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Vuelta speculation

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Re:

Lequack said:
Top 30 GC contenders, according to PCS:

1KCoYiE.png

That's not in order right?
 
Quick-Step Floors
.. ALAPHILIPPE Julian
.. CAPECCHI Eros
.. DE LA CRUZ David
.. DECLERCQ Tim
.. JUNGELS Bob
.. MAS Enric
.. TERPSTRA Niki
.. TRENTIN Matteo

Nice team. Would like to see Jungels, Mas, Trentin, De la Cruz and Julian just doing their own thing.
 
Re: Re:

GuyIncognito said:
Nirvana said:
They added the terrible "Alto de Nimes" in the TTT.
I think that when the Tour years ago put a KOM on a bridge was harder than this :D

PROFIL.png

Wasn't it the Vuelta that started in the Netherlands and just literally put a white line on a piece of flat road just so the KOM could have a first leader?

Yes. The man who started yhe initiative of bringing the Vuelta to the Netherlands had died by then, and they had the first KoM sprint near the place where he was buried I think
 
Re:

Breh said:
Quick-Step Floors
.. ALAPHILIPPE Julian
.. CAPECCHI Eros
.. DE LA CRUZ David
.. DECLERCQ Tim
.. JUNGELS Bob
.. MAS Enric
.. TERPSTRA Niki
.. TRENTIN Matteo

Nice team. Would like to see Jungels, Mas, Trentin, De la Cruz and Julian just doing their own thing.
Yeah, we need more teams like this, teams which will be present in all terrain hunting stages, having a couple of interesting GC-prospects etc. etc. Far too often teams are locked and only have one goal and thats GC, which makes sense if you have Froome or Nibali, which makes for pretty horrible racing - take the first week of the Giro as an example.
 
Re:

Dekker_Tifosi said:
Again, so bad W52 hasn't been invited. Their roster would be:

NUCLEAR Rocket
MISSILE Long Distance
THERMO NUCLEAR Attack
TRAVEL Faster than Light
TOO FURIOUS Too Fast
ALPHA AND OMEGA I am the
SHEPARD Commander
MAN Iron
THE FLASH Barry

It would be a Vuelta for the ages, if self-declared the fastest man alive joined in as well :lol:
 
Re:

deValtos said:
This is going to be Marc Solers big break out race. Going to pull a 2012 Quintana.
Thing is Quintana didnt really break out in that race since 1) we had seen his immense potential earlier in the season and 2) while he showed his great climbing on 3-4 occasions, he didn't do a whole lot more in that race (If I remember correctly) His real breakout race was Tour de France in 2013, at least to the more casual fan.

That said, I think Soler is gonna have a very similar Vuelta to that of Quintana. Not being great early, but climbing with the absolute best on 2-3 occasions in the 2nd and 3rd week of the race while hunting stages. The first week doesnt suit him and he seemed undercooked in the Vuelta, so I think the smartest thing to do is drop the GC, but I have a feeling he will be great on stages Calar Alto, Sierra Nevada, La Pandera etc.

.. as funny as it sound, I think Betancur will be the man counted on for the biggest GC-result. Moreno will likely finish 10-15th without not showing, Carapaz is way too young, Fernandez climbs very well on occasion but too inconsisntely, Soler's first GT + what I just said.
 
Re: Re:

Valv.Piti said:
deValtos said:
This is going to be Marc Solers big break out race. Going to pull a 2012 Quintana.
Thing is Quintana didnt really break out in that race since 1) we had seen his immense potential earlier in the season and 2) while he showed his great climbing on 3-4 occasions, he didn't do a whole lot more in that race (If I remember correctly) His real breakout race was Tour de France in 2013, at least to the more casual fan.

That said, I think Soler is gonna have a very similar Vuelta to that of Quintana. Not being great early, but climbing with the absolute best on 2-3 occasions in the 2nd and 3rd week of the race while hunting stages. The first week doesnt suit him and he seemed undercooked in the Vuelta, so I think the smartest thing to do is drop the GC, but I have a feeling he will be great on stages Calar Alto, Sierra Nevada, La Pandera etc.

.. as funny as it sound, I think Betancur will be the man counted on for the biggest GC-result. Moreno will likely finish 10-15th without not showing, Carapaz is way too young, Fernandez climbs very well on occasion but too inconsisntely, Soler's first GT + what I just said.

And that's exactly the right way for the likes of Lopez to approach the Vuelta. There's lots of young interesting riders going, there's almost all of the old guard. Only Quintana, Valverde, Dumoulin and a few minor ones are missing.
 
I dont know if I agree on Lopez. I think that he actually is ready for the task at this point, but maybe Im overrating him. But for riders like Mas, Soler etc. its most likely the best option, ride a bit anonymous early on, try for stages and try to me measure themselves against the best on occasions. Like Barguil pretty much. QS also have De La Cruz and Jungels to do GC.
 
Re:

Red Rick said:
Nevermind. My brain came up with the notion that I was talking about Marc Lopez. Brain isn't really helping me today.

Superman Lopez should really give it a proper crack. Otherwise he hasn't given anything a proper crack in wayyy too long.
Yeah, no point in not doing that. He was supposed to do that last year as well so. Its interesting what Mas does, I think he will try to go for it the whole way through.
 
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
I dont know if I agree on Lopez. I think that he actually is ready for the task at this point, but maybe Im overrating him. But for riders like Mas, Soler etc. its most likely the best option, ride a bit anonymous early on, try for stages and try to me measure themselves against the best on occasions. Like Barguil pretty much. QS also have De La Cruz and Jungels to do GC.

Like Pierre Latour last year.
 
Yeah possibly, the only difference being I think Soler and mas are not significantly, but definitely greater talents than Latour. And that might make them aspire for the GC (altho Im pretty sure Unzue will hold Soler back) despite being their first GT. Soler is a very similar rider to Latour, and other great escaladores from Spain like Mancebo and Sastre, while Mas is more of an explosive climber, like Contador.

Cant wait to see those guys, the future of Spanish cycling.
 
Formolo is out? Somebody knows why? Cannondale won't line-up Bora guy or some other issue? He is one of the most interesting young GT riders. After Giro he have started only in Dauphine and that's all. I really thought that he could be near 6-8 place in that Vuelta.
 
Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
GuyIncognito said:
Nirvana said:
They added the terrible "Alto de Nimes" in the TTT.
I think that when the Tour years ago put a KOM on a bridge was harder than this :D

PROFIL.png

Wasn't it the Vuelta that started in the Netherlands and just literally put a white line on a piece of flat road just so the KOM could have a first leader?

Yes. The man who started yhe initiative of bringing the Vuelta to the Netherlands had died by then, and they had the first KoM sprint near the place where he was buried I think

A cat 3 too! Just love the Vuelta. I see stage 2 has no KOM points as it does not get above 20 m above sea level. What no speed bumps? :D
 
Re:

Urbi27 said:
Formolo is out? Somebody knows why? Cannondale won't line-up Bora guy or some other issue? He is one of the most interesting young GT riders. After Giro he have started only in Dauphine and that's all. I really thought that he could be near 6-8 place in that Vuelta.
Formolo is ill. He has been ill since the Tour of Poland where he was supposed to lead the team but fell ill and Cannondale started with only 6 riders. Villella, who is leaving to Astana, is going to this race so I don't think the issue is that Formolo leaves.

 Will Clarke was the last one added to our roster. He had a crash in Colorado, but he was our reserve rider, and he will take to the start instead of Davide Formolo, who is ill.

Cannondale-Drapac for the 2017 Vuelta a España:Brendan Canty (AUS)Simon Clarke (AUS)Will Clarke (AUS)Joe Dombrowski (USA)Thomas Scully (NZL)Toms Skujins (LAT)Tom Van Asbroeck (BEL)Davide Villella (ITA)Mike Woods (CAN)

Rather uninspiring team and I don't thnk many chances for stage wins will come unless Woods is in good form. To me is doesn't look like a team they wanted to bring here but the shape of some riders is apparently not what they hoped to be.
 

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