Transfers and Rumours 2014 > 2015

[Zinoviev Letter]

Martin I doubt as he was kicked out of the BC Academy for being 60kg and useless on the track

Hilarious really in retrospect. Although probably a good thing for him, in that being kept on in a program where he'd have been an irrelevant oddity wouldn't have done him much good.

 

[b.broadhurst]

And then who do they get rid off at the end of 2015 when Yates, Yates, Geoghegan Hart and Cavendish arrive?

Wiggins
Sutton
Puccio
Pate
Edmondson
Boswell

Who they will hopefully replace with some classic/one day riders.

 

[b.broadhurst]

They have no sporting reason to do so in the near future. Sky wouldn't be able to offer any of them the leadership opportunities they get now and Garmin can give Martin top rate support for hilly classics.

If the money on offer is nuts though that could change things.

Martin could lead in the Ardennes

 

[b.broadhurst]

Sky Guys without deals for 2015:
WIGGINS Bradley
SUTTON Chris
ROWE Luke
KNEES Christian
ZANDIO Xabier
EDMONDSON Joshua
DOMBROWSKI Joe

Current Sky Roster for 2015 (21 Riders)
BOSWELL, Ian
DEIGNAN, Philip
EARLE, Nathan
EISEL, Bernhard
FENN, Andrew
FROOME, Christopher
HENAO, Sebastian
KENNAUGH, Peter
KIRYIENKA, Vasil
KöNIG, Leopold
LOPEZ, David
NIEVE, Mikel
NORDHAUG, Lars Petter
PATE, Danny
POELS, Wout
PORTE, Richie
PUCCIO, Salvatore
ROCHE, Nicolas
SIUTSOU, Kanstantsin
Stannard, Ian
SWIFT, Ben
THOMAS, Geraint

I assume Sky's final roster will be:
BOSWELL, Ian
DEIGNAN, Philip
EARLE, Nathan
EISEL, Bernhard
FENN, Andrew
FROOME, Christopher
HENAO, Sebastian
KENNAUGH, Peter
KIRYIENKA, Vasil
KöNIG, Leopold
LOPEZ, David
NIEVE, Mikel
NORDHAUG, Lars Petter
PATE, Danny
POELS, Wout
PORTE, Richie
PUCCIO, Salvatore
ROCHE, Nicolas
SIUTSOU, Kanstantsin
Stannard, Ian
SWIFT, Ben
THOMAS, Geraint
WIGGINS Bradley
SUTTON Chris
ROWE Luke
KNEES Christian
EDMONDSON Joshua
Colbrelli, Sonny
Viviani, Elia

You missed Sergio Henao but that will make it 30.

With Dombrowski to Garmin, Zandio retiring and Colbrelli and Viviani IN.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Martin could lead in the Ardennes

Well yes, but any team that signs him will be doing so to have him lead in the hilly classics. And Garmin have a great support line up for those races. He doesn't gain anything in that regard from going to Sky. The issue is stage races. At Garmin he is leader or co leader in any race he wants. Sky have such an abundance of GC riders that there's no way he gets the same opportunities.

 

[Christian]

Trek is getting to be the team for mediocre Italians

https://twitter.com/TrekFactory/status/517722036454846465

 

[Gloin22]

Trek is getting to be the team for mediocre Italians

https://twitter.com/TrekFactory/status/517722036454846465

This is such a weird one. I mean there are like at least 6 better talents at Bardiani alone..

But to be fair he rides a bit of track, so maybe he's a hidden gem who knows

 

[Michele]

Some news from Beppe Conti:

-Astana wants to prolongue the contract of Aru, but he's just gonna respect his actual contract while Katusha and Bmc are in talks for a possible deal when he will be free
-Aru main reason to leave Astana would be that the team (aka Vino) has decided to have Nibali as main rider and has even offered a contract until 2020 to the sicilian rider for 7 millions. The deal would include to keep Vanotti, his masseur Pallini and his mechanic
-Amadio has to give up on his possible Pro Conti team as finally he didnt sign with the supposed to be main sponsor
-Cunego seems set to sign with Androni or Scinto but il piccolo Principe is closer to il Principe Savio

 

[GuyIncognito]

This is such a weird one. I mean there are like at least 6 better talents at Bardiani alone..

But to be fair he rides a bit of track, so maybe he's a hidden gem who knows

His dad was best man at Guercilena's wedding.

 

[42x16ss]

And then who do they get rid off at the end of 2015 when Yates, Yates, Geoghegan Hart and Cavendish arrive?

So those transfers are set in stone are they? At least half will fall through/not get off the ground. Even Sky are starting realise they can't sign every British rider simply because they're British...

 

[LaFlorecita]

Some news from Beppe Conti:

-Astana wants to prolongue the contract of Aru, but he's just gonna respect his actual contract while Katusha and Bmc are in talks for a possible deal when he will be free
-Aru main reason to leave Astana would be that the team (aka Vino) has decided to have Nibali as main rider and has even offered a contract until 2020 to the sicilian rider for 7 millions. The deal would include to keep Vanotti, his masseur Pallini and his mechanic
-Amadio has to give up on his possible Pro Conti team as finally he didnt sign with the supposed to be main sponsor
-Cunego seems set to sign with Androni or Scinto but il piccolo Principe is closer to il Principe Savio

What the actual ****

 

[Christian]

His dad was best man at Guercilena's wedding.

Ah, well. There you go

 

[Parker]

So those transfers are set in stone are they? At least half will fall through/not get off the ground. Even Sky are starting realise they can't sign every British rider simply because they're British...

No, I was just being mischievous. Just guesswork on my part.
They'll certainly be very interested in the first three as they are the future of British cycling (swap Yateses for Porte?).
As for Cav, I can see him going there on a one year deal as it'll be an Olympic year and he really wants a gold medal.

 

[stabbin31]

His dad was best man at Guercilena's wedding.

To be honest, I don't know a thing about Coledan, but if the above quote is true, and that is the reason for Trek giving him a contract, then it is proof positive that Luca is not the man to lead my team.

I am happy that Rast re-upped. Keeping that Classics team together is key.

 

[search]

Some news from Beppe Conti:

[...]

-Cunego seems set to sign with Androni or Scinto but il piccolo Principe is closer to il Principe Savio

are you sure about that part? Last talk was that me met Giuliani last week to discuss details about a possible contract, so not Scinto's team but the "new" Vini Fantini

 

[Christian]

To be honest, I don't know a thing about Coledan, but if the above quote is true, and that is the reason for Trek giving him a contract, then it is proof positive that Luca is not the man to lead my team.

I am happy that Rast re-upped. Keeping that Classics team together is key.

He's certainly made some questionable calls. Of course his budget is limited and the team consciously decided to sign a lot of young riders and neo-pros, so it was to be expected that they wouldn't get a lot of results this year.

But in some races they were pretty abysmal. Tour, Vuelta, Suisse, Dauphiné they were absolutely invisible, sometimes they were happy to get three riders to finish the race.

With their array of decent sprinters they should have been able to get much more results in smaller races, but they never really got their act together.

On the other hand, riders getting contracts because of their family connections or their nationality is pretty common in cycling, almost every WT team has got a couple of those riders

 

[stabbin31]

He's certainly made some questionable calls.

On the other hand, riders getting contracts because of their family connections or their nationality is pretty common in cycling, almost every WT team has got a couple of those riders

Questionable calls is right. As far as a budget goes, I am not sure, but I am willing to bet it is of the larger variety.

Even in the cobbled races they were average. Look at the OMQS, putting multiple riders in the mix, Sky, always a group protecting each other. Hope I am making sense. Heck, my team no where near WT level protects our leaders better.

Rant Rant Rant

 

[nobilis]

Ratto (Cannondale) and Canola (Bardiani) to UnitedHealthcare. Their aim is to do the Giro.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=75571

 

[nobilis]

Cunego to Nippo-Vini Fantina, that will become a Professional COntinental team next year.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=75573

 

[ILovecycling]

Ratto (Cannondale) and Canola (Bardiani) to UnitedHealthcare. Their aim is to do the Giro.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=75571

UHC hopes to make giro next year?
very interesting

 

[Red Rick]

Some news from Beppe Conti:

-Astana wants to prolongue the contract of Aru, but he's just gonna respect his actual contract while Katusha and Bmc are in talks for a possible deal when he will be free
-Aru main reason to leave Astana would be that the team (aka Vino) has decided to have Nibali as main rider and has even offered a contract until 2020 to the sicilian rider for 7 millions. The deal would include to keep Vanotti, his masseur Pallini and his mechanic
-Amadio has to give up on his possible Pro Conti team as finally he didnt sign with the supposed to be main sponsor
-Cunego seems set to sign with Androni or Scinto but il piccolo Principe is closer to il Principe Savio

7 mill/year for Nibali for a period of 6 years. That's so ****ing much I don't believe it. It's also kinda disrespectfull to Aru saying like, yeah, no matter how good you get next year, we'll stick with Nibali as the top dog, but don't worry, we'll throw you a bone every now and then

 

[theyoungest]

Does anything Beppe Conti says ever come to fruition? 7 million euros a year until 2020 is just ridiculous, Nibali will be 36 by then and who knows what his level will be.

 

[BeagRigh]

A 6 year contact would be madness, I assume something is lost in translation there...

If not must be one of the longest rider contracts ever signed, surely??

 

[Ricco']

Rasmus Quaade to Cult Energy.

Also, Garate said to Biciciclismo that he has an invite from a WT squad. Lampre only has 11 riders confirmed so far and most of them are still U23, he fits really good in Matxin's type of cyclist.

 

[theyoungest]

Belkin/Lotto.nl confirms the signing of Tom Van Asbroeck, as well as Timo Roosen (neo pro).