Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2.1) February 3-7

[beatthatrat]

Ah god, how could i forget plucky little Rujano!

 

[Brullnux]

How about Quintana?

 

[Brullnux]

I really don't know what you're trying to say here: Contador, Nibali and Quintana aren't exactly snails. Aru isn't too bad either, and Andy was allrgiht pre 2011 and so was Evans.

 

[Jspear]

Bouhanni for the win.

 

[carton]

If you compare it to the number of WT teams and high level Pro Conti teams, 18% is a lot. I realize that it is simply not possible for all teams to share the wins but at the very least you would hope the % of wins would change per year with different teams winning the biggest share. When you have the same team winning the lion's share for 4 years in a row (and 3 out of 4 TDFs) perhaps something is very wrong, either with the system or something more nefarious.

There are consistently good and bad teams for long stretches in every sport, particularly every non-franchise sport. At least two of Bayern, Barcelona and Madrid have been in the semifinals of the Champions League every year since 2009, when Barcelona took out Bayern in the quarters. There must be around 1,000 teams in top flight leagues in UEFA. In tennis, three guys have won 90% (44) of the last 49 slams, I don't think it gets that much better when you broaden that to masters titles. There's 128 guys at the start of each tournament. Two drivers from two teams have won the last 6 Formula 1 titles. I don't know what proportion of races each team won, but I'll bet it's over 18%. But here's the thing, even in franchise sports, when the individual component is really high, the same thing happens. LeBron James has gotten to the finals the last five years straight. There's 30 teams in the NBA. 18% is no lions share in terms of sport, and nothing even remotely close to dominance.

And again, you're fixated on just stage races. I'm pretty sure Sky is the worst WT team in terms of Classics wins over the last 6 years. Even if the ASO makes it a franchise sport where every team get's the same budget I doubt that that there will cease to be good and bad teams, particularly for different targets. Maybe if there's a rider draft held at the end of every year things may change. You'd have to ask them to make it so no team is allowed to specialize in any discipline, too. Maybe draft the climbers apart from the classics men and separate the climbing from the flat domestiques. And draft the directors too.

 

[pastronef]

Re:

Bouhanni for the win.

ah yes, thanks. you are right, this is actually the Volta Valenciana thread. for a moment a thought the topic was another one...

 

[beatthatrat]

Re:

I really don't know what you're trying to say here: Contador, Nibali and Quintana aren't exactly snails. Aru isn't too bad either, and Andy was allrgiht pre 2011 and so was Evans.

I find it amusing that one team is being singled out as being "nefarious" that's all. Cycling has a long history of successful teams.

Now that Contador is over-the-hill I can only see Sky being even more dominant at stage racing.

 

[beatthatrat]

Re: Re:

Bouhanni for the win.

ah yes, thanks. you are right, this is actually the Volta Valenciana thread. for a moment a thought the topic was another one...

True

I wonder why Dan Martin was a minute back today. He looked to be in good form earlier in the week.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

Bouhanni for the win.

ah yes, thanks. you are right, this is actually the Volta Valenciana thread. for a moment a thought the topic was another one...

True

I wonder why Dan Martin was a minute back today. He looked to be in good form earlier in the week.

I think Dan is in great form ...for a steep hill...His speed is imo better than Poels on such climbs and augers well for the Ardennes ...today may have been a bit much for him so soon

 

[HelloDolly]

Carton I admire and concur with your posts...SKY (if not looking at stage races) are not that successful and we all remember periods of the season when they are not really that good at that either

Its the allusion and innuendo and the gnashing of teeth especially by those who support riders who have been sanctioned for doping that leaves a sour taste. And calling for Cookson to retire because SKY bought the correct riders is ridiculous

I understand that if SKY dominated the sport then it would be hard to watch ...but they don't and wont

Astana & Movistar have very strong teams ...wining alot of races last year and doing well on GTs
Tinkoff are too dependent on 2 superstar riders to win races ...they have divided focus imo

 

[johnymax]

Speaking of strong teams for stage races I'm surprised there's been almost no mention of Katusha. I think they'll be the biggest threat to Sky in one week races (beside Contador and Porte of course). Purito, Spilak and Zakarin can all win races with strong field and now with the addition of VdB and Taaramae they only get stronger.

 

[greenedge]

Re: Re:

Sad that Diego dropped so far down the rankings.
This Sky domination is pretty boring, hopefully the other teams catch up before 2026.

With Purito going to win Liege and Rio, Contador the Tour and Chaves the Vuelta, who cares about Team Sky winning the Tour of Valencia?

Hey,that's not funny http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/valverde-makes-rio-olympic-games-number-one-target-in-2016/

The last thing Spain needs is more infighting. Minguez should not select any Movistar riders besides Valverde else he risks creating a team inside a team. He should also appoint clear roles which I would suggest to be Valverde for a sprint, Purito for a last lap attack and Contador for a way earlier attack. Then he needs to domestiques so why not select Luisle and Samu. Then he'd have two clear TTers too. But Valverde has Minguez eating out of his palm so I would not be surprised if he selects Ion and Castroviejo instead. Maybe even Gorka too or Beñat (also a clear connection with Movistar).

It'd be better if they sent Landa instead of Lulu or Samu. Castrajevo is a rider that has improved and could actually go well on the ITT route with his more slimmed down figure.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re: Re:

Sad that Diego dropped so far down the rankings.
This Sky domination is pretty boring, hopefully the other teams catch up before 2026.

With Purito going to win Liege and Rio, Contador the Tour and Chaves the Vuelta, who cares about Team Sky winning the Tour of Valencia?

Hey,that's not funny http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/valverde-makes-rio-olympic-games-number-one-target-in-2016/

The last thing Spain needs is more infighting. Minguez should not select any Movistar riders besides Valverde else he risks creating a team inside a team. He should also appoint clear roles which I would suggest to be Valverde for a sprint, Purito for a last lap attack and Contador for a way earlier attack. Then he needs to domestiques so why not select Luisle and Samu. Then he'd have two clear TTers too. But Valverde has Minguez eating out of his palm so I would not be surprised if he selects Ion and Castroviejo instead. Maybe even Gorka too or Beñat (also a clear connection with Movistar).

It'd be better if they sent Landa instead of Lulu or Samu. Castrajevo is a rider that has improved and could actually go well on the ITT route with his more slimmed down figure.

What about Moreno? He's friend with Purito and Valverde's teammate this season.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

It'd be better if they sent Landa instead of Lulu or Samu. Castrajevo is a rider that has improved and could actually go well on the ITT route with his more slimmed down figure.

Landa would add another ego. Like I wrote I wouldn't go for Castroviejo because of the obvious Movistar connection. Luisle and Samu are independent and would be prepared to put their ego aside to work for the team as they've done many times in the past years. I agree with whoever suggested Moreno, he could be a good selection too because he is linked with both Valverde and Purito.

 

[pink_jersey]

Re: Re:

It'd be better if they sent Landa instead of Lulu or Samu. Castrajevo is a rider that has improved and could actually go well on the ITT route with his more slimmed down figure.

Landa would add another ego. Like I wrote I wouldn't go for Castroviejo because of the obvious Movistar connection. Luisle and Samu are independent and would be prepared to put their ego aside to work for the team as they've done many times in the past years. I agree with whoever suggested Moreno, he could be a good selection too because he is linked with both Valverde and Purito.

I think Purito, Valverde, Contador, Lando and Moreno is a perfect team. Even if you remove Landa and Moreno and put Samy and Luisle you can't really control that race. It's extremly long. If you go with Landa and Moreno in early breaks I think you have a much better chance than if'll go with Samy and Luisle for watter carrier and control the peloton.

 

[rick james]

Re:

Bouhanni for the win.

Can you please keep race topics of this Sky bashing thread

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I think Purito, Valverde, Contador, Lando and Moreno is a perfect team. Even if you remove Landa and Moreno and put Samy and Luisle you can't really control that race. It's extremly long. If you go with Landa and Moreno in early breaks I think you have a much better chance than if'll go with Samy and Luisle for watter carrier and control the peloton.

I agree that that could be a winning strategy, but remember that Spain have two spots for the ITT and those two riders also have to participate in the road race. So with Valverde, Rodriguez, Contador, Landa and Moreno they would basically waste a ITT spot as I cannot see Valverde with a realistic shot at a medal or even top 10. Lulu or Castro would be very capable replacements for either Landa or Moreno, I only have an issue with Castro as I wrote earlier but it is very likely there'll be at least 2 Movi in the selection.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

It'd be better if they sent Landa instead of Lulu or Samu. Castrajevo is a rider that has improved and could actually go well on the ITT route with his more slimmed down figure.

Landa would add another ego. Like I wrote I wouldn't go for Castroviejo because of the obvious Movistar connection. Luisle and Samu are independent and would be prepared to put their ego aside to work for the team as they've done many times in the past years. I agree with whoever suggested Moreno, he could be a good selection too because he is linked with both Valverde and Purito.

I think Purito, Valverde, Contador, Lando and Moreno is a perfect team. Even if you remove Landa and Moreno and put Samy and Luisle you can't really control that race. It's extremly long. If you go with Landa and Moreno in early breaks I think you have a much better chance than if'll go with Samy and Luisle for watter carrier and control the peloton.

What happens then though if Valverde gets a puncture? Or what if there are some cross winds and those five get caught on the wrong side of a split and really need someone to push a hard pace to get back on quickly?

I think they'd be better to just go with Valverde as leader, Rodriguez as a wild card and then three solid team-mates who have no pretentious of winning themselves. Contador could be a threat on this course, but his lack of committment to the national team in the past means he should be a back up option if one of the other two are out for some reason.

 

[RedheadDane]

Just turned on the feed.
Why has the stage been cut? From what I understood it's simply fewer rounds on the circuit, so can't be issues with the route.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Fits the city's infrastructure better for events later in the day, apparently. Has the racing been very slow so far? If not, why was this not foreseen weeks or months ago?

Levante are at home to Barcelona, but the game is already underway. Guess they want bike race out of the way before they finish the match.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Vandenbergh wins the last stage with a solo attack.

 

[RedheadDane]

Brilliant Vandenbergh!

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Re:

Stijn Vandenbag

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

I think Purito, Valverde, Contador, Lando and Moreno is a perfect team. Even if you remove Landa and Moreno and put Samy and Luisle you can't really control that race. It's extremly long. If you go with Landa and Moreno in early breaks I think you have a much better chance than if'll go with Samy and Luisle for watter carrier and control the peloton.

I agree that that could be a winning strategy, but remember that Spain have two spots for the ITT and those two riders also have to participate in the road race. So with Valverde, Rodriguez, Contador, Landa and Moreno they would basically waste a ITT spot as I cannot see Valverde with a realistic shot at a medal or even top 10. Lulu or Castro would be very capable replacements for either Landa or Moreno, I only have an issue with Castro as I wrote earlier but it is very likely there'll be at least 2 Movi in the selection.

Ion makes more sense than Castro if they have to do both races. I don't see what would be wrong with him as a pick for the RR as well as he would be an ideal domestique for the type of course. Luísle would leave them with a pretty ageing squad as well, I don't see that he offers an appreciable upgrade over Ion on the course at this point in his career.

 

[Flamin]

Holy mother of god. Vandenbergh won a race? Now I have seen it all.