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Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

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Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Yeah, the loss of motors are quite frightening in that aspect. While Olivera and Sutterlin are good motors, they are really not in the class of Castroviejo, Malori, izagirre etc. That team they send to the 2015 was pretty awesome in that aspect, they were super close to the win. Dowsett hadn't made the team anyways with 8 guys. Theoretically, they could include Soler and Amador, Erviti and the 3 captains along with Oli and Sutterlin which would make for a very good TTT-team. But I doubt both Amador and Soler are going to ride - Amador is riding the Giro and Soler I have no clue about. Bennati is most likely riding, and then you have guys like Rojas, Rosón and Anacona who all also are good enough to be taken into consideration. I would be surprised if a rider I hadn't mentioned here would be selected.

Yeah, Castroviejo is the key piece that has been lost. With him, the TT level could've been more or less sustained with the progression of youngsters and 1-2 signings.
 
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Yeah, the loss of motors are quite frightening in that aspect. While Olivera and Sutterlin are good motors, they are really not in the class of Castroviejo, Malori, izagirre etc. That team they send to the 2015 was pretty awesome in that aspect, they were super close to the win. Dowsett hadn't made the team anyways with 8 guys. Theoretically, they could include Soler and Amador, Erviti and the 3 captains along with Oli and Sutterlin which would make for a very good TTT-team. But I doubt both Amador and Soler are going to ride - Amador is riding the Giro and Soler I have no clue about. Bennati is most likely riding, and then you have guys like Rojas, Rosón and Anacona who all also are good enough to be taken into consideration. I would be surprised if a rider I hadn't mentioned here would be selected.


I don't think they'll take Soler. He's only gone to 1 Grand Tour and that was la Vuelta last summer where they had no race leader and pretty much told all the riders to ride however they wanted to. A way to get experience for the kids yes, but may not have been the best way to learn to actually race a Grand Tour to win it. I think for Soler either the Giro or Vuelta or both are much better choices than the Tour this year.
I have a feeling it's either Oliveria or Sutterlin and Erviti then 3 climbers to fill out the team. Taking 3 protected riders limits your options.
 
Re: Re:

Koronin said:
Valv.Piti said:
Yeah, the loss of motors are quite frightening in that aspect. While Olivera and Sutterlin are good motors, they are really not in the class of Castroviejo, Malori, izagirre etc. That team they send to the 2015 was pretty awesome in that aspect, they were super close to the win. Dowsett hadn't made the team anyways with 8 guys. Theoretically, they could include Soler and Amador, Erviti and the 3 captains along with Oli and Sutterlin which would make for a very good TTT-team. But I doubt both Amador and Soler are going to ride - Amador is riding the Giro and Soler I have no clue about. Bennati is most likely riding, and then you have guys like Rojas, Rosón and Anacona who all also are good enough to be taken into consideration. I would be surprised if a rider I hadn't mentioned here would be selected.


I don't think they'll take Soler. He's only gone to 1 Grand Tour and that was la Vuelta last summer where they had no race leader and pretty much told all the riders to ride however they wanted to. A way to get experience for the kids yes, but may not have been the best way to learn to actually race a Grand Tour to win it. I think for Soler either the Giro or Vuelta or both are much better choices than the Tour this year.
I have a feeling it's either Oliveria or Sutterlin and Erviti then 3 climbers to fill out the team. Taking 3 protected riders limits your options.

I do not think 2 flat guys will be enough to get them through stage 1,3 and 9.
 
Re: Re:

Asero831 said:
Koronin said:
Valv.Piti said:
Yeah, the loss of motors are quite frightening in that aspect. While Olivera and Sutterlin are good motors, they are really not in the class of Castroviejo, Malori, izagirre etc. That team they send to the 2015 was pretty awesome in that aspect, they were super close to the win. Dowsett hadn't made the team anyways with 8 guys. Theoretically, they could include Soler and Amador, Erviti and the 3 captains along with Oli and Sutterlin which would make for a very good TTT-team. But I doubt both Amador and Soler are going to ride - Amador is riding the Giro and Soler I have no clue about. Bennati is most likely riding, and then you have guys like Rojas, Rosón and Anacona who all also are good enough to be taken into consideration. I would be surprised if a rider I hadn't mentioned here would be selected.


I don't think they'll take Soler. He's only gone to 1 Grand Tour and that was la Vuelta last summer where they had no race leader and pretty much told all the riders to ride however they wanted to. A way to get experience for the kids yes, but may not have been the best way to learn to actually race a Grand Tour to win it. I think for Soler either the Giro or Vuelta or both are much better choices than the Tour this year.
I have a feeling it's either Oliveria or Sutterlin and Erviti then 3 climbers to fill out the team. Taking 3 protected riders limits your options.

I do not think 2 flat guys will be enough to get them through stage 1,3 and 9.

By taking 3 protected riders and having the squad reduced to 8 riders, they don't have much of a choice. For the cobble stage, they're in trouble no matter who they send. They probably have 3 riders who are competent over the cobbles. 1 of those is Barbero who is not going to any Grand Tour (he wants nothing to do with Grand Tours, he's also the team's sprinter), the 2nd being Erviti, who will be going (and only Spaniard to get top 10's at both Flanders and Paris-Roubiax), the 3rd is actually Valverde as the few times he's raced on cobbles he's proven he can handle himself. For Valverde this includes a few of the semi-classics, Tour stages and the Richmond Worlds.
 
Having 8 riders teams and three leaders for the Tour certainly limit their options. This Tirreno was great race in the respect that told Movistar that they need to correct something if they want to win in July. The problem is that even if they wanted they are limited in Cobble riders and TT riders. It is almost like accepting conceding big time before the race even started.
 
So I just saw the startlist for Catalunya. Honestly, this should just be a Valverde and Movistar-procession. Sky sends a pretty weak team and the only threat seems to be Orica as team, but there's also Pinot, Bardet, Martin, Urán and Aru. The only one I could see have a chance against Quintana, Valverde and Soler would be Martin, but he got sick in Paris-Nice. The Yates brother and Chaves are pretty interesting also.

It looks to be a decent route, the race has provided some decent racing over the last years IMO, despite its pretty repetitive.
 
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
So I just saw the startlist for Catalunya. Honestly, this should just be a Valverde and Movistar-procession. Sky sends a pretty weak team and the only threat seems to be Orica as team, but there's also Pinot, Bardet, Martin, Urán and Aru. The only one I could see have a chance against Quintana, Valverde and Soler would be Martin, but he got sick in Paris-Nice. The Yates brother and Chaves are pretty interesting also.

It looks to be a decent route, the race has provided some decent racing over the last years IMO, despite its pretty repetitive.

Bardet might depending on his form, but it's Catalunya (and Spanish climbs) not French climbs that he's better suited to. Chaves and the Yates twins have already proven they can't match Valverde or Soler for that matter. Uran doesn't have a team.
 
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
So I just saw the startlist for Catalunya. Honestly, this should just be a Valverde and Movistar-procession. Sky sends a pretty weak team and the only threat seems to be Orica as team, but there's also Pinot, Bardet, Martin, Urán and Aru. The only one I could see have a chance against Quintana, Valverde and Soler would be Martin, but he got sick in Paris-Nice. The Yates brother and Chaves are pretty interesting also.

It looks to be a decent route, the race has provided some decent racing over the last years IMO, despite its pretty repetitive.

Which startlist does mention Bardet??
 
Re: Re:

Nirvana said:
DNP-Old said:
Quintana, Landa and Valverde will all go to Switzerland, Soler will lead the team in Dauphine (as well as Roubaix).
Soler will lead the team at Roubaix? :confused:
He has ridden on the cobbles only one time in his career (74th at U23 Ronde).
I'm not sure he will lead at Roubaix, but don't forget he's more a rouleur who can climb than a true climber, so he makes more sense on the cobbles than the likes of Betancur and Dayer we've seen in recent years.
 
Re: Re:

ice&fire said:
Nirvana said:
DNP-Old said:
Quintana, Landa and Valverde will all go to Switzerland, Soler will lead the team in Dauphine (as well as Roubaix).
Soler will lead the team at Roubaix? :confused:
He has ridden on the cobbles only one time in his career (74th at U23 Ronde).
I'm not sure he will lead at Roubaix, but don't forget he's more a rouleur who can climb than a true climber, so he makes more sense on the cobbles than the likes of Betancur and Dayer we've seen in recent years.
For sure but he doesn't have any experience.
Movistar probably doesn't stand a chance for the win but has experienced riders like Bennati and Erviti that could ride for a top ten, for a young rider at his second time on the cobbles will probably be hard even finish.
 
Re:

yaco said:
Thought some teams would avoid Suisse with its challenging route, even taking into account the extra week to the TDF, yet Movistar are taking their three leaders.
Its your normal Suisse/Dauphine route....? I don't really get the challenging part, they aren't even climbing the Rettenbach, thats challenging. Looks like a fine route by me, quite a bit varied classics terrains and mountains with a TTT and an ITT to polish the last bits.

I think you guys are misinterpreting what DNP said, I think Soler is just riding to get a little experience, not to get a result at all. Unzué said he thought it would be great if he could ride 7-8 pavé, so he obviously isn't the leader. Where he will be the leader is Dauphine apparently - imagine Avenir, P-N and Dauphine on your palmarés, that would be sweet.

Btw DNP, could you provide a link? Seems like a very interesting choice to send all the aces to Suisse!
 
Re:

Netserk said:
Suisse is an easy edition this year, and it has the calender spot of Dauphiné in relation to the Tour this year.
Yes, its probably even to the easy side honestly. It makes very much sense that they all seem to prefer Suisse and I think management just have thought screw it, no need to risk making anyone angry by sending one to Dauphine. It won't hurt the synergy for the upcoming Tour, either. And maybe Unzué have thought to himself that Soler can be counted on to lead the big races and bring in big results at this point!

EDIT: And it now looks like Unzué has confirmed that Soler will ride the Vuelta, not the Tour. Movistar will be absolutely loaded in the Tour/Vuelta, the other riders got to take advantages of the chances in the Giro!
 
Here's a link to the article I've seen about Soler to Paris-Roubiax and the Duaphine. Valverde, Landa, Quintana to Swiss. I get sending Valverde as it's one of those few races not on his palmares yet, may as well give him a chance to add that one.
https://www.elperiodico.com/es/ciclismo/20180314/ciclismo-marc-soler-no-tour-lider-dauphine-corre-vuelta-6689726

I'd still send Valverde/Landa to the Giro, Landa/Quintana to the Tour, and Valverde/Quintana to the Vuelta.

At this point I'm convinced Amador is race leader for the Giro.

With them saying Valverde, Landa, Quintana, Soler to the Vuelta, holy cow. Maybe also send Amador, Rojas, Fernandez, and Sutterlin (or Oliveira, need a TTer for the team time trial).
 
So we can narrow the domestiques down to Sutterlin, Bennati, Erviti, Oliveira, Anacona, De La Parte, Rosón and Rojas? A lot will obviously depend on who they select for the Giro, I would imagine Rosón going there and probably Rojas as well as a stage hunter, along with Richie, Betancur and Amador and maybe Fernandez.

Not sending Soler to the Tour gives him the option to be in great shape in Dauphine and coupled with most of the big riders seemingly preferring Tour de Suisse, its actually a super opportunity to add that to his palmarés.
 
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
So we can narrow the domestiques down to Sutterlin, Bennati, Erviti, Oliveira, Anacona, De La Parte, Rosón and Rojas? A lot will obviously depend on who they select for the Giro, I would imagine Rosón going there and probably Rojas as well as a stage hunter, along with Richie, Betancur and Amador and maybe Fernandez.

Not sending Soler to the Tour gives him the option to be in great shape in Dauphine and coupled with most of the big riders seemingly preferring Tour de Suisse, its actually a super opportunity to add that to his palmarés.


Agreed. I'm guessing Erviti and Anacona are definitely on the Tour team. Either Sutterlin or Oliveira. That leaves 2 more spots.

I'm guessing for the Giro, Bennati (only Italian currently on the team), Amador (race leader), Betancur and a bunch of the young kids to learn.
 
Re: Re:

Koronin said:
Valv.Piti said:
So we can narrow the domestiques down to Sutterlin, Bennati, Erviti, Oliveira, Anacona, De La Parte, Rosón and Rojas? A lot will obviously depend on who they select for the Giro, I would imagine Rosón going there and probably Rojas as well as a stage hunter, along with Richie, Betancur and Amador and maybe Fernandez.

Not sending Soler to the Tour gives him the option to be in great shape in Dauphine and coupled with most of the big riders seemingly preferring Tour de Suisse, its actually a super opportunity to add that to his palmarés.


Agreed. I'm guessing Erviti and Anacona are definitely on the Tour team. Either Sutterlin or Oliveira. That leaves 2 more spots.

I'm guessing for the Giro, Bennati (only Italian currently on the team), Amador (race leader), Betancur and a bunch of the young kids to learn.
Bennati was signed to be Quintana's sherpa on the flat, will be very strange if they send him to the Giro considering also that he doesn't have anymore the speed to contest a sprint so will be useless in a team without a leader.
 
Re: Re:

Nirvana said:
Koronin said:
Valv.Piti said:
So we can narrow the domestiques down to Sutterlin, Bennati, Erviti, Oliveira, Anacona, De La Parte, Rosón and Rojas? A lot will obviously depend on who they select for the Giro, I would imagine Rosón going there and probably Rojas as well as a stage hunter, along with Richie, Betancur and Amador and maybe Fernandez.

Not sending Soler to the Tour gives him the option to be in great shape in Dauphine and coupled with most of the big riders seemingly preferring Tour de Suisse, its actually a super opportunity to add that to his palmarés.


Agreed. I'm guessing Erviti and Anacona are definitely on the Tour team. Either Sutterlin or Oliveira. That leaves 2 more spots.

I'm guessing for the Giro, Bennati (only Italian currently on the team), Amador (race leader), Betancur and a bunch of the young kids to learn.
Bennati was signed to be Quintana's sherpa on the flat, will be very strange if they send him to the Giro considering also that he doesn't have anymore the speed to contest a sprint so will be useless in a team without a leader.

They do like sending any Italians on their team to the Giro as it's their Grand Tour. They won't be sending a sprinter to the Giro as Barbaro is their sprinter and he doesn't want to race a Grand Tour. So they'll be sending Amador as their Leader and probably a team to go stage hunting would be my guess. I mean after Barbero the next closest rider they have to a sprinter would be either Sutterlin or Valverde.
 
Re: Re:

Valv.Piti said:
yaco said:
Thought some teams would avoid Suisse with its challenging route, even taking into account the extra week to the TDF, yet Movistar are taking their three leaders.
Its your normal Suisse/Dauphine route....? I don't really get the challenging part, they aren't even climbing the Rettenbach, thats challenging. Looks like a fine route by me, quite a bit varied classics terrains and mountains with a TTT and an ITT to polish the last bits.

I think you guys are misinterpreting what DNP said, I think Soler is just riding to get a little experience, not to get a result at all. Unzué said he thought it would be great if he could ride 7-8 pavé, so he obviously isn't the leader. Where he will be the leader is Dauphine apparently - imagine Avenir, P-N and Dauphine on your palmarés, that would be sweet.

Btw DNP, could you provide a link? Seems like a very interesting choice to send all the aces to Suisse!

Actually the Dauphine route for 2018 seems a bit tougher than usual, and of course the 35km TTT will be appealing for some - Recent history shows that more of the TDF GC riders use the Dauphine, rather than Suisse as their final lead in - I am still surprised that Movistar don't split their leaders between the two races.
 

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