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Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

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I think each of the Kingston Trio (Carapaz, Thomas, Porte) ranks above Lopez & Mas. They have to stay on their bikes for the whole three weeks, which isn't very likely, but if they stay out of trouble I think it's unlikely for Movistar to get into the podium.

Apart from Slovenians, INEOS and Movistar, the field for GC is extremely underwhelming.
 
I think each of the Kingston Trio (Carapaz, Thomas, Porte) ranks above Lopez & Mas. They have to stay on their bikes for the whole three weeks, which isn't very likely, but if they stay out of trouble I think it's unlikely for Movistar to get into the podium.

Apart from Slovenians, INEOS and Movistar, the field for GC is extremely underwhelming.

It will be between those two and Carapaz and Thomas. Porte will be sacrificed if he is lower on GC. If higher, then Ineos will have issues. I think either of the Movistar guys CAN (not will) podium if the strategy is correct. They will have to sacrifice one or the other to do so. It seems like they’ve been more willing to sacrifice Mas up until this point. Mas though always seems to come through over 3 weeks and now just needs to take the next step in progression. If Mas goes early, will they risk sacrificing Carapaz (who I think is the only one who could knock off the Slovenians at this point).
 
It was great positioning by Mas, for once. He looks like he is really coming into form. I was watching on my phone and couldn’t make out the numbers, but He looked so good I thought he was Valverde in the final 2 KMs. Superman has taken a lot of the spotlight and has been an exciting addition, but Mas has the opportunity to really break out.

I guess the plan was always a slow buildup with peaks for the Tour and a big one for La Vuelta.
 
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My main concerns are: 1) I hope Valverde is OK. 2) I hope Valverde being out GC means he can leave this stupid race early and concentrate on more important things.
I also hope Soler recovers well. Very little has gone to plan for him.

I still think both Mas and Lopez will finish high on GC.

Edit: I now see Valverde's tweet that his injuries are minor (small cuts on arm).
 
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Lopez is almost 4 minutes down, lmao. Lost time on all three stages. Meanwhile, Mas is racing a great race, constantly staying out of trouble.

So tactics are very simple - Lopez should go on the attack already as soon as stage 8 while Mas should try to follow. Could easily net him a top-3 this year.
 
Again we have stupidity by Movistar having virtually no one around Mas at the end of the stage and too many riders trying to help Lopez and basically doing no good in that.

Hopefully they can figure out how to protect Mas for the rest of the Tour, but don't have any real hope in that.
 
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Mas should have had more riders around/near him than just ONE rider. Stupidity on Movistar's part again, when it's already obvious that Mas is their only GC hope this year. Currently they do not have options for stage hunting either.
Maybe it’s better to have 1 rider around you that knows how to maneuver in tricky finals instead of having 4 riders that doesn’t know how to keep you safe ;)
 
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Valverde ? He should be one of the better stage hunters if he decides to ride like that. Two of the Pyrenean stages looks good for him

He hasn't lost enough time yet. There are GC teams that have literally said until Valverde loses over 10 minutes maybe more they can't allow him out in a break. He still needs to lose somewhere between another 3 to 5 minutes before other GC teams will be comfortable allowing him out into a break. So currently he's not an option for stage hunting.

Maybe it’s better to have 1 rider around you that knows how to maneuver in tricky finals instead of having 4 riders that doesn’t know how to keep you safe ;)

He still lost time and Cortina was in a group behind him at the finish.
 
Several riders dropped back to help Lopez. IMHO trying to keep him somewhere near GC was the correct thing to do.
Everything worked out fine for Mas so how was it a problem? It's funny that some posters claim that Mas is getting no help in favor or Lopez while other complain about the exact opposite!

And no stage hunters? Of course, Valverde could win a stage from a break. So could Garcia Cortina. Even Verona depending on the stage and Mas's situation.
It's too bad that Lopez has lost so much time but Mas is in a very good position.
 
He still lost time and Cortina was in a group behind him at the finish.

Carapaz was the only GC rider in the group ahead of him. Only minor GC threats like Quintana and Kelderman were in Mas's group. He gained time on Pogacar and Roglic!
Garcia Cortina was with him and dropped back behind the split only in very end.

Everything was great for and by Mas so why complain?
 
Carapaz was the only GC rider in the group ahead of him. Only minor GC threats like Quintana and Kelderman were in Mas's group. He gained time on Pogacar and Roglic!
Garcia Cortina was with him and dropped back behind the split only in very end.

Everything was great for and by Mas so why complain?

Lopez will lose even more time in the ITT. It's a lost cause to do anything to keep him in the GC at this point. They should NOT have dropped virtually everyone back to help Lopez. That was stupid. They should have kept at the very least 1 more rider with Mas. Again at the end Cortina wasn't there with Mas he was in the next group. As for Pogacar unless he gets hurt thanks to stage 1 and this one this is his race to lose. There is no one in the field that is currently capable of challenging him.

Cortina is a classics rider, so not really going to be going stage hunting and as long as Mas has any chance of a GC top 5 Vernona won't be allowed to go stage hunting as he's way to valuable to Mas. Again Valverde needs to lose another 3 to 5 minutes of time before any other GC team is going to allow him to go into a break for any reason at all. Right now the ONLY thing Valverde can do is stay with Mas on climbs for as long as possible unless he intends to basically soft pedal the ITT on Wednesday and lose a good 5 to 10 minutes there so he can stage hunting. Of course any stage hunting even if he's around 15 minutes down on GC won't happen until his stage one injuries are healed.
 
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With the Astana collapse and Movistar recruiting from there, they should be all over Ivan Velasco to try and recruit him. He is the mastermind behind the Astana TT gains over the last year or so. He could do a good job with Lopez, Mas etc. to try and gain in that department on teams like Ineos and Jumbo.
 
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Cortina is a classics rider, so not really going to be going stage hunting
Exactly a type of rider which is suited for breakaways.

Oh, and if something was said about Valverde by someone 5 years ago, it doesn't mean it is set in stone. He will of course lose time in the TT too, and he will of course be allowed to go into break. Maybe the teams will hold that break on a tighter leash, but I can't see Ineos, Jumbo or UAE chasing like a madmen because Valverde is in the break.
 
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Exactly a type of rider which is suited for breakaways.

Oh, and if something was said about Valverde by someone 5 years ago, it doesn't mean it is set in stone. He will of course lose time in the TT too, and he will of course be allowed to go into break. Maybe the teams will hold that break on a tighter leash, but I can't see Ineos, Jumbo or UAE chasing like a madmen because Valverde is in the break.

Cortina maybe for hilly stages, but not the mountain stages. I'm not sure if he can climb well enough to be a real stage hunter.

The peloton keeping a short leash on the break basically means it has no chance to make it and thus pointless to bother trying to stage hunt from it.
 

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