TdF underdog sprinters

[Steady]

Astanas main sprinter

Could need some help with this question

Who will be Astanas MAIN sprinter during this years Tour de France?

Will it be Francesco Gavazzi or Enrico Gasparotto?

 

[fgrune]

Will Boasson Hagen get freedom in this tour?

A waste if he only has to work for Froome

 

[Afrank]

Depends how much help Froome needs, might let him have free reign on a couple stages. But won't be pulling on the front for him too much and for the most part he will probably have to fly solo if he wants to go for stages.

 

[fgrune]

Do you think he will contest the flat bunch sprints?

 

[Afrank]

If he contests any finishes they'll probably be ones with hills hard enough to drop a couple flat land sprinters. If Froome is in control of the yellow jersey in the final couple weeks then maybe he'll try his luck on the flat land finishes.

 

[Wrecktangle]

Who are the favorites for stage 3? And stage 2?
Who will be sprinting for each team, and which second tier sprinters can we expect the most from?

Omega: Cavendish
Lotto: Greipel
Cannondale: Sagan
Argos: Kittel (Degenkolb when Kittel is dropped)
Katusha: Kristoff
Orica: Goss
FDJ: Bouhanni

Sky: EBH?
Saxo: Bennati?
Radioshack: Gallopin?
Movistar: Rojas?
AG2R: Dumoulin?
Astana: Gavazzi?
Lampre: Cimolai? Vigano?
Garmin: Rasmussen? (Farrar isn't riding)
Vacansoleil: Boeckmans? D. van Poppel? B. van Poppel?
Cofidis: Garcia?
Europcar: Arashiro?
Euskaltel: Lobato? Perez?
Sojasun: Simon? Hivert?
BMC: None (Gilbert?)
Blanco: None?

Ferrar is Out? Where did you read that? I see nothing in the news.

 

[taiwan]

Apparently someone posted on twitter about Farrar.

Ferrari can be added to the list although to call him a dark horse would be an understatement: he must have some sort of cloaking device this season.

 

[manafana]

heard same that farrar wont be racing the tour, garmin last team to announce their squad.

 

[Jancouver]

Ferrar is Out? Where did you read that? I see nothing in the news.

He cant compete with Cav, Sagan or Gorilla therefore he is preparing for races where he can win ... Utah, Colorado and some other "major" races where the top sprinters are missing

 

[Wrecktangle]

I'm showing Yauheni Hutarovich at AG2R...no note where that came from tho.

 

[Wrecktangle]

He cant compete with Cav, Sagan or Gorilla therefore he is preparing for races where he can win ... Utah, Colorado and some other "major" races where the top sprinters are missing

Yeah, I have Farrar as about 7-8th best sprinter in this TdF...and Garmin is prepping some sort of weird strategy for GC which leaves Farrar hanging with no lead out whatsoever...so why keep him?

 

[PedalCastro]

Can Griepel seriously contest the green jersey?
can Bouhanni win a stage?

 

[Jericho]

Can Griepel seriously contest the green jersey?
can Bouhanni win a stage?

I'd suppose it depends on your definition of "contend". Griepel will almost certainly need Cavendish and Sagan to both fall apart to win it. But he should finish top 5, if not top 3 in the grenn jersey without much difficulty.

I'd say its highly unlikely Bouhanni wins a stage. Lots would have to happen, such as an enormous crash to take out Cavendish, Kittel, Greipel, etc...

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Bouhanni vs Sagan in flat sprints - who do people see winning most often?

 

[Ruby United]

Bouhanni vs Sagan in flat sprints - who do people see winning most often?

Sagan, though neither will win a (pure) flat stage.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Sagan, though neither will win a (pure) flat stage.

Obvs, just meant against each other.

 

[BigMac]

Bouhanni vs Sagan in flat sprints - who do people see winning most often?

Its is a hard call, Bouhanni has been so fast one can't predict with ease. Sagan should be faster but at the moment i think Bouhanni is the one winning this duel, since The Tourminator looks like having won some points in Hills and lose another in complete flat finishes.

 

[Kender]

Will Boasson Hagen get freedom in this tour?

A waste if he only has to work for Froome

I cant see sky giving anyone a free rein

 

[Afrank]

Can Griepel seriously contest the green jersey?
can Bouhanni win a stage?

He most definitely could. His target may be mostly just getting stage wins (that was his main goal last year iirc, rather than green), but even just going for stages he'll finish near the top of the competition. If he really targets it and with a bit of luck he could definitely have a chance of winning it.

Bouhanni could win a stage I think. All depends on what stage, what happens in the closing km, and who else is there at the end. A lot can happen in a sprint.

 

[TourOfTexas]

which leaves Farrar hanging with no lead out whatsoever...so why keep him?

Sprints will surely be a lot safer with him out. If Ferrari doesn't ride it will also be good.

 

[jaylew]

He cant compete with Cav, Sagan or Gorilla therefore he is preparing for races where he can win ... Utah, Colorado and some other "major" races where the top sprinters are missing

You gotta wonder what happened to that guy. He's not even 30. I've never really been a fan but there were a couple of years where he was probably the 2nd best sprinter in he world and then, just like that, he becomes mediocre.

 

[sublimit]

Bouhanni seems to be pretty clever in positioning himself, I'd go with him over Sagan most stages I think.

 

[Steady]

Astana

I see that Astana has both Francesco Gavazzi and Enrico Gasparatto in their TdF squad.


So, my question is, who will be their MAIN sprinter?
Does anyone know?

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Gasparotto is not a sprinter in any remotely meaningful sense

 

[momomomo]

Regarding EBH the story is that he is a dom for Froome. He even said as much himself, he has been training for diesel efforts on the flats and hills, no acceleration or sprinting training. No wonder he keeps getting fewer wins. Such a waste.