Wildcards for Paris-Nice and Dauphine

[May0maniac]

The wildcards for Paris-Nice and Dauphine have been announced.
Paris-Nice:
Cofidis, Delko Marseille Provence KTM, Direct Energie and Fortuneo - Vital Concept.
Dauphine:
Bora-Argon 18 (Ger), Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (Fra), Direct Energie (Fra) and Wanty - Groupe Gobert (Bel).
Are you happy with those team or would you have prefered to see a few other teams.
I like the fact that Delko Marseille will get to ride Paris-Nice, it will be interesting to see if Dani Diaz is able to perform in a bigger European race.
Wanty getting a wildcard for Dauphine surprised me a little bit, but I like it.

 

[GP Blanco]

Wanty getting a wildcard for Dauphine surprised me a little bit, but I like it.

The Wanty wildcard can be explained with Guillame Martin.

 

[BigMac]

Delio Fernández will win Paris - Nice.

 

[RedheadDane]

I like the fact that the two "Dane Teams" - Delko and Fortuneo - gets to ride.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Wanty getting a wildcard for Dauphine surprised me a little bit, but I like it.

The Wanty wildcard can be explained with Guillame Martin.

In my opinion this team really deserves wild cards for 2 or 3 of these stage races, they not only have the sponsor (Wanty) but also the riders. Thurau, Baugnies, Marcato, Degand, Bille, Claeys, Martin and promising sprinter Jans (oh, and let's not forget about Veuchelen, the ideal road captain for a team like wanty). I do think it's a shame they let Tim De Troyer go tho. He seemed like a great talent

 

[May0maniac]

Wanty getting a wildcard for Dauphine surprised me a little bit, but I like it.

The Wanty wildcard can be explained with Guillame Martin.

In my opinion this team really deserves wild cards for 2 or 3 of these stage races, they not only have the sponsor (Wanty) but also the riders. Thurau, Baugnies, Marcato, Degand, Bille, Claeys, Martin and promising sprinter Jans (oh, and let's not forget about Veuchelen, the ideal road captain for a team like wanty). I do think it's a shame they let Tim De Troyer go tho. He seemed like a great talent

Don't forget Gasparotto, they are a really solid team. All in all I'm happy with the wildcards, Delko Marseille getting a wildcard for Paris-Nice in their first year as a pro conti team isn't bad at all, they are a local team and have a few interesting riders, so it makes sense.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Wanty getting a wildcard for Dauphine surprised me a little bit, but I like it.

The Wanty wildcard can be explained with Guillame Martin.

In my opinion this team really deserves wild cards for 2 or 3 of these stage races, they not only have the sponsor (Wanty) but also the riders. Thurau, Baugnies, Marcato, Degand, Bille, Claeys, Martin and promising sprinter Jans (oh, and let's not forget about Veuchelen, the ideal road captain for a team like wanty). I do think it's a shame they let Tim De Troyer go tho. He seemed like a great talent

Don't forget Gasparotto, they are a really solid team. All in all I'm happy with the wildcards, Delko Marseille getting a wildcard for Paris-Nice in their first year as a pro conti team isn't bad at all, they are a local team and have a few interesting riders, so it makes sense.

I think that ASO will usually give consolation prize wildcards to any French PCT team that isn't going to get a Tour slot. Just as RCS put Androni into all of their other races after excluding them from the Giro.

Wanty seem to get a bit of a raw deal when it comes to getting into WT stage races, whether GTs or even week long ones. They are a big enough team, with a good enough roster, that it would be fun to see them in races other than classics.

 

[Christian]

The wildcards for Paris-Nice and Dauphine have been announced.
Paris-Nice:
Cofidis, Delko Marseille Provence KTM, Direct Energie and Fortuneo - Vital Concept.
Dauphine:
Bora-Argon 18 (Ger), Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (Fra), Direct Energie (Fra) and Wanty - Groupe Gobert (Bel).
Are you happy with those team or would you have prefered to see a few other teams.
I like the fact that Delko Marseille will get to ride Paris-Nice, it will be interesting to see if Dani Diaz is able to perform in a bigger European race.
Wanty getting a wildcard for Dauphine surprised me a little bit, but I like it.

I was just wondering whether Delko Marseille Provence will receive a wildcard to the Tour? In years past, AFAIR French ProConti teams have always been invited. But Cofidis, Direct Energie and Fortuneo all have good strength and depth in their teams. Delko Marseille Provence only has 16 riders and thus lacking a bit in depth I would say. I am glad to see that they got a wildcard to Paris-Nice though, I think that will already be great exposure for them.

As for the Tour, I think it would not be a terrible thing to not give them a wildcard. Give them a little time to grow and consolidate, and then I'm sure they will get their invite. I think the other three French ProConti teams have their invite in the bag, who will be the fourth? I'd say probably Bora again.

 

[pastronef]

The wildcards for Paris-Nice and Dauphine have been announced.
Paris-Nice:
Cofidis, Delko Marseille Provence KTM, Direct Energie and Fortuneo - Vital Concept.
Dauphine:
Bora-Argon 18 (Ger), Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (Fra), Direct Energie (Fra) and Wanty - Groupe Gobert (Bel).
Are you happy with those team or would you have prefered to see a few other teams.
I like the fact that Delko Marseille will get to ride Paris-Nice, it will be interesting to see if Dani Diaz is able to perform in a bigger European race.
Wanty getting a wildcard for Dauphine surprised me a little bit, but I like it.

I was just wondering whether Delko Marseille Provence will receive a wildcard to the Tour? In years past, AFAIR French ProConti teams have always been invited. But Cofidis, Direct Energie and Fortuneo all have good strength and depth in their teams. Delko Marseille Provence only has 16 riders and thus lacking a bit in depth I would say. I am glad to see that they got a wildcard to Paris-Nice though, I think that will already be great exposure for them.

As for the Tour, I think it would not be a terrible thing to not give them a wildcard. Give them a little time to grow and consolidate, and then I'm sure they will get their invite. I think the other three French ProConti teams have their invite in the bag, who will be the fourth? I'd say probably Bora again.

I hope Bora too, and hopefully Zak Dempster will reach Paris this time

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I would guess that Delko Marseilles Provence are just too small a team at the moment. If there was going to be little French interest at the sharp end of the race they would have a better chance, just to up the random French riders in breakaways quotient. But there will be five other teams there and some of them even have things to do that aren't going in the breakaway. Also, DMP don't look like a team that has budgeted in a way that assumes Tour participation every year. The ASO will know that they aren't killing a French team off by leaving them out.

I think it will be the other three French PCT teams plus Bora. Unless some random team's sponsors wave a huge amount of money around in the Rusvelo style. It will be a big problem for Bora if they don't get a place.

 

[TMP402]

I like Bora but I don't see why they're the outstanding non-French pro conti team. Maybe Bennett would pick up a couple of top 10 places on big sprint days and maybe Nerz breaks into the top 30 on GC. Apart from that it's down to breakaway wins. I don't see how this offering is superior to that of CCC, Topsport, Wanty, Stolting, and probably others.

 

[Breh]

i think Buchmann has the potential to be a special rider.

 

[Christian]

Re:

I like Bora but I don't see why they're the outstanding non-French pro conti team. Maybe Bennett would pick up a couple of top 10 places on big sprint days and maybe Nerz breaks into the top 30 on GC. Apart from that it's down to breakaway wins. I don't see how this offering is superior to that of CCC, Topsport, Wanty, Stolting, and probably others.

I agree, I think the three French ProConti teams are the strongest in that division, but it's hard to make out another team which really stands out from the others. In years past it was easy sometimes, as some ProConti teams had big budgets and were able to sign big names. Indeed Stölting has some big names too, although it's all riders who are well past their prime.