The Tour Wild Cards

[Escarabajo]

The reason BMC got invited is because ...

+1. I could not have said it better.

 

[Escarabajo]

The reason BMC got invited is because ...

+1. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

 

[Night Rider]

No surprises at all with which teams made the final cut, and no complaints from me.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I posted the UCI points for various races in a fresh thread. The team standings combine the individual points earned by the top five riders on a team. Tirreno-Adriatico had UCI points. Radio Shack wasn't invited. The Giro d'Italia gives points for the top twenty riders in the final classification, plus the top five riders in each of the 21 stages earn points. Unless something changed this year that I haven't seen, the Tour of California does not offer UCI points. If Radio Shack continues on their current path, and Armstrong and Bruyneel walk hand in hand into the sunset after July, RS might not even be in the Tour in 2011. There's certainly no incentive for RCS to invite them to their races.

That still leaves five wildcard slots, and we can expect that as long as Armstrong is about, Omertà Inc. will get one of the five. RCS don't want them around for sure, but if Armstrong's around in some capacity I'm sure Prudhomme will be willing to sell someone more deserving down the river to let them ride.

Plus, the Tour of California will be ProTour as of next year so it will pay points. They were obviously scared that not enough PT teams will show up to make it feel prestigious or something like that. The only problem with making it PT is that now it's going to be off-limits to the US Continental teams. And a team like Quick Step might be forced to miss the Tour of Belgium if they have to make any cuts - they were already concerned about being stretched if they do AToC and their home Tour this year.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Guess who was right?!!!!!

 

[karlboss]

Guess who was right?!!!!!

Now that's just painful...

 

[auscyclefan94]

But it is possible for the race-animating teams to also get top 10s and they get there in a more entertaining fashion. Sandy Casar was 11th in the Tour, and was only kept out of the top 10 by Mikel Astarloza, who himself was a regular race-animator in the second half of the race. Christophe Le Mevel finished 9th, of course. Vacansoleil aren't too bad for that - Johnny Hoogerland finished 12th in La Vuelta last year, and Matteo Carrara has a top 10 at the Dauphiné and top 5s at the Tour de Suisse and the Vuelta al País Vasco.

Who on BMC's team is going to animate the race? So much of it is hinged on one person that it makes them into a complete waste of an invite if Cuddles underperforms like last year (hopefully he won't). But with a parcours not favouring the boredom-inducing "good TT, then suck on wheels" GC contender (thank god), and with a startlist likely to include at least two of Liquigas' four, Contador, Sánchez, Schleck and Schleck, Armstrong, Leipheimer, Klöden, Wiggins, Rodríguez, Vande Velde, Sastre, and then Evans on top of that, there's a chance that, if he's on poor form, he may not even make the top 10 - especially if we get somebody getting up to the lower reaches of the top 10 thanks to a break à la Le Mevel. And there's always at least one surprise package gutsing it out at the business end - Wiggins last year, Vande Velde and Kohl in 2008, and so on - which I haven't factored in.

That's why I'd go for Vacansoleil. If I had a weaker GC field, then I'd probably go for BMC. And I do admit it will be nice to see the rainbow stripes going for the yellow jersey for the first time in a while, even if I don't much care for the guy wearing them. But I just feel like he's adding to a congested GC field, and the team don't really offer anything outside of him.

Sour grapes?

Carrara is a very decent GC rider, and in Bozic they have someone who is among the sprint elite, last year he won a stage in the vuelta in a very impressing way, beating very strong sprinters. And He finished third in last years Paris-tours. And with Hoogerland they have one of the most entertaining riders, who finished eleventh in the vuelta and fifth in Lambardy. Add to that young talents like Feillu and strong stage hunters like Leukemans, Westra and Romain Feillu and you can say they have a team that brings more excitement and entertainment than BMC, footon or the french teams.

and they have Carrara, a very decent GC rider

Carrara will really top 20! Bozic and Felliu won't feature in the sprints that highly.

Big George and Allesandro Ballan are nothing?

I'm not at all surprised by the selctions. BMC deserve it; they have a pretty good team, much better than Cadel's team from last year. He won't win, but he could finish top 10, maybe top 5. He should still target the Giro, very good chance of winning there.

Disappointed Vacansoleil didn't get in, but I didn't expect them to. They have a couple wins this season, but nothing that indicates a successful Tour. They do have some young guns on the team I would have liked to see in Tour, but that's really all I see going for them. I'm not sure why people think they really deserved the shot over teams like RS, Cervelo, Sky, Garmin, or Katusha. Ok maybe they deserved it more than Katusha.

EDIT: What Vacansoleil needs to do now is make a lot of noise at other races and show the ASO they made a mistake.

+1
I honestly believe that Vacan should of made it but with BMC. Their are plenty of teams that don't deserve to be in there!

No, Big George and Ballan aren't nothing. But both have said they're not that bothered about riding the Tour.

The Classics snub is more about the UCI than the ASO. It's more about the 'preferred status' meaning that Acqua e Sapone and Androni Giocattoli get to ride Roubaix at the expense of the Belgian ProConti teams who live for those races. As compensation of sorts the ASO gave them the Ardennes invites, and Skil and Vacansoleil were the ones that had to make way. At least in the Classics, I can see why BMC have more to offer.

And sure, Cuddles has been 2nd twice, but the rosters of the '07 and '08 Tours were not as strong as the one we're projecting for the 2010 one.

That tatically could be advantageous to evans' chances.

Quote george off the bmc site

Hincapie Looks Forward To Tour
George Hincapie said he was “ecstatic” to receive the news. “I’m sure there will be days during the Tour when I’ll be suffering and wondering what the heck I’m doing back again,” he said. “But obviously I still feel good and I want to continue doing the Tour de France as long as my body feels good.” The U.S. national road champion signed on with the BMC Racing Team last fall without any guarantee that the professional continental team would receive an invitation to the Tour. “We have a ton of talent on the team and a lot of experienced riders and I think the ASO believes we can put on a really good show in July,” Hincapie said. Participating in the Tour is also the perfect opportunity to showcase Hincapie Sportswear, the clothing company that sponsors the team that he co-owns with his brother, Rich. “The opportunity to have our clothing be a part of the biggest cycling event – if not the biggest sporting event in the world – on worldwide TV for three weeks is terrific. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

 

[Publicus]

Sour grapes?




Carrara will really top 20! Bozic and Felliu won't feature in the sprints that highly.

+1
I honestly believe that Vacan should of made it but with BMC. Their are plenty of teams that don't deserve to be in there!



That tatically could be advantageous to evans' chances.

Quote george off the bmc site

If Cuddles is riding the Giro to win, he will be hot crap in a basket at the Tour. Of course his lack of performance will be chalked up to a lack of support at BMC.

 

[Ripper]

No surprises at all with which teams made the final cut, and no complaints from me.

Ditto .....

 

[auscyclefan94]

If Cuddles is riding the Giro to win, he will be hot crap in a basket at the Tour. Of course his lack of performance will be chalked up to a lack of support at BMC.

We'll see. I hope Alberto doesn't get any "allergic attacks" during a tour mountain stage when he starts to hurt!

 

[Jukebox]

Now that the teams are announced what are the theoretical squads?

Extremely disappointed about Vacansoleil not getting the nod, I love watching them race.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Ditto .....

Ditto your Ditto

 

[stefrees]

apparently skys squad is wiggins, ebh, lofkvist, gerrans, thomas, calzati plus 3 others according to lionel birnie (very good journalist with finger on the pulse). must admit as a brit was quite proud its the first time ill ever see a british team in the tdf, going for a few stages too. i know not all brits are the same but oh well

 

[blaxland]

Are you kidding me? Lotto already gambled with the faith of the universe by having two of the world's biggest whiners together in a team, no one should toy with those forces ever again. The combined complaining powers of Leif and Cadel are enough to turn the entire known galaxy into a bleak pit of despair.

Just imagine if those two were ever to pair up with Graeme Brown!

And that is one useless superpower you've got going there

Maybe Cancellara and Hushovd should be together...now theres 2 cry babies......

 

[AntonioRossi]

I am very disappointed that vancansoleil wasnt invited.
I rather see them riding than Footon, or even Milram. They haven't been performing very well last few months. Vancasoleil has showed extreme progress especially with Westra's time trial performance. I am not too disappointed that Skil is not getting an invite as they have not performed well, but it is definitely disappointing that vancansoleil is not getting an invite.
Out of the wild card invitations I am displeased with Katusha. They have a decent squad, but...not sure how they are going to perform in a grand tour. BMC will ride decently in the grand tour, but up till now havent shown much promise yet

 

[auscyclefan94]

Maybe Cancellara and Hushovd should be together...now theres 2 cry babies......

TOUCHE!!!

Virtual high five Blaxland! They were wrong!!!!!! I will now be able to watch evans at the tour and the giro! The red devils are off to the tour. First win the giro and then win the tour!!!!!!!

 

[blaxland]

I can only agree with what has been said by many!! Very disappointed for Vacansoleil!! What the heck do they have to do to get an invite?? Also, not having a overall contender is nothing...most teams in the Tour don't have a legit "contender"!! This really sucks!

Not trying to be smart here but,"they should hire a gc rider like cadel/or a high profile rider...Bozic/Hoogerland are not draw cards.............

 

[Nearly]

No contenders (GC, green, polka dot or team [there is only one for the latter of course]) + not part of prior deals + bad timing (new teams) = no surprise. Keep developing and next year should be different.

 

[blaxland]

TOUCHE!!!

Virtual high five Blaxland! They were wrong!!!!!! I will now be able to watch evans at the tour and the giro! The red devils are off to the tour. First win the giro and then win the tour!!!!!!!

"Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes".....Now Cadel Can win the Giro.....And go after the Mountains Jersey in Tdf?Thats another jersey Cadel can add to his list(World Champion,Yellow TDF,Pink Giro and Vuelta Leaders?)

 

[El Imbatido]

Here is an interview with Christian Prudhomme explaining his reasons for including BMC over Vaconsoleil, Skil and Saur:

http://theinnerring.blogspot.com/

 

[Rosaka]

Bah, no Vacansoleil. It's a disgrace! They deserve to be there, BMC has done nothing except signing the wheelsucking worldchampion. There is nothing exciting about BMC. Evans signed from pro-tour to pro-continental, they didnt *have* to include BMC on this lineup. They've not done anything interesting so far. Vacansoleil deserved the spot, they're always on the attack and manage to win here and there. And they dont do it by sucking someone elses wheel untill the finishline is just 3 meters ahead. (Mont Ventoux anyone?)

ASO should be ashamed of themselfs.

 

[biker jk]

Bah, no Vacansoleil. It's a disgrace! They deserve to be there, BMC has done nothing except signing the wheelsucking worldchampion. There is nothing exciting about BMC. Evans signed from pro-tour to pro-continental, they didnt *have* to include BMC on this lineup. They've not done anything interesting so far. Vacansoleil deserved the spot, they're always on the attack and manage to win here and there. And they dont do it by sucking someone elses wheel untill the finishline is just 3 meters ahead. (Mont Ventoux anyone?)

ASO should be ashamed of themselfs.

Stop spitting the dummy, you're embarassing yourself. Just read Prudhomme's valid justification and calm down.

 

[auscyclefan94]

"Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes".....Now Cadel Can win the Giro.....And go after the Mountains Jersey in Tdf?Thats another jersey Cadel can add to his list(World Champion,Yellow TDF,Pink Giro and Vuelta Leaders?)

Nah, lets go for the big one! Pink in verona and YELLOW in paris. You also forgot the UCI Pro tour jersey he won!

 

[blaxland]

Nah, lets go for the big one! Pink in verona and YELLOW in paris. You also forgot the UCI Pro tour jersey he won!

My Bad Auscyclefan how could i forget.......lets hope Ballan rides well this weekend?

 

[auscyclefan94]

My Bad Auscyclefan how could i forget.......lets hope Ballan rides well this weekend?

Yes, and the rest of the team. Would be nice for them to get a win in Three days de panne.