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The Is Marc Soler the Next Great Spanish Climber Thread

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Gigs_98 said:
Asero831 said:
Gigs_98 said:
After this stage I still don't think he's the next big thing, but anyway, wow. Wow wow wow. That was incredible. You can't rate this victory too high. He showed guts, smarts and fought like a lion. Absolutely incredible.

Why? do you know how many riders were able to finish the race?
He took on Bahrain and MS by himself for almost 40km.
Surely impressive but if you want to see the potential of a gc rider, look at the stage where he directly battled against other stage racers (the mtf) and not the stage where you can't really compare the performances (today). Andrew Talansky won the Dauphine 2014 in a comparable way, but he didn't become the new Armstrong either.
Dont you dare to comparing Soler to Talansky..... :lol:
 
LaFlorecita said:
Gigs_98 said:
KyoGrey said:
In the Spanish TV Carlos de Andrés has said that he is planned to ride the Tour also.

Don't know what Movistar are doing, but I like it. :lol:
Don't know whether Movistar knows what they are doing either
They'll lose heaps in the TTT

He's good at Time-Trials though so I don't see how his inclusion hurts them? I'm not sure Movistar will need a full on train in the mountains either, so one rider to set a hard tempo before one of their 3 leaders attack (and the other two sit behind) should work. I don't know if Amador is down to ride the TDF or the Giro, but a squad with him, Erviti, Sutterlin and Bennati (with Parte, Oliveira, Rojas, Anacona being possible other options) would not be so bad in a TTT.
 
greenedge said:
LaFlorecita said:
Gigs_98 said:
KyoGrey said:
In the Spanish TV Carlos de Andrés has said that he is planned to ride the Tour also.

Don't know what Movistar are doing, but I like it. :lol:
Don't know whether Movistar knows what they are doing either
They'll lose heaps in the TTT

He's good at Time-Trials though so I don't see how his inclusion hurts them? I'm not sure Movistar will need a full on train in the mountains either, so one rider to set a hard tempo before one of their 3 leaders attack (and the other two sit behind) should work. I don't know if Amador is down to ride the TDF or the Giro, but a squad with him, Erviti, Sutterlin and Bennati (with Parte, Oliveira, Rojas, Anacona being possible other options) would not be so bad in a TTT.
They'll take 4 possible GC cards, other teams will take 1 and will be able to take 3 additional domestiques.
 
LaFlorecita said:
greenedge said:
LaFlorecita said:
Gigs_98 said:
KyoGrey said:
In the Spanish TV Carlos de Andrés has said that he is planned to ride the Tour also.

Don't know what Movistar are doing, but I like it. :lol:
Don't know whether Movistar knows what they are doing either
They'll lose heaps in the TTT

He's good at Time-Trials though so I don't see how his inclusion hurts them? I'm not sure Movistar will need a full on train in the mountains either, so one rider to set a hard tempo before one of their 3 leaders attack (and the other two sit behind) should work. I don't know if Amador is down to ride the TDF or the Giro, but a squad with him, Erviti, Sutterlin and Bennati (with Parte, Oliveira, Rojas, Anacona being possible other options) would not be so bad in a TTT.
They'll take 4 possible GC cards, other teams will take 1 and will be able to take 3 additional domestiques.
Thats not an argument, Astana had 4 in 2009 and obviously had the best team in the TTT. Soler and Valverde are very good in this discipline and Quintana + Landa are no slouches either, particularly Landa who was very good last year in that discipline
 
LaFlorecita said:
We'll see in July.
That Soler is harming their TTT squad? Cause he most definitely isn't and we wouldn't be able to deduce that anyways... I don't think anyone are expecting them to win, they will probably lose around 1 minute. But the inclusion of him is definitely a plus, both in the TTT and the mountains, obviously. Just look at this latest TT results.......
 
Valv.Piti said:
LaFlorecita said:
We'll see in July.
That Soler is harming their TTT squad? Cause he most definitely isn't and we wouldn't be able to deduce that anyways... I don't think anyone are expecting them to win, they will probably lose around 1 minute. But the inclusion of him is definitely a plus, both in the TTT and the mountains, obviously. Just look at this latest TT results.......
Not Soler, but the fact they're planning on taking 4 GC cards + most likely 1 or 2 more mountain domestiques.
 
It's hardly like they are benching a bunch of solid TTers to have Landa there. Quintana was always going, and always one of the others as well. So what if that means that they'll lose 10'' more in the TTT? They will have to win the race in the mountains (and make sure they don't lose it in the first week).
 
LaFlorecita said:
Valv.Piti said:
LaFlorecita said:
We'll see in July.
That Soler is harming their TTT squad? Cause he most definitely isn't and we wouldn't be able to deduce that anyways... I don't think anyone are expecting them to win, they will probably lose around 1 minute. But the inclusion of him is definitely a plus, both in the TTT and the mountains, obviously. Just look at this latest TT results.......
Not Soler, but the fact they're planning on taking 4 GC cards + most likely 1 or 2 more mountain domestiques.
Oh yes, thats somewhat of a given. But Valverde and Soler are among the best rouleurs on their squad, both are probably in the top-3 in a time trial. Landa has taken a step forward and finished 2nd in Spanish nats and I think Quintana is pretty decent. The problem will be the 1 or 2 mountain domestiques - in the past, Izagirre bros and Castroviejo could fill both roles. Assuming they are bringing the 4, they will only need 1 mountain domestique and that could be Rosón already in his first year. Maybe De La Parte, he is an okay rouleur, or Anacona. But thats pretty normal unless youre team is Sky where all of the guys will be able to contribute.
 
I agree that Movistar will not have enough domestiques to ensure all their leaders won't lose time in the first week, but I think their TTT will be fine, and their mountain support will be good, it's just a question of whether they prioritise that over the flat first week (of which they have only a few riders who would be adequate for Movistar's GC aims).

Also I highly doubt Soler will be a potential GC leader for the squad, there will already be infighting between three heavyweights and I can't see Soler pushing his way into that debate (with his one prior GT). Hopefully he just learns at this TDF and can be an invaluable piece for an attack by the others (he could get the White Jersey if they don't make him ride too much).
 
Yeah, Soler most definitely won't have any GC aspirations in this year's Tour at all. He will be a great, all around domestique of he goes, probably their best and he will hopefully be able to set the 3 stars up. If he goes, we are are almost talking 2009 Astana strength. Well, ok we aren't since that team was so extremely stupid. They will be frightening if they wont lose too much time the first 9 days.
 
Re:

Netserk said:
More T-Mobile '05 than Astana '09 :lol:

Landa will win the Spanish nationals just before and win two epic stages along the way :cool:
Well in that case it will already be a fair amount better than T-Mobile in 2005... Im willing to make a compromise and throw Astana 2015 out there, that would certainly make for a great race. Now we only need Contador back.
 
Re: Re:

I'm still not convinced Soler is going to the Tour with having raced only 1 GT and that was more of a throw a team together with no race leader and here go get experience. I'd rather see him go to the Giro with Amador to get a better understanding of how to race a GT for GC with an experienced rider vs what he got at the Vuelta last summer. Just not sure he's ready for the Tour yet.

If I'm putting together the rest of the Tour team after the 3 GC guys I'd add: Sutterlin (think he's the better of the two time trial specialists). Erviti, Rojas, Roson, and Anacona. I just think both Carapz and Soler need a bit more GT experience. Roson has raced a couple Vuelta's.

However, I'm very happy Soler won today. This is a big win for him. It doesn't matter that the top GC riders aren't here, this is still a good race and had a solid field. Yes it's shown he still needs more experience, but it also showed that he's a fighter and that he's capable of leading this team. The stage yesterday, he fight to limit his losses which set him up to still be in contention today.
 
Re:

Forever The Best said:
Soler is the new Contador. :D
Remember, Contador's first big win was Paris-Nice 2007 too. He won stages at Romandie, Suisse, Pais Vasco but didn't have a big GC win.

:D Interesting comparison, but you have some races to use so it's valid. Just not sure comparing a young Spaniard to Contador or Valverde (which Movistar did when they first signed him) is the best of ideas. However, he is showing signs that he'll be fun rider to watch going forward.
 

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