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Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

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Jul 22, 2017
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Which Spanish rider could they support, though? Jaime Roson? Rubén Fernández? Rafael Valls? There's not a lot of choice once you discount Valverde and Landa.
 
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@MikelLandaMeana was released from hospital on Sunday morning. He's wearing a lumbar brace to keep the area fixed. New examinations in Vitoria on Monday.

Mikel's appearance in #LaVuelta18 is not ruled out, pending the rider's evolution and rehabilitation.
 
Yea, Rosón is off the road at the moment. Even if they clear him, he won't have any form. After Valverde and Landa, Soler is Movistar's best Spanish rider and he's just come off the Tour so is unlikely to harbour any leadership requirements. Fernández is not going to become a star in a GT, he's more a new Carlos Barredo than anything else, it's too soon for the likes of Castrillo.

You have to be careful though, because due to the downturn in Spanish cycling around a decade ago, you've got to differentiate between fans of the sport/particular riders and teams from those who follow the sport chauvinistically who, thanks to all of the other high profile Spanish teams going to the wall, see Abarcá as a de facto national team in the same way as Astana or Sky, which they weren't ever really intended as but have served as recently (and abused their position as on occasion to raid Caja Rural of all their best talent). I don't think long-term fans of Abarcá or who don't really follow the team and have their attachments to individual riders really care if Carapaz or Quintana is the team's leader instead of a Spaniard, but there is a subset of fans that want home success at the Vuelta (especially considering the only Spaniard to win a stage or finish top 10 last year has now retired) and will therefore be disappointed if the highest profile home team doesn't have a Spanish leader.
 
Roson is currently suspended. Ferdnandez is actually just racing again after yet another injury. For some reason he just can't stay healthy. Don't think he'll ever be a GT GC contender, but I do think IF he can stay healthy can do well in smaller races. Castrillo is too young to know right. In maybe another 2 or 3 years Soler should be ready, but he's not ready for it yet, although he's the one many of them want.

Valverde will go as co leader and will remain co leader regardless of anything. He, however, has always been extremely good at downplaying his chances no matter what race or how good he's actually feeling.
 
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
Koronin said:
The Spanish fans basically said last year, either a Spanish leader for the Spanish GT or they'd en mass find a different team to support and for the most part Caja Rural was the pick simply because they are a Spanish Pro Conti team and were the only one before this year. They do seem to be looking at those three Pro Conti teams to give their support to and then just pick and choose specific riders they will support. Many think Movistar should register in another country because if they can't give them a Spanish leader for the Spanish GT they don't deserve to have their license in Spain. By the way the fans over there were POed that in 2016 Valverde wasn't supported in his attempt at a top 10 in all 3 GTs in one year. There is a large group that refuses to even acknowledge that Quintana won that GT. Basically a large group thought Valverde's attempt at history was more important. As for Valverde and the last time he attempted a GT as a GC rider he finished 3rd at the Giro in 2016. He was supposed to lead last year's Vuelta team but got hurt. It seems ignoring the team in general is more their most likely option and instead choosing another team to cheer for, which will be one of the Spanish pro conti teams.
Wtf? This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. Just complete nonsense.

Couldn't agree more. Too much being read into what a few hot heads spout on a Spanish language forum?
 
Yeah, Landa not riding could be really bad. Rosón was most likely going, but obviously isn't going to do now. Soler isn't riding the Vuelta after the Tour. Fernandez is very inconsistent and has been injured, but will be back in Burgos. Still, thats a lot of talent thats probably not going or not going to perform as well in Fernandez' case. Had things looked a bit different, with the team they have available for this race, they could have been very close to Sky-esque domination considering the competition is a lot lower here, so relatively speaking

A lot will obviously depend on the natural leaders which always would have been Valverde and Quintana anyways IMO. Landa would have been the 3rd wheel under normal circumstances, but Valv and Quintana also have a lot of questions. Neither of them were good in 2015 after doing a kinda similar schedule, for example. The wildcard is Carapaz who I really hope they will select. Lets wait and see him in Pologne, but I suspect he will be decent at this point with the Vuelta and WC looming. Normally, I would have thought he would have done a lot of the classics (I think he has potential there as well), but now, he should be selected.

Other riders who could be could options would be Valls, Anacona, Oliveira and Rojas. Maybe Carretero and Sutterlin.
 
A few comments that Verona made in an interview after was announced he signed with Movistar: He said it was time to go "home" and race for his "home" team. He said that even if you learn another language and culture it's still different and you never fully understand things. He also said that he had had a chance to sign to race with Contador and didn't do it and basically said he regrets that decision. He said that when Movistar called that he had to take the opportunity to race with Valverde. He said that they were his heroes growing up and that having the opportunity to race with and learn from Valverde now was something he could not pass up because there is a possibility he won't still be racing in another 4 years.
 
Re:

shalgo said:
Seriously though, where is Betancur? No races since the Giro, no tweets since May 30th, no Instagram posts since June 1st...


Great question that I think many would like to have an answer for.

Although until this week Fernandez hadn't raced since the Giro either. However, he managed to get himself injured again in a crash while training.
 
What has been the problem with Movistar recently? Is it a rider problem or management problem? Preparation? form? Unzue? DS's? Surely with the budget and riders on roster, they would be able to win something of note. Apart from Grandad of the sport Valverde having some early season prep race wins (Valenciana, Abu Dhabi, Catalunya) and Soler in the PN, its been the odd stage win. Would sponsors not be questioning why the team have not been at least competitive in the GC's never mind going for the win. Using bad luck, crashes, illness and Team SKY as excuses can only go on for so long. Something doesn't seem right with them at the moment.
 
wheresmybrakes said:
What has been the problem with Movistar recently? Is it a rider problem or management problem? Preparation? form? Unzue? DS's? Surely with the budget and riders on roster, they would be able to win something of note. Apart from Grandad of the sport Valverde having some early season prep race wins (Valenciana, Abu Dhabi, Catalunya) and Soler in the PN, its been the odd stage win. Would sponsors not be questioning why the team have not been at least competitive in the GC's never mind going for the win. Using bad luck, crashes, illness and Team SKY as excuses can only go on for so long. Something doesn't seem right with them at the moment.
I think the answer lies within this statement. Movistar is not a big budget team - they spend about the same as the Lottos or DD, and significantly less than the likes of Katusha or BMC. This season they have basically chosen to spend the majority of their budget on three riders - who are then almost entirely responsible for getting them any results.

Valverde has done more or less what you would expect. While Quintana and Landa have underperformed. Landa perhaps due to crashes, and Quintana seems to have struggled to peak correctly again. The fact that Soler and Carapaz have overperformed probably makes it a decent year though given their budget. Carapaz especially is very important to them for the Ecuador market. And I think with a decent GC showing by someone at the Vuelta the sponsors will be content, given their relatively modest investment.
 
It's clear that they were wrong to sent Valverde, Landa, Quintana and Soler to the Tour. As expected it didn't work out well. Also riding together in Suisse wasn't right. Better to spread the big guns in different races (and Valverde doesn't even cared about riding Le Tour). They knew Roson couldn't race, and Betancur isn't reliable. Will he race La Vuelta without any race since Giro? I don't expect this. Valls is also not reliable. The only one who left really fresh is Carapaz (and he's racing Pologne instead of Burgos which suits him better). I saw him on the entry list of Tour of Germany which would mean no Vuelta, but i expect this to change.
 
DFA123 said:
wheresmybrakes said:
What has been the problem with Movistar recently? Is it a rider problem or management problem? Preparation? form? Unzue? DS's? Surely with the budget and riders on roster, they would be able to win something of note. Apart from Grandad of the sport Valverde having some early season prep race wins (Valenciana, Abu Dhabi, Catalunya) and Soler in the PN, its been the odd stage win. Would sponsors not be questioning why the team have not been at least competitive in the GC's never mind going for the win. Using bad luck, crashes, illness and Team SKY as excuses can only go on for so long. Something doesn't seem right with them at the moment.
I think the answer lies within this statement. Movistar is not a big budget team - they spend about the same as the Lottos or DD, and significantly less than the likes of Katusha or BMC. This season they have basically chosen to spend the majority of their budget on three riders - who are then almost entirely responsible for getting them any results.

Valverde has done more or less what you would expect. While Quintana and Landa have underperformed. Landa perhaps due to crashes, and Quintana seems to have struggled to peak correctly again. The fact that Soler and Carapaz have overperformed probably makes it a decent year though given their budget. Carapaz especially is very important to them for the Ecuador market. And I think with a decent GC showing by someone at the Vuelta the sponsors will be content, given their relatively modest investment.

Might be time to cut loose one of the GT riders or look for an additional sponsor. As long as Valverde is winning decent races he probably won't be going anywhere. But the team seems a bit light for quality domestiques. Michelton will probably end up having the same problem eventually but some of their riders are retiring or not far off retiring which makes it easier to keep riders like Haig as he improves. Once Valverde retires it will get easier for Movistar but that could be two years away.
 
Movistar's budget is right around the average for WT teams. They don't have close to the budget that Sky, BMC, Katusha and a couple others have. Also Landa took a pay cut going there from what he was getting at Sky. Valverde is their highest paid rider and he's basically giving them what they expect from him. Well actually they said they didn't even know what to expect from him this year after his injury last year. Something about anything he gives them is a bonus. As for how many more years he's going to race, who knows. He doesn't even appear to know the answer to that, however it's very likely at least 2 more years. Of the 2 GC GT riders they have Valverde is the one definitely not going anywhere esp after Unzue said when he was injured last year that he can race for them for as long as he wishes and he will always have a contract with them for as long as he wants it. I wouldn't be surprised that Carapaz and Soler may be more important to them than Landa and Quintana actually are as they are younger and have a lot of potential.

If Fernandez is actually healthy (they should know by the end of Burgos) I would expect he will be going to la Vuelta. IF healthy he can be a very solid domestique.
 
Is Movistar has the average budget that everyone is saying then they are an spectacular team. Sorry but that's the truth. By all standards what they did in the Tour was a failure. Maybe but if you are getting your money's worth with that budget then is mission accomplished.
 
Re:

Escarabajo said:
Is Movistar has the average budget that everyone is saying then they are an spectacular team. Sorry but that's the truth. By all standards what they did in the Tour was a failure. Maybe but if you are getting your money's worth with that budget then is mission accomplished.


But are they if you take out what Valverde has done? That is where the problem is. They've even admitted over the past two years they are to heavily reliant on Valverde and that if/when he decides to retire they're going to be totally lost. Yet, even after admitting this and after his injury last year which was career threatening, they haven't done anything to alleviate their over reliance on him. Sky's budget is over twice what their's is.
 
Re:

Moviestar said:
I hope they will be in the market for Sosa, after they lost Bernal to Sky last year. It would also be typical Unzue if he would offer Alarcon a contract again, given the fact he was close to a move with Movistar last season.


There was talk that Movistar never was that interested in even talking with Bernal. This is apparently one of the points on contention between Quintana and Movistar management in that Movistar didn't do anything more than offer a token contract offer to Bernal and were not interested in negotiating while they were more interested in a couple of young Spaniards.
 
Re: Re:

Koronin said:
Moviestar said:
I hope they will be in the market for Sosa, after they lost Bernal to Sky last year. It would also be typical Unzue if he would offer Alarcon a contract again, given the fact he was close to a move with Movistar last season.


There was talk that Movistar never was that interested in even talking with Bernal. This is apparently one of the points on contention between Quintana and Movistar management in that Movistar didn't do anything more than offer a token contract offer to Bernal and were not interested in negotiating while they were more interested in a couple of young Spaniards.

Could it also be a possibility with them having added Landa to the roster that adding Bernal would've been a further potentially threatening gesture to Quintana's status in the team on management's part? Not that I think that Quintana is a prima dona but the rumours of the static created in adding Landa to the team and then making him co-leader at the Tour, it seems adding another rider in a similar profile wouldn't go over well, even if he is Colombian.
 
Re: Re:

Angliru said:
Koronin said:
Moviestar said:
I hope they will be in the market for Sosa, after they lost Bernal to Sky last year. It would also be typical Unzue if he would offer Alarcon a contract again, given the fact he was close to a move with Movistar last season.


There was talk that Movistar never was that interested in even talking with Bernal. This is apparently one of the points on contention between Quintana and Movistar management in that Movistar didn't do anything more than offer a token contract offer to Bernal and were not interested in negotiating while they were more interested in a couple of young Spaniards.

Could it also be a possibility with them having added Landa to the roster that adding Bernal would've been a further potentially threatening gesture to Quintana's status in the team on management's part? Not that I think that Quintana is a prima dona but the rumours of the static created in adding Landa to the team and then making him co-leader at the Tour, it seems adding another rider in a similar profile wouldn't go over well, even if he is Colombian.


No, Quintana wanted Bernal on the team and that is part of the rift between Quintana and Movistar Management. Quintana wanted him and instead the team singed a young Spaniard (Castrillo) and then went after Landa. I'm with Escarabajo that management didn't think Bernal was actually that good, and I also believe they were looking for a good Spanish rider and a young Spanish rider with potential. Thus the signings of Landa and Castrillo. Also there were rumors they were looking at signing Samitier, but apparently decided he needed some time at the Pro Conti level before being ready for WT. It seems Quintana took their non interest in Bernal as statement that they don't trust his views of young riders while they'll sign a rider Valverde tells them they should look at without bothering to even scout the rider. (Of course Valverde has been doing talent evaluations for the team for years now as well).
 

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