Tour de France 2014 Start List

[del1962]

I guess Lampre will be taking their Spaniard Rui Costa

 

[dduff442]

Meh /care, i didn't even bother to check where he was from.

Like i said i have never even heard of the guy before, so saying he should be in the team instead of guys with a few GT's of experience seems pretty stupid to me.

I honestly thought Bennet was going, deservedly, although he would have little no chance of winning a stage against Sagan, Kittel and Cav. My real issue was with the other guy and how some were reacting as if NetApp had left the Irish/whatever version of Quintana at home.

So which is it? A guy you thought was deservedly going or some guy you never heard of before? (And how's the weather in Greece/Mongolia/wherever?)

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Some serious crossed wires in this thread.

 

[Parrulo]

So which is it? A guy you thought was deservedly going or some guy you never heard of before? (And how's the weather in Greece/Mongolia/wherever?)

Bennett deserved it. The other guy didn't

 

[mudplugger]

Bennett deserved it. The other guy didn't

If by the other guy you mean Thwaites, then he has consistently outperformed Shillinger for the last 18 months. Shillinger is there because he is German as this team is German..owned, managed and sponsored...and they need a presence on the start line.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

If by the other guy you mean Thwaites, then he has consistently outperformed Shillinger for the last 18 months. Shillinger is there because he is German as this team is German..owned, managed and sponsored...and they need a presence on the start line.

Probably, yes, but pleasing your sponsor is a legitimate selection criterion in pro cycling. And evidently Netapp have more pull than Endura.

If there are people getting outraged about Bennett's omission, the usually sensible Shane Stokes is probably a little bit responsible. He kept raising the issue of Bennett perhaps going to the Tour in his journalism - while the actual quotes Bennett would give were always very non-committal, of a kind of "yeah, it would be nice, but the team has other objectives and I'm a first year pro with no GT experience, so we will see" sort.

I doubt if Bennett or Thwaites are particularly happy about people slagging off their team and teammates in their names.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Also the top 15 for Konig thing is expectations management. They want him to do better than that.

 

[roundabout]

If by the other guy you mean Thwaites, then he has consistently outperformed Shillinger for the last 18 months. Shillinger is there because he is German as this team is German..owned, managed and sponsored...and they need a presence on the start line.

NetApp is an American company

Beats me why Schillinger is there apart from his Roubaix experience. And I am not sure what value finishing that far back is.

Isn't Thwaites sort of a sprinter? Guess it would have been him vs Dempster for a spot.

 

[del1962]

Apparently Millar has inadvertently outed that he is riding, as Wiggo has said that he isn;t as we knew anway

 

[mudplugger]

NetApp is an American company

Beats me why Schillinger is there apart from his Roubaix experience. And I am not sure what value finishing that far back is.

Isn't Thwaites sort of a sprinter? Guess it would have been him vs Dempster for a spot.

It is American, but the money comes from the German side of it as I understand it.

 

[RobbieCanuck]

I may have missed it but is there a deadline date for the final start list?

 

[janraaskalt]

Sky tour team confirmed:

Froome Porte Nieve Lopez Thomas Kiryienka Siutsou Pate Zandio

It has been confirmed with Eisel instead of Sioutsou.

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

Great news about Bernie. I wonder how Froome was persuaded to let him ride.

 

[trevim]

Great news about Bernie. I wonder how Froome was persuaded to let him ride.

 

[Albert Fishwick]

Indeed. They missed his road savvy on several occasions last year. Very pleased to see him back.

 

[JRanton]

Eisel is a smart selection.

Most surprising one was Zandio being picked ahead of Siustou.

There will be stronger GC teams at the Tour: Tinkoff, Astana and Movistar.

 

[CycloAndy]

Eisel is a smart selection.

Most surprising one was Zandio being picked ahead of Siustou.

There will be stronger GC teams at the Tour: Tinkoff, Astana and Movistar.

In sporting terms the inclusion of Pate ahead of Knees is really surprising.

 

[del1962]

Eisel is a smart selection.

Most surprising one was Zandio being picked ahead of Siustou.

There will be stronger GC teams at the Tour: Tinkoff, Astana and Movistar.

In the Dauphinine Zandio was struggling to even finish inside the time limit, seems a strange choice.

 

[JRanton]

In sporting terms the inclusion of Pate ahead of Knees is really surprising.

It's funny because you could almost name a stronger team of Sky riders who aren't riding for different reasons:

Wiggins, Henao, Kennaugh, Cataldo, Deignan, Siutsou, Knees, EBH, Stannard.

 

[JRanton]

In the Dauphinine Zandio was struggling to even finish inside the time limit, seems a strange choice.

Yup, they had to slow down in the middle of stage 2 to make sure he didn't get eliminated. Very odd but then they took Lopez to the Tour last year even after he was ill throughout the entire Dauphine.

 

[Rollthedice]

Same as Dauphine plus Eisel. Not particularly impressive to say the least in Dauphine. It's gonna be a rough ride for Froome.

 

[ILovecycling]

Very good decision by sky to take Eisel.He will be very important for them.
On the other hand Xandio and Pate are not really good imo.Pretty weak.

Mountain part of their team is impressive tho,lets see what bring tinkoff,movistar and astana

 

[Pricey_sky]

Happy with Eisel's inclusion, he will be valuable to Froome on the flat stages and cobbles. So Froome must not have a problem with him riding after all!

As the above post says I'm happy with the support Froome will have in the mountains. Thomas, Kiri, Lopez, Nieve and Porte all will do a good job.

 

[JRanton]

Happy with Eisel's inclusion, he will be valuable to Froome on the flat stages and cobbles. So Froome must not have a problem with him riding after all!

As the above post says I'm happy with the support Froome will have in the mountains. Thomas, Kiri, Lopez, Nieve and Porte all will do a good job.

Fair to say he wouldn't have been included if Stannard was healthy.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Fair to say he wouldn't have been included if Stannard was healthy.

Absolutely agree, and Kennaugh would be in too.