What do you think about the team Katusha

[Denkoff]

What do you think about the team Katusha. What is missing and what is being done correctly? How to evaluate the 2 seasons of its existence.
Who do you think of its leader?

 

[Michele]

As for leader, we're talking of Tchmil?

Katusha is a nice team, with a nice budget and some nice riders but they didnt get the results everybody would expect.
Reason? Not sure but Pozzato's way of riding doesn't help and Kim Kirchen who was supposed to be one of the most winning riders got some problems on his own.
Then you could add Kolobnev, who ever just prepare for the latter part of the season, doing a couple of good races and nothing more than that.

On the top of that, you have a very demanding team manager which make a lot of pressure on everybody (at least this is the image I have).

 

[Roland Rat]

I never, ever notice them. Their jerseys just seem to blend into the background. I have a vague idea that Pozzatto and Robbie McE ride for them, but Pozzatto is always hiding behind a better rider and Robbie is never in the mix at races I see on Eurosport. Oh, and that Rodriguez fella, but again even when he features in a race he seems to be anonymous to me.

Get them to wear bright lumescent green jerseys or something, for a start.

 

[ergmonkey]

I'm a bit ambivalent about Katusha.

On the one hand, it's pretty easy to say that a team with such a big budget should get more results.

On the other hand, they're a new team and I think they made a big step forward from year one to year two. Rodriguez was an excellent acquisition. Also, I think the Russians care more about UCI world point rankings than most seem to care. In that sense, the team has been very successful.

Definitely, there's no getting around the fact that Katusha needs to win another Classic. If Rodriguez continues to deliver at last year's level and any of Pozzato/Kolobnev/Ivanov/Hoste (or Rodriguez) can deliver a Classic, then I think Katusha will have had a great season.

Also, before accusing the team of being "anonymous", one has to figure out where they are trying to grab attention. Beyond Russia, I'm honestly not too sure.

 

[ingsve]

They are a very strong team and I especially appreciate that they are strong on all types of terrains.

The problem is perhaps visibility as mentioned a couple of times. They usually have one strong guy in each speciality but you rarely see them riding strongly as a team. There are no big leadouts like HTC, no strong team riding in the mountains like Saxo Bank or Liquigas where one domestiques after another is seen in the front and no dominance in cobbled races like Rabobank who can be seen with 5 riders in a 15 man group at times etc.

I'm not saying this is a weakness really but it does explain why they don't get as much attention as I think they deserve. Perhaps an outfit chance would help. The red white and blue is very anonymous in the peloton with a lot of teams having variations of those colors.

As for the team I think they will only grow stronger. For next year they have Hoste coming in that will be good for the cobbles and Daniel Moreno is a good addition to help Rodrigues. They also have some young russians that are interesting to see how they develop. What they are losong however is sprinting power. With both McEwen and Napolitano leaving they will be rather thin on that side so they might lose in wins and podiums because of that unless they find another decent sprinter to fill the gap. Galimzyanov can probably develop further but it's hard to replace McEwen.

 

[Christian]

I like Katusha because they have one of the biggest budgets, but actually seem devoted to developping cycling in Russia, and not just sign foreign top riders and pay them ridiculous amounts of money.

From the start they took things slowly and are growing better every year.

 

[Kwibus]

I have quite good feeling with Katusha. Nice team focused on russian cycling which is a good thing.

Also some topclass riders. They are a team that absolutely matters in the peloton imo. Rodriguez was the nr.1 rider this year and he's on the Katusha team.

Also Ingsve said they didn't really show as a team, but if I recall correctly they were pretty good as a team the first 1.5 week of the Vuelta.

 

[NickBVK]

Reluctant to use the word anonymous but it's the only one I can think of.

At first I was like oh yeah Robbie McEwen, looking out for him in the pack and at sprints etc. but then one day I was just like oh right Pozzato, Rodriguez etc. etc. they have some big quality riders!

Rodriguez definitely the most visible rider (in the mountains) but like others have said, you never really see a big group of Katusha men pulling the peloton along together.

 

[The Hitch]

WHen i look at Katusha they are a good side.

But when i look at the other teams and start ranking them, Katusha are only mid table.

 

[maltiv]

Rodriguez definitely the most visible rider (in the mountains) but like others have said, you never really see a big group of Katusha men pulling the peloton along together.

You obviously didn't see the two first weeks of the Vuelta then.

 

[ingsve]

Also Ingsve said they didn't really show as a team, but if I recall correctly they were pretty good as a team the first 1.5 week of the Vuelta.

I missed a lot of the Vuelta so I didn't see much of that. I guess that's heading in the right direction then.