Riis123 wrote:
By thw way, Movistar has offered 2 mil euros. They offered 1,5 in 2015, but Landa chose the money. He really wants to race for Movistar (Quintana should be pissed reportedly lmao), but Valverde confirmed it to Unzue the day before the Tour, basically greenlighting the deal. Unzue doesn't add such big riders without confronting the godfather of the organizatio first. Alejandro also really wanted to race with Alberto back in the day, Unzue wanted to add him, but that never materialized unfortunately.
And just to add to this post, Quintana will reportedly train in Monaco now instead of Colombia. Thats good. He will probably also call it a season now, so Valv and Quintana is done and fully focused on next season. If Movistar can bring those 3 riders in good shape to the Tour (I assume Landa will ride Giro beforehand), they will have an extremely potent team and will fully rival Sky and a declining Froome WITHOUT Landa.
They better use all that mountain goat firepower in the Tour if Landa, Valv and Quintana hit the tour hard. However with Movistar you just never know what sort of tactic they come up with and they might as well do it completely wrong. Quintana needs to prove his status now similiar to Contador in 2014, just not so dramatically. More like a lighter and earlier version in Quintana's career compared to Contador. Giro was good but the goal was so much higher.
Exciting insight there. Contador and Valverde would have cemented spanish legacy for ages. Makes me a bit sad now, would have been way better than those years under Oleg Tinkoff.
Landa to Movistar makes sense because they need a big spanish rider and since Izagirre left and even Valv won't ride forever, Landa is the best option. I would still like to see him more back in Astana because he was so flawless exciting there, but alas, anywhere where they let him do his thing and give him maximum freedom in a GT is fine by me. No more Geraint Thomas-esque dual leaderships ever for Landa. And no more mountain train duties for Landa please, the guy is best for attacks and raids. The nickname of Landani doesn't come out of nowhere after all.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Landa will most likely focus on the Giro and come to the Tour in the role he had this year on Sky, a joker, but without the mountain train duties. But it really depends on if Valverde is recovered fully, I have still doubts about that, but since I still consider him the greatest athlete in the current peloton I believe he at least will regain a lot of his former strengths. We just got robbed of one of the potentially best seasons in modern history since he also was gonna lead the Vuelta, Valverde's best race, which also have a finish in Murcia. Went okay last time he went to Murcia in a competitive race.
I have no doubts however that Quintana will regain his mojo, he just need to figure out how to peak for GTs reliably. But its very intriguing and is the only team IMO which can threaten Sky. While Ag2R was fine, they really missed the opportunity a few times and Bardet didnt really impress me. I doubt he can do better than this.
Riis123 wrote:
By thw way, Movistar has offered 2 mil euros. They offered 1,5 in 2015, but Landa chose the money. He really wants to race for Movistar (Quintana should be pissed reportedly lmao), but Valverde confirmed it to Unzue the day before the Tour, basically greenlighting the deal. Unzue doesn't add such big riders without confronting the godfather of the organizatio first. Alejandro also really wanted to race with Alberto back in the day, Unzue wanted to add him, but that never materialized unfortunately.
And just to add to this post, Quintana will reportedly train in Monaco now instead of Colombia. Thats good. He will probably also call it a season now, so Valv and Quintana is done and fully focused on next season. If Movistar can bring those 3 riders in good shape to the Tour (I assume Landa will ride Giro beforehand), they will have an extremely potent team and will fully rival Sky and a declining Froome WITHOUT Landa.
They better use all that mountain goat firepower in the Tour if Landa, Valv and Quintana hit the tour hard. However with Movistar you just never know what sort of tactic they come up with and they might as well do it completely wrong. Quintana needs to prove his status now similiar to Contador in 2014, just not so dramatically. More like a lighter and earlier version in Quintana's career compared to Contador. Giro was good but the goal was so much higher.
Exciting insight there. Contador and Valverde would have cemented spanish legacy for ages. Makes me a bit sad now, would have been way better than those years under Oleg Tinkoff.
Landa to Movistar makes sense because they need a big spanish rider and since Izagirre left and even Valv won't ride forever, Landa is the best option. I would still like to see him more back in Astana because he was so flawless exciting there, but alas, anywhere where they let him do his thing and give him maximum freedom in a GT is fine by me. No more Geraint Thomas-esque dual leaderships ever for Landa. And no more mountain train duties for Landa please, the guy is best for attacks and raids. The nickname of Landani doesn't come out of nowhere after all.
Looking at the WT rankings of the last years they do pretty well given their opportunities in terms of tactics and rider management
SSJ2Luigi wrote:
not sure if I would want to be seen with a sign that says Landis
Too late for them. The train is in full motion to replicate USPS's scandal.
All those little shenanigans with Lance and his team, like the TUE, the Andrieu case, the donation to the UCI which culminated in USADA's investigation and their ultimate downfall are completely happening again. Firstly a subpar cycling nation appears on the map with a super duper project. Then they start winning. In fact they start not only to win but also to smash their opponents, who we know for a fact are doping. Their mountain train, with their super domestiques who drop all their rivals one by one in the Tour which seems their only focus of interest. Their leader even emerges as a hero who has battled a grim disease which had always hampered his results.
Then, the bullshit starts rolling in. The dutch doctor, Henao, Wiggins TUE, the marginal gains, pseudo-science, Tiernan-Locke, the medical package. Now Brailsford is attacking the media in the most Lancesque way possible! "Mikel Landis" is the most adorable addition to this remake. Oh please god, just let him be the anti-hero this story needs!
Riis123 wrote:
By thw way, Movistar has offered 2 mil euros. They offered 1,5 in 2015, but Landa chose the money. He really wants to race for Movistar (Quintana should be pissed reportedly lmao), but Valverde confirmed it to Unzue the day before the Tour, basically greenlighting the deal. Unzue doesn't add such big riders without confronting the godfather of the organizatio first. Alejandro also really wanted to race with Alberto back in the day, Unzue wanted to add him, but that never materialized unfortunately.
And just to add to this post, Quintana will reportedly train in Monaco now instead of Colombia. Thats good. He will probably also call it a season now, so Valv and Quintana is done and fully focused on next season. If Movistar can bring those 3 riders in good shape to the Tour (I assume Landa will ride Giro beforehand), they will have an extremely potent team and will fully rival Sky and a declining Froome WITHOUT Landa.
They better use all that mountain goat firepower in the Tour if Landa, Valv and Quintana hit the tour hard. However with Movistar you just never know what sort of tactic they come up with and they might as well do it completely wrong. Quintana needs to prove his status now similiar to Contador in 2014, just not so dramatically. More like a lighter and earlier version in Quintana's career compared to Contador. Giro was good but the goal was so much higher.
Exciting insight there. Contador and Valverde would have cemented spanish legacy for ages. Makes me a bit sad now, would have been way better than those years under Oleg Tinkoff.
Landa to Movistar makes sense because they need a big spanish rider and since Izagirre left and even Valv won't ride forever, Landa is the best option. I would still like to see him more back in Astana because he was so flawless exciting there, but alas, anywhere where they let him do his thing and give him maximum freedom in a GT is fine by me. No more Geraint Thomas-esque dual leaderships ever for Landa. And no more mountain train duties for Landa please, the guy is best for attacks and raids. The nickname of Landani doesn't come out of nowhere after all.
Looking at the WT rankings of the last years they do pretty well given their opportunities in terms of tactics and rider management
Nah, their tactics at the Tour have been rightfully made fun of for the past 3 years
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
A very interesting three weeks of racing. Lots of thoughts, from the rules invoked (and not invoked) to tactics to form. I'll be especially intrigued to see how Froome performs in La Vuelta. Just how much was he pushed by Bardet, Aru, Uran et al.?
On the point of Uran, what a potentially career turning result. He didn't make as much noise as am sure many of would've liked, but he hardly put a peddle wrong in three weeks. For a Cannondale team that has watched Talansky do his best TJVG impression, I'm sure they're super excited to have a GT contender.
Bardet. Feels kind of bittersweet to barely make the podium. I know that everyone thinks this route was tailor made for him, and it certainly does suit his strengths, but I honestly believe this year was supposed to be Valv's chance to rival Froome. As far as Romain's concerned, his TT absolutely NEEDS to get better. Maybe I believe the post race conference revelation that he's nursing a cold, but that wouldn't have made a huge difference in the end result. He needs to spend this offseason basically exclusively working on his posture, cadence, basically pull a George Bennett. He has the bike handle skills, and the power level to be a good TTer, just needs to apply himself. Otherwise he's never winning a GT.
And Landa...he feels so very much like Porte. He's plenty capable, but always has something go wrong when he's leader. This year Sky needed him big time, otherwise I'm not sold Froome wins #4. Next year at Movistar should be a defining year for him. It'll either all come together, or something like this season for Quintana will happen.
Hats off the Contador, Martin, and Barguil. Three very different spots of their careers, but they were true animators of the race this year. If this is Contador's last Tour, it's nothing to hang his about -- time catches up to all of the greats. Ultimately, with what looked like a tame route 8 months ago, the race was well run. It seems THIS is the new age of GT cycling, lots of small time gaps with a REAL emphasis on the battle against the clock. CLM...
Boring tour..I have always tried to protect riders when they wont attack more often.
Also this time it was not riders fault, Sky and Froome / stage planners killed that tour.
Lack of mountain top finishes..Sky team 3rd reich. Damn it was boring. I am always have been Giro fan boy..but.. come on tour!
Thanks to Bertie over that 100km attack..Barguil..De Gent..Matthews..
unlucky tour that Valverde and Porte crashes out. But I believe they would be also fucked by Sky choo-choo. Like Uran, Bardet..impossible to attack. Pointless..when you have Kwiatek, Nieve, Landa behind you riding you back.
Landa..even 3rd week did not slowed him down. and he was great form at Giro..not riding full Giro 100%,,but was in form there.
i get that this was a boring race in terms of sky turning out so great again, but this was a great race imo, even with all the stars abandoning. Conta and Sunweb light up the race, Ag2r impressiive and attacking, Aru strong but for the first time in his career without a team. Uran with a good result again, great for confidence, now he might dare to risk a bit more next year
Although bardet was fun to watch, he should really do Giro/Vuelta next so he would atleast have 1 GT under his belt
dev4ever wrote:
Although bardet was fun to watch, he should really do Giro/Vuelta next so he would atleast have 1 GT under his belt
Was really dissapointed the way the team/he chose at it seemed there was a decent possibility of him doing it this year :/
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
Standards for what is considered a good or great Tour have been dropped massively the last couple years.
Mostly to blame are the mountains chosen by ASO. All of them were too steep. Like the Peyragudes stage would have been much better with the 2012 finish instead of the wall at the end.
dev4ever wrote:
Although bardet was fun to watch, he should really do Giro/Vuelta next so he would atleast have 1 GT under his belt
Was really dissapointed the way the team/he chose at it seemed there was a decent possibility of him doing it this year :/
Bardet would have never won the Giro this year. For me, the Giro in terms of climbing quality was much better than the Tour this year, but that is just personal feelings. For me, in terms of climbing quality, this was the worst Tour for several years.
@Croatia: Didn't think he would have either meant doing the race not winning it
Also, Chris you cheeky boy
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
And no more mountain train duties for Landa please, the guy is best for attacks and raids. The nickname of Landani doesn't come out of nowhere after all.
