Tour du Haut Var (FRA) 18 and 19/02

[Reverend_T_Preedy]

I guess his age probably counted against him, and the Tour of Britain isn't the best field for a climber to show off, with very little in the British calendar to show off; they were also quite careful to make sure to have enough room for Cav's men while that saga was going on. Maybe Endura locked Tiernan-Locke up before that endless saga finished?

Endura's race program (excluding the UK national calendar as those are mostly non-UCI races and very few suit Tiernan-Locke anyway) is on their website but runs until June.

We have the Boucles du Sud-Ardêche (1.1) in southern France - should be fairly well-suited to him. The Vuelta a Murcía should be ok for him, but the TT usually settles it. Then we have some .2 rated flat races, then Coppi e Bartali, which should be right up his alley. I don't know much about the 1.1 Route Adélie de Vitre, but past winners range from Samuel Dumoulin to Jérôme Coppel, so could be a possible good showing for him. April looks to be all .2-rated races, of which only the Tour de Brétagne is a) particularly prestigious, or b) suited to Jonathan Tiernan-Locke. May has the Vuelta a Comunidad de Madrid, which is kind of Critérium International format, Rui Costa won it last year so a good showing there shouldn't be beyond his scope if he is able to replicate this kind of form, and then the Tour of Norway, which is sadly not the race it could be even if it remains a Tour of the Oslofjord as it is at present; this is also a shame for Tiernan-Locke as it would be more suited to him if it were a trickier race. That looks to be it for races that would suit him.

July onwards, it will be interesting to see what kind of race program they can manage. There are some interesting races they could do in July that suit him - the Trofeu Joaquim Agostinho in Portugal is .2, but has a good field, or the Course de Solidarność at 2.1, which will probably be a pre-Tour de Pologne warm-up this year. Then there's - if it manages to run - the SachsenTour at 2.1, which I'd expect to be well within Tiernan-Locke's remit. I'd been hoping for Endura to have a go at the Volta last year but they went for Paris-Corrèze - sensible really as it offers the same UCI points but only 2 days of pain, not 11. However, with the points Tiernan-Locke has already banked maybe a race like Portugal could be on the cards. If not, then Ain is there, of course, before they prepare for the Tour of Britain.

Endura are guaranteed an invite to every .2 race in Europe this year. Comments earlier in the season suggest they will use the .2 races to build form for the bigger races and give a chance to the younger riders (Thwaites, Rowsell, McEvoy, etc).

Of course, what JTL is doing is making it more and more attractive for race organisers to the invite them to .1 races later in the year. I would have thought that an invite to the Tour of Utah will be on the cards again after last year's success.

Personally, I think JTL would be better off having this year with Endura because as he's openly admitted, his positioning and race skills are not great. I think a WT ride is nailed on for next year. That said, if a team offers him a deal now and Endura don't stand in his way it'll take some balls to turn it down.

By the way, in all the hype about JTL, Russ Downings 10th has been forgotton. That's a decent ride and is a sign that his form is coming on well.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The transfers you mention where in the late season though (after the 1st of August).
Another example would be Allan Davis, who signed for Mitsubishi - Jartazi in the spring, and went to Quick Step in the autumn. But he didn't have any contract before Mitsubishi - Jartazi.
Other examples would be young Rabobank riders, who transfer from the U23 to the pro team. And that always happens on the 1st of August. I suppose there would be no reason to do it on that date if it was allowed to do it earlier.

So I think Tiernan-Locke will stay at Endura at least until that date.

Caruso moved teams on April 11, 2010.

 

[hatcher]

I'm sure it could be done easily enough if Endura were happy to do it, but I think a season riding as THE man for Endura wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for his development.

 

[Carlo Algatrensig]

I've noticed people in this thread are using the acronym "JTL" to describe Jonathan Tiernan-Locke when surely given that he has now produced some half decent results it should be "TGJTL"

 

[Christian]

I've noticed people in this thread are using the acronym "JTL" to describe Jonathan Tiernan-Locke when surely given that he has now produced some half decent results it should be "TGJTL"

lol great call!!

 

[Andy99]

I've noticed people in this thread are using the acronym "JTL" to describe Jonathan Tiernan-Locke when surely given that he has now produced some half decent results it should be "TGJTL"

Too right! And actually more deserved than some of the others who have already been granted the prestigious title.

TGJTL > TGBM ?

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Dan Martin @DanMartin86 Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
No doping controls for the 2nd race running though! Whats going on?


???

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Too right! And actually more deserved than some of the others who have already been granted the prestigious title.

TGJTL > TGBM ?

Let's not go overboard here. Tiernan-Locke has had a good month, but Mollema has been 4th in a GT and taken a jersey home. And Mollema is younger, too.

 

[maltiv]

Dan Martin @DanMartin86 Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
No doping controls for the 2nd race running though! Whats going on?


???

So there hasn't been any doping tests in Tour of Med or Haut Var? Interesting. I know of at least one rider I'd test more than once after those races.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

So there hasn't been any doping tests in Tour of Med or Haut Var? Interesting. I know of at least one rider I'd test more than once after those races.

Yea..i think those 2..or wherever martin rides...it is very odd.

 

[roundabout]

Let's not go overboard here. Tiernan-Locke has had a good month, but Mollema has been 4th in a GT and taken a jersey home. And Mollema is younger, too.

Mollema was TGBM before that Vuelta...

 

[jens_attacks]

Dan Martin @DanMartin86 Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
No doping controls for the 2nd race running though! Whats going on?


???

the clinic it is then senor zam.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

So there hasn't been any doping tests in Tour of Med or Haut Var? Interesting. I know of at least one rider I'd test more than once after those races.

Do we know the context here? Hard to say in 140 characters - is Martin meaning that HE, or he and his teammates, have not been tested for 2 races now? Or that there have been no tests of anybody at both races, as we're thinking is implied?

Mollema was TGBM before that Vuelta...

Yes, but the post I was referring to asked if TGJTL > TGBM. And the matter of fact is, as of yet, he does not.

 

[maltiv]

Do we know the context here? Hard to say in 140 characters - is Martin meaning that HE, or he and his teammates, have not been tested for 2 races now? Or that there have been no tests of anybody at both races, as we're thinking is implied?

There's a thread on it in the clinic now so should probably take the discussion there! Anyway wouldn't make sense if it were only about himself because his results haven't exactly been extraordinary in the sense where testing would be likely.

 

[Andy99]

Mollema was TGBM before that Vuelta...

Yeah, thats where I was coming from, in a particularly tongue-in-cheek fashion I might add.

Oh yes, and...erm...TGAK...?...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Mollema was TGBM before that Vuelta...

with good reason seeing as Mollema had won the Tour l'Avenir and was already top 10 in the Tour of Germany (pro tour back then) in his 1st season as professional

People here seem to forget that Mollema always was a GT/stage-racer talent when he became a pro and before he got that nickname/running gag.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Let's not go overboard here. Tiernan-Locke has had a good month, but Mollema has been 4th in a GT and taken a jersey home. And Mollema is younger, too.

Don't be a July Fanboy.

Please make an actual argument on here, rather than just stating your opinion based on pure fanboyism.

 

[Fus087]

Caruso moved teams on April 11, 2010.

I didn't know that. But maybe it's a different case, as he bought himself out of the contract; so strictly speaking he was a free agent?

Rujano has changed teams in May a couple of times. So there must be a loophole somewhere.

Mostly though, he has just gone back to South America and raced there with a team that not UCI-registered. The rules can't stop you from that.
But he did go from Selle Italia to Quick Step after the 2006 Giro, well before August.

No idea what the rules really are, I couldn't find anything in the UCI regulations (although I didn't look very hard).

 

[Papparrazzi]

Explanation here why JTL spent 3 years off the bike -
http://redkiteprayer.com/?p=7840

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I didn't know that. But maybe it's a different case, as he bought himself out of the contract; so strictly speaking he was a free agent?



Mostly though, he has just gone back to South America and raced there with a team that not UCI-registered. The rules can't stop you from that.
But he did go from Selle Italia to Quick Step after the 2006 Giro, well before August.

No idea what the rules really are, I couldn't find anything in the UCI regulations (although I didn't look very hard).

You can get short term contracts, or you can buy yourself out. I don't see why Katyusha waving a bunch of money at Caruso and Ceramica Flaminia to buy him out of his ProConti contract can't be a precedent; by buying himself out of the contract he became a free agent, who then signed for Katyusha the next day. No reason why a big team can't poach Tiernan-Locke the same way, though Ceramica Flaminia at the time had other bankable reasons for invites (Riccò, for example) and were perhaps less resistant to letting Caruso go than Endura would be over losing Tiernan-Locke at this point in time.

 

[maltiv]

Yeah, thats where I was coming from, in a particularly tongue-in-cheek fashion I might add.

Oh yes, and...erm...TGAK...?...

At 24, Kristoff has collected a total of 1155 CQ points. JTL, on the other hand, had collected the grand amount of 16 CQ points at 24

 

[hatcher]

liveciclismo @liveciclismo
Gap at 1:45sec. At bottom of Col de Mon. Yellow jersey has attacked #HautVar en el puerto ataque del lider Hardy


Yellow jersey has attacked?

 

[classicomano]

Dekker is out with an injury.

 

[Kwibus]

Dekker is out with an injury.

Yep and he's not happy about it since he needed the climbing miles.
His having minor issues with his knee.

 

[dlwssonic]

Time for some BMC ownage