Transfers and Rumours 2011 > 2012

[LaFlorecita]

lol just read one of the most epic rumours ever:

the schlecks to be separated in two teams,just one of them will remain at radioshack.
on velo-club.
i think this would be the best thing that ever happened to them.

lololololol

 

[taiwan]

To be honest I think he is at the right place.

A team who gets a lot of invitations, without a real leader. Thus he gets leadership opportunities.

Not sure how many of the bigger teams would give him that role.

Hopefully they get wildcards to Paris Roubaix and De Ronde again, as that wouldn't be guaranteed. Should be able to count on a ride at the Tour though. It really can't hurt Europcar: they need a leader, and I don't believe they have any strong finishers either. Also Pozzato should be able to give younger riders on Europcar the benefit of his experience in the classics.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Laurent Didier to Radioshack Nissan Trek.

Pretty strange imo, even though he is from Lux, you would say there are not a lot of places at that team left anymore and they could have better took some more guys from Leopard then Didier.

 

[roadbiker]

Laurent Didier to Radioshack Nissan Trek.

Pretty strange imo, even though he is from Lux, you would say there are not a lot of places at that team left anymore and they could have better took some more guys from Leopard then Didier.

Couldn't agree more!
He isn't a weak rider, but there would have been better alternatives on their "black list".

 

[luckyboy]

CCC Polsat is closing down and it looks like Vacansoleil got 2 of the best riders.

Oh it's closing. Didn't realise that. Sucks.

 

[Chef_Vodnik]

Couldn't agree more!
He isn't a weak rider, but there would have been better alternatives on their "black list".

That's publicity work to appease the masses in Luxembourg.

National consensus right now is that the team has betrayed its roots, is no longer from Luxembourg and the project has died. Because everyone, stupid as they were, expected the team to run under the name "LeOpard" forever - and since its no longer called like that, it's over OMFGBBQROFLSAUCE

Like I said, this is to regain "trust" here. People here also want them to sign Jungels (although he's far too young IMO), Gastauer (although he fits perfectly where he is right now) et. al. in order to form a "national team". -_-

 

[screaming fist]

Katusha under Holczer and Henn are interested in Gerdemann and Wegmann
http://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_71827.htm

 

[roundabout]

Oh it's closing. Didn't realise that. Sucks.

I suppose I am jumping the gun a little bit as so far there have only been rumors and nothing has been made official.

Other rumors say that the team might continue on a lower level. Continental I would guess.

 

[El Pistolero]

News about Alejandro Valverde:

Alejandro Valverde
Tot slot nog nieuws rondom Alejandro Valverde. Het was al enige tijd duidelijk dat de voormalige Spaanse vedette komend jaar zijn comeback van een dopingschorsing maakt bij Movistar, maar nu is er meer duidelijk geworden over die overstap. Opinion de Murcia meldt namelijk dat het gaat om een tweejarig contract, en dat Valverde twee miljoen euro per jaar gaat verdienen. Dit is één miljoen euro minder dan dat wat hij ontving voor zijn schorsing.

--

2 year contract at Movistar for 2 million euros a year, one million less than before his suspension. Not confirmed yet thouh

source: Opinion de Murcia.

 

[roadbiker]

2 year contract at Movistar for 2 million euros a year, one million less than before his suspension. Not confirmed yet thouh
source: Opinion de Murcia.

If really true 2 mio is way to much (for a man who was neutralized for the last 2 years) if you ask me.
Do spanish cycling teams recently act like their football pendants?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Seeldraeyers ==> Astana (Biciclismo)

 

[Christian]

Laurent Didier to Radioshack-Nissan-Trek for one year, option for one more.

http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/sport/a.../laurent-didier-zu-radioshack-nissan-trek.php

I was certain he would go to LEOPARD TREK, then after the merger I thought he would stay with Riis, especially since he said he would be glad to keep him. Good signing, even though it doesn't stick out among all the others ...

 

[just some guy]

Laurent Didier to Radioshack-Nissan-Trek for one year, option for one more.

http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/sport/a.../laurent-didier-zu-radioshack-nissan-trek.php

I was certain he would go to LEOPARD TREK, then after the merger I thought he would stay with Riis, especially since he said he would be glad to keep him. Good signing, even though it doesn't stick out among all the others ...

and another rider from the combined team looking for a job - problem is this other rider doesn´t know who he is yet.

 

[greenedge]

the schlecks to be separated in two teams,just one of them will remain at radioshack.
on velo-club.
i think this would be the best thing that ever happened to them.

They shall be reunited at the age of 80 when Andy leads retirement Shack to 50 or so TDF victories. Longo will have nothing.

 

[spalco]

Katusha under Holczer and Henn are interested in Gerdemann and Wegmann
http://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_71827.htm

Wow, I can't believer Holczer got a job in cycling again after the Gerolsteiner debacle.

 

[nobilis]

Laurent Didier to Radioshack-Nissan-Trek for one year, option for one more.

http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/sport/a.../laurent-didier-zu-radioshack-nissan-trek.php

I was certain he would go to LEOPARD TREK, then after the merger I thought he would stay with Riis, especially since he said he would be glad to keep him. Good signing, even though it doesn't stick out among all the others ...

So transfers are still going in one direction for Riis. And speculations regarding the merger with Astana appeared not to be true. So what's really going on in Riis' mind?

 

[El Pistolero]

So transfers are still going in one direction for Riis. And speculations regarding the merger with Astana appeared not to be true. So what's really going on in Riis' mind?

As far as Laurent Didier goes, he won't care. Not a very good cyclist. I'm not sure how he keeps getting in these big teams. Especially the GT teams as he can't climb at all.

 

[Christian]

Wow, I can't believer Holczer got a job in cycling again after the Gerolsteiner debacle.

Especially since he was working as a high school history and math teacher after that. I honestly thought it was a joke when I first read it

 

[Christian]

As far as Laurent Didier goes, he won't care. Not a very good cyclist. I'm not sure how he keeps getting in these big teams. Especially the GT teams as he can't climb at all.

Say what? Many times I have heard him being described as the perfect domestique who studies the roadbook back to back, knows every turn and every speedbump, when the winds will turn, etc. There was even an article about him on cyclingnews in this year's Giro where his DS praised him:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/laurent-didier-a-luxembourger-helping-contador

Riis even said he would be glad to keep him if it didn't work out with Radioshack-Nissan-Trek.
Last Giro (in his first season as a professional), he was still in 9th position after 10 days or so. I find this especially remarkable if you consider all the bottlenecks that created horrible carnage in the Netherlands (classic Zomegnan). On the Strade Bianche stage he finished 20th, also quite decent for a neo pro. He ended up finishing 30th or so in the end. This year he worked a lot in the beginning of the stages, then was asked to take it slow in order to save energy

 

[El Pistolero]

Say what? Many times I have heard him being described as the perfect domestique who studies the roadbook back to back, knows every turn and every speedbump, when the winds will turn, etc. There was even an article about him on cyclingnews in this year's Giro where his DS praised him:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/laurent-didier-a-luxembourger-helping-contador

Riis even said he would be glad to keep him if it didn't work out with Radioshack-Nissan-Trek.
Last Giro (in his first season as a professional), he was still in 9th position after 10 days or so. I find this especially remarkable if you consider all the bottlenecks that created horrible carnage in the Netherlands (classic Zomegnan). On the Strade Bianche stage he finished 20th, also quite decent for a neo pro. He ended up finishing 30th or so in the end. This year he worked a lot in the beginning of the stages, then was asked to take it slow in order to save energy

There are loads of guys that do that. I honestly don't see why he would be in a Grand Tour team of someone high caliber as Contador. In the Giro the only guy I ever saw working for Contador was Tossato. I'm sure they were all being good water boys though. Contador was isolated pretty early in every stage, even the strade Bianche stage were only Tossato finished with him.

 

[Christian]

There are loads of guys that do that. I honestly don't see why he would be in a Grand Tour team of someone high caliber as Contador. In the Giro the only guy I ever saw working for Contador was Tossato. I'm sure they were all being good water boys though.

That's because maybe you didn't get to see everything:

"The hardest part of the job is the one people don't see on TV," he told Cyclingnews. "It's at the beginning of every stage when we have to control who goes in breakaways. That was a particularly complicated task yesterday on stage 12. But even the days before Alberto took the pink jersey, we had to be attentive at every attack and make sure that no one potentially dangerous on GC was in there. Every day, when our work is done, we're asked to take it easy and reach the finishing line with the concern of keeping as much energy as we can for the day after."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/laurent-didier-a-luxembourger-helping-contador

I'm sure there are others who could do this job just as good but to call Didier "not a very good cyclist" just because he "can't climb" is maybe a bit harsh don't you think? You need guys like that in every GT team, otherwise it's not going to work

 

[El Pistolero]

That's because maybe you didn't get to see everything:



I'm sure there are others who could do this job just as good but to call Didier "not a very good cyclist" just because he "can't climb" is maybe a bit harsh don't you think? You need guys like that in every GT team, otherwise it's not going to work

What Contador needed there(well actually he didn't need it) was a good climber on his side. His guy for the flat/hillier stages was Tossato who did an amazing job.

I never really saw Saxo riding on front to keep the breakaway in check(ok, a few times), most of the times other teams were doing the work for them. Contador got the basic help of his team. That was pretty much it.

If Riis really needs a guy to work at the beginning of a stage he should sign Jurgen van de Walle. He rode the first 50km of LBL all by him self at the head of the peloton. Riis needs climbers anyway, not more guys who get dropped whenever the road goes up.

It just seems to me he gets a contract at Leopard because he's from Luxembourg. I doubt they'll let him in the Tour team there with guys like the Schlecks, Klöden, Horner, Popovych, Cancellara, Jens Voigt and Monfort. That's 4 helpers already.

 

[Christian]

What Contador needed there(well actually he didn't need it) was a good climber on his side. His guy for the flat/hillier stages was Tossato who did an amazing job.

I never really saw Saxo riding on front to keep the breakaway in check(ok, a few times), most of the times other teams were doing the work for them. Contador got the basic help of his team. That was pretty much it.

If Riis really needs a guy to work at the beginning of a stage he should sign Jurgen van de Walle. He rode the first 50km of LBL all by him self at the head of the peloton. Riis needs climbers anyway, not more guys who get dropped whenever the road goes up.

It wasn't "riding to keep the break in check", it was closing down break attempts in the beginning of the stage when someone potentially dangerous was in them. There's a difference - when they made sure no one dangerous was in there, they didn't need to do much work for the rest of the stage. As for getting dropped - they were asked to let themselves get dropped. I agree that Riis needs other kind of support for Contador, but as I said every GT team also needs a couple of guys for Didier's job. But just because we don't see them on TV or their job is less glamerous doesn't make them bad cyclists

 

[El Pistolero]

It wasn't "riding to keep the break in check", it was closing down break attempts in the beginning of the stage when someone potentially dangerous was in them. There's a difference - when they made sure no one dangerous was in there, they didn't need to do much work for the rest of the stage. As for getting dropped - they were asked to let themselves get dropped. I agree that Riis needs other kind of support for Contador, but as I said every GT team also needs a couple of guys for Didier's job. But just because we don't see them on TV or their job is less glamerous doesn't make them bad cyclists

He still won't make it in the Tour team next year with guys like Brajko, Horner, Schlecks, Klöden, Popovych, Monfort, Jens Voigt and Cancellara. He'll get send to the Giro or something with a B squad. And these guys can't be competitive in the Giro or Vuelta if their life depended on it, so he won't be working for a GT leader there.

 

[Christian]

It just seems to me he gets a contract at Leopard because he's from Luxembourg. I doubt they'll let him in the Tour team there with guys like the Schlecks, Klöden, Horner, Popovych, Cancellara, Jens Voigt and Monfort. That's 4 helpers already.

Yes his nationality plays a role in him getting the job, but at the same time it's not like any decent rider from Luxembourg gets a ride. Jempy Drucker or Ben Gastauer for example both did quite decent seasons but didn't get a ride. It is my understanding that the Schlecks especially requested him because they value him as a great domestique. They were already the ones that convinced Riis to get him to Saxo Bank and Riis didn't regret it. I would have said he could replace O'Grady in the Tour team but now with the merger I don't know if there is room for him. He might get to replace Voigt in due time though