Radioshack, Saxobank, liquigas with amazing teams. Then not to mention you have the riders who are always there with there not as strong teams, sastre, evans, menchov. It is going to be an amazing race. Sort of wish now the giro wasnt as gruelling as it was, so everyone was fresh for this. I have a feeling it will be one of the best TDF we have seen in a while

 

[Glockers]

Is bennati riding?

Anyone got an opinion on whether Haussler or Hushvod will be the main man for stage wins in Cervelo?

 

[ingsve]

Is bennati riding?

Anyone got an opinion on whether Haussler or Hushvod will be the main man for stage wins in Cervelo?

Since Hushovd is the defending green jersey I have a hard time seeing them going with Haussler at least initially. Also Hushovd showed in the end of TDS that his form is not bad at all. It's going to be interesting to see who ends up Norwegian champion. I'm guessing it might be a showdown between Hushovd and EBH.

 

[auscyclefan94]

BMC's team will be announced next week.

btw, cadel fans can see cadels new bike on twitter as david bombeke took a picture of him training.

http://twitpic.com/1yrhnz

 

[Publicus]

So what's new from last year's Astana?

Horner for AC, Brajkovic for Haimar?

I like Horner but he's no substitute for AC. and JB will not be given a free reign at the Tour. He will be fetching bottles.

 

[Ferminal]

BMC's team will be announced next week.

btw, cadel fans can see cadels new bike on twitter as david bombeke took a picture of him training.

http://twitpic.com/1yrhnz

What do they say about Zebras...

 

[auscyclefan94]

What do they say about Zebras...

I think they may be changing there jersey to black & white possibly as teams sometimes do that and that is what they use to be.

 

[RedheadDane]

Boonen risks missing out on the Tour.
Well... at least it'll be for a legal reason this time...

 

[Cerberus]

Boonen risks missing out on the Tour.
Well... at least it'll be for a legal reason this time...

If only there was something to help him get through the pain.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Wow - Bruyneel's team has contained the TdF winner 9 times, and I believe at least 1 Vuelta and 1 Giro winner - what DS can make a similar claim? In my view, the guy ranks with Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, and Joe Torre. Is your dislike for Johan and Lance impacting your ability to be objective?

No, I'm viewing my sports as entertainment rather than the pinnacle of objective physical capability. And I'm saying that Bruyneel's tactics make for boring racing. They're effective, but they don't exactly inspire much.

As for him being a tactical genius, I'm not sure how much of "hire lots of potential GC challengers with good time trials, then pay them enough so they're happy to slave away as domestiques, and instruct them to suck wheels and never attack so as to have four riders in the top 20 at the race's end" requires genius, but Bruyneel certainly has a gift for working out how to achieve that.

 

[craig1985]

Also, Hog wasn't in the car when Discovery won the Giro, instead Sean Yates can take the credit there.

 

[kurtinsc]

Also, Hog wasn't in the car when Discovery won the Giro, instead Sean Yates can take the credit there.

I give credit to Bruyneel as a great team manager. He is capable of hiring and keeping top talent on a team with limited opportunities to lead.

As a DS, he's probably very average... but if you're good enough at talent aquisition apparently that's good enough.

 

[Cerberus]

I give credit to Bruyneel as a great team manager. He is capable of hiring and keeping top talent on a team with limited opportunities to lead.

As a DS, he's probably very average... but if you're good enough at talent aquisition apparently that's good enough.

Personally I'm just not convinced that strategy matters all that much in a GT beyond the basic "don't do hilariously stupid things like letting a potential contenders get a large advantage in a breakaway". With the exception of 2006 where what I just described happened twice all the Tours I've seen has been won by the person I would consider strongest.

So in essence I think that in relation to GT succes skills like hiring and keeping top talent and helping them prepare for the GTs are the most important skills a DS can have rather than being a tactical genius.

 

[reyan12]

Lance Armstrong
Levi Leipheimer
Jani Brajkovic
Chris Horner
Andreas Kloden
Dimitriy Muravyev
Sergia Paulinho
Gregory Rast
Yaroslav Popovych

Its not surprising there is no Spaniard in this line up.

 

[joy118118]

QS

Barredo, Boonen, Chavanel, Devenyns, De Weert, Pineau, Seeldraeyers, Van de Walle, Wynants

 

[peloton]

HTC-Columbia:

Cavendish, Eisel, Grabsch, Hansen, Martin, Monfort, Renshaw, Rogers, Sivtsov.