Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

[Valv.Piti]

Similar to the Cannondale-one, I thought this thread would come in handy to discuss race selections, some of their 'lesser' riders etc. Especially now that some of the biggest races for Movistar are upon us. I also plan to keep track of the TdF-squad, who is in, who is out since thats obviously the biggest goal of the season.

For Liege, they'll have one of the if not the strongest team. Valverde, Moreno, Visconti, I. Izagirre, Betancur, Sutherland, Erviti and Fernandez. Not too bad. Moreno hasn't performed well, Betancur still isn't what he used to be, but Izagirre and Visconti especially are on form and will play a very key part. Don needs his 4th win.

They originally had a shortlist of 11 riders for Il Giro, but according to the provisional startlist: Valverde, Amador, Visconti, Jose Herrada, Rojas, J. Moreno, Sutherland, Sutterlein and Dowsett. Pretty strong rouleur team like they had at the 2015-Tour, but there's not TTT. I would've liked to see Fernandez. Its obvious looking at provisional startlist its all business compared to last year where many of the young guns got a chance to shine. So no Dayer, Soler, Lobato, Betancur, Oliveria or Fernandez, some of the younger riders of this squad I would have hoped could take part in the Giro. But still time for changes, obviously. But Sutterlein is in so far which is a bit of a surprise, for now.

The Tour is obviously the biggest race for Movistar and seems Valverde has gotten much of the 2nd team, but he has some solid guys, still. Along with Quintana and Valverde, I think the following 7 will be selected if everything goes according to the plan for July: Anacona, G. Izagirre, Erviti, D. Moreno, Castro, Malori and.. maybe Jesus Herrada? Would be my best guess. Maybe Oliveira, I very much doubt I. Izagirre - hoping to see him in a more free role en La Vuelta. Amador or Fernandez could be other options, but I think Fernandez gets the Vuelta and Amador will probably be spend. Same for Rojas. Maybe Ventoso? Anyways, Jesus seems like the best bet.

And it seems to be an extremely loaded team for La Vuelta. Quintana, Valverde, Betancur, I. Izagirre, Fernandez, Oliveira and hopefully also D. Quintana. I still dont really know what to expect from him, I have no clue to why he sometimes performs super well in hard classics that shouldn't suit him, wins mountain stages, and then is a completely and utter no show in other races that should suit him. I have also always had high hopes for Fernandez, but he gotta show something better than Tour Down Under soon. Marc Soler? I honestly think his Avanir-win was a fluke.

Whoooops, sorry for the wall of text, didnt realise.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Soler's Avenir win was no fluke (and less of one than Rubén Fernández' win was) but the fact he'd been racing a pro season all year compared to those in the U23s was obviously a major factor that makes gauging it a bit tougher.

No place for Lobato in either Tour or Vuelta? I thought they might send him to one for the old Rojas role of "you go see if you can get some placements".

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Soler's Avenir win was no fluke (and less of one than Rubén Fernández' win was) but the fact he'd been racing a pro season all year compared to those in the U23s was obviously a major factor that makes gauging it a bit tougher.

No place for Lobato in either Tour or Vuelta? I thought they might send him to one for the old Rojas role of "you go see if you can get some placements".

I mean, he surely isn't as talented as other winners. What I mean by it is I dont believe him in a future GC-winner. Fluke maybe being an overstatement

I dno, I don't think Le Tour. It woulda made a lot more sense to ride that last year looking at the uphill sprint-stages IMO, but the Vuelta would make sense. I honestly forgot about him...

 

[Ricco']

I don't think that Malori will be racing in July, let alone the Tour.

After his injuries and the recovery he is doing, I don't expect elite level racing this year, maybe some small races and that's it.

 

[Billie]

They should take Rojas to Tour aswel after il Giro. He was sorely missed last year

 

[cellardoor]

So Valverde is riding all 3 GTs?!?

 

[ILovecycling]

More like team Movistar threat

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I don't think that Malori will be racing in July, let alone the Tour.

After his injuries and the recovery he is doing, I don't expect elite level racing this year, maybe some small races and that's it.

'Yeah, thats maybe a little optimistic. I actually thought he already was on the bike again.. I would like to see Nelson Oliveira.

 

[yaco]

Think we should have one of these threads for each of the WT Teams - This will allow for sensible discussion on how each of the teams will set up for the 3 GT's.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Similar to the Cannondale-one, I thought this thread would come in handy to discuss race selections, some of their 'lesser' riders etc. Especially now that some of the biggest races for Movistar are upon us. I also plan to keep track of the TdF-squad, who is in, who is out since thats obviously the biggest goal of the season.

Good move.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

So Valverde is riding all 3 GTs?!?

Well, if he's strong enough he could be the first rider since the 1950s to finish in the top 10 in all three GTs in the same season. I'd like to see him have a go.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

I don't think that Malori will be racing in July, let alone the Tour.

After his injuries and the recovery he is doing, I don't expect elite level racing this year, maybe some small races and that's it.

'Yeah, thats maybe a little optimistic. I actually thought he already was on the bike again.. I would like to see Nelson Oliveira.

He's been training on a stationary bike since late March.
https://www.facebook.com/maloriadri...907737637737/1252322671462899/?type=3&theater

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

I don't think that Malori will be racing in July, let alone the Tour.

After his injuries and the recovery he is doing, I don't expect elite level racing this year, maybe some small races and that's it.

'Yeah, thats maybe a little optimistic. I actually thought he already was on the bike again.. I would like to see Nelson Oliveira.

He's been training on a stationary bike since late March.
https://www.facebook.com/maloriadri...907737637737/1252322671462899/?type=3&theater

Thanks.
Hopefully he will come back, he is such a good and reliable guy. Seems to be very well liked among the Movis.

On Valverde: I think its very unrealistic, I can't really see him top-10 in Le Tour. At least I don't hope he will target that, he probably could, even with the Giro and Olympics and possibly Vuelta. Lol. Needs to ride himself into shape and devote himself 100% to Quintana, think Majka 2014, but maybe less extreme time losses in the first week.

 

[Valv.Piti]

But anyways, since Valverde, Quintana and Betancur have their own thread, I created this one to discuss the other riders. They have a seriously deep and talented squad right now, the old and weird signings Gadret and Szmyd are gone and they have a very decent pool of talent. I still have very high hopes for I. Izagirre, also GT-wise, but it would maybe me wiser to stick to his Spilak-esque niche and get those WT-points. But I think every rider with respect for themselves want to try themselves out at least one more time than what he did in 2015 Giro. As I said earlier, maybe Vuelta 2016. Im sure Unzue would give him a free role since Valverde would have raced Giro + Tour.

Another guy I have can take the next step is Anacona. Highly inconsistent, climbing very well in Catalunya, disappearing in Pais Vasco and mediocre in Castilla. Quintana really need this guy to have a couple of Alpe d' Huez days this year. He could prove very, very valuable. Moreno has collected his check, I doubt how much he has has to offer honestly. Or maybe he has been ordered to super peak in the Tour which along with Valverde and a good Anacona is better good compared to other years climbing-wise.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

But anyways, since Valverde, Quintana and Betancur have their own thread, I created this one to discuss the other riders. They have a seriously deep and talented squad right now, the old and weird signings Gadret and Szmyd are gone and they have a very decent pool of talent. I still have very high hopes for I. Izagirre, also GT-wise, but it would maybe me wiser to stick to his Spilak-esque niche and get those WT-points. But I think every rider with respect for themselves want to try themselves out at least one more time than what he did in 2015 Giro. As I said earlier, maybe Vuelta 2016. Im sure Unzue would give him a free role since Valverde would have raced Giro + Tour.

Another guy I have can take the next step is Anacona. Highly inconsistent, climbing very well in Catalunya, disappearing in Pais Vasco and mediocre in Castilla. Quintana really need this guy to have a couple of Alpe d' Huez days this year. He could prove very, very valuable. Moreno has collected his check, I doubt how much he has has to offer honestly. Or maybe he has been ordered to super peak in the Tour which along with Valverde and a good Anacona is better good compared to other years climbing-wise.

Moreno could do very well at the Tour, at Katusha they always said that he can't really cope with the pressure of being the designed leader in a stage race, he was always much stronger as a domestique for Purito, but they believed that he had the potential to be even stronger than Purito in the high mountains.
Back to Malori, he seems to be one of Nairo's trustes domestiques, he's a real workhorse and he really seems to be well liked.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I dont know anything about Moreno's psyche really, but that could very well be true. Some riders just thrive better being the 2nd option. He was superior to Rodriguez on Andorra, but then again, I think it was obvious Rodriguez had started his downward trajectory at that point. Despite the names showing up, I think the level of 2015 Vuelta was relatively low.

 

[ice&fire]

Re:

I dont know anything about Moreno's psyche really, but that could very well be true. Some riders just thrive better being the 2nd option. He was superior to Rodriguez on Andorra, but then again, I think it was obvious Rodriguez had started his downward trajectory at that point. Despite the names showing up, I think the level of 2015 Vuelta was relatively low.

Being out of contract did wonders for Moreno in the Vuelta and also in Lombardia, where he was sort of team leader after Purito's training accident that left him out of the race.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

I dont know anything about Moreno's psyche really, but that could very well be true. Some riders just thrive better being the 2nd option. He was superior to Rodriguez on Andorra, but then again, I think it was obvious Rodriguez had started his downward trajectory at that point. Despite the names showing up, I think the level of 2015 Vuelta was relatively low.

Being out of contract did wonders for Moreno in the Vuelta and also in Lombardia, where he was sort of team leader after Purito's training accident that left him out of the race.

Yeah, but Purito had to pull out at the last moment at Lombardia, so it was just a last minute thing, he wasn't expected to be the team leader who fights for the win. From what I've heard he's just better as the 2nd option and isn't that good when there are high expectations and he's expected to deliver an important result.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Incredibly strong team for Romandie:

Quintana
G. Izagirre
I. Izagirre
Betancur
Jose Herrada
Rojas
Amador
Anacona

A good case could be made that its one of the absolutely strongest teams you can put out there minus Valverde and Moreno. Hopefully Quintana will prove to be better than last year and I. Izagirre should be able to ride a top-10 for himself. Super race for him.

 

[Moviestar]

Re:

I don't think that Malori will be racing in July, let alone the Tour.

After his injuries and the recovery he is doing, I don't expect elite level racing this year, maybe some small races and that's it.

It would be a surprise if we would see Malori back in a race this season. His full recovery will take 6-12 months. http://movistarteam.com/noticias/2016-4-14/adriano-malori-continua-su-mejoria

 

[Moviestar]

Re:

Incredibly strong team for Romandie:

Quintana
G. Izagirre
I. Izagirre
Betancur
Jose Herrada
Rojas
Amador
Anacona

A good case could be made that its one of the absolutely strongest teams you can put out there minus Valverde and Moreno. Hopefully Quintana will prove to be better than last year and I. Izagirre should be able to ride a top-10 for himself. Super race for him.

It's his younger brother Jesus

 

[Valv.Piti]

2 men in the top-3 and a convincing victory in Romandie, I'll take it. Ion Izagirre crashed on the last day, I haven't read anything other than he was transferred to a hospital and couldn't attend the podium ceremony so it seems relatively severe, but lets hope he will be ready for Dauphine/Suisse and then obviously the Tour or Vuelta, preferably the Vuelta IMO.

They seem to have a very strong squad in this Giro, Rojas is world class and Amador, Betancur and Visconti are very good in various terrains. No doubt in my mind Astana are better, but on paper, this seems like a much better team than Landa's which is shaky.

Lobato also just won in Madrid, he hasn't found much success recently, so good for him.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Very disappointed by the likes of Betancur, Amador and Visconti today, at least one of them should have been there to wheel Ulissi in for a stage win. Only Colbrelli could beat Valverde from that group. Stages like this should be Visconti and Betancurs speciality and Amador is a diesel, hopefully they will show up on stages 6 and 8, especially stage 6 is another good possibility for Valverde if they can keep it together.

 

[Mr.White]

Not good. One of them was supposed to be in the Ulissi group, they missed. Then they chased but failed to bring back that group, missed again. Then nobody was there for Valverde in the final, missed for the third time. Not good at all. Only positive thing is that Bala looks sharp

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Not good. One of them was supposed to be in the Ulissi group, they missed. Then they chased but failed to bring back that group, missed again. Then nobody was there for Valverde in the final, missed for the third time. Not good at all. Only positive thing is that Bala looks sharp

Pretty much yes, but thats also the most important thing, but he needs a strong team if he wants to win stages like this...