Team Ineos Discussion thread

[DBotero]

Re: Team Sky Discussion thread

team for the Dauphinè

Froome
Landa
Kwiato
Henao
Puccio
Poels
Stannard
Rowe

and Thomas rides Suisse.

that should be the Tour team I guess.

Konig is riding Suisse too, but I think Henao´s form is better, while Konig is coming back from injury

no news of Kiry

I'm not sure Landa/Puccio will be in the TDF team.More likely Nieve+ one of these 3:Roche/Kiryienka/Golas.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Surely Kiryienka

 

[Oliwright]

Re: Team Sky Discussion thread

team for the Dauphinè

Froome
Landa
Kwiato
Henao
Puccio
Poels
Stannard
Rowe

and Thomas rides Suisse.

that should be the Tour team I guess.

Konig is riding Suisse too, but I think Henao´s form is better, while Konig is coming back from injury

no news of Kiry

I'm not sure Landa/Puccio will be in the TDF team.More likely Nieve+ one of these 3:Roche/Kiryienka/Golas.

WHY WOULDN"T LANDA BE IN THE TOUR TEAM?? 100% if fit he will. The tour is 90% of a cycling teams exposure and every year Sky send their best team no matter what. (With the exception of wiggins in 2014, although u could argue they did the best for the team)

 

[Oliwright]

Re: Team Sky Discussion thread

I've being saying for a while puccio will be in the squad.
Sky were light on the flat stages last year and Puccio has been outstanding in races this year and is a young developing rider.

Konig isn't riding the TDS apparently he's no where near top form.

Intxausti, Kiri and Thomas are the big riders going to TDS.

There is 0% chance that roche or Nieve will go. Nieve will target the vuelta, as he won't be on top form for the tour and neither will roche.

I expect it will be close between, Henao and Intxausti for the last climber spot and between Kiri and Puccio for the flat. But Kiri has been very poor this season

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

no way puccio imo. he's not tall enough either to set froome out of the wind, more like stannard

froome
henao
landa
thomas
poels
kwiatkowski
kiriyenka
nieve (is certain I read in wvcycling)
stannard for flat

kennaugh is injured again right? I also thought I read roche was going to do 3 gt's?

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Team Sky Discussion thread

I've being saying for a while puccio will be in the squad.
Sky were light on the flat stages last year and Puccio has been outstanding in races this year and is a young developing rider.

Konig isn't riding the TDS apparently he's no where near top form.

Intxausti, Kiri and Thomas are the big riders going to TDS.

There is 0% chance that roche or Nieve will go. Nieve will target the vuelta, as he won't be on top form for the tour and neither will roche.

I expect it will be close between, Henao and Intxausti for the last climber spot and between Kiri and Puccio for the flat. But Kiri has been very poor this season

Where do you get your information from ?
e.g. '0% chance that roche or Nieve will go" You know something the riders dont ?

Nieve wants to ride the Tour . he is climbing very well and I don't see any 0% chance. INfact he will probably be right up there with Froome on Ventoux as in 2013.

Roche was in poor form at the Giro but SKY value him highly as a domestique so I don;tthink its also 0% chance ...maybe 50%..plus Roche has always been better in his second GT of the year

Inxtausti is no where ready to ride a GT and neither is Konig...you need to have been racing awhile
Puccio is a back rider imo....Stannard & Rowe will be at the Tour as did a good job last year protecting Froome...riders go to training camps to train as backup. Puccio will get a place if either is not on form or injured,etc. Wise by SKY as htey owe their whole budget to their Tour de France results and need to cover all bases

Team will be imo
Froome, Thomas, Poels, Landa, Stannard, Rowe, Nieve, Kwaitoski

With Henao a good option for the 9th place

But both Kiyenkia and Roche could get it depending on form, roles, and the fact Roche has ridden more Tours than Henao and KIryenkia is sold as a dom while Henao does not have the experience of the Tour. Remember last year Kennaugh found it very difficult. Its a 3 week race and not a week long race

 

[rick james]

I don't think Sky should risk Nieve and Roche at Le tour , need everyone at 100% and they 2 already have the Giro in the legs

 

[PremierAndrew]

I'd personally go for Froome, Thomas, Poels, Henao, Kiriyenka, Nieve, Stannard, Rowe and Roche.

Roche and Kiriyenka offer the experience that some of the other doms lack. Poels Nieve and Thomas have a good history working with Froome while Henao carried Thomas to victory at PN. Stannard and Rowe are important for the flat stages and crosswinds, and will be super useful alongside Thomas in that regard. Kiry is great both for the flat and the climbs, so he really should be going if he's in decent form.

Kwiatko isn't one of the top 5 climbers that Sky have. He would be useful for the shorter punchier climbs and the flat too, but with Kiry Thomas Stannard and Rowe there, I think Sky would have enough. Maybe he could get Kiry's place.
Meanwhile, Landa isn't necessarily reliable as a dom, although I can see him taking Roche's place in that team with a good performance at the Dauphine.

 

[Singer01]

i believe it's what is called an embarrassment of riches.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

I don't think Sky should risk Nieve and Roche at Le tour , need everyone at 100% and they 2 already have the Giro in the legs

Also, Nieve could do something special in La Vuelta.

 

[Oliwright]

Re:

no way puccio imo. he's not tall enough either to set froome out of the wind, more like stannard

froome
henao
landa
thomas
poels
kwiatkowski
kiriyenka
nieve (is certain I read in wvcycling)
stannard for flat

kennaugh is injured again right? I also thought I read roche was going to do 3 gt's?

Nieve was on the long list for the tour, but he then got drafted into the giro.
Roche want to do all 3, but he's admitted that it's unlikely.
Why are people such big Kiri fans? Apart from TTS he doesn't done much recently

 

[Oliwright]

Re: Team Sky Discussion thread

We saw last year how much worse Konig and Contador were after the Giro when they went to the tour.
It wouldn't make any sense using Nieve at the tour when they could use other riders who would perform better.
Konig was 5th in the giro and then was relatively anonymous at the Tour, so I would expect a similar ride from Nieve if he went.

If Nieve is so good after a giro why didn't he go last year?

Nico Roche just isn't any where near the best riders in terms of physical performance. So he would be selected for his experience which is useful, but I think Sky have enough experience in the team and Sky value experience a lot less than other teams.

So unless someone is injured or unusually out of form they won't make it.

No one knows how much form Intxausti and Konig have. Cyclingnews expects Konig to now target vuelta and Intxausti is aiming for the tour spot.

Kiri could get into the team, but in recent grand tours he hasn't been great, apart from ITTs. Look at the last giro for example.

Puccio is a rider who could provide more work early on in stage which sky will need if they take more lightweight riders than usual and Thomas is a protected rider. Last year in the tour with Froome, Thomas, Porte, Poels, Konig, Stannard, Rowe, Roche, Kennaugh. They had 1 GC, 2 Classics, 3 pure Climbers and 3 All Rounders.

So this year with Froome, Quiat, Poels, Thomas, Rowe, Stannard as close to certain to ride as possible and Henao, Landa likely. The you have 2 GC(Froome and G, g is going to be more protected and less worked than last year), 3 pure climbers, 2 Classics and 1 All rounder. Sky will need more help on the flat. Hence Puccio or Kiri.

But based on Kiri's recent form and Puccio being much improved and in the dauphine team. Then one would expect that the be the team.

Yes, Intausti, Roche , Nieve and Kiri could make it with injuries so its not a 0% chance. But its very unlikely.

Also Richie Porte said in an interview (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/porte-short-sharp-criterium-du-dauphine-stages-suit-me/)
: "That's their Tour team with just Geraint Thomas to come in."

Since he still trains with the Sky lot and is friends with them, then he would probably know best out of all of us.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

I don't think Sky should risk Nieve and Roche at Le tour , need everyone at 100% and they 2 already have the Giro in the legs

Also, Nieve could do something special in La Vuelta.

Not a reason to keep him out of the Tour..And SKY have many Vuelta potential leaders to chose from....at least 6, many better prospects than Nieve for GC

Remember every rider wants to ride the Tour...it is the highlight of the calendar ...Nieve has been promised this and I think he looked good enough...he did not ride the Giro for GC so his legs will not be bad...he will be a great help to Froome in the final week but can ride around at the back till then

Not true to say Nicolas Roche is not good enough physically to ride the Tour...he has been 12th twice (plus 5th & 6th at the Vuelta) ..he is a very strong rider in every category but more importantly he has great experience ,never has a down day and never gets sick..He can't climb like Landa or Froome but SKY have enough climbers...what they need is riders who will go the course in case other riders get sick and as I said he rides better in his 2nd GT

It would be ludicrous of SKY to pick a team full of climbers when there are so many non climbing stages and so many hilly parcours where a leader can come a cropper...And what happens if Stannard crashes and Rowe get sick or has a down day ...will Henao or Intxausti protect Froome on the flat ? Will they still be riding in the final week to position the SKY leaders on the climb ...no point in 7 SKY climbers if some of them are not strong doms on the flat or even the hillss ...The SKY picks are for Doms not leaders ...there is only one leader an one protected rider

 

[boasson]

Re: Re:

I don't think Sky should risk Nieve and Roche at Le tour , need everyone at 100% and they 2 already have the Giro in the legs

Also, Nieve could do something special in La Vuelta.

Not a reason to keep him out of the Tour..And SKY have many Vuelta potential leaders to chose from....at least 6, many better prospects than Nieve for GC

Remember every rider wants to ride the Tour...it is the highlight of the calendar ...Nieve has been promised this and I think he looked good enough...he did not ride the Giro for GC so his legs will not be bad...he will be a great help to Froome in the final week but can ride around at the back till then

Not true to say Nicolas Roche is not good enough physically to ride the Tour...he has been 12th twice (plus 5th & 6th at the Vuelta) ..he is a very strong rider in every category but more importantly he has great experience ,never has a down day and never gets sick..He can't climb like Landa or Froome but SKY have enough climbers...what they need is riders who will go the course in case other riders get sick and as I said he rides better in his 2nd GT

It would be ludicrous of SKY to pick a team full of climbers when there are so many non climbing stages and so many hilly parcours where a leader can come a cropper...And what happens if Stannard crashes and Rowe get sick or has a down day ...will Henao or Intxausti protect Froome on the flat ? Will they still be riding in the final week to position the SKY leaders on the climb ...no point in 7 SKY climbers if some of them are not strong doms on the flat or even the hillss ...The SKY picks are for Doms not leaders ...there is only one leader an one protected rider

There are enough good rolleurs and classic specialists in the sky-selection for le tour.

Riders to keep Froome out of trouble at the flat stages:

Stannard, Rowe, Puccio, if needed: Kwiat. And Poels is not that bad to put out some serious watts at the flat or hillier roads. There are 4 world class riders for this + a good Poels. In case of emergancy: + Thomas

The only pure climbers are Landa and Henao. And they have the work to do in the high mountains, were the others can chill in the gruppetto.

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

i believe it's what is called an embarrassment of riches.

Well kind of yes. It's this lineup which will never make me like Sky. So many riders could be leader at another team, it's not funny anymore.

I still like the Sky clobbles classics squad as they have been racing(with spirit) those races and their classics squad isn't such a huge £££££ squad.

Ofcourse I can't really blame them. They are fortunate to have so much money and it's only logical that they try to get the best squad possible.
I wish team budgets were a bit more equal, but it's a free market after all....

 

[Oliwright]

Re: Team Sky Discussion thread

As a Sky fan ngl, i like them having such a strong team. But i understand it can suffocate the race.

To be fair if u look at Tinkov's squad The have Kiserlovski, Trofimov and Kreuziger who have all finished at least top 10 in Gts. But it isn't quite as good as Sky.

Astana's is also good, it's the Giro squad which dominated last year minus Landa.

But for Sky Froome, Landa, Henao, Poels will probably all be top 15 today if on form! And Kwiat could go top 25!
So it's going to be very exciting!

 

[Oliwright]

Re: Team Sky Discussion thread

I wouldn't be surprised if Froome isn't on form and Poels is the leader. Sky have kept their cards very close to their chest, with none of their riders saying who is the leader in the limited interviews they have done.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Team Sky Discussion thread

As a Sky fan ngl, i like them having such a strong team. But i understand it can suffocate the race.

To be fair if u look at Tinkov's squad The have Kiserlovski, Trofimov and Kreuziger who have all finished at least top 10 in Gts. But it isn't quite as good as Sky.

Astana's is also good, it's the Giro squad which dominated last year minus Landa.

But for Sky Froome, Landa, Henao, Poels will probably all be top 15 today if on form! And Kwiat could go top 25!
So it's going to be very exciting!

Tinkoff have a pretty weak team as was shown last year in the Giro, they need Kiserlovski and Kreuziger especially to regain his top form of 2013. Movistar, though have an excellent team - question is what they're going to do with it, Unzue hasn't always been a beacon of tactical genius. Astana will have last year's Giro team minus Landa but plus Nibali, and as it's Astana they'll probably use it in an agressive way

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

i believe it's what is called an embarrassment of riches.

Well kind of yes. It's this lineup which will never make me like Sky. So many riders could be leader at another team, it's not funny anymore.

I still like the Sky clobbles classics squad as they have been racing(with spirit) those races and their classics squad isn't such a huge £££££ squad.

Ofcourse I can't really blame them. They are fortunate to have so much money and it's only logical that they try to get the best squad possible.
I wish team budgets were a bit more equal, but it's a free market after all....

I agree with this ....a super strong team kills the Tour ...pity so many top riders are happy to be doms than riding as leaders somewhere else...but it is indicative of cycling with lack of sponsorship and money
Another thing we have Lance Armstrong to thank for

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

I don't think Sky should risk Nieve and Roche at Le tour , need everyone at 100% and they 2 already have the Giro in the legs

Also, Nieve could do something special in La Vuelta.

Not a reason to keep him out of the Tour..And SKY have many Vuelta potential leaders to chose from....at least 6, many better prospects than Nieve for GC

Remember every rider wants to ride the Tour...it is the highlight of the calendar ...Nieve has been promised this and I think he looked good enough...he did not ride the Giro for GC so his legs will not be bad...he will be a great help to Froome in the final week but can ride around at the back till then

Not true to say Nicolas Roche is not good enough physically to ride the Tour...he has been 12th twice (plus 5th & 6th at the Vuelta) ..he is a very strong rider in every category but more importantly he has great experience ,never has a down day and never gets sick..He can't climb like Landa or Froome but SKY have enough climbers...what they need is riders who will go the course in case other riders get sick and as I said he rides better in his 2nd GT

It would be ludicrous of SKY to pick a team full of climbers when there are so many non climbing stages and so many hilly parcours where a leader can come a cropper...And what happens if Stannard crashes and Rowe get sick or has a down day ...will Henao or Intxausti protect Froome on the flat ? Will they still be riding in the final week to position the SKY leaders on the climb ...no point in 7 SKY climbers if some of them are not strong doms on the flat or even the hillss ...The SKY picks are for Doms not leaders ...there is only one leader an one protected rider

There are enough good rolleurs and classic specialists in the sky-selection for le tour.

Riders to keep Froome out of trouble at the flat stages:

Stannard, Rowe, Puccio, if needed: Kwiat. And Poels is not that bad to put out some serious watts at the flat or hillier roads. There are 4 world class riders for this + a good Poels. In case of emergancy: + Thomas

The only pure climbers are Landa and Henao. And they have the work to do in the high mountains, were the others can chill in the gruppetto.

Thomas is a protected rider so won't be dom as far as I know
only 2 of Stannard, Rowe, Puccio will be selected...same point about what happens if there is ilness or injury
Kwait is not experienced as a dom at SKY and at the Tour
Poels will be kept for high mountains as he very ably proved on Alp'D'Huez last year..

I don't really care who SKY pick as it will be strong team anyway...my argument is to demonstrate that too many climbers and inexperienced doms is not the way to go...andI am sure Brailsford will abide by this

 

[Oliwright]

Re: Re:

I don't think Sky should risk Nieve and Roche at Le tour , need everyone at 100% and they 2 already have the Giro in the legs

Also, Nieve could do something special in La Vuelta.

Not a reason to keep him out of the Tour..And SKY have many Vuelta potential leaders to chose from....at least 6, many better prospects than Nieve for GC

Remember every rider wants to ride the Tour...it is the highlight of the calendar ...Nieve has been promised this and I think he looked good enough...he did not ride the Giro for GC so his legs will not be bad...he will be a great help to Froome in the final week but can ride around at the back till then

Not true to say Nicolas Roche is not good enough physically to ride the Tour...he has been 12th twice (plus 5th & 6th at the Vuelta) ..he is a very strong rider in every category but more importantly he has great experience ,never has a down day and never gets sick..He can't climb like Landa or Froome but SKY have enough climbers...what they need is riders who will go the course in case other riders get sick and as I said he rides better in his 2nd GT

It would be ludicrous of SKY to pick a team full of climbers when there are so many non climbing stages and so many hilly parcours where a leader can come a cropper...And what happens if Stannard crashes and Rowe get sick or has a down day ...will Henao or Intxausti protect Froome on the flat ? Will they still be riding in the final week to position the SKY leaders on the climb ...no point in 7 SKY climbers if some of them are not strong doms on the flat or even the hillss ...The SKY picks are for Doms not leaders ...there is only one leader an one protected rider

There are enough good rolleurs and classic specialists in the sky-selection for le tour.

Riders to keep Froome out of trouble at the flat stages:

Stannard, Rowe, Puccio, if needed: Kwiat. And Poels is not that bad to put out some serious watts at the flat or hillier roads. There are 4 world class riders for this + a good Poels. In case of emergancy: + Thomas

The only pure climbers are Landa and Henao. And they have the work to do in the high mountains, were the others can chill in the gruppetto.

Thomas is a protected rider so won't be dom as far as I know
only 2 of Stannard, Rowe, Puccio will be selected...same point about what happens if there is ilness or injury
Kwait is not experienced as a dom at SKY and at the Tour
Poels will be kept for high mountains as he very ably proved on Alp'D'Huez last year..

I don't really care who SKY pick as it will be strong team anyway...my argument is to demonstrate that too many climbers and inexperienced doms is not the way to go...andI am sure Brailsford will abide by this

Yep I agree about Puccio.
But Sky have often avoided experience for Legs.
I think Kwiat would be an excellent Dom. Also if Froome doesn't make it their team would give them several over options for GC and stages.

 

[Winkin' boy]

Re: Re:

Kwait is not experienced as a dom at SKY and at the Tour

Kwiatkowski is an excellent team player, he showed it mutiple times...

He may even be the second last man to Froome if Landa fails after Giro.

 

[JRanton]

Re: Team Sky Discussion thread

Team strength isn't going to matter if Contador/Quintana are stronger than Froome. He'll improve towards the Tour of course but so will Contador.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

Kwait is not experienced as a dom at SKY and at the Tour

Kwiatkowski is an excellent team player, he showed it mutiple times...

He may even be the second last man to Froome if Landa fails after Giro.

Are you for real ....kwait willn ot be 2nd man for SKY at this Tour ...not in a million years

with Thomas, Poels, Landa all far above him in GC climbing
not tomention Henao if he rides and Nieve is better climber too .....

And beign team player is nto the same as being a dom fro 3 weeks

 

[sir fly]

I'd say that team is doing really well leading to the major goal.
Strong performances overall, but not dominant, with a week of hard racing in front of them is the way to do a month before the Tour.