Vuelta a España 2011

[Kwibus]

and people thought they had a good team there as well, but they were completely invisible

Indeed. It was very dissapointing, allthough Duarte certainly showed himself in the early stages, but had to leave the Giro due to a knee injury.
I'm more hopeful for the Vuelta though.

 

[rantanplan]

Indeed. It was very dissapointing, allthough Duarte certainly showed himself in the early stages, but had to leave the Giro due to a knee injury.
I'm more hopeful for the Vuelta though.

Sadly Duarte is in very bad shape

 

[jobiwan]

Haven't we seen this before with Garmin? Everybody always questions their team selections and tactics and then boom. They always come up with the goods. Even without Thor they'll come up with a plan. They are the new Kelme.

Haussler in theory should be able to win a stage, or challenge for the Points, and then Martin could Top 10. They should have a good tour, and the TTT will certainly be a goal once again, though I can't see them repeating that Tour success.

 

[Swede1]

Haussler in theory should be able to win a stage, or challenge for the Points, and then Martin could Top 10. They should have a good tour, and the TTT will certainly be a goal once again, though I can't see them repeating that Tour success.

I think Haussler will do much better than he did in Poland. I think he will be close in the flat sprints, and then win a stage after some hills. Like the one Hushovd won last year.

 

[therealtimshady]

Mosquera seems to be named in the vaconsoleil starting line up and not in the reserve list. I assume they are clearing him to race then???

 

[Tank Engine]

To Escarabajo. Touche. I was very busy at the end of May and Geox were "Futon-Serviette" invisible at the Giro. I thought it was weird that the Giro might have left out Menchov, it's stranger than the tour leaving out Sastre.

 

[search]

Mosquera seems to be named in the vaconsoleil starting line up and not in the reserve list. I assume they are clearing him to race then???

nothing is cleared, so that must be an error.

he won't be allowed to start the vuelta, neither will he be in shape to do it. apart from not having participated in a race for ~one year he did not even do any training for two weeks now.

 

[greenedge]

Geox will own here.

Timmy what about Busche??? I think he will definitely surprise. Also is the CN start list for the Vuelta reliable???

 

[Libertine Seguros]

A guy who few had heard of before May, suddenly starts dropping top level climbers while riding for a Bruyneel team?

Nothing would surprise me.

(Also, isn't "definitely surprise" a contradiction in terms?)

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I eagerly await Busche being invisible. OFC as libertine suggests, nothing would surprise me from that team.

 

[AussieGoddess]

Any rider should understand that if there's a reasonably close call between a rider who is staying and a rider who is going that the team will favour the rider who is staying. That we're even having this discussion is a result of the peculiar culture of cycling, in which a rider often continues to ride for his old team for months after he's signed with a new one.

In most team sports, the second it becomes apparent that a player is negotiating a transfer, they'll be out of the first team if it's at all possible to get rid of him. That's because (a) letting them play creates conflicts of interest and (b) picking them over someone who is staying creates resentment and dissension in the ranks.

Garmin have a very simply choice between two quite similar riders in Haussler and Hushovd. Both want to ride the Vuelta. So of course the one who is staying gets the nod.

As for whoever suggested sending all three sprinters, you have got to be kidding. It's messy enough sending two.

sorry - but in most professional teams, its the TEAM actually WINNING that counts. So they put the best team on the park/road/whatever ... and hope they win.

Thor (especially in current form) is a mile above the rider that Haussler is .... and will give far better bang for the sponsors buck.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

How do you guys think Cobo will do? He's in very good shape.

 

[Tuarts]

Which are the teams for the TTT here? Geox + HTC? Doesn't look like Garmin brought many TT specialists, not sure about any other team.

 

[roundabout]

Geox?

Why Geox? They don't really seem like they will do a good TTT. Leopard seems ok from looking at the names.

 

[Fetisoff]

Which are the teams for the TTT here? Geox + HTC? Doesn't look like Garmin brought many TT specialists, not sure about any other team.

Geox sucked bad at Burgos, basically with the same team

 

[LaFleur]

Yay, Taaramae confirmed just a few minutes ago in his blog that he will participate in the Vuelta and he will go for the white jersey .
By the way, who will be in the Vuelta from the youngsters?

 

[theyoungest]

Yay, Taaramae confirmed just a few minutes ago in his blog that he will participate in the Vuelta and he will go for the white jersey .
By the way, who will be in the Vuelta from the youngsters?

Does Taaramae know that there is no young riders competition in the Vuelta?

 

[Parrulo]

Yay, Taaramae confirmed just a few minutes ago in his blog that he will participate in the Vuelta and he will go for the white jersey .
By the way, who will be in the Vuelta from the youngsters?

will there be a young rider jersey this year?

the white jersey of the vuelta is the classification of the combinado, not the best young rider one.

 

[LaFleur]

Ok, apparently he doesn't know, but atleast he can go for the GC
E: Checked his blog again, he clearly says that he goes for the best young rider jersey. Kinda wierd that a rider doesn't know that a jersey like that doesn't exist..

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yay, Taaramae confirmed just a few minutes ago in his blog that he will participate in the Vuelta and he will go for the white jersey .
By the way, who will be in the Vuelta from the youngsters?

Steven Kruijswijk

So Taaramae can pretty much forget about the jersey.

 

[Parrulo]

Steven Kruijswijk

So Taaramae can pretty much forget about the jersey.

actually for reasons already discussed, so can kruikswijk (man thats a hard name to spell <_<)

 

[Tank Engine]

Geox sucked bad at Burgos, basically with the same team

Cobo had a mechanical during the TTT and he was really strong during the race. However, HTC look to be the team to beat and Leotard look pretty strong.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Another cool battle will be Cavendish vs Kittel showoff. I actually don't think the sprint lineup is that good. Who's there besides Cav, Kittel, Farrar, Petacchi, Bennati?
There are a lot of teams who don't seem to bring anyone who can get a top 10 in a sprint: Cofidis, Ag2r, Katusha, Movistar, Vacansoleil etc.

 

[LaFleur]

Another cool battle will be Cavendish vs Kittel showoff. I actually don't think the sprint lineup is that good. Who's there besides Cav, Kittel, Farrar, Petacchi, Bennati?
There are a lot of teams who don't seem to bring anyone who can get a top 10 in a sprint: Cofidis, Ag2r, Katusha, Movistar, Vacansoleil etc.

BMC's van Avermaet/Phinney could be quite interesting in the mix. Pretty sure you should count Degenkolb and Goss in the sprinter's lineup. That's pretty much it tho yeah. (Nope, I'm not a Sagan fan.)

 

[lucybears]

Another cool battle will be Cavendish vs Kittel showoff. I actually don't think the sprint lineup is that good. Who's there besides Cav, Kittel, Farrar, Petacchi, Bennati?
There are a lot of teams who don't seem to bring anyone who can get a top 10 in a sprint: Cofidis, Ag2r, Katusha, Movistar, Vacansoleil etc.

Farrar not yet a confirmed starter....