When do the teams for the Vuelta get announced?

[craig1985]

Can't be that far away surely.

Anyway I think all the ProTour teams will get picked, maybe Bouygues will miss out, but I think Cofidis and FDJ.com will be there and I'm assuming Astana (or whatever they will be) will be around by then. I think the wildcards will be Xacobeo and Contentpolis-AMPO and I can see Barloworld being picked as well (just a gut feeling I have).

 

[Anonymous]

i have a feeling the spanish will invite as few italian teams as possible...

 

[issoisso]

Yes, what's going on? Usually the invites are announced in April. Latest I remember is very early May.

i have a feeling the spanish will invite as few italian teams as possible...

To be fair, only three of them are likely to ask for invites: Liquigas, Lampre and Barloworld.
And I don't see them not inviting the first two.

 

[Leopejo]

Yes, what's going on? Usually the invites are announced in April. Latest I remember is very early May.



To be fair, only three of them are likely to ask for invites: Liquigas, Lampre and Barloworld.
And I don't see them not inviting the first two.

And the third is not Italian.

 

[issoisso]

And the third is not Italian.

The license is british, but the team itself is italian all the way. If that makes the team british, then Di Luca and Petacchi ride for an Irish team

It's very normal for teams to ride with licenses from other countries due to tax benefits. Most italian continental teams, for example, are registered as Irish and until a few years ago were registered as swiss. Astana spent the past few years registered in switzerland and luxembourg. Diquigiovanni is registered as venezuelan. etc.

 

[Leopejo]

The license is british, but the team itself is italian all the way. If that makes the team british, then Di Luca and Petacchi ride for an Irish team

I was referring to the South African part. From Wikipedia:

Although the cycling team's parent company is South African and the team have maintained a strong South African identity,[1] the registration of the team has moved, firstly to Italy and then, from 2007, to Great Britain. The UCI therefore considers them to be a British team.

I agree though that most of the staff is Italian.

 

[issoisso]

What they registered themselves as and what the nationality of the sponsor is, I don't think figures much into the situation.
The owner of the team is italian (Corti's company), and as they own the team, it's pretty much an italian team.

If Unipublic/ASO decide that italian teams should suffer (very unlikely), then a continental italian team with italian staff, based in italy, with mostly italian riders, is the easiest victim

As for the South African riders on the team, that's just to appease the sponsor. It's a perfectly common situation.

 

[Leopejo]

What they registered themselves as and what the nationality of the sponsor is, I don't think figures much into the situation.
The owner of the team is italian (Corti's company), and as they own the team, it's pretty much an italian team.

If Unipublic/ASO decide that italian teams should suffer (very unlikely), then a continental italian team with italian staff, based in italy, with mostly italian riders, is the easiest victim

As for the South African riders on the team, that's just to appease the sponsor. It's a perfectly common situation.

Well well, there are plenty of Italian teams registered abroad, especially in the lower ranks - but I don't consider Barloworld among them. Less than 50 % of the riders are Italian and none of the stars. Italian staff is common in foreign teams too. And Corti may own the team as much as Bruyneel - but that doesn't make Astana any less Kazakh.

 

[issoisso]

Less than 50 % of the riders are Italian and none of the stars.

Following that logic, Astana are spanish

Italian staff is common in foreign teams too.

I'm talking about the entire structure and ownership of the team. The team was setup by italians, and is still owned by said italians.

And Corti may own the team as much as Bruyneel - but that doesn't make Astana any less Kazakh.

Bruyneel doesn't own anything. He was invited to run the team. It's not his.


Anyway, we're going waaay off topic here
Invites: anyone know when they're announced?

 

[craig1985]

Yeah where is our trusty CN writers with their fountain of inside knowledge when you need them?

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Yeah where is our trusty CN writers with their fountain of inside knowledge when you need them?

This one is enjoying a rare day off!

Susan

 

[ElChingon]

This one is enjoying a rare day off!

Susan

You're on here so you are technically working, so much for your day off

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

No, I'm reading the forum for fun today.

Susan

 

[Anonymous]

i for one consider barloworld italian...

my original point still stands.. i can see the spanish using the wild card opportunities for freinds, certainly not the italians, unless of course they want to catch a doped italian then maybe...

 

[jaylew]

Why do we feel the need to force a nationality on every team? Some teams are more cosmopolitan than others. Can we just leave it at that?

 

[Anonymous]

Why do we feel the need to force a nationality on every team? Some teams are more cosmopolitan than others. Can we just leave it at that?

its got nowt to do with that... lol

they where originally italian based, italian staff, riding under an italian flag, and italian sponsors, they are essentially of an italian origin, just as tmobile are german etc etc etc...

but they have an italian sponsor.. so i still count them italian..

the only ones im confused about are astana.. anyone know what they are.. lol

 

[Leopejo]

its got nowt to do with that... lol

they where originally italian based, italian staff, riding under an italian flag, and italian sponsors, they are essentially of an italian origin, just as tmobile are german etc etc etc...

but they have an italian sponsor.. so i still count them italian..

Who has an Italian sponsor?

This is strange as I'd say most Italians don't consider Barloworld Italian. I wonder what people here consider Milram during the years. Or Gianni Savio's teams.

 

[jaylew]

the only ones im confused about are astana.. anyone know what they are.. lol

Quite a few I don't label. Some teams I just consider to be international.

Cervelo?? Swiss? Canadian? Spanish?

Btw, anyone notice Columbia has riders from 16 different countries?

 

[Ibanez]

Disco once claimed to be the mos international team in all of sports in a documentary once.