Tirreno -Adriatico

[luckyboy]

1. Nibali
2. Gesink
3. Sanchez

 

[theyoungest]

1. Gesink
2. Evans
3. Löfkvist

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

It'd surprise me no end if EBH doesn't make top 10. Pozzato too.

meh he ain't as good of a climber as many think. I realize this isn't exactly a high top mountain race, but i'm not even overly convinced on these rolling hills.

 

[Four Winds]

Sammy Sanchez is definitely at Paris-Nice. He rode in the prologue.

 

[Christian]

Sastre? The same Sastre who recently race 5 Grand Tours in a row?

Did he also do that in 2008? Oh yeah I remember he did the Vuelta, that's when he announced he'd leave Saxo Bank. Did he get any results there?

In '09 it surely didn't seem to help him much ...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Did he also do that in 2008?

In '09 it surely didn't seem to help him much ...

Since it's impossible to ride 5 Grand Tours in a year, of course.

It's actually only 4 I think, I don't recall him being at the 2008 Giro.

But he didn't do too badly.

1st at the '08 Tour (+1x stage win, +KOM)
3rd at the '08 Vuelta
3rd at the '09 Giro (after di Luca is removed)(+2x stage win)
17th at the '09 Tour.

Sure, the Tour performance is a disappointment in '09, but the parcours was about as un-Sastre-conducive as it could be, with much TTing, very few multiple-mountain stages and only 3 MTFs. I'd say three GT podiums including a win, and 3 GT stage wins, are enough to say that there was little wrong with his race calendar except maybe, the man perceived as not racing very often, could have taken a break.

 

[maltiv]

meh he ain't as good of a climber as many think. I realize this isn't exactly a high top mountain race, but i'm not even overly convinced on these rolling hills.

He's not that bad either, and he'll probably get quite a lot of bonus seconds on the flatter stages. Don't forget that he for example was 4th in last years Eroica, which was a pretty tough uphill finish. However, I don't think he can do well consistently in tough stages like this, so Löfkvist is probably a much better bet for the overall.

 

[theswordsman]

Quick Step team for Tirreno-Adriatico
Tom Boonen, Dries Devenyns, Stijn Devolder, Kevin Hulsmans, Francesco Reda, Matteo Tosatto, Marco Velo, Maarten Wynants

HTC-Columbia team for Tirreno-Adriatico
Michael Albasini, Lars Bak, Mark Cavendish, Bernhard Eisel, Marco Pinotti, Bert Grabsch, Peter Velits, Michael Rogers

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/3380/Boonen-to-meet-Cavendish-between-the-Two-Seas.aspx

Team Milram roster for Tirreno-Adriatco:
Markus Fothen, Johannes Fröhlinger, Linus Gerdemann, Servais Knaven, Christian Knees, Roy Sentjens, Niki Terpstra, Fabian Wegmann

Directeurs Sportif:
Vittorio Algeri (ITA), Christian Henn (GER)

Liquigas

Bennati, Nibali, Pellizotti, Valerio Agnoli, Francesco Bellotti, Daniel Oss, Manuel Quinziato and Fabio Sabatini, with Stefano Zanatta and Paolo Slong acting as directeurs sportifs.

All from http://www.velonation.com

 

[MrContador]

Devenyns is interesting. Maybe a contender for top-10? I really enjoyed his aggressive riding style last year, and hopefully he'll create some action here.

 

[Sasquatch]

Not many people mentioning Kirchen here.

Edit: Now I know why. Bombed at Algarve.

 

[Sasquatch]

Final Top 10 Predictions:

1. Thomas Lovkvist
2. Michele Scarponi
3. Vincenzo Nibali
4. Robert Gesink
5. Alexandre Vinokourov
6. Rigoberto Uran
7. Cadel Evans
8. Stefano Garzelli
9. Kim Kirchen
10. Michael Rogers

 

[auscyclefan94]

meh he ain't as good of a climber as many think. I realize this isn't exactly a high top mountain race, but i'm not even overly convinced on these rolling hills.

He's had some very good form in the past month. I am worried that he may have a form slump during the big classics.

 

[Sasquatch]

Regarding EBH, he has the ability to win this race with the climbs that are there. Whether he has the maturity to do it this year is another story.

If there was a time trial, he would win. I don't see how he can go with people like Lovkvist etc when they attack.

BMC have come out today and promised an attacking race from their riders. This is going to be all men for themselves and I don't think EBH has the maturity to cope.

He's certainly in form and could go well here but I can't see it happening. Not this year anyway.

 

[CerveloFan]

I'm sad they took out the Montelupone stage - I thought this could become a signature climb for the (otherwise sprinter's) race. Maybe the Italians couldn't stand a Spaniard (Rodriguez) winning year after year.
I hope Petacchi rides - I would like to see he and Cav mix it up with the rest of the best (Farrar, Hushovd, Bennati, Freire)
I can't say I think Freire is a ridiculous choice for the the overall - I think the parcours would suit him better than the other sprinters - and Nibali, Gesnick, Evans, etc. won't be around the sprints and probably can't gain enough from the climbs - though stages 4 and 6 look interesting.
I hope Vino and Visconti show something this week.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I'm sad they took out the Montelupone stage - I thought this could become a signature climb for the (otherwise sprinter's) race. Maybe the Italians couldn't stand a Spaniard (Rodriguez) winning year after year.
I hope Petacchi rides - I would like to see he and Cav mix it up with the rest of the best (Farrar, Hushovd, Bennati, Freire)
I can't say I think Freire is a ridiculous choice for the the overall - I think the parcours would suit him better than the other sprinters - and Nibali, Gesnick, Evans, etc. won't be around the sprints and probably can't gain enough from the climbs - though stages 4 and 6 look interesting.
I hope Vino and Visconti show something this week.

Have you seen the parcours of stages 4,5,6? The sprinters will lose all their lead in probably just one of those stages!

 

[Sasquatch]

I can say now that Cavendish won't be part of the bunch sprint to the line tomorrow.

Cavendish's win will come on Tuesday.

 

[theswordsman]

BMC

Alessandro Ballan (ITA), Brent Bookwalter (USA), Marcus Burghardt (GER), Cadel Evans (AUS), Mathias Frank (SUI), Thomas Frei (SUI), George Hincapie (USA), Karsten Kroon (NED).

Directores: Directors:
John Lelangue (BEL) y Fabio Baldato (ITA) John Lelangue (BEL) and Fabio Baldato (ITA)

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=23684

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Regarding EBH, he has the ability to win this race with the climbs that are there. Whether he has the maturity to do it this year is another story.

If there was a time trial, he would win. I don't see how he can go with people like Lovkvist etc when they attack.

BMC have come out today and promised an attacking race from their riders. This is going to be all men for themselves and I don't think EBH has the maturity to cope.

He's certainly in form and could go well here but I can't see it happening. Not this year anyway.

I'll say what I said last year. He has the potential, but last year he clearly wasn't strong enough for real hilly stages yet, in the ENECO tour, which he won, he wasn't exactly strong in the ardennes, being dropped by nearly everyone in the 20 man lead group and just, but really just, being able to return.
However I said back then, a year later and it can be different, he has shown he can climb well on a good day.

I won't write him off for this Tirreno, it will be good as a testcase to see how strong Hagen is now in these hilly stages.

 

[tgsgirl]

Have you seen the parcours of stages 4,5,6? The sprinters will lose all their lead in probably just one of those stages!

All depends on the story of the day. I'd not put money on Oscarcito either, but did you expect him to sprint for a podium spot on a TdF stage which had the Tourmalet in it? If nothing much happens and the cards are played right, Freire could be among the sprinters that could make it over in the peloton.
(but again, I wouldn't put money on him. nor fantasy game budget. come on Löf/vkvist!)

 

[lucybears]

Elenco iscritti
http://www.gazzetta.it/grandeciclis...aricabili/tirreno_adriatico_2010_iscritti.pdf

 

[Sasquatch]

Freire will win stage one.

 

[theswordsman]

confirmed

BMC Racing Team:
Alessandro Ballan (ITA), Brent Bookwalter (EE.UU.), Marcus Burghardt (GER), Cadel Evans (AUS), Mathias Frank (SUI), Thomas Frei (SUI), George Hincapie (EE.UU.), Karsten Kroon (NED)..

Team HTC Columbia:
Mark Cavendish, Michael Rogers, Michael Albasini, Lars Bak, Bernhard Eisel, Marco Pinotti, Bert Grabsch y Peter Velits.

Quick Step:
Tom Boonen, Dries Devenyns, Stijn Devolder, Kevin Hulsmans, Francesco Reda, Matteo Tosatto, Marco Velo y Maarten Wynants

Androni Giocatolli:
Michele Scarponi, Francesco Ginanni, Leonardo Bertagnolli, Massimo Giunti, Fabio Taborre, Josè Serpa, Jackson Rodriguez y Cameron Wurf.

ISD Neri:
Giovanni Visconti, Oscar Gatto, Dmytro Grabovskyy, Simon Clarke, Diego Caccia, Paolo Longo Borghini, Carlo Scognamiglio y Leonardo Scarselli

Milram:
Markus Fothen, Johannes Fröhlinger, Linus Gerdemann, Servais Knaven, Christian Knees, Roy Sentjens, Niki Terpstra y Fabian Wegmann

Liquigas-Doimo:
Daniele Bennati, Vincenzo Nibali y Franco Pellizotti, Valerio Agnoli, Francesco Bellotti, Daniel Oss, Manuel Quinziato y Fabio Sabatini.

Colnago-CSF:
Domenico Pozzovivo, Mattia Gavazzi, Manuel Belletti, Marco Frapporti, Simone Stortoni, Sacha Modolo, Federico Canuti y Alan Marangoni.

Astana:
Alexandre Vinokourov, Allan, Davis, Valeriy Dmitriyev, Enrico Gasparotto, Maxim Iglinskiy, Mirko Selvaggi y Andrey Zeits

Rabobank:
Robert Gesink, Oscar Freire, Nick Nuyens, Sebastian Langeveld, Maarten Tjallingii, Grischa Niermann, Paul Martens y Tom Stamsnijder.

Caisse d’Epargne:
Marzio Bruseghin, Rui Costa, Arnaud Coyot, Vasil Kiryienka, Pablo Lastras, José Joaquín Rojas, Rigoberto Urán, Xabier Zandio.

Team Saxo Bank:
Fabian Cancellara, Andy Schleck, Matti Breschel, Baden Cooke, Dominic Klemme, Stuart O'Grady, Frank Hoj y Kasper Klostergaard.

Euskaltel-Euskadi:
Rubén Pérez, Pablo Urtasun, Alan Pérez, Iñaki Isasi, Aitor Hernández, Juanjo Oroz, Amets Txurruka y Jorge Azanza.

Team Sky:
Michael Barry, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Juan Antonio Flecha, Mathew Hayman, Thomas Lofkvist, Ian Stannard, Chris Sutton y Davide Vigano

AG2R La Mondiale:
Gatis SMUKULIS, Hubert DUPONT, Lloyd MONDORY, Ludovic TURPIN, Martin ELMIGER, René MANDRI, Sébastien HINAULT, y Vladimir EFIMKIN.

Cervélo Test Team:
Roger Hammond (GBR), Jeremy Hunt (GBR), Thor Hushovd (NOR), Andreas Klier (GER), Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU), Brett Lancaster (AUS), Gabriel Rasch (NOR), y Martin Reimer (GER).

Katusha:
Marco Bandiera, Pavel Brutt, Kim Kirchen, Sergey Klimov, Luca Mazzanti, Robbie McEwen, Filippo Pozzato, Egor Silin.

Omega Pharma - Lotto
Bakelants Jan, Elijzen Michiel, Hoste Leif , Kaisen Olivier , Lang Sebastian , Lloyd Matthew, Scheirlinckx Staf, Van Avermaet Greg

ACQUA & SAPONE-MOKAMBO (Ita): Garzelli, Paolini
FRANCAISE DES JEUX (Fra): Guesdon, Roux
GARMIN-TRANSITION (Usa): Farrar, Hesjedal, Kreder, Maaskant
LAMPRE-FARNESE VINI (Ita): Petacchi, Bernucci, Hondo

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=23688

 

[python]

i am disappointed theres no time trial. it would certainly favour vino's gc standing. he says he wants to be on the podium.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Regarding EBH, he has the ability to win this race with the climbs that are there. Whether he has the maturity to do it this year is another story.

If there was a time trial, he would win. I don't see how he can go with people like Lovkvist etc when they attack.

BMC have come out today and promised an attacking race from their riders. This is going to be all men for themselves and I don't think EBH has the maturity to cope.

He's certainly in form and could go well here but I can't see it happening. Not this year anyway.

I disagree, as good as EBH is some people tend to overrate him. He has yet to show anything in his career to indicate he could win a race like this. I agree he has more potential than maybe anyone in the peleton, but come on, he has no way near the ability at the moment that some of these guys do in the hills. Let's be realistic.

I also think many are underestimating this course. A sprinter will not win, in fact I'm sure even the the better sprinters (friere) will lose lots of time in some of these stages. Some of the stages have 20% accents (short climbs, but very hard) right near the end of the stage, asif any of the sprinters, or EBH are gonna get over that with some of the better climbers (Gesink, Evans, Nibali etc) that's foolish.

 

[markene2]

i am disappointed theres no time trial. it would certainly favour vino's gc standing. he says he wants to be on the podium.

1+

As i said before he will manage the podium