Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

[Koronin]

IMHO the money spent on Landa was the problem, not Valverde or Quintana.
btw with the Giro start list getting weaker and weaker, I now fully expect Soler to win.

That still requires he find some form somewhere, because right now his form is well below Mas and Valverde's and their form isn't great.

 

[Koronin]

For anyone who wants to watch. This is a fun "challenge" game with Movistar Tour trivia questions with Valverde and Mas. It's funny and there are English subtitles.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA3WzELopmE&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3YlLpX1qj0P0TIlXhhl7NcwZbJwbYivYZsyVRGp2T2GpOOgJokmRB91mQ

 

[perico]

For anyone who wants to watch. This is a fun "challenge" game with Movistar Tour trivia questions with Valverde and Mas. It's funny and there are English subtitles.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA3WzELopmE&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3YlLpX1qj0P0TIlXhhl7NcwZbJwbYivYZsyVRGp2T2GpOOgJokmRB91mQ

I think they’d both test positive for hair regrowth products this year. The hairlines look fuller this year.

 

[Koronin]

I think they’d both test positive for hair regrowth products this year. The hairlines look fuller this year.

You're likely correct. Wouldn't be the first time for Valverde. That seems to happen every few years. I thought when he won the Worlds he'd finally given up on his hair, but it appears he hasn't yet. Mas also looks like he has more hair this year. Guess they should be happy that isn't banned.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I think they’d both test positive for hair regrowth products this year. The hairlines look fuller this year.

Better that than Covid. Valverde we've known without him confirming though for awhile.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Interesting that they are bringing Soler, I guess it's about working for the captauns and riding himself into shape for the Giro. Of course Unzue is also going all out for the team classification, beating Jumbo won't be an easy task.

 

[ice&fire]

You're likely correct. Wouldn't be the first time for Valverde. That seems to happen every few years. I thought when he won the Worlds he'd finally given up on his hair, but it appears he hasn't yet. Mas also looks like he has more hair this year. Guess they should be happy that isn't banned.

I'm starting to think that their performance is inversely correlated to their hair growth.

 

[skippo12]

You're likely correct. Wouldn't be the first time for Valverde. That seems to happen every few years. I thought when he won the Worlds he'd finally given up on his hair, but it appears he hasn't yet. Mas also looks like he has more hair this year. Guess they should be happy that isn't banned.

Only one solution. Valverde wants his hair back. VDP needs better teammates. Alpecin can fix both issues.

 

[Red Rick]

I think they’d both test positive for hair regrowth products this year. The hairlines look fuller this year.

That's not exactly a bald prediction

 

[perico]

Only Valverde, Mas, and Cataldo avoided the tarmac. Soler bruised his knee. JJ Rojas took the worst of it.

 

[Koronin]

Only Valverde, Mas, and Cataldo avoided the tarmac. Soler bruised his knee. JJ Rojas took the worst of it.

Apparently Erviti went down 3 times although didn't get anything more than minor bumps and bruises from it.

Hopefully all their riders will be alright. It sounds like Rojas hurt his back. Hopefully Soler's knee injury isn't bad.

On twitter Valverde said that there were places on the course that it was almost impossible to stay on the bike.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Only Valverde, Mas, and Cataldo avoided the tarmac. Soler bruised his knee. JJ Rojas took the worst of it.

Luckily then, Valverde and Mas are the most important riders of the team.

 

[perico]

Looks like the boys have found some sort of form. Mas looked very strong on the last climb. Valverde was up their in the sprint and Soler put in a little dig.

 

[Koronin]

Looks like the boys have found some sort of form. Mas looked very strong on the last climb. Valverde was up their in the sprint and Soler put in a little dig.

It does appear that Mas' more optimistic comment about the team having found some form over the past two weeks is correct.

 

[Koronin]

Here are the comments from Soler on Movistar's website. Sounds like the team is going to be alright at least from the crashes from stage one.

“After a blow like yesterday’s, with those two crashes -one into a downhill portion and another one, the hardest, with 3km to go-, your spirit struggles, and you need to get over any doubts about your condition as soon as possible. There was no better way to bounce back than giving it a try. My knee was hurting quite a bit in the morning, but as we got into racing, it became less of a problem, and I completed the stage with almost no pain. The pace was high all day long, and that energy I lost from yesterday’s crashes might have played a factor in the end, but even after that and despite losing a minute at the finish, I’m happy with how things are going right now.

“I’ve tried to attack at the end of the climb, thinking I could be close to Hirschi, Alaphilippe and Yates and bridge back later on, but the pace was so high, both at the front and at the bunch, and I couldn’t make it to the leading group. I lost my position into the downhill, I lost a couple of meters and once we got to more open roads near the finish, I wasn’t able to get back to Alejandro and Enric.

“The team-mates did really well today, with Nelson supporting Alejandro after that puncture, and we’re happy with how we did today, despite feeling dead tired in my case (smiles). Let’s see how we do in the next few days – Rojas is the one struggling the most after yesterday’s blows; Imanol, Nelson and Carlos are doing better. I think we’ll be able to recover and reach our best at the key part of the race.”

Valverde, Mas within GC group at first selection; Soler bounces back, goes on the attack | Movistar Team

Alejandro, Enric finish into main, 30-rider peloton despite former World Champ's puncture at penultimate descent, as Marc tries move in Quatre Chemins climb after crashes on Saturday. Alaphilippe (DQT) takes stage + yellow.

movistarteam.com

 

[Blanco]

Looks like the boys have found some sort of form. Mas looked very strong on the last climb. Valverde was up their in the sprint and Soler put in a little dig.

They looked much better than in previous races, I guess we'll see clearer picture in stage 4. Valverde though was not up there in the sprint, the old Bala would've won that sprint. I guess he lost the speed he had, especially on the flat, although to be honest he lost some precious energy before the climb.

 

[perico]

They looked much better than in previous races, I guess we'll see clearer picture in stage 4. Valverde though was not up there in the sprint, the old Bala would've won that sprint. I guess he lost the speed he had, especially on the flat, although to be honest he lost some precious energy before the climb.

He had to chase back on at high speed. Could’ve killed his punch.

 

[Koronin]

He had to chase back on at high speed. Could’ve killed his punch.

Apparently after he got back, he stopped a 2nd time to swap back to his own bike that had the new wheel and thus had to again chase back through the cars, so he could finish on his bike. That would have used a bunch of energy.

 

[Moviestar]

An explanation for the poor results of the team could be find in the new material they are using since this year. After 37 years Movistar switched from Campagnolo to Sram. A lot of riders would have complained about the 10 speed-cassette. They would get pain in their legs as the new gear wouldn't work as comfortable as they were used with the gears of Campagnolo. The coaches also observed a lower frequency with the pedalling.

Valverde would have switched to a traditional set-up already (53/39). I don't think Movistar will prolong with Sram..

 

[Koronin]

An explanation for the poor results of the team could be find in the new material they are using since this year. After 37 years Movistar switched from Campagnolo to Sram. A lot of riders would have complained about the 10 speed-cassette. They would get pain in their legs as the new gear wouldn't work as comfortable as they were used with the gears of Campagnolo. The coaches also observed a lower frequency with the pedalling.

Valverde would have switched to a traditional set-up already (53/39). I don't think Movistar will prolong with Sram..

I really hope they switch to either Shimano or back to Campy after this year. The experiment with SRAM is so not working.

Before the lock down Valverde had threatened not to race UAE if they didn't get him his normal gearing and then showed up with that monoplate to prove a point.

During the lock down it appears the riders got new gearing from SRAM.

 

[Red Rick]

An explanation for the poor results of the team could be find in the new material they are using since this year. After 37 years Movistar switched from Campagnolo to Sram. A lot of riders would have complained about the 10 speed-cassette. They would get pain in their legs as the new gear wouldn't work as comfortable as they were used with the gears of Campagnolo. The coaches also observed a lower frequency with the pedalling.

Valverde would have switched to a traditional set-up already (53/39). I don't think Movistar will prolong with Sram..

"****ing SRAM!"

 

[Kaptain Kool]

How many Pro teams are better than Movistar now? Arkea-Samic, probably some of the other French or Italian teams.
Obviously Alpecin-Fenix. Their 3rd tier cyclocross riders win national road race championships. Movistar celebrates when their best rider finishes in the top 25 of a 35-rider sprint.

Edit: I retract this nonsense. Although true, it's completely meaningless now that they signed Van Vleuten.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

I wonder if the gearing is still an issue? or if its just a low level of fitness on their main riders. Sad that Mas has not been able to repeat his Vuelta 18 shape.

 

[Movitrain]

I also wonder how much of this can be put on the SRAM gearing story. Neither Valverde nor Más were anywhere near the front at any point of the climb, i was actually fearing a worse outcome than this. Not a good outlook for whats to come.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Mas was better than earlier this year. If he lose less than a minute on stage 6 top 10 is still possible if his form is increasing.