Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

[Sciatic]

and one of those eight was a win!

 

[Koronin]

It’s certainly impressive, but it still hangs over them that for one of the perennial highest budgets in the sport, and one of the biggest teams, they’re still coming up just short in the individual GC in the biggest race on the calendar, just like every year since Perreiro slipped into a 30-minute breakaway in 2006.

8 top 10s, if anything, just reinforces the idea that they are a collection of individuals, who lack a single team focus.

Ineos, by contrast, have won basically nothing of consequence. Except for one race in July.

Their budget isn't a high it's very much inline with the majority of teams. Theirs is just over the average for all teams. That actually makes what they've done even more impressive.

 

[Koronin]

Very nice 2nd place for Andrey Amador today at Trofeo Matteotti. Yes a small race, but for a rider who doesn't get many opportunities a podium in always nice no matter what race it is.

 

[Blanco]

Anybody know what the hell happened with Movistar yesterday? I mean Valverde and 6 DNF

 

[MatParker117]

Kit brand Endura pulls out of Movistar sponsorship because of ‘UCI dead end’

The team will no longer be wearing kit from the Scottish apparel brand

www.cyclingweekly.com

Endura have a point, the UCI is backwards when it comes to innovation

 

[Koronin]

Kit brand Endura pulls out of Movistar sponsorship because of ‘UCI dead end’

The team will no longer be wearing kit from the Scottish apparel brand

www.cyclingweekly.com

Endura have a point, the UCI is backwards when it comes to innovation

This also likely is at least part of the explanation as to why Valverde's kit at the end of the season didn't have the rainbow bands on the sleeves.

 

[Koronin]

I'm going to post this here as it seems the best place to post it. This is an article about Matteo Jorgenson's journey from Idaho to Europe to a contract with Movistar.

Matteo Jorgenson's unorthodox pathway to the WorldTour

To further his pro career, Matteo Jorgenson emailed dozens of teams, cultivated a network, and even learned French. His work may have created a new route for Americans to reach the WorldTour.

www.velonews.com

 

[tobydawq]

I'm going to post this here as it seems the best place to post it. This is an article about Matteo Jorgenson's journey from Idaho to Europe to a contract with Movistar.

Matteo Jorgenson's unorthodox pathway to the WorldTour

To further his pro career, Matteo Jorgenson emailed dozens of teams, cultivated a network, and even learned French. His work may have created a new route for Americans to reach the WorldTour.

www.velonews.com

He even has a (very well-named) thread!!

https://forum.cyclingnews.com/threa...-nans-peters-is-the-next-pierre-latour.34789/

 

[Koronin]

He even has a (very well-named) thread!!

https://forum.cyclingnews.com/threa...-nans-peters-is-the-next-pierre-latour.34789/

He may have the longest title for a thread. LOL. Thank you. I'll post the article there as well. I either forgot or didn't realize he had his own thread already.

 

[tobydawq]

It's probably the highest quality thread on the forum.

 

[Koronin]

It is interesting.

 

[Tonton]

It is an interesting.

Yeah, never a dull moment. Movistar always has a ton of talent on the roster and some exciting riders, so they are worth the attention. Good or bad attention (politics, politics, how will they screw it up this time?), I agree with Leinster that GT results are underwhelming. On the good side, again, Movistar attracts most of the best Spanish riders and the next gem may very well sign up. Great sponsor. So their future is bright. Not too many teams have that peace of mind, knowing that they will always be relevant.

 

[Koronin]

Tonton, and don't forget that for at least the next 2 years they still have Valverde as their safety net.

 

[Tonton]

Tonton, and don't forget that for at least the next 2 years they still have Valverde as their safety net.

For the growth of the team, is he an asset or a liability tho'? As good as he is, I sometimes feel that he prevents the team from having a clear and hopefully winning strategy.

 

[Koronin]

For the growth of the team, is he an asset or a liability tho'? As good as he is, I sometimes feel that he prevents the team from having a clear and hopefully winning strategy.

The fact he's such a prolific winner, I'd go with asset. For the next two years he's basically going to be Mas and Soler's safety net. He like teaching/coaching if the younger riders want to learn. I think the issues in the Grand Tours (which I think is what you're referring to) is that I'm not sure he's been confident in either Landa or Quintana to win the Tour and he won't give up his beloved Vuelta, which with his podium this year, you can't blame him.

 

[Koronin]

Movistar announced today that ALÉ Cycling will be their race clothing partner for next season. They said the new kits will be revealed at the team presentation which will be held near Christmas.
The other announcement they made today is that Valverde's 2nd half of the season will be Tour, Olympics, Vuelta, Worlds with the Olympics as his big goal for the season. However, they also stated that they and he believe the Tour is the best prep for both the Olympics and Vuelta. He will race to Paris then jump on a flight to Tokyo. They do not believe the short time he'll be there will hurt him in adjusting to the time difference. They said they think that not racing the Tour means you'll go into the Olympics and Vuelta too "cool" instead of in good shape for those races.

 

[Red Rick]

Weird

Isnt there also 3 weeks vetween Vuelta and Worlds unlike normally?

 

[Koronin]

2018 Vuelta ended Sept 16th and the Worlds was the 30th, so that was 2 weeks. So it seems that 2-3 weeks between Vuelta and Worlds is typical.
I wonder if what they are looking at with Tour/Olympics is Valverde many times has done Tour/San Sebastian which is the following week, so looking at just timing it's not an issue, the issue is going to be travel.

 

[tobydawq]

2018 Vuelta ended Sept 16th and the Worlds was the 30th, so that was 2 weeks. So it seems that 2-3 weeks between Vuelta and Worlds is typical.
I wonder if what they are looking at with Tour/Olympics is Valverde many times has done Tour/San Sebastian which is the following week, so looking at just timing it's not an issue, the issue is going to be travel.

No, 2 weeks is typical, it has always been 2 weeks (since the Vuelta was moved to the late summer, that is, and except for the Doha one).

3 weeks is atypical.

 

[Nirvana]

Not always, between 2004 and 2009 there was a single week that resulted in tactical abandons before the end of the Vuelta.

On a side note between 1995 and 2003 the Vuelta used to start in the first week of September and Worlds were mid October, only for the 2000 Olympics the Vuelta was moved to the dates we are used to now with the Worlds four weeks after the end.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Really feel sorry for some of the younger guys (Mas, Soler) trying to lead a GT in this team. At least they can have a go at the Giro next year, unless...……..

 

[fmk_RoI]

Does Forrest Gump have reason to be puzzled by Movistar's leadership changes or is puzzlement the normal state of affairs chez Indurain?

In an interview with Spanish sports daily AS, when asked about Movistar, Indurain pointed out that "there have been a lot of departures."

"I’m puzzled by this abrupt change of direction as it’s a team that normally maintains a very stable structure of riders," Spain’s greatest ever bike rider said.

"Nairo Quintana has gone, and Richard Carapaz, who won the Giro d'Italia," Indurain pointed out. "It’s a strategy Movistar didn’t follow in other years."

For a long time I believed that Valverde must have something on Père Unzué, be bribing him into letting him race on, but lately I've been wondering if everyone ever touched by Movistar has been suffering some kind of Stockhausen syndrome, a spell now partly broken by Carapaz and Landa and Quintana pulling off their great escape. Whatever control Unzué once had over the stars of tomorrow, is this just a momentary lapse or can we expect Mas to break free before Unzué breaks him?

 

[tobydawq]

Uh, what the actual hell are you talking about?

 

[Koronin]

Does Forrest Gump have reason to be puzzled by Movistar's leadership changes or is puzzlement the normal state of affairs chez Indurain?For a long time I believed that Valverde must have something on Père Unzué, be bribing him into letting him race on, but lately I've been wondering if everyone ever touched by Movistar has been suffering some kind of Stockhausen syndrome, a spell now partly broken by Carapaz and Landa and Quintana pulling off their great escape. Whatever control Unzué once had over the stars of tomorrow, is this just a momentary lapse or can we expect Mas to break free before Unzué breaks him?

The team made the decision before this year started that they were not going to resign Quintana or Landa. The reason for Carapaz leaving and the entire debacle with that the team has decided to blacklist the agent and thus cut off negotiations with several other riders as well for that reason. Also this team has needed to do a major rebuild for a few years now and step one in that was to not resign Quintana. This is also a very successful team which many riders WANT to race for.
By the way Carapaz is headed to Ineos strictly for money. He will not have any real opportunities there. So he has given up leadership options for a big paycheck.

 

[Koronin]

Really feel sorry for some of the younger guys (Mas, Soler) trying to lead a GT in this team. At least they can have a go at the Giro next year, unless...……..

I'd guess Soler will have a chance to lead the Giro and Mas will lead the Tour. Valverde will get his beloved Vuelta.