Vuelta 2014 super hype!!

[Miburo]

Some of you guys way overrate Talansky just you like you did with tj.

 

[TANK91]

Do you have any proofs to support that? Don't tell me he can do better over 3 weeks just because he won the Dauphiné. Martin+Hesjedal are probably the best duo in the peloton. By that, i mean that they are really big friends and in addition, they won many races because they were helping each other, something that Talansky never did( Vaughters stated during the TDF that Talansky has to be more close to his teammates and communicates more with them, something like that).
Prediction for Garmin-Sharp in the Vuelta:
Hesjedal= podium( Yes, i believe it. The route suits him very well.)
Martin= top10( 1 stage win)
Talansky= top15

Hesjedal is done at this level

 

[TANK91]

Bobby Gesink will do well i think i hope the heart is ok and he really does well i hope he can fight for GT's in future a talent like him will always leave me expecting. He is not old yet.

 

[Jspear]

Do you have any proofs to support that? Don't tell me he can do better over 3 weeks just because he won the Dauphiné. Martin+Hesjedal are probably the best duo in the peloton. By that, i mean that they are really big friends and in addition, they won many races because they were helping each other, something that Talansky never did( Vaughters stated during the TDF that Talansky has to be more close to his teammates and communicates more with them, something like that).
Prediction for Garmin-Sharp in the Vuelta:
Hesjedal= podium( Yes, i believe it. The route suits him very well.)
Martin= top10( 1 stage win)
Talansky= top15

You are living in wonderland. Hesjedal would be extremely lucky getting anything more than a top 10. Froome, Quintana, Jrod, Valverde, Horner, and some more will all do better than him. Remember the competition will be harder here than it was at the Giro this year. Martin is a little bit of an unknown when it comes to GT's. He has potential, but he hasn't done to much yet. Talansky has placed 7th and 10th in the two gt's that he has finished. I'm not overrating Talansky, I'm just rating him higher than his two other teamates. So there are my "proofs." Their stats speak for themselves. I say he can do better over 3 weeks because he can in the here and now.

 

[JRTK73]

Does anyone actually think Contador will win or are we just voting for him?

 

[Akuryo]

Wow, Contador, Evans and Betancur are in the poll for the win and Uran is not. Mick Jagger does not get a lot of love here.
I know he may well lose against Quintana and/or Froome, but come on. Betancur is rated above Uran? Really, in his "shape" (quite round)?

 

[ILovecycling]

Now the only thing we need is a proper route!

riders are all that matters.

Do you have any proofs to support that? Don't tell me he can do better over 3 weeks just because he won the Dauphiné. Martin+Hesjedal are probably the best duo in the peloton. By that, i mean that they are really big friends and in addition, they won many races because they were helping each other, something that Talansky never did( Vaughters stated during the TDF that Talansky has to be more close to his teammates and communicates more with them, something like that).
Prediction for Garmin-Sharp in the Vuelta:
Hesjedal= podium( Yes, i believe it. The route suits him very well.)
Martin= top10( 1 stage win)
Talansky= top15

you must be kidding right?

 

[ILovecycling]

Does anyone actually think Contador will win or are we just voting for him?

10characters

 

[staubsauger]

It's just Giro 2008 again. No way he would participate without the possibility to win. Let's wait for the outcome.

Froome needs to go hard already right from the beginning to crack Contador there.

 

[LittleJo]

I voted Froome - even though I'd really much prefer that he didn't. I'd like Quintana to win, or Uran. Not convinced that Contador really has the form, but it'd be nice to see him get a couple of stage wins. If Horner wins I might throw my TV out the window...

 

[cineteq]

Will Talansky even be going for GC after all his crashes at the Tour? iirc Vaughters said the leaders would be Martin and Ryder.

And you believe that? His crashes in the Tour were painful ones, did he break anything? What about Froome's injuries? => Will Froome even be going for GC after all his crashes at the Tour?

Wow, Contador, Evans and Betancur are in the poll for the win and Uran is not. Mick Jagger does not get a lot of love here.
I know he may well lose against Quintana and/or Froome, but come on. Betancur is rated above Uran? Really, in his "shape" (quite round)?

Bizarre

 

[Descender]

riders are all that matters.

Great! Let's make it 21 flat stages of 80 km then.

 

[Afrank]

And you believe that? His crashes in the Tour were painful ones, did he break anything? What about Froome's injuries? => Will Froome even be going for GC after all his crashes at the Tour?

Bizarre

Froomes a higher class of rider, he's the teams top rider that is expected to be ready to lead. Talansky's still young and in development. So is not expected to automatically be thrown back into the leader position after crashing out of a race. So not really comparable IMO.

Besides, it was already set that Hesjedal and Martin would lead before the Tour. It would be a little unfair to tell them now that Talansky's going to be leader and you have to work for them.

Maybe they should just let the road decide. Each have the palmares to justify a free role.

 

[cineteq]

Froomes a higher class of rider, he's the teams top rider that is expected to be ready to lead. Talansky's still young and in development. So is not expected to automatically be thrown back into the leader position after crashing out of a race. So not really comparable IMO.

Besides, it was already set that Hesjedal and Martin would lead before the Tour. It would be a little unfair to tell them now that Talansky's going to be leader and you have to work for them.

Maybe they should just let the road decide. Each have the palmares to justify a free role.

Hmmm...not very strong arguments, but you're free to believe that. You gotta remember that I predicted Froome would DNF the Tour

 

[Netserk]

Hmmm...not very strong arguments, but you're free to believe that. You gotta remember that I predicted Froome would DNS the Tour

Your prediction was wrong then as he did start the Tour.

 

[Afrank]

Hmmm...not very strong arguments, but you're free to believe that. You gotta remember that I predicted Froome would DNS the Tour

It's clearly a better argument then anything you can come up with, as no argument is the weakest type of argument.

 

[ILovecycling]

Great! Let's make it 21 flat stages of 80 km then.

10characters

 

[cineteq]

Your prediction was wrong then as he did start the Tour.

Correct, I mistyped DNF, which was exactly I what meant

 

[cineteq]

It's clearly a better argument then anything you can come up with, as no argument is the weakest type of argument.

My arguments are simple. JV is not stupid. Talansky is the best rider Garmin has, and don't think his injuries are that bad. Also I don't believe he'll be supporting Hesjedal and/or Martin. I don't care what he or Garmin said to the media. On the other hand, I think Froome's injuries are going to prevent him from performing at a high level (similar to Contador's), thus resulting similar to Froome's 2012 Vuelta.

 

[Descender]

*deleted by mod*

Instead of insulting me, please try to actually engage in a conversation with me. If riders are all that matters, then why should we bother looking for mountains? Why not do 21 flat stages? Arguments, please.

 

[ILovecycling]

Instead of insulting me, please try to actually engage in a conversation with me. If riders are all that matters, then why should we bother looking for mountains? Why not do 21 flat stages? Arguments, please.

Sorry really,I thought you would guess what I meant.You brought my statement to the extreme.Of course you cannot have twenty one flat stages and climber winning it.

edit: but imo in normal conditions its not important if you have 3 or 9 mountains stages,or 3 or 11 MTF,how entertaining it is ,is all about riders.
Check 2012 Vuelta,great race,but sh:t parcours

 

[LaFlorecita]

I believe!
Alberto for the win!

 

[ILovecycling]

I believe!
Alberto for the win!

I have to find 'Vamos por 8' avatar again (tough with Nairo now,but there is only one Great One)

 

[durtyfat]

My arguments are simple. JV is not stupid. Talansky is the best rider Garmin has, and don't think his injuries are that bad. Also I don't believe he'll be supporting Hesjedal and/or Martin. I don't care what he or Garmin said to the media. On the other hand, I think Froome's injuries are going to prevent him from performing at a high level (similar to Contador's), thus resulting similar to Froome's 2012 Vuelta.

Talansky is not the best rider in Garmin-Sharp. However, he has the most potential between him, Hesjedal and Martin in the stage races. JV also stated that Talansky will not reach the level he had in the Dauphiné and its logical. The objectives were planned at the beginning of the year( Martin leader at the Giro, Talansky-Tour and Hesjedal-Vuelta). Martin and Talansky both withdrew in their respective races, the leader should be Hesjedal. Now, i hope that Garmin will animate the mountain stages in the Vuelta like they did in the last year TDF.

 

[Descender]

Sorry really,I thought you would guess what I meant.You brought my statement to the extreme.Of course you cannot have twenty one flat stages and climber winning it.

edit: but imo in normal conditions its not important if you have 3 or 9 mountains stages,or 3 or 11 MTF,how entertaining it is ,is all about riders.
Check 2012 Vuelta,great race,but sh:t parcours

So you do agree that the route plays a role.

The 2012 route was bad, but not as bad as this one. The defining moment of the race was the Fuente Dé stage. What did that stage have? Two well-linked climbs, short but hard enough to make an attack possible. If that stage had been a trademark flat stage until the final climb, like 90% of the Vuelta "mountain" stages, we wouldn't have seen what we saw (or rather didn't see...).