Bala went on a ride with the squad and looked smooth. In a short video while riding, he also said something like "Prepare yourself, Froome"
What a legend!
What a legend!
- Aug 21, 2011
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You missed him crashing pretty hard?[/quote]
I haven't seen any TV coverage for a few days so was it after the last climb or before? He looked ok on the climb and no obvious signs of any problems or injuries. He can be a bit accident prone so not really surprised!
I haven't seen any TV coverage for a few days so was it after the last climb or before? He looked ok on the climb and no obvious signs of any problems or injuries. He can be a bit accident prone so not really surprised!
I think they clearly target the team GC, which they currently lead.
In the vuelta the breakaways often success, and Movistar have 5 strong climbers able to perform in montains. They can send 2 every day, take time easily in the team GC and probably win at least one stage.
In the vuelta the breakaways often success, and Movistar have 5 strong climbers able to perform in montains. They can send 2 every day, take time easily in the team GC and probably win at least one stage.
- Aug 3, 2015
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Re:
Soler a little under par today, but the stage wasn't really hard enough and the rouleur types obviously spent a lot less going into Collada Bermejo. He has also used a fair amount of horsepower already and this attempt means that my prediction of a Soler victory on Calar Alto goes down the drain. Too bad. But he tried and these efforts will benefit him in the long run.
Yes, he would have been smoked no matter what he did. But it was weird indeed.tobydawq said:
Soler a little under par today, but the stage wasn't really hard enough and the rouleur types obviously spent a lot less going into Collada Bermejo. He has also used a fair amount of horsepower already and this attempt means that my prediction of a Soler victory on Calar Alto goes down the drain. Too bad.
But he tried and these efforts will benefit him in the long run.
- Jul 1, 2015
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- Jul 1, 2015
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As far as I'm concerned, Unzue directly approached Abarca about the possibility of adding Landa two months ago, and they were going to add a certain amount of money so Landa can be signed without crippling the rest of their roster. That plan seems to have gone out of the window now, unless they'll sign a string of good replacements. The question is, who are those guys going to be, the market doesn't offer a lot (Cannondale folding would ofc change that to a degree).
About the Herrada brothers, José didn't really do anything lately, so I understand him leaving, Jesús was still promising for smaller races though, so he's a minor loss for the team.
About the Herrada brothers, José didn't really do anything lately, so I understand him leaving, Jesús was still promising for smaller races though, so he's a minor loss for the team.
I think it's a big thing - MS have lost at least 5 or 6 solid workers from their squad - It's now a thread with 3 or 4 key leaders, decent mountain support, although younger riders, a significant gap in grunt riders - They'll need to pull a rabbit out of the hat.
- Feb 20, 2010
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Don't see many of the Cannondale riders that would plug in too easily with the team's style though. Skujins maybe, or Simon Clarke.Movitrain said:
I wonder if, in addition to the two young climbers, if they consider even three neo-pros, and promote Zhyhunou. He has a decent sprint and flat strength. Unzué could do with some experience among the rouleur corps though. Or maybe they'll take Javi Moreno back from Bahrain, think he only signed a one year deal and Unzué likes getting riders he's already had back - Plaza, Moreno, Karpets, Cobo, and the like (although Cobo's a bit of an exception). Likewise there's Samoilau and even Kiryienka, although Sky maybe don't want to see Vasya go even if he's clearly on the wind-down now. Ventoso is another rider out of contract who has been at Abarcá before and settling into a post-sprinting rouleur role, but he's also, once more, long past his best and the team already have Bennati for that role. A guy like Küng would be the ideal but is also very unlikely as can probably demand more than the team can offer and is also directed toward a part of the calendar they can't really help him with. Jan Barta would be a fairly reasonable target - good TT engine, past the point at his career where he expects to race for himself, and Telefonica's central European reach is part of why Sütterlin was targeted (and then he became a favourite of Valverde's). However, he also seems happy in his niche with Bora.
The problem they have is, why would a good rouleur from France or the Low Countries ever want to join the team? They can't compensate with the money because the team is too top heavy to have much of it left over. At this rate they're going to be left taking a flyer on Balarcón, but even then after their experience with Alejandro Marque would the Portuguese teams trust Abarcá not to stitch them up? But Spanish and Latin American rouleurs are few in number, and most are either already at Movistar (Erviti) or have moved on (Gorka, Luísle). Lluís Mas is an obvious target, but they've already pillaged Caja Rural many times over. Do they gamble on trying to get somebody like Daniel Jaramillo to adapt to Europe? Go for something really left-field like a one year contract offer for Stijn Devolder? Or just accept that they're going to have a transitional year, and aim not to spend too long in the leader's jerseys and focus entirely on mountainous races even more so than usual?
- Aug 3, 2015
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Well, the Tour de France is the race that calls the most for great rouleurs. Especially in 2018, it seems very flat and nervous for the first week or even 9 days, so that definitely requires some manpower. If Im not mistaken its 8 man teams next year so we theoretically have a team like this:
Quintana, Valverde, Landa, Soler, Bennati, Sutterlin and depending on what you want Erviti, Oliveira, Anacona, Amador or Rojas. Thats not too bad.
Quintana, Valverde, Landa, Soler, Bennati, Sutterlin and depending on what you want Erviti, Oliveira, Anacona, Amador or Rojas. Thats not too bad.
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