Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

[Velolover2]

Stage 3 looks like the Vuelta stage where he beat Sagan. And it's even a bit harder. If he isn't tired from a long classics season, it's almost in the bag.

And if he can pull off a great ITT, he might be in pink after stage 3. The San Luca TT is perfect for him. Short, explosive and with a nice murito at the end.

It all depends on how much time Dumoulin will gain the on the rest. Valverde could become 4th or something and still loose 20 seconds+ to Dumo. :lol:

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Stage 3 looks like the Vuelta stage where he beat Sagan. And it's even a bit harder. If he isn't tired from a long classics season, it's almost in the bag.

And if he can pull off a great ITT, he might be in pink after stage 3. The San Luca TT is perfect for him. Short, explosive and with a nice murito at the end.

It all depends on how much time Dumoulin will gain the on the rest. Valverde could become 4th or something and still loose 20 seconds+ to Dumo. :lol:

That does look a lot like the Vuelta stage finish Valverde beat Sagan. I agree as long as he's not tired from his spring campaign, he should be able to win that stage. As for getting pick, it'll depend on how good/poor of an ITT he does.

 

[Velolover2]

If he isn't in pink after stage 3, he will be after Stage 5.

But he better hope that Matthews and Alaphilippe aren't there. :lol:

 

[Velolover2]

And both Ala and especially Matthews are good in a short, hilly ITT.

I don't think Alaphilippe will be there but Matthews could destroy Valverde's dream of wearing the pink jersey.

 

[Koronin]

Highly unlikely QS sends Alaphilippe to the Giro. He'll be more likely to head to California in May than the Giro if he's going to be racing in May.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

Highly unlikely QS sends Alaphilippe to the Giro. He'll be more likely to head to California in May than the Giro if he's going to be racing in May.

Yeah, but Matthews might be a bigger problem. I could see him getting very close to his leader in that short time trial and outkick Valverde on stage 3 and 5. And then later in the Giro, act like some kind of road captain for Dumoulin.

Let's hope he targets the Tour.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Highly unlikely QS sends Alaphilippe to the Giro. He'll be more likely to head to California in May than the Giro if he's going to be racing in May.

Yeah, but Matthews might be a bigger problem. I could see him getting very close to his leader in that short time trial and outkick Valverde on stage 3 and 5. And then later in the Giro, act like some kind of road captain for Dumoulin.

Let's hope he targets the Tour.

You're right, Matthews would be the bigger issue and he is capable of doing a good ITT. I just would be surprised if Alaphilippe goes to the Giro. Plus his racing for KOM and/or stage hunting isn't going to matter which GT he goes to. Granted we don't know which GT or GTs they'll send Mas to either. However if they go to the Tour for sprints it makes more sense to send Alaphilippe there for KOM and stage hunting than to the Giro, esp when California has been a good race for him.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

If he isn't in pink after stage 3, he will be after Stage 5.

But he better hope that Matthews and Alaphilippe aren't there. :lol:

I think he would beat Alaphilippe in both those finishes, he's simply faster. Matthews is different beast though. To beat him pace needs to be very hard in those finales.

 

[Valv.Piti]

You gotta love L'Aquila-stages.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

You gotta love L'Aquila-stages.

Hilly stages can easily be much better, which makes me sad. One of those finishes in the first week is very good, but it can't be all there is in a first week.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

If he isn't in pink after stage 3, he will be after Stage 5.

But he better hope that Matthews and Alaphilippe aren't there. :lol:

Thanks for the profiles. Do you have one for stage 6 as well?

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

If he isn't in pink after stage 3, he will be after Stage 5.

But he better hope that Matthews and Alaphilippe aren't there. :lol:

Thanks for the profiles. Do you have one for stage 6 as well?

The basic profiles for all the stages are here, but not closer views of specific parts.

https://demarrajeweb.com/2018/12/19/video-recorrido-la-vuelta-2019/

 

[May0maniac]

Here's the exact profile of stage 6, provided by Lasterketa Burua:

 

[Red Rick]

I thought that final bump was shorter and steeper. That's disappointing.

But thanks.

 

[Moviestar]

I highly doubt Matthews will ride the Giro after his heavy spring with pretty much all the classics included in his schedule.

 

[yaco]

Matthews can focus on the green jersey at the TDF,now that Dumoulin's focus is the Giro.

 

[Velolover2]

It's official, Matthews is riding the Tour. So are Alaphilippe, Sagan, GVA.

Valverde's biggest rivals for those stages are breakaway riders, not other puncheurs.

 

[capuldemetal]

what the hell? aleix espargaro has signed with them!

le:vermind..it's april's fools day in spain it seems :lol: :lol:

 

[mariposa]

Re:

what the hell? aleix espargaro has signed with them!

le:vermind..it's april's fools day in spain it seems :lol: :lol:

Yep Day of the Innocents in Spain! He looks quite good in the kit though!

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Re:

It's official, Matthews is riding the Tour. So are Alaphilippe, Sagan, GVA.

Valverde's biggest rivals for those stages are breakaway riders, not other puncheurs.

So Valverde is doing a Dumo and running away from the competition to make it as easy as possible to win a Jersey. Makes sense at his age.

 

[Red Rick]

Might beg the question who is gonna control those stages. I imagine a good amount of riders will be looking for those breakaways so they'll probably already ship some time the first chance they get. I imagine most GC teams will be happy the bonus seconds are gone, and those stages aren't hard enough to really try for an attack for the punchier of the GC riders.

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

It's official, Matthews is riding the Tour. So are Alaphilippe, Sagan, GVA.

Valverde's biggest rivals for those stages are breakaway riders, not other puncheurs.

So Valverde is doing a Dumo and running away from the competition to make it as easy as possible to win a Jersey. Makes sense at his age.

To be fair, he has a great chance of wearing Giro and literally no chances of wearing yellow because of the TTT.

But if he only is there as a stage hunter, there are almost more chances in the Tour than Giro. Stage 3 in the Tour features a lot of muro-like climbs.

For example: Is this a Sagan stage or a Valverde stage? I can't tell.

The Vosges stage to Colmar is also really good for him.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

Might beg the question who is gonna control those stages. I imagine a good amount of riders will be looking for those breakaways so they'll probably already ship some time the first chance they get. I imagine most GC teams will be happy the bonus seconds are gone, and those stages aren't hard enough to really try for an attack for the punchier of the GC riders.

There are some teams that might be interested in uphill sprint stages. Sky for Moscon, Bora for McCarthy, Jumbo for De Plus, AG2R for Vuillermoz.. But you are right, it's hard to imagine any teams going all in for the hilly stage. The GT leaders need to have a fresh team before the mountains.

 

[Red Rick]

Is the run in technical?

I'm thinking Sagan or Matthews. It's just really short and everything that happens more than 20km from the line is kinda irrelevant between these kinds of riders, unless somebody makes an attack of some significance, which I don't see happening.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Might beg the question who is gonna control those stages. I imagine a good amount of riders will be looking for those breakaways so they'll probably already ship some time the first chance they get. I imagine most GC teams will be happy the bonus seconds are gone, and those stages aren't hard enough to really try for an attack for the punchier of the GC riders.

There are some teams that might be interested in uphill sprint stages. Sky for Moscon, Bora for McCarthy, Jumbo for De Plus, AG2R for Vuillermoz.. But you are right, it's hard to imagine any teams going all in for the hilly stage. The GT leaders need to have a fresh team before the mountains.

It's just really hard to see a team go 'yeah, my 3rd rate puncheur is gonna beat Valverde here'. Moscon is the only one there with a remote chance, and they'll be riding for GC.