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Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

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I'd like to be wrong, but Soler leading Movistar at the Giro recalls me of Izagirre 2015. Fortunately for him, with no one in the team likely to pull an Amador, he won't be asked to wait for a teammate if he has a good day in the mountains.

True, although also remember that Soler can do good time trials. So having more TTs in the Giro works to his advantage in at least trying to stay in the GC hunt.
 
True, although also remember that Soler can do good time trials. So having more TTs in the Giro works to his advantage in at least trying to stay in the GC hunt.
That'll be an advantage compared to some of the opponents like Ciccone, but there are plenty of opponents that can also do a decent timetrial. Last year, in the long ITT, Nibali was 4th, Carthy was 8th, Carapaz was 11th. In the short ITT, Nibali was 3rd, Carapaz was 14th, Carthy 16th. In the medium ITT, Nibali was 9th, ahead of Roglic. I don't need to tell you, what (if he's up there for GC) Evenepoel will do in the ITT's. Kelderman should also finish well in the top 20 of the ITT's, if not the top 10. So there being 3 ITT's might not be a real big advantage for Soler.
 
That'll be an advantage compared to some of the opponents like Ciccone, but there are plenty of opponents that can also do a decent timetrial. Last year, in the long ITT, Nibali was 4th, Carthy was 8th, Carapaz was 11th. In the short ITT, Nibali was 3rd, Carapaz was 14th, Carthy 16th. In the medium ITT, Nibali was 9th, ahead of Roglic. I don't need to tell you, what (if he's up there for GC) Evenepoel will do in the ITT's. Kelderman should also finish well in the top 20 of the ITT's, if not the top 10. So there being 3 ITT's might not be a real big advantage for Soler.

It'll be interesting to see what Evenpoel does. Nibali is my favorite to win. I'm not convinced Carapaz wins last year if Nibali and Roglic would have seen him as a threat until it was too late. One big thing Soler needs to figure out is how to not have that one really, really bad day. As I said I think it can help him stay in the GC because he shouldn't shed time there. The question is is he actually capable of racing for GC in a Grand Tour. We know Enric Mas is because he has a Vuelta podium.
 
I'd be surprised if Nibali can beat Carapaz. I don't expect much from Carthy, though top 10 is possible by default. Soler is among a bunch of riders who could finish high because so few top GC riders will be there.
Carthy just missed the top 10 last year, and by all means, there were more heavy hitters present (Roglic, Mollema, Zakarin, Lopez, Yates) than this year. I expect Carthy to have improved, and with a lot of big names not coming to the Giro, i think Carthy will be in contention for a top 5. I think he and Soler could be close to each other in GC.
 
I think this picture of this year's 3 leaders show how different the atmosphere in the team is. It shows they enjoy being together and having fun.
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I guess there is not really a reason for them to be discontent. Mas seems to be a very nice guy and is soo eager to state how much he's learning from others... To be at a GT team of his own nationality in which he is considered important is probably an improvement from before for him. And he must think what I think, that even Valverde HAS to decline eventually. Soler will be happy to be the sole leader at a GT this year. After that we will see. Valverde will be happy because he can do whatever he wants to anyway.
 
So it's all Nairos fault?
All, no, but a great deal. He started causing major friction before the 2017 season with going to the media saying he was going to do the Giro/Tour double, then his father's comments after. Then he couldn't handle Landa being there and didn't really even try. Now is it all his fault, no. Unzue and some of the DS's have also made some questionable decisions, but Quintana was the biggest problem. It's also become more evident that he never fit in in that team.
 
We'll know better when Movistar starts putting out their grouping of riders. They said they'll have one group doing the Italian races, another group doing the classics (they said mostly young riders there), and then a group of 12 riders for the Tour/Vuelta. Obviously it's already announced Valverde and Mas are part of that 12 and we can go ahead and put Erviti on that list as well.
 

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