VI Tour de San Luis (23.01.-29.01., ARG, 2.1)

[Ryaguas]

Leipheimer, Schumacher, Contador, Rasmussen - Valv.Piti should have started his comeback here and not Down Under - he perfectly fits into this honourable society.

QQ... cry me a river...

You're right about Alberto, he is indeed pretty honourable. Not so sure about the others though.

He was being sarcastic... you should mad at him tho as a good fangirl...

incredible tea, although I doubt theyw ill be in early shape as this year tehy are certain of doing giro (they assume and so they should) so all focuss will be on giro. remember last year how serpa peaked in very early seaosn because savio was afraid rcn might not invite them

Stop thinking in Colombia... Clasico RCN is late in the year and yeah... I know that you wanted to mean RCS...

Ok... Contador will win this... I cant see him letting them go in the climbs... I'm sure that He will try to follow and kill it in the ITT... but I'd prefer other scenario... Castroviejo taking the ITT... Amador winning a MTF... and Ochoa or Rodriguez taking an stage... JJ Haedo could take an stage too

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

How hard do the Euro riders ride this? Do they go all out for the GC win? Aim for one stage and ride for training? Do as well as they can staying under a threshold perhaps trying to win a stage or GC if it's there?

some teams really want to win this like liquigas. with nibali 2 years ago, basso 3 years ago he tried and last year tried with capechci who peaked for it he said.

 

[LaFlorecita]

He was being sarcastic... you should mad at him tho as a good fangirl...

Yeah I noticed that. But I thought let's take a different approach instead of throwing random insults at him.

 

[LaFlorecita]

They put some of the teams online.

Some thoughts...

1. Yay! Berto! Let's hope he can actually ride it though...

2. Yay! for Berto riding(?) with the pretty young Danes.

3. Levi Michael... Sylvain Didier... Edward Carrington... *facepalm* I'd rather not know their second names. It makes them sound... dorky.

4. If were going second names anyway, why not Jesus Alberto Hernandez Blazquez. Because Jesus' second name is totes Alberto, a fangirl knows that kind of things.

5. And they have Tosatto with them to lead out JJ, so no, trevim, Alberto is not going to lead out JJ. Although that would be cool to see. And it wouldn't surprise me if he ends up being pretty good at it too...

A bit of a weak team for Contador it seems. Can't wait to see him leading out JJ

6. Plus he doesn't have a weak team because Jesus is awesome (he almost attacked at the Tour, y'know...) and the pretty young Danes aren't that bad either.

 

[will10]

A bit of a weak team for Contador it seems.

Start the season as you mean to go on.

 

[Forunculo]

A bit of a weak team for Contador it seems. Can't wait to see him leading out JJ

Maybe Haedo is out by time cut thanks to Contador

 

[LaFlorecita]

Maybe Haedo is out by time cut thanks to Contador

That'd be fun.

(And I hope that's going to be the case for particular reasons...)

 

[trevim]

Maybe Haedo is out by time cut thanks to Contador

Shame on you Alberto!

 

[trevim]

6. Plus he doesn't have a weak team because Jesus is awesome (he almost attacked at the Tour, y'know...) and the pretty young Danes aren't that bad either.

I have to admit I don't know how good (or bad ) are the young danes. Obviously Tosatto is good and Hernandez is great at times. But still, they left their best team out of this Not that Alberto will miss them but ....

 

[LaFlorecita]

I have to admit I don't know how good (or bad ) are the young danes. Obviously Tosatto is good and Hernandez is great at times. But still, they left their best team out of this Not that Alberto will miss them but ....

I follow the whole team a lot, so I know that sort of things. They're not brilliant yet but they're talented and need to race to improve.

To be honest Hernandez isn't that good, it's that Alberto convinced Johan to sign him otherwise he would've been retired a long time ago. He has his good moments, but that's it.

Alberto won't miss them, no. But the team for the Tour will ride a lot together according to Nicki so we'll see them together in lots of races.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I have to admit I don't know how good (or bad ) are the young danes. Obviously Tosatto is good and Hernandez is great at times. But still, they left their best team out of this Not that Alberto will miss them but ....

hernandez is never great and the young danes suck. that's why riis got them. they cost next to nothing

 

[LaFlorecita]

hernandez is never great and the young danes suck. that's why riis got them. they cost next to nothing

Right and the young Colombians are awesome. Way to go, Ryo...

I'll laugh so hard when they're going to beat your stupid Colombians bad in three years time. The Danes may cost next to nothing, they're at least not incredibly overrated.

PS Hernandez may not be great he's certainly good at moments.

 

[LaFlorecita]

hernandez is never great and the young danes suck. that's why riis got them. they cost next to nothing

Nice dig at Bjarne, btw.

 

[trevim]

I follow the whole team a lot, so I know that sort of things. They're not brilliant yet but they're talented and need to race to improve.

To be honest Hernandez isn't that good, it's that Alberto convinced Johan to sign him otherwise he would've been retired a long time ago. He has his good moments, but that's it.

Alberto won't miss them, no. But the team for the Tour will ride a lot together according to Nicki so we'll see them together in lots of races.

Well I have to disagree about Hernandez. He was there this year both at Giau (before Alberto dropped him), Tourmalet and Telegraphe (I'm not sure about this one).

And I don't think he would have retired by now, he's a good rider to have around in some climbs. Not the best but still good, and looking at Saxo this year, yes he's great.

The one who would have been retired by now without Alberto is Noval. I haven't seen him riding well in a long time.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Well I have to disagree about Hernandez. He was there this year both at Giau (before Alberto dropped him), Tourmalet and Telegraphe (I'm not sure about this one).

And I don't think he would have retired by now, he's a good rider to have around in some climbs. Not the best but still good, and looking at Saxo this year, yes he's great.

The one who would have been retired by now without Alberto is Noval. I haven't seen him riding well in a long time.

Believe me, I do think Hernandez is good, he's improved incredibly, but after the collapse of Liberty Seguros he raced for some small team and he wanted to retire, because he didn't feel the need to continue racing at such a low level. But then in 2009 Johan contracted him (after long pushing by Alberto).

Jesus is good, but just not of the level of the best climbers/climbing domestiques.

Btw, Telegraphe was Dani Navarro I think.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

hernandez is a pure climber with zero engine basicaly. stages over 150 km he suffer a lot and in the flat. also he's very inconsistant. navarro has this too but obviously has more class and talent

 

[LaFlorecita]

hernandez is a pure climber with zero engine basicaly. stages over 150 km he suffer a lot and in the flat. also he's very inconsistant. navarro has this too but obviously has more class and talent

So? He's, as you say, a pure climber. What does it matter how he does on the flat as long as he gets in before the time limit?

And he's inconsistent, yes, I acknowledge that. But to say he's never great is just weird.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

no, he's never great. great are guys like vino, gilbert, or even navarro in 2010 tour few stages. hernandez is never that

 

[LaFlorecita]

no, he's never great. great are guys like vino, gilbert, or even navarro in 2010 tour few stages. hernandez is never that

Whatever you know the guy didn't mean great like that.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I have to admit I don't know how good (or bad ) are the young danes. Obviously Tosatto is good and Hernandez is great at times. But still, they left their best team out of this Not that Alberto will miss them but ....

great at times. well whatever he means I would love to see great moments of hernandez and what trevim means by them

 

[trevim]

great at times. well whatever he means I would love to see great moments of hernandez and what trevim means by them

I obvioulsly meant great in the way that I expect Hernandez to win the Vuelta next year and lead Spain at the Worlds

On a more serious note: great, good, whatever,... He was there in Giau, Tourmalet, Alpe d'Huez (Dauphiné and Tour). That's what a climbing domestique is for me.

 

[gilbertador]

Hernandez is a pritty run of the mill domestique for mountains hes not very good and would definitely not be worth a pro contract if it wasnt for contador, he owes his career to him.

What amazes me is how contador puts up with crap inconsistent domestiques, Navarro is class sometimes but Noval and Hernandez are a waste of space surely the greatest GT rider and climber could build an entourage with better domestiques that follow him?

When you sign him its Contador + 3 if he took Navarro around only it would be understandable but those 2 are dead wieght

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Jesús Hernández is a lower slopes domestique. He'd probably be able to get a contract without Alberto, but it would be at a team like Andalucía rather than at a pro team. Noval is an engine for the flats. He didn't have his best year in 2011, but he's still capable. No, he isn't Bert Grabsch or Txente García, but domestiques like those are the exceptions, not the norm.

Also, those guys are not dead weight. Keeping your top level star happy is an important factor for making sure he doesn't go anywhere. Having his close friend and training partner in the team is good for his morale. Just because he isn't doing a Sylwester Szmyd job doesn't mean he can't be a mountain domestique; often a lot of his best work is done before the race is even on the air.

Hernández is a thoroughly reasonable pro mountain domestique. No, he isn't Niemiec or Szmyd, but having him around keeps Contador happy, and besides he has Navarro to do that job.

 

[MatchstickMan]

Are there any forumites from Argentina? I'm in Buenos Aires next Saturday before going backpacking through the country over the next couple of months. Don't suppose anyone would be able to offer any advice on the best way to link up with the race in San Luis?! I think reaching stage 6 from Cordóba is going to be my best bet...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Sofía is from Mar del Plata, but apart from her I don't know of any.