Tour Rider Selection and Roles

[RHRH19861986]

Haha, Liquigas taking Canuti and Paterski instead of rewarding Nerz for a great season and being so loyal to Nibali all year. What a joke.

 

[dlwssonic]

Haha, Liquigas taking Canuti and Paterski instead of rewarding Nerz for a great season and being so loyal to Nibali all year. What a joke.

Why can't they be loyal to nibali, he brought them great results.
He deserves to be a co leader with sagan.

 

[RHRH19861986]

Why can't they be loyal to nibali, he brought them great results.
He deserves to be a co leader with sagan.

Absolutely... I´m sure Nibali wanted to have Nerz with him, and was denied that.

Maybe he takes him with him to another team.

 

[dlwssonic]

Absolutely... I´m sure Nibali wanted to have Nerz with him, and was denied that.

Maybe he takes him with him to another team.

probably but maybe they just gave the spot to someone that was stronger.

 

[Northern rider]

It will probably not happen before the Alps, people will have a few goes at beating Cav/Sagan before they are demoralised.

But I can't see Sky getting much help on the remaining three flat stages before Paris.

If Cavendish is still there, then I'd agree, but I can't help thinking he'll be taking an early bath pre Olympics, especially after finishing the Giro.

 

[Climeon]

There is only 1 team that everybody wants to know and that is Sky.

So this is it: Wiggins Froome Rogers Porte Sivtsov Boason-Hagen Cavendish Eisel Knees

Thanks for the early knowledge

 

[b.broadhurst]

Thanks for the early knowledge

No problem, Cavendish is still unsure on whether to pull out early or not.

 

[maltiv]

No problem, Cavendish is still unsure on whether to pull out early or not.

I assume that will depend entirely on whether he has a shot at the green jersey or not. Surely he won't pull out with the green jersey (no one does that), but if he's close it's a difficult decision. If he's not close at all then I'm almost certain he'll pull out after 12 stages or so.

 

[b.broadhurst]

I assume that will depend entirely on whether he has a shot at the green jersey or not. Surely he won't pull out with the green jersey (no one does that), but if he's close it's a difficult decision. If he's not close at all then I'm almost certain he'll pull out after 12 stages or so.

It's not a particularly tough Tour so I think he will stay to the end not necessarily with green. He will still win 5 stages but Sagan in my eyes is Green Jersey fav when he can pick up points on over half the stages and Cav can't.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Garmin team:
Tom Danielson
Tyler Farrar
Ryder Hesjedal
Robbie Hunter
Dan Martin
David Millar
Christian Vande Velde
Johan Vansummeren
David Zabriskie

There's a lot of very good riders there, but it's hard to see them doing as well as last year. They would be exceptionally strong in a TTT, except there isn't one this year. They would normally be serious contenders to pinch a sprint stage, but Farrar has been consistently pretty poor this year.

Vansummeren as a workhorse, Zabriskie and Millar for the ITTs and also as workhorses. Farrar as sprinter, Hunter as lead out. They are all obvious enough. Where it gets interesting is the four guys who can climb.

Obviously, Hesjedal is suddenly the big star of the team, but it's very hard to see how he can have top form for the Tour. This could have a distorting effect on their strategy. Their press release seems to say that he'll be strongly supported as GC leader, but Garmin generally go into the Tour letting the road decide which of their potential GC men gets the support.

Then there's Dan Martin. It's great to see him at the Tour, but as everyone is probably aware the Time Trialist's parcours means that a GC ride is extremely unlikely. I hope that he's cut loose to attack on every climb (as he did during the Vuelta), to go for stages and possibly the KoM. But it may be that he's being brought along to fetch bottles for Hesjedal, which would be a waste. He may well be their rider most likely to win a stage if he's given his head, with Farrar off-form, the TT men being just a bit off the very best and their other climbers not really being that sort of rider.

 

[FF'Wilco]

Garmin usually targets team classification so i guess Danielson, Vande Velde and Hesjedal will try to limit the looses and stay high in GC. Dan Martin will be the fighter, attacker who will try to win a stage from breakaway and win polka dot jersey maybe with no worries about GC. In press release its obvious that they put Hesjedal as a leader since he won a GT this year but i guess Vandevelde could finish in higher place with over 100km of TT.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Garmin usually targets team classification so i guess Danielson, Vande Velde and Hesjedal will try to limit the looses and stay high in GC. Dan Martin will be the fighter, attacker who will try to win a stage from breakaway and win polka dot jersey maybe with no worries about GC. In press release its obvious that they put Hesjedal as a leader since he won a GT this year but i guess Vandevelde could finish in higher place with over 100km of TT.

Other than the Team Classification part, that's pretty much what I would want if I were their DS. Send in Danielson, Hesjedal and Vande Velde as equals with the road deciding who supports who. Any two of those will provide pretty damn good help for the other. Tell Martin he's not to ride for GC, nor is he to work as a domestique, he's to attack. Give Millar the opportunity to take a flyer near the finish of stages of too.

 

[Viking]

They would normally be serious contenders to pinch a sprint stage, but Farrar has been consistently pretty poor this year.

Indeed he has. I think Garmin would have been better off forgoing sprints this year and adding a couple more domistiques to help Hesjedal, Vandevelde, and Danielson. Trying to protect the three of them, even for only the first half of the race is going to wear everyone else down unnecessarily.

Farrar may drop out early to rest/prepare for the Olympics anyway, so he'd probably get better preparation in Tour de Pologne anyway. I'm not sure of the route, but I've seen bits hinting it's designed with Olympic prep in mind.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

This article has some more on Garmin's approach:
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...-Barracuda-in-Tour-team-lineup-announced.aspx

In summary:

1) Hesjedal is the leader going in, but it sounds pretty conditional on his form holding up.
2) Farrar is there for sprints, but they have no intention of working for him as they previously have.
3) Martin does seem to have a free attackers role.

 

[Gubby Allen]

Garmin team:
Tom Danielson
Tyler Farrar
Ryder Hesjedal
Robbie Hunter
Dan Martin
David Millar
Christian Vande Velde
Johan Vansummeren
David Zabriskie

There's a lot of very good riders there, but it's hard to see them doing as well as last year. They would be exceptionally strong in a TTT, except there isn't one this year. They would normally be serious contenders to pinch a sprint stage, but Farrar has been consistently pretty poor this year.

Vansummeren as a workhorse, Zabriskie and Millar for the ITTs and also as workhorses. Farrar as sprinter, Hunter as lead out. They are all obvious enough. Where it gets interesting is the four guys who can climb.

Obviously, Hesjedal is suddenly the big star of the team, but it's very hard to see how he can have top form for the Tour. This could have a distorting effect on their strategy. Their press release seems to say that he'll be strongly supported as GC leader, but Garmin generally go into the Tour letting the road decide which of their potential GC men gets the support.

Then there's Dan Martin. It's great to see him at the Tour, but as everyone is probably aware the Time Trialist's parcours means that a GC ride is extremely unlikely. I hope that he's cut loose to attack on every climb (as he did during the Vuelta), to go for stages and possibly the KoM. But it may be that he's being brought along to fetch bottles for Hesjedal, which would be a waste. He may well be their rider most likely to win a stage if he's given his head, with Farrar off-form, the TT men being just a bit off the very best and their other climbers not really being that sort of rider.

How close would Talansky or Le Mevel have come to getting in?

 

[jens_attacks]

big balls by ryder to assume the leadership at the tour...gotta say chapeau but i still think in the third week he will lose a lot of time.i hope he proves me wrong

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

How close would Talansky or Le Mevel have come to getting in?

The question is essentially instead of who? It would depend on Garmin's goals.

Le Mevel is really only getting a slot if they decide to give up on sprints entirely and want a dedicated climbing domestique. They have four climbers on the team already, so there isn't really room for him unless GC is their one and only ambition. It would be hard to justify dropping one of the other four for him, although I suppose he could have made the cut if Hesjedal had decided to take a holiday.

Talansky hasn't ridden a GT yet, has he? So they would probably prefer to put him in the Vuelta, to give him a chance to show what he can do over three weeks in a lower pressure environment. I suspect that he was probably closer to making the cut than Le Mevel because of his versatility. If there was a TTT it would have made him a slightly more likely inclusion, because Garmin really target those.

 

[greenedge]

“If I get the opportunity to go for stage victories myself, I’ll definitely try to take them, but I have a role in the team to fulfil and anything other than that will be a bonus,” he said.

Most other cyclists would be way too tired ( after helping Cav/ Wigggins ) but no EBH. He has such incredible stamina.

 

[SafeBet]

Haha, Liquigas taking Canuti and Paterski instead of rewarding Nerz for a great season and being so loyal to Nibali all year. What a joke.

Paterski was always gonna be selected.
I'm suprised by the Canuti selection though.

Btw, where did you get the news? Can't find them.

 

[cineteq]

Paterski was always gonna be selected.
I'm suprised by the Canuti selection though.

Btw, where did you get the news? Can't find them.

I haven't seen the official Liquigas selection. Why are you talking as if it's a sure thing?

Liquigas-Cannondale pre selection

Ivan Basso (Ita)
Federico Canuti (Ita)
Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita)
Kristjan Koren (Slo)
Alan Marangoni (Ita)
Dominique Nerz (Ger)
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)
Daniel Oss (Ita) J
Maciej Paterski (Pol)
Peter Sagan (Svk) J
Sylvester Szmyd (Pol)
Alessandro Vanotti (Ita)

 

[SafeBet]

I haven't seen the official Liquigas selection. Why are you talking as if it's a sure thing?

Liquigas-Cannondale pre selection

Ivan Basso (Ita)
Federico Canuti (Ita)
Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita)
Kristjan Koren (Slo)
Alan Marangoni (Ita)
Dominique Nerz (Ger)
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)
Daniel Oss (Ita) J
Maciej Paterski (Pol)
Peter Sagan (Svk) J
Sylvester Szmyd (Pol)
Alessandro Vanotti (Ita)

Why are you asking me? It was not me talking about it as a sure thing. Just re-read the post I quoted

Only sure selections as far as I know are Basso, Nibs, Sagan, Vanotti and Oss. Paterski should be there too. That would leave three open spots. And I'm trying to understand where the guy got the news about Canuti over Nerz.

 

[Peccio89]

Nothing is official about liqui team yet; however i'm not convinced by Canuti too, because i think that a guy like Marangoni might be much more useful to help Sagan. And also the fact that Sarmiento is not there is really strange, he did a good Dauphine and he might be really useful for the mountains.

 

[gerundium]

the canuti thing is probably the rider list published on letour.fr

liquigas-cannondale selection according to the preliminary from le tour. This is not final nor neccesarily accurate.

BASSO Ivan ITA
CANUTI Federico ITA
KOREN Kristjan SLO
NIBALI Vincenzo ITA
OSS Daniel ITA
PATERSKI Maciej POL
SAGAN Peter SVK
SZMYD Sylvester POL
VANOTTI Alessandro ITA

with backups

ALL’ANTONIA Tiziano ITA
* MARANGONI Alan ITA
* NERZ Dominik GER

 

[jsem94]

Astana's team is looking KILLER

 

[cineteq]

Why are you asking me? It was not me talking about it as a sure thing. Just re-read the post I quoted

Only sure selections as far as I know are Basso, Nibs, Sagan, Vanotti and Oss. Paterski should be there too. That would leave three open spots. And I'm trying to understand where the guy got the news about Canuti over Nerz.

Sorry I wasn't really pointing at you, SafeBet, it was towards all of you who were talking about it.

From what I read in the past few weeks, I thought Nerz was in.
Btw, I think Szmyd is almost a sure thing, he needs to redeem himself from the weak performance at the Giro.

Nothing is official about liqui team yet; however i'm not convinced by Canuti too, because i think that a guy like Marangoni might be much more useful to help Sagan. And also the fact that Sarmiento is not there is really strange, he did a good Dauphine and he might be really useful for the mountains.

Good! So Liquigas is the only big team not have an official 9.