Volta a Catalunya 2012: Stage 2, Girona - Girona (161 km)

[Richeypen]

For those who followed the Greenedge thread on this forum through November and December you will remember the MANY forum contributors who absolutely caned the GE team and their selection of "all sprinters" and no-one who could climb more than a tiny hill. Shocking, weakest in the WT, who picked this rubbish, etc were many of the claims.

As one of the few sticking up for the new Aussie team I am just sitting back smiling. Surely they must be moved from Shocking to Poor now on some of the experts rankings
GE supporters like myself will not be getting ahead of ourselves of course as this trend can't continue all year but it is nice to pick up the wins and we look forward to a few more hopefully...maybe Albasini can go on and win this race to add to Gerrans MSR victory.

One of the beauties of this team and I notice it a lot while you are all discussing the big names is that a lot more riders are given license at GE to go for a win rather than 95% of a team roster looking after 2 or 3 gun riders.

What rubbish. Greenedge ARE a sprinters team. Gerrans' form has been suprising but he isnt a climber and will disappear after Flanders (maybe a stage at the Tour) and Albasini hasnt really been surprising because he has always been a strong rider but if he wins this race it will be a ****up by teams letting him go, not that he is the best.


Do you honestly believe that they are worthy of 3 GT invites? The only WT teams who are weaker are Saxo (for obvious reasons) and Euskaltel (simply because their lack of cobble riders). Greenedge have picked up some very nice results but nothing has changed. Their strong riders are showing good form (apart from Goss), but their weak riders are still very poor.



I expect Weening to rip it up at all three GTs now

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

For those who followed the Greenedge thread on this forum through November and December you will remember the MANY forum contributors who absolutely caned the GE team and their selection of "all sprinters" and no-one who could climb more than a tiny hill. Shocking, weakest in the WT, who picked this rubbish, etc were many of the claims.

As one of the few sticking up for the new Aussie team I am just sitting back smiling. Surely they must be moved from Shocking to Poor now on some of the experts rankings
GE supporters like myself will not be getting ahead of ourselves of course as this trend can't continue all year but it is nice to pick up the wins and we look forward to a few more hopefully...maybe Albasini can go on and win this race to add to Gerrans MSR victory.

One of the beauties of this team and I notice it a lot while you are all discussing the big names is that a lot more riders are given license at GE to go for a win rather than 95% of a team roster looking after 2 or 3 gun riders.

they still suck. just wait for the grand tours to see them fail all over the mountains. we haven't had a single mountain yet in catalunya and msr isn't a climbing race either. all the critics, greenedge got was for having ****ty climbers and that's still the case.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Don't know how he is overall. but he was terrible in the tour last year. He was constantly gapped on descents by the other white jersey contenders.

nope.


.....

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Rubbish. It's amazing the lengths you go to in order to make excuses for Colombian riders. From the helicopter shots it looked like at most he led the descent for a few corners. Meanwhile Cataldo led the bunch up the climb and down most of the descent and still managed to finish second in the sprint ahead of Uran!

Uran isn't a good descender btw. Not terrible, but not good either.

he isn't as good as he used to be because of his tour of germany crash that has influenced his career a lot. however he is more than average descender and not as bad as wiggins or leipheimer for instance. good example was last years tour where andy lost so much time in downhil

 

[hatcher]

nope.


.....

Come on, you know he was. Maybe he's okay normally, but he wasn't in the Tour.

 

[Maroon Heaven]

Folks anyone know what happened Nico Roche Today. Way off pace and I have seen no comments on the tread to say he was involved in anything?

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Come on, you know he was. Maybe he's okay normally, but he wasn't in the Tour.

uran crashed in one stage, he was also sick. this was in the final. he didn't drop in the downhil he could simply barely ride his bike anymore cuz of the crash. the crash was showed even on tv. other then that he followed the main group in every descent

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Folks anyone know what happened Nico Roche Today. Way off pace and I have seen no comments on the tread to say he was involved in anything?

to me it seems roche has had 1 or 2 years where he rode above his regular level. he was never a very big talent nor was he very good. his tour 2010 or 2009?? came as quite a surprise and he doesn't seem able to keep that level.

 

[Wilba60]

What rubbish. Greenedge ARE a sprinters team. Gerrans' form has been suprising but he isnt a climber and will disappear after Flanders (maybe a stage at the Tour) and Albasini hasnt really been surprising because he has always been a strong rider but if he wins this race it will be a ****up by teams letting him go, not that he is the best

Not sure which part you are referring to as rubbish. I make no mention of GE not being a sprinting/time trial based team, just that they are doing better in the little and medium hills than the doomsayers predicted and I think there will be more to come. Wasn't it just last week that many in this forum predicted that Cam Meyer wouldn't last in the hills and would drop out of the top 10 in a very rapid way. I think he did pretty well on a track based program for a non-climber. A lot also predicted that they would be lucky to get any wins at all and that is wrong already.

As for GT's...lets wait and see who they pick, there are plenty of stages that they can feature in.

 

[maltiv]

Folks anyone know what happened Nico Roche Today. Way off pace and I have seen no comments on the tread to say he was involved in anything?

He's been sick prior to the race.

 

[pmcg76]

Folks anyone know what happened Nico Roche Today. Way off pace and I have seen no comments on the tread to say he was involved in anything?

Roche was sick for a few days after Paris-Nice so didnt get any decent training in. He wasnt sure how he was going coming into Cataluyna and stated that if he lost time in the mountain stages, he would hunt for stage wins.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...about-expectations-for-Volta-a-Catalunya.aspx

 

[Libertine Seguros]

For those who followed the Greenedge thread on this forum through November and December you will remember the MANY forum contributors who absolutely caned the GE team and their selection of "all sprinters" and no-one who could climb more than a tiny hill. Shocking, weakest in the WT, who picked this rubbish, etc were many of the claims.

As one of the few sticking up for the new Aussie team I am just sitting back smiling. Surely they must be moved from Shocking to Poor now on some of the experts rankings
GE supporters like myself will not be getting ahead of ourselves of course as this trend can't continue all year but it is nice to pick up the wins and we look forward to a few more hopefully...maybe Albasini can go on and win this race to add to Gerrans MSR victory.

One of the beauties of this team and I notice it a lot while you are all discussing the big names is that a lot more riders are given license at GE to go for a win rather than 95% of a team roster looking after 2 or 3 gun riders.

I think that's certainly part of it; they still have a pretty weak roster, but they have done a great job thus far of isolating which races to go for and who should go for it, and are really punching above their weight in terms of results vs. quality of riders on roster, especially given that Goss hasn't really got going yet. Gerrans' improvement has been particularly marked; he now appears to be a genuine contender, whereas for the last couple of years he was a highly overrated character who was always named as a threat, then would do nothing until coming 7th in the final charge.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

I don't think Machado was with the leaders over the top. Hell, I don't think Fuglsang was either.

Very impressive then from Cataldo.

Jakob Fuglsang ‏ @jakob_fuglsang Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Hard day 2day...Valverde' crash and Quickstep' payback from P-N cost me a few years of my life today but got back with help from #RSNT guys.

 

[Maroon Heaven]

Roche was sick for a few days after Paris-Nice so didnt get any decent training in. He wasnt sure how he was going coming into Cataluyna and stated that if he lost time in the mountain stages, he would hunt for stage wins.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...about-expectations-for-Volta-a-Catalunya.aspx

Thanks for that - concerning that he expected Tomorrow to be the hard stage - not today's. New to this cycling thing so have a question - Surely his form now is questionable going into the TDF with some other AG2R riders doing well. If this poor form continues (Algarve, Paris-Nice before this) - can he lose the number 1 jersey for the team?

 

[maltiv]

Thanks for that - concerning that he expected Tomorrow to be the hard stage - not today's. New to this cycling thing so have a question - Surely his form now is questionable going into the TDF with some other AG2R riders doing well. If this poor form continues (Algarve, Paris-Nice before this) - can he lose the number 1 jersey for the team?

Realistically, he already lost it. Peraud is a far better prospect for GT's, particularly one with as many TT kilometers as this year's TDF. Roche has shown very little since his 7th place in the 2010 Vuelta.

 

[Maroon Heaven]

Realistically, he already lost it. Peraud is a far better prospect for GT's, particularly one with as many TT kilometers as this year's TDF. Roche has shown very little since his 7th place in the 2010 Vuelta.

Thanks Maltiv - as I say, I'm new to this, but getting addicted - I have further questions and appreciate any help - I've love to know the following.

Do all cyclists start off as equals at the start of each season or is there a pecking order?
Does Roche or a particular cyclist sign a contract that they are No 1?
If Peraud takes over No 1. What does that mean for Roche for future tours ie. Team orders, pushing for a win etc etc?
If Roche was pushing above his weight in 2009/2010 - what happens him next season when contract is finished with AG2R in 2012 - what's available to him?
What age do you peak at cycling?

 

[Beech Mtn]

NicoRoche came in w/ Valverde, ASchleck, Vanendert group.

JaviMoreno at 17.03?! Must've had some kind of problem.

Moreno tweeted that he has been sick and not eating, so suffered today.
The comissaires added insult to injury, and penalized an additional 20 seconds for drafting behind cars.

Valv and Quintana got penalized also.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Un pinchazo de Quintana y una caída de Valverde casi consecutivas les retrasan en una general

quintana indeed had a flat tire or he was allowed to ride for himself.

 

[pmcg76]

Thanks Maltiv - as I say, I'm new to this, but getting addicted - I have further questions and appreciate any help - I've love to know the following.

Do all cyclists start off as equals at the start of each season or is there a pecking order?
Does Roche or a particular cyclist sign a contract that they are No 1?
If Peraud takes over No 1. What does that mean for Roche for future tours ie. Team orders, pushing for a win etc etc?
If Roche was pushing above his weight in 2009/2010 - what happens him next season when contract is finished with AG2R in 2012 - what's available to him?
What age do you peak at cycling?

Most teams dont have one designated leader throughout the year although some teams are built around one guy like Saxo Bank was with Contador. This is the exception rather than the rule. Most have a few leaders with different targets throughout the year.

Roche is one of the main guys at AG2R along with Peraud, Gadret, Dupont. Previously he was their No 1 guy for the Tour but that is now doubtful, what it really means for Roche is that he needs to start setting other objectives for himself, stage wins at the Tour and smaller stage races which many of us feel he should have been doing already.

His options post 2012? He will undoubtedly be resigned/picked up by another ProTour team but will maybe take a pay cut in doing so depending on how he goes for the rest of the year. Maybe his role within a team may also change slightly.

Peaking in cycling was normally between approx 25 and mid 30s but that seems to be changing with guys like Horner/Leipheimr around. Really talented freaks appear earlier normally.

 

[Panda Claws]

Good 12th place by Van den Broeck

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Always humble and no complaints.... great man

alejandro valverde ‏ @alejanvalverde Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Ha sido un día duro por la caída pero esto forma parte de este deporte. Gracias a todos por los ánimos!

 

[Maroon Heaven]

Thanks PMCG

 

[Christian]

Pretty poor performance by RSNT as a whole, BTW. Only Fuglsang in the front group.

It seems they missed out initially and then had to bring Fuglsang back

@jakob_fuglsang

Hard day 2day...Valverde' crash and Quickstep' payback from P-N cost me a few years of my life today but got back with help from #RSNT guys.

 

[Kwibus]

Always humble and no complaints.... great man

alejandro valverde ‏ @alejanvalverde Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Ha sido un día duro por la caída pero esto forma parte de este deporte. Gracias a todos por los ánimos!

Valverde always tweets 1 message 3 times in Spanish, English and France.

I suggest using the english version since it's an english forum

Valverde: Today has been a very tough one because of the crash but this makes part of cycling. Thank you everybody for your encouragements messages!


edit: Indeed a great sports.

 

[jens_attacks]

Always humble and no complaints.... great man

alejandro valverde ‏ @alejanvalverde Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Ha sido un día duro por la caída pero esto forma parte de este deporte. Gracias a todos por los ánimos!

classier than the initial levi's rampage on twitter after that stage in paris-nice.shiit happens.