Who will be this season's Radioshack GT GC Leader

[Boeing]

Brajkovic
Leipheimer
Horner
Kloden?

Will Ben King ride any of the big 3?

 

[Raceoftruth]

Brajkovic
Leipheimer
Horner
Kloden?

Will Ben King ride any of the big 3?

Good question! Think both kloden and leiphemer have had their chances and not won, horner did well last year, brajkovic didnt get his despite performance in dauphine, had to do domestique duties! It probably depends on their ambition, if they want to try and win, then they have to try brajkovic, if they want a solid top 10 then one of the other three! Probably the all important team classification!

 

[gregrowlerson]

Brajkovic
Leipheimer
Horner
Kloden?

Will Ben King ride any of the big 3?

How about Tiago Machado as a possibility? I don't much about him, but he just had a decent result in the 5 day Portuguese race placing 6th overall and showed he could climb a bit and TT.

I would say no to Horner as I think he is maybe even 2-3 years older than Kloden.

 

[movingtarget]

Probably Leipheimer. Maybe they will take a wait and see attitude in the first week and also include Brajkovic and Kloden in the mix. They all have the ability to get a top 10 finish but can't see a top 5 result. The younger rider still hasn't really proved himself in a 3 week race yet. Horner rode well last year but doubt he will be team leader.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Bruyneel already said Brajkovic will be the main leader.

 

[hrotha]

I'd say no one. They don't have a clear leader, it's better to wait and see, and to give everybody full liberty for trying to get into breakaways and the like (and by everybody obviously I don't mean Klödi and Levi).

 

[Kvinto]

They've selected Machado and Popovych for Giro and Brajkovic for Tour.

 

[TRDean]

I don't think Ben King will ride any major tours this season. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

 

[kurtinsc]

How about:

Machado/Popovych for Giro
Brajkovic/Leipheimer/Kloden for Tour
Horner/Deignan/Zubeldia for Vuelta

At least in terms of races they'd try to peak form for... I'm sure Popo and Horner would ride the Tour as support as well.

I'm not saying they'd get anyone in the top 5 of any of the races, but they'd spread things out to some degree.

 

[Parrulo]

How about:

Machado/Popovych for Giro
Brajkovic/Leipheimer/Kloden for Tour
Horner/Deignan/Zubeldia for Vuelta

At least in terms of races they'd try to peak form for... I'm sure Popo and Horner would ride the Tour as support as well.

I'm not saying they'd get anyone in the top 5 of any of the races, but they'd spread things out to some degree.

i agree with the giro part and tour part. but the vuelta will have machado again and maybe leipheimer. zubeldia is just a domestique now. his days of getting a top 10 in a GT are long gone.

about the results. they may be able to get a top 10 in the tour or maybe in the vuelta but as much as i like machado i don't think he can pull a top 10 in his first GT on a GT with such as strong field as the giro. but he may surprise every1( *hopes so/crosses fingers*)

 

[hrotha]

i agree with the giro part and tour part. but the vuelta will have machado again and maybe leipheimer. zubeldia is just a domestique now. his days of getting a top 10 in a GT are long gone.

Why? Last year he was probably the strongest RadioShack rider from August to October.

 

[Cobblestoned]

RS ?
Does this team still exist ?
I thought this team will be gone before the Tour 2010, before the Tour finishes, sorry, after the Tour 2010, sorry, before season ends, sorry, thought there will be no Team RS in 2011, sorry, they will be gone soon...

Ok, we leave that


I would pick those riders:

Giro (RS of course won't be invited to Giro, wah wah wah ) :

Hunter, Robert
McEwen, Robbie
Horner, Christopher
Popovych, Yaroslav
Machado, Tiago
Rast, Gregory
Deignan, Philip
Irizar Aranburu, Markel
Muravyev, Dmitriy



Tour (RS won't do the Tour and get busted in France, wah wah wah):

Brajkovic, Janez
Klöden, Andreas
Leipheimer, Levi
Popovych, Yaroslav
Horner, Christopher
McEwen, Robbie
Paulinho, Sergio
Rosseler, Sebastien
Zubeldia Agirre, Haimar

Vuelta - still a long way to go, but I would give Nélson a run there.

 

[kurtinsc]

i agree with the giro part and tour part. but the vuelta will have machado again and maybe leipheimer. zubeldia is just a domestique now. his days of getting a top 10 in a GT are long gone.

about the results. they may be able to get a top 10 in the tour or maybe in the vuelta but as much as i like machado i don't think he can pull a top 10 in his first GT on a GT with such as strong field as the giro. but he may surprise every1( *hopes so/crosses fingers*)

I'm not saying riders wouldn't ride in other GT's... just stating where I'd like to see them place their focus.

The bigger name US riders will be at California during the Giro, and Brajkovic is the best RS has right now so will be focusing on the Tour. That doesn't leave a lot of options for RS at the Giro. I don't think Kloden has much interest and he rides pretty crappy when unmotivated. Machado and Popp seem like the best hopes there.

I think if Deignan and Horner focus their form on the Vuelta, one might be able to do very well there. Both actually have top 10 GT finishes already (making up some time from breaks in both cases), so maybe they could catch a slightly off form field and pull a suprise top 5. Plus, Horner could build for Lombardia, a race he has done well in before.

 

[Ferminal]

I don't really buy into Brajkovic as leader, he's yet to prove himself over the three weeks. All things being equal, there's no way he finishes higher the Klöden or Levi (JB (the Hog that is) might know more about "form" and "preparation" though and be better positioned to make the call). At the biggest race you pick the team which can get the best results, regardless of age.

I would say:

Giro

Popovych
Machado

Tour

Klöden
Leipheimer

Vuelta

Brajkovic
Horner

The Giro/Vuelta guys would probably overlap with the Tour, Levi and Klodi do what they want I guess.

I like Janez but I don't think he's a strong contender at the Tour just yet. He should go to the Vuelta and get a solid top5 there and stake his claim for outright leadership if the team exists in 2012.

 

[L'arriviste]

Brajkovic, if he progresses a bit this year. Though that doesn't say much for RS, I'm afraid.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Hunter, Robert
McEwen, Robbie
Horner, Christopher
Popovych, Yaroslav
Machado, Tiago
Rast, Gregory
Deignan, Philip
Irizar Aranburu, Markel
Muravyev, Dmitriy



Tour

Brajkovic, Janez
Klöden, Andreas
Leipheimer, Levi
Popovych, Yaroslav
Horner, Christopher
McEwen, Robbie
Paulinho, Sergio
Rosseler, Sebastien
Zubeldia Agirre, Haimar

Vuelta - still a long way to go, but I would give Nélson a run there.

Don't tease. It's a reasonable debate. Leave it alone and see how it goes.

You have used resources pretty well and come up with a decent Giro squad.
I'd like to think Horner could ride in Italy, but surely he's be required in California?

As for Tour leader, much will depend on LL's form. If he has started his natural decline, Kloden would be the obvious choice, but given he too is riding in the last chance saloon...........
What they must do, is avoid the same confusion of Disco 2006, after LA's last retirement.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Radioshack, like Movistar, are a team full to the brim of talent that can come 6th-20th, but lacking in those that can viably top 5 anymore.

Machado should definitely go to the Giro. I assume because of the Cali focus that means Bruyneel will, if possible, be in California. This is good news because it means Machado might not be stopped from doing what he does best, which is make Vino look like Leipheimer.

I'd have him in the Vuelta squad too. With the Portuguese contingent at the Shack maybe they'll do the Volta to prepare. It doesn't seem to do Lampre much harm.

Zubeldia was Shack's best rider from August to October, mainly because he'd been injured for July, so had to rescue his season, was racing smaller races because the Shack weren't going to the Vuelta, and most of the Shack's A-squad were out of commission post-Tour. Realistically, I'd expect Haimar to be in the Tour team, and then he's more likely to put a Vuelta showing in like he did in 2009, where he was 14th or so, and we never saw him once in the whole three weeks.

If the team recognise they don't have a realistic Tour winner in the team, then they could spread the targeting out and have a shot at doing well at the Giro and Vuelta. But I expect that for the US audience we will see pretty much all of the usual suspects - Leipheimer, Klöden, Popovych, Zubeldia, Horner, Brajkovic - in France, and this will diminish their chances of contributing decisively at the Vuelta. In this respect, it sounds awful, but perhaps the best thing for their GC hopes would be for one of them to have an injury that keeps them out of the Tour, like Zubi did last year, and have a proper go at winning the Vuelta.

 

[Angliru]

Brajkovic has the best upside. He won the Dauphine which is comparable to Horner's Pays Basque win. Brajkovic has to be given the chance to succeed or fail at the Tour, not ride in service of Leipheimer who hasn't done much in a grand tour in 2 years. Leipheimer has stated his goals for the season and if I recall correctly they're all domestic races! Kloden is a paradox. With Armstrong getting intimate with the pavement over and over again and falling out of contention one would have thought Kloden or Leipheimer would've been next in line to carry the team leadership at the Tour but instead it was Horner who was the strongest. Unfortunately he is also the oldest of the 3 vets so to expect continued production like last year is a roll of the dice. Bruyneel I recall has stated that it's time to give Brajkovic leadership at the Tour so we'll see how he does. The presence of LA really set his development back in grand tour racing about 2 years.

 

[Parrulo]

RS ?
Does this team still exist ?
I thought this team will be gone before the Tour 2010, before the Tour finishes, sorry, after the Tour 2010, sorry, before season ends, sorry, thought there will be no Team RS in 2011, sorry, they will be gone soon...

Ok, we leave that


I would pick those riders:

Giro (RS of course won't be invited to Giro, wah wah wah ) :

Hunter, Robert
McEwen, Robbie
Horner, Christopher
Popovych, Yaroslav
Machado, Tiago
Rast, Gregory
Deignan, Philip
Irizar Aranburu, Markel
Muravyev, Dmitriy



Tour (RS won't do the Tour and get busted in France, wah wah wah):

Brajkovic, Janez
Klöden, Andreas
Leipheimer, Levi
Popovych, Yaroslav
Horner, Christopher
McEwen, Robbie
Paulinho, Sergio
Rosseler, Sebastien
Zubeldia Agirre, Haimar

Vuelta - still a long way to go, but I would give Nélson a run there.

i doubt the hog will let nelson ride a GT at his age and on his first year at PT level. he didn't let machado ride a GT in his first season at PT level and machado was like 25 last year and oliveira is only 21 or 22.

i would love to see him riding them vuelta tho, he already has a "strong" ITT i just don't know how good he is in the mountains

 

[Libertine Seguros]

i doubt the hog will let nelson ride a GT at his age and on his first year at PT level. he didn't let machado ride a GT in his first season at PT level and machado was like 25 last year and oliveira is only 21 or 22.

i would love to see him riding them vuelta tho, he already has a "strong" ITT i just don't know how good he is in the mountains

To be fair, he might have let Machado do a GT if Radioshack had been invited to more than one.

 

[Parrulo]

To be fair, he might have let Machado do a GT if Radioshack had been invited to more than one.

tru dat

i think he was supposed to ride the vuelta. he(machado) was all happy about riding the vuelta and was very disappointed when he found out they weren't invited. so he spent the entire vuelta talking to the eurosport commentators via tweeter and email and telling some funny stories and his opinions. he is a great guy.

paulinho also sent an email one of the times saying that he once was in machado's area(minho which also where i am from) in a family vacation so he decided to went training with tiago. and he regretted it cus apparently machado doesn't know how to go easy. even while training, i think he even dropped paulinho on a climb xD

 

[kurtinsc]

I don't really buy into Brajkovic as leader, he's yet to prove himself over the three weeks. All things being equal, there's no way he finishes higher the Klöden or Levi (JB (the Hog that is) might know more about "form" and "preparation" though and be better positioned to make the call). At the biggest race you pick the team which can get the best results, regardless of age.

I would say:

Giro

Popovych
Machado

Tour

Klöden
Leipheimer

Vuelta

Brajkovic
Horner

The Giro/Vuelta guys would probably overlap with the Tour, Levi and Klodi do what they want I guess.

I like Janez but I don't think he's a strong contender at the Tour just yet. He should go to the Vuelta and get a solid top5 there and stake his claim for outright leadership if the team exists in 2012.

As for Brajkovic never having proven himself over 3 weeks... he's never really been given much of a shot.

He's ridden in 3 GT's... the 2006 Vuelta (30th), the 2009 Giro (18th) and the 2010 Tour (43rd). He never got to ride for himself in any of them.

I don't know if you put him as a favorite or even a top 10 contender in the Tour... but I think he's the best RS has right now. Even so... they can have Leipheimer and Kloden there if he proves less then good.

 

[Mellow Velo]

I think there remains a question mark over Brajkovic's ability to last the third week. (much the same had been said of Tondo up until the Vuelta)
This year has handed out particularly tough third weeks, so.............

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I think there remains a question mark over Brajkovic's ability to last the third week. (much the same had been said of Tondo up until the Vuelta)
This year has handed out particularly tough third weeks, so.............

Even so, it took Tondó three attempts to even finish a GT, even after winning the fourth longest stage race in Europe. That's something Brajkovic has in his favour over Tondó.

 

[flicker]

RS ?
Does this team still exist ?
I thought this team will be gone before the Tour 2010, before the Tour finishes, sorry, after the Tour 2010, sorry, before season ends, sorry, thought there will be no Team RS in 2011, sorry, they will be gone soon...

Ok, we leave that


I would pick those riders:

Giro (RS of course won't be invited to Giro, wah wah wah ) :

Hunter, Robert
McEwen, Robbie
Horner, Christopher
Popovych, Yaroslav
Machado, Tiago
Rast, Gregory
Deignan, Philip
Irizar Aranburu, Markel
Muravyev, Dmitriy



Tour (RS won't do the Tour and get busted in France, wah wah wah):

Brajkovic, Janez
Klöden, Andreas
Leipheimer, Levi
Popovych, Yaroslav
Horner, Christopher
McEwen, Robbie
Paulinho, Sergio
Rosseler, Sebastien
Zubeldia Agirre, Haimar

Vuelta - still a long way to go, but I would give Nélson a run there.

Do you think Kloeden will ride the Tour of Kalifornia in preparation for being team leader in Le Tour?