Team Sky Squads for the Grand Tours

[Afrank]

I think Henao will stay. Wiggins won't be able to compete in GTs for much longer so then Sky can have Froome, Porte and Henao as GT leaders with Uran as a back-up.

But if Henao ever wants to lead in a GT other than the Vuelta he'll have to hope either Froome or Porte get injured. Or swap GT's with Porte every year. Either way, if he wants to aim for the Tour, can't see Froome giving up his leadership there.
Plus Uran is aiming for a GT podium this year, can't see him staying if the best he can get is the back-up rider in GT's.

 

[CycloAndy]

But if Henao ever wants to lead in a GT other than the Vuelta he'll have to hope either Froome or Porte get injured. Or swap GT's with Porte every year. Either way, if he wants to aim for the Tour, can't see Froome giving up his leadership there.
Plus Uran is aiming for a GT podium this year, can't see him staying if the best he can get is the back-up rider in GT's.

I'm confident that they'll all swap between themselves. If Froome wins the TDF he'll probably move to the Vuelta, allowing Porte to do the TDF to Porte and Henao to do the Giro. Then maybe they'll swap the next year.

I agree more about Uran but think a few joint leaderships and having a fellow columbian on the same team may be enough to keep him happy for a couple of years.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I think Henao will stay. Wiggins won't be able to compete in GTs for much longer so then Sky can have Froome, Porte and Henao as GT leaders with Uran as a back-up.

henao doesn't want to play 2nd fiddle, froome will be around for a long time in sky and henao wants to win the tour, not just do the vuelta and giro

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

But if Henao ever wants to lead in a GT other than the Vuelta he'll have to hope either Froome or Porte get injured. Or swap GT's with Porte every year. Either way, if he wants to aim for the Tour, can't see Froome giving up his leadership there.
Plus Uran is aiming for a GT podium this year, can't see him staying if the best he can get is the back-up rider in GT's.

I think uran will 100% leave, he seems very unhappy with his role at sky. he rides unmotivated in every train he's been this seaosn and after "dropping" rides as hard as he can for his own gc.

also I think the years of being in an anglophone team hurts him as well. I'm sure he will go to a spanish or colombian team.

 

[JRanton]

I'm confident that they'll all swap between themselves. If Froome wins the TDF he'll probably move to the Vuelta, allowing Porte to do the TDF to Porte and Henao to do the Giro. Then maybe they'll swap the next year.

I agree more about Uran but think a few joint leaderships and having a fellow columbian on the same team may be enough to keep him happy for a couple of years.

Froome has stated that he wants Tour leadership at Sky for years to come. The best Sky can do is keeping Porte for another year by offering him Giro 2014 leadership and a big pay rise. It will need to be big though because some teams will throw huge money at him. Both Colombians will leave imo. Let's not forget that Wiggins is also out of contract this year. That's four of their best six riders all looking for leadership roles and big pay rises (maybe not so much Wiggins because of his age but even so, logically Sky aren't going to be able to keep all of them).

 

[JRanton]

I think uran will 100% leave, he seems very unhappy with his role at sky. he rides unmotivated in every train he's been this seaosn and after "dropping" rides as hard as he can for his own gc.

also I think the years of being in an anglophone team hurts him as well. I'm sure he will go to a spanish or colombian team.

I agree Uran is most certain, then Henao, then Porte and then Wiggins. I don't think the idea of Wiggins leaving is entirely crazy either. The Tour starts in Britain next year and if he fancies another crack at it then logically he would leave.

 

[wwabbit]

I'm confident that they'll all swap between themselves. If Froome wins the TDF he'll probably move to the Vuelta, allowing Porte to do the TDF to Porte and Henao to do the Giro. Then maybe they'll swap the next year.

Until Henao significantly improves his TT, it would be silly for them not to put him in the GT that has the least TT, which would usually be the Vuelta.

 

[Afrank]

I'm confident that they'll all swap between themselves. If Froome wins the TDF he'll probably move to the Vuelta, allowing Porte to do the TDF to Porte and Henao to do the Giro. Then maybe they'll swap the next year.

I agree more about Uran but think a few joint leaderships and having a fellow columbian on the same team may be enough to keep him happy for a couple of years.

Interesting solution, I could see Porte going along with it. Seeing as he's for the most part unproven as a GT contender and is still young. But I don't see Froome being okay with it. He's proven himself to be one of the current best GT riders. And when your one of the best GT riders, you go to the most revered and prestigious GT. And that's the Tour. Plus a cyclist only has a limited amount of time before they start seeing a drop in performance. Froomes already 27, so he'll want to make the most out of the time he has and use it to try to win the Tour as much as he can. Don't see him being happy with having one of his seasons built around the least prestigious GT.

 

[Afrank]

I think uran will 100% leave, he seems very unhappy with his role at sky. he rides unmotivated in every train he's been this seaosn and after "dropping" rides as hard as he can for his own gc.

also I think the years of being in an anglophone team hurts him as well. I'm sure he will go to a spanish or colombian team.

Agreed, hopefully Uran at least goes to Coldeportes, would be good to see them get at least one of the top world tour Colombians.

 

[Tei6chai]

He's not of the same caliber as henao for example.
Although who would have though that about Porte?

Err?

Anyone who was paying attention for the last 2 years?

Hell, even observant "July fans" should have noticed that Porte was a potential GT leader.

 

[liamito]

Today in La Gazzetta:
Qui, assieme a Wiggins, Sky ha portato altri 5 uomini che faranno parte della squadra per il Giro: Knees, Zandio, Pate, Siutsou e Cataldo, che della crono è il tricolore in carica e ieri ha fatto in pieno la sua parte.

That would mean also no Kennaugh in the Giro.

 

[CycloAndy]

Today in La Gazzetta:
Qui, assieme a Wiggins, Sky ha portato altri 5 uomini che faranno parte della squadra per il Giro: Knees, Zandio, Pate, Siutsou e Cataldo, che della crono è il tricolore in carica e ieri ha fatto in pieno la sua parte.

That would mean also no Kennaugh in the Giro.

That's surprising but maybe they agreed with Ryo. Also fits in with comments by Cataldo yesterday ("We expected to go well in this time trial as we’ve come here with around half of the Giro d’Italia squad," said Dario Cataldo) as I thought it was going to be most of the giro team. Reckon the others will be Lopez and 2 of Henao, Uran and Kiryienka.

Did anyone get to see the TTT yesterday? I thought Pate was only being taken because of his TTT skills yet he finished nearly a minute back on the others. Was he doing the pulling at the start?

 

[del1962]

That's surprising but maybe they agreed with Ryo. Also fits in with comments by Cataldo yesterday ("We expected to go well in this time trial as we’ve come here with around half of the Giro d’Italia squad," said Dario Cataldo) as I thought it was going to be most of the giro team. Reckon the others will be Lopez and 2 of Henao, Uran and Kiryienka.

Did anyone get to see the TTT yesterday? I thought Pate was only being taken because of his TTT skills yet he finished nearly a minute back on the others. Was he doing the pulling at the start?

I reckon none of those down for Romadie will do Giro, which means Henao and Uran probably will with one other, not sure who though, JTL or one of the classics squad.

 

[CycloAndy]

I reckon none of those down for Romadie will do Giro, which means Henao and Uran probably will with one other, not sure who though, JTL or one of the classics squad.

Good point. I hadn't looked at the Romandie squad. That confirms that Kennaugh is unlikely but I'm even more surprised about the lack of Lopez! Maybe it was a tussle between him and Zandio and Zandio's fine pulling at al pais vasco saw him snatch it at the end. Also Lopez might fit better with Brailsfords expressed desire for climbers at the Tour. Don't think it will be JTL but Eisel would be my bet from the classics squad?

 

[JRanton]

That's surprising but maybe they agreed with Ryo. Also fits in with comments by Cataldo yesterday ("We expected to go well in this time trial as we’ve come here with around half of the Giro d’Italia squad," said Dario Cataldo) as I thought it was going to be most of the giro team. Reckon the others will be Lopez and 2 of Henao, Uran and Kiryienka.

Did anyone get to see the TTT yesterday? I thought Pate was only being taken because of his TTT skills yet he finished nearly a minute back on the others. Was he doing the pulling at the start?

Pate will be going as a flat domestique for Wiggins (forget the TTT, it's too short to be in any way significant). Same with Knees. They can also climb a little bit which is important because he won't be completely useless on the big mountain stages (ie won't get dropped on the first few km uphill).

I see that Kennaugh is down to start Romandie so Sky must either be keen to check his form or they'be decided that he probably won't make the final cut and are giving him an extra race.

It seems to be 9 from these 10 for the Giro: Wiggins, Henao, Uran, Cataldo, Lopez, Siutsou, Kennaugh, Zandio, Knees, Pate

Like I've said I don't see Kiryienka going. Firstly he said he wouldn't be at the Giro in Pais Vasco, secondly he hasn't been to Teide like the other Giro helpers and his race programme fits with him going to the Tour with Porte and Froome. Thomas, EBH, Stannard and Eisel are all Tour options.

That leaves JTL, Dombrowski, Boswell, Edmondson, Puccio, Rowe, Hayman, Rasch, Swift and Sutton, none of whom I would expect to make either the Giro or Tour squad.

 

[JRanton]

Good point. I hadn't looked at the Romandie squad. That confirms that Kennaugh is unlikely but I'm even more surprised about the lack of Lopez! Maybe it was a tussle between him and Zandio and Zandio's fine pulling at al pais vasco saw him snatch it at the end. Also Lopez might fit better with Brailsfords expressed desire for climbers at the Tour. Don't think it will be JTL but Eisel would be my bet from the classics squad?

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=60154

Interview with Lopez a month ago in which he confirms he'll be at the Giro and that his entire focus is on that race. Of course things might have changed so we'll have to wait and see.

 

[JRanton]

I reckon none of those down for Romadie will do Giro, which means Henao and Uran probably will with one other, not sure who though, JTL or one of the classics squad.

Not happening.

 

[CycloAndy]

I thought Lopez was going too but if he is doing the Tour de Romandie there is no way he will have recovered in time to do the Giro, unless he pulls out after a couple of days?

I thought Eisel was going to be doing the tour as well but like you say the alternatives, if Lopez, Kennaugh and Kiri aren't going, are very limited, making Eisel the best choice.

 

[JRanton]

I thought Lopez was going too but if he is doing the Tour de Romandie there is no way he will have recovered in time to do the Giro, unless he pulls out after a couple of days?

I thought Eisel was going to be doing the tour as well but like you say the alternatives, if Lopez, Kennaugh and Kiri aren't going, are very limited, making Eisel the best choice.

It's only the Tour de Romandie! You should tell Hesjedal not to do it again like he did last year before going on to win the Giro!

 

[CycloAndy]

It's only the Tour de Romandie! You should tell Hesjedal not to do it again like he did last year before going on to win the Giro!

I didn't know that, but he pulled out after 4 days, so like I said maybe Lopez will only do a few days.

 

[JRanton]

I didn't know that, but he pulled out after 4 days, so like I said maybe Lopez will only do a few days.

Lopez will do at least five days. He might DNS the last day ITT but that's it. Froome and Porte are in the team so it's more than possible he'll be required to defend the leaders jersey during the race.

 

[CycloAndy]

Lopez will do at least five days. He might DNS the last day ITT but that's it. Froome and Porte are in the team so it's more than possible he'll be required to defend the leaders jersey during the race.

You might be right but I don't think the tour de romandie will take precedence over the Giro and if it was me I'd give him an extra day of rest before the Giro starts.

 

[CycloAndy]

With the TdF coming up, it's time to restart the debates.
Who do you think will make it into Team Sky's squad?
My predictions are:
Froome
Porte
Lopez
Kiriyenka
Thomas
Eisel
Stannard
EBH
And one other?

 

[JRanton]

With the TdF coming up, it's time to restart the debates.
Who do you think will make it into Team Sky's squad?
My predictions are:
Froome
Porte
Lopez
Kiriyenka
Thomas
Eisel
Stannard
EBH
And one other?

Yes, and I expect the other one to come from the Giro team. The other non-Giro options are: Kennaugh, JTL, Dombrowski, Edmondson, Boswell, Swift, Sutton, Hayman, Rasch and Rowe. None of them are particularly suitable for a variety of reasons (form, inexperience, non-climber, sprinter, etc).

From the Giro squad: Wiggins is ruled out. Cataldo seems very unlikely given what he had to suffer through at the Giro. Henao was running on fumes in the second half so logically he won't be considered.

Puccio, Pate and Zandio aren't as good as the other three options: Uran, Siutsou and Knees. Given that Brailsford said before the Giro that Henao would ride the Tour if Wiggins wasn't there, then you'd have to say that Uran would be favourite to replace Wiggins (given that Henao was tired at the Giro and they apparently want him to lead the team at the Vuelta).

 

[Froome19]

Praying Kennaugh will get in, he is the only one you mentioned who actually does have a shot at the Tour. He has been given the chance to show what he can do at the Dauphine and it is crucial he takes it, after an underwhelming start to the year for him.

Don't know about Eisel, possibly but certainly not assured. Stannard is the other rider who isn't assured in reality but he must have done enough this year to earn a place in the team.

From what I have heard I don't think any of the Giro squad will ride the Tour, but I may be wrong..