Top Sprinters of 2012

[The Hitch]

Dangerous territory.

lolololol Good one

Might say more about me but I dont think ive laughed so hard at a post all year.

 

[robertocarlos]

Goss will have a good year (green edge devoted to sprints)
Griepel has the confidence of beating cav once coming from behind (will be lotto's sprinter)
Kittel I am still undecided.
farrar will be the same hype but little results again
Sagan and ebh willbe good when the big boys take a break
ale jet I say we saw the last of him as a good sprinter this year
Rojas no way
I say Goss and Greipel are the only two that have the know how to beat Cavendish.

 

[robertocarlos]

no, i won't.genetically,the germans are the most gifted athletes in the world.now put them on a terrible hard training programme and you got them owning everybody.

but yeah i'm also subjective because i've started following sports with oliver bierhoff '96,klinsmann,effenberg,ullrich & zabel,steffi graf,hannawald & schmitt,muhlegg,angerer,henkel and many more.i always liked german athletes.

I think what separates German athletes out is not talent (they are not that talented) but their cultural work ethic.

 

[taiwan]

lolololol Good one

Might say more about me but I dont think ive laughed so hard at a post all year.

I think I can see what you've done there, but WS's post was serious surely?

 

[The Hitch]

I think I can see what you've done there, but WS's post was serious surely?

Serious is the best humour. A joke is not as funny if its only purpose if the joke itself.

Its just that jen's serious post about Germans being genetically superior seems all the more funny when someone points out the similarity of his post to what nutjob was saying 80 years ago.

Jens reputation as someone who make extreme suggestions - legalise doping, kill Kimmage, nuke North Korea etc etc play a part too.

 

[Old School]

Drag Racing!

I went with...

Cav...tough as nails...but train still the same?
Kittel....coming on strong.
Griepel....I'm a stone cold fan...can win if he positions right
Goss....pure speed.....will Green get it right?

All i can say is I hope this year isn't marred with crashes like last year....i don't want anymore shoulda, woulda, couldas.

 

[greenedge]

I hope not, Matthews is a huge sprint talent who won a stage in his first WT race and could have won another if he weren't outfoxed by Ventoso. Renshaw should first show he's of the same calibre, before Matthews should think about leading him out.

I know i don't want that either but in the article it is listed that Rabo want him to support Renshaw.

I think he is still quite young so doing lead outs won't hurt him unless if Renshaw does not have what it takes.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I went with...

Cav...tough as nails...but train still the same?
Kittel....coming on strong.
Griepel....I'm a stone cold fan...can win if he positions right
Goss....pure speed.....will Green get it right?

All i can say is I hope this year isn't marred with crashes like last year....i don't want anymore shoulda, woulda, couldas.

I think Cav will do fine with the train but will the other teams help bring in the breakaway or let sky do all the work.
Kittel might do well against everybody besides Goss, Greipel, Cav, and Farrar.
Agreed on Greipel and Gpss.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Petacchi, Leigh Howard, & Goss are my picks.

I like Howard as well, but I'm unsure as to what his role at GE will be? I mean with Goss, Davis, Kruopis and Hepburn there as well.

 

[spalco]

I agree with you but still, avatar bet if Cav miserably fails?

Alright.

 

[theyoungest]

I know i don't want that either but in the article it is listed that Rabo want him to support Renshaw.

I think he is still quite young so doing lead outs won't hurt him unless if Renshaw does not have what it takes.

Yes, but Cyclingnews seem to have quite the Renshaw fan working for them... literally every week there's an article on him.

 

[Swabian Lass]

I know i don't want that either but in the article it is listed that Rabo want him to support Renshaw.

I think he is still quite young so doing lead outs won't hurt him unless if Renshaw does not have what it takes.

Oh I imagine he'll get a few chances. More if Renshaw doesn't live up to expectations.

 

[sublimit]

You're forgetting one minor detail... Kittel was leading out Van Hummel in Langkawi (until they found out that Kittel was a much better sprinter in his own right).

Fair enough, I'm not certain he was leading him out the whole time though. Dont get me wrong Kittel is impressive but its still early days for him. I'm not sure there's too much between them in pure speed but maybe Kittel has more chance of getting to the end of stages.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

I think that this may be the year that Greipel starts to challenge Cavendish. he's always had the speed, it's about time he got himself a bit closer to the sharp end before he unleashes it.

The other that may challenge is Goss. Farrar seems to be on the slide and I'm not convinced by Sagan's or Kittel's formline.

 

[greenedge]

Farrar for me is not on the slide he just has to target goals better ( he did this year deal with Wouters' death ). He did win 2 GT stages this year. Greipel only won one.

Howard i think will support Goss and then learn from Robbie. He will then hopefully do some smaller races and get good results. He has good positioning and has pure speed. Kruopis i think will spend a year adjusting to the WT ranks whilst Heppburn is young/ has the Olympics on the track to focus on and is better on a harder course.

 

[robertocarlos]

Farrar for me is not on the slide he just has to target goals better ( he did this year deal with Wouters' death ). He did win 2 GT stages this year. Greipel only won one.

Howard i think will support Goss and then learn from Robbie. He will then hopefully do some smaller races and get good results. He has good positioning and has pure speed. Kruopis i think will spend a year adjusting to the WT ranks whilst Heppburn is young/ has the Olympics on the track to focus on and is better on a harder course.

Because Greipel had to play domestic at times, and his win couldn't have been sweeter. how many sprinters can say that they have came around Cavendish and won?

 

[taiwan]

Can anyone see a reappearance of OPQS in the sprints next year? Just thinking about how many strong chronomen rouleurs and sprinters (if not the fastest) are on the team now. It could give a boost to a finisher, like being on HTC did. Good season for Ciolek on the cards, perhaps? Chicchi? Steegmans?

 

[Captain_Cavman]

Farrar for me is not on the slide he just has to target goals better ( he did this year deal with Wouters' death ). He did win 2 GT stages this year. Greipel only won one.

I think Farrar's top end speed isn't what it was, although he is probably stronger. So he's going to be more competitive in the difficult finishes but less so in the big bunch finishes. Unfortunately the area he is moving into has more competition from other riders and fewer opportunities in stage races.

 

[greenedge]

Because Greipel had to play domestic at times, and his win couldn't have been sweeter. how many sprinters can say that they have came around Cavendish and won?

True but he did not have to be domestique at all races. He could have done the Vuelta instead of Vattenfalls and he could have also won more at the Tour of Turkey.

@Taiwan: Yes i think OPQS can go well at sprints. I expect Ciolek to have a resurgence and Boonen to get more wins with Steegmans as his leadout. I also think Garmin have the same situation with Fernandez, Farrar, Haussler and Hunter. So to do GE.

 

[Sylvester]

Enrique Sanz and Koldo Fernandez come to mind. Moreover, Angel Edo might want to make a comeback.