The 2010 season turned out to be a very dramatic one, since Team Eurosport only managed survival through a last second save from Thomas Lövkvist. The team has since changed a lot, and the likes of Lövkvist are no longer to be seen. So is the sponsor why the head of press decided that it was once again OK to make realistic previews, as no feelings was involved. La Gazzetta dello Sport was the team to reach but with a fantastic Giro d’Italia and a very strong tactical manager there was nothing to go by. Damiano Cunego, Michael Rogers and Daniele Bennati was the spine of the team, and it seems to be yet again. The team does seem quite a lot weaker though as Danilo Di Luca, Joost Posthuma and Michael Ford has all left the team. This means that new riders will have to take over, but other teams have managed to make a change for the better aswell. First let’s have a look at the 5 best riders from each category in the Pro Tour this year:
Flat:
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Fabian Cancellara 84
Alessandro Ballan 83
Tom Boonen 83
Nikolas Maes 80
David Zabriskie 80
Mountain:
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Damiano Cunego 84
Andy Schleck 83
Alberto Contador 83
Emanuele Sella 83
8 riders with 82
Hilly:
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Frank Schleck 84
Yuri Trofimov 82
Edvald Boasson Hagen 82
Alejandro Valverde 81
Jan Bakelants 81
Timetrial:
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Michael Rogers 85
David Zabriskie 85
Jerome Coppel 83
Fabian Cancellara 83
Taylor Phinney 83
Endurance:
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Diego Ulissi 83
Alessandro Ballan 83
Frank Schleck 82
Alejandro Valverde 81
Edvald Boasson Hagen 81
Resistance:
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Damiano Cunego 84
Emanuele Sella 84
José Rujano 83
Thomas Dekker 83
2 riders on 82 (Gomez Marchante and A. Schleck)
Recovery:
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Sam Bewley 84
Heinrich Haussler 83
8 riders with 82
Cobble:
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Fabian Cancellara 84
Marcus Burghardt 84
Tom Boonen 83
3 riders on 81 (Excluded rider with only one good stat)
Sprint:
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Daniele Bennati 85
Tom Boonen 85
Oscar Avellino 82
Ivano Lo Cicero 82
2 riders with 81 (Roelandts and Vanderbiest)
Acceleration:
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Alejandro Valverde 83
Tom Boonen 83
Roman Maksimov 82
Hans Dekkers 82
2 riders with 81 (Cooke and Bewley)
Fighter:
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Justo Tenorio 83
Adam Petrie-Armstrong 83
Carlos Barredo 83
Kai Reus 81
Emanuele Sella 81
Downhill:
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Isaac Speirs 84
Hector Duenas Nevado 83
5 riders with 80
And with that small note let’s have a look at the Pro Tour teams.
Auber 93 – Look
A French Pro Tour team is normally something you look straight through, but this team is actually a very competent fit. There is no real GT leader, which can become a bit of a problem, but with Patrick Sinkewitz the team does have a good rider for the smaller tours. He is unlikely to win races, but will be up there in several. For the hills he does have a very competent quality and will be getting help from riders such as Dietmar Mehr-Wenige and Lars Boom. A mixture that might well give a good result. The teams main strength is the Timetrials. The very strong Jerome Coppel is leading the team but with the likes of Lars Boom, Kai Reus, Pierre Rolland and Maxime Bouet the team really has a shot at the small tours without mountains. Also in the cobbled season does this team feature a very strong line up. Nikolas Maes is probably the teams leader but also Damien Gaudin and Sebastian Langeveld could easily do top 10’s in the cobbled classics. Even Lars Boom can do top 10 on a good day. In the sprints the team have the strong rider Heinrich Haussler. It’s a bit of a question how strong he actually is, but he looks to have the full confidence and backing of his team.
Overall a very exciting team that could have some very strong results. The lack of a real climber will be a problem, and as such this could be a team in danger of relegation.
Café de Colombia
Saved by the bell this team decided to change the teams sponsor in order to go for the stronger riders, and so they did! Alejandro Valverde is inquestionable among the best riders in the world, and with Gomez Marchante and Fabio Duarte this team has a big chance at doing well in several GT’s and small tours. Also in the hilly races Alejandro Valverde is the man to look out for. The team lacks a good helper, but Valverde has what it takes to win races. In the cobbled season young Danny Summerhill is definitely one to watch. He could very well be the next cobbled star and with competent help from Sebastien Joly the youngster will almost definitely take top 10’s in the cobbled season. Jaime Alberto Casteñada is the teams fast man, but eventhough he is fast he lacks ability to really stay with the pack. If the stage is short and flat he is dangerous, but besides that he will not be a rider worth betting for. Arango and Reynes are fast riders that, if hitting the right break, could win stages. Other interesting riders at the team is old Andreas Klöden and Oscar Pereiro Sio. Both still have the ability to do a decent small tour, but top 10’s are unlikely.
This team has improved the base by signing Alejandro Valverde. This alone should also secure the survival of the team, but it’s unlikely that the team will feature in the overall top 10.
Carmeuse Cyclisme
On paper this team has whatever It takes to get solid result throughout the season. Jaroslav Popovych is among the best GT riders but he is yet to prove his talent by getting very good results. He will, however easily get some good placements. Also Jaime Suaza and Oscar Solis are strong climbers, but really is more for CT races with lots of mountains and no long Timetrials. It’s unlikely that they will take up the battle with the likes of Popovych in the PT, and there are a lot of strong riders with similar qualities. The team lacks a hilly captain which is a very big issue for the team. In the cobbles this team is among the very best. Fabian Cancellara, Pieter Jacobs and Clement Lhotellerie are all riders that is likely to ride for top 10’s in the cobbled races. Fabian Cancellara has been very disappointing so far, but he is a star and should soon act like one. Also through his TT ability this rider could become very valuable in smaller races. The team has a very strong sprinting train lead out by Belgian Jurgen Roelandts. Also he has had difficulties adapting, but this could be his season. Helped by riders such as Caethoven, Weylandt and Clerc he has all chances to do well.
As mentioned this team can actually be very strong, but the riders are not the ones with best results in the history and that can be costly. I reckon this is a team that could potentially go into the top 10, but probably won’t.
Domina Vacanze
Like last season this is a team that could very well be among the best this season. With a strong base in the Luxembourgian Andy Schleck who totally undermined the level of the other riders, the team will make strong results through his abilities. But also in form of Vincenzo Nibali who are now a very strong climber the team can attack other races. The fact that he is Italian probably means that he will ride the Giro, but eventhough he is much better this season doesn’t mean that he stands a chance. Damiano Cunego and Emanuelle Sella is in a league of their own and even Pellizotti and Pozzovivo still has what it takes to battle Nibali for the last podium spot. The fact that he is now ready to take on the podium, chances that he will score big in the Giro are still small. The biggest change to the team is Janez Brajkovic. He will probably go for a top 5 in the Tour or Vuelta, and as such the team has a very strong backline for making it into the overall top 5 of the PT. Like last year the hilly riders are not likely to do much. Jelle Vanendaert had the potential to become a class hilly rider, but the perspectives were used on Nibali, so he is also their biggest hilly asset, which is a big problem. In the cobbled season Nick Nuyens and Baden Cooke has a good base to do strong results. Especially Nuyens could well do a good run of top 10’s. The best sprinter of the team is Baden Cooke. He is a good sprinter, but isn’t among the best in the PT, so he will probably struggle to get real results.
This team will definitely be in the overall PT top 5, due to Schleck, Nibali and Brajkovic if the manager doesn’t through around the cards randomly, but a PT win will be difficult. Podium is, however a real possibility.
Energie-Diesel
As a newly promoted team the first season will always be difficult. It will be no different for Energie-Diesel. As the team leader Domenico Pozzovivo has been assigned. He has some very strong qualities, but as his main focus is probably the Giro it could be a bit of a problem. He won’t reach Cunego or Sella to the sockets, and seing that Nibali is now a strong contender aswell Pozzovivo could end up battleing for 4th or 5th against the likes of Pellizotti. Looking beyond that he is a great rider and will surely get his amount of strong rides throughout the season nonetheless. There is quite a quality gap towards the next GT rider. Perez Cuapio might well be doing a GT as captain, but he should be lucky to get within top 15. For the hilly races and small tours Luis Leon Sanchez Gil will provide strong results, but he is not among the best hilly riders so he will undoubted have troubles winning classics. Constantino Zaballa is a strong helper for the hills and just that might be important. As the team has no cobbled leader we quickly jump to the sprints. Claudio Corioni is a very strong sprinter and might get a stagewin occasionally, but seeing the top sprinters in the PT Corioni is best described as sub-top. He won’t get significant help, but Leonardo Duque and Eloy Teruel might be able to do something from time to another. It is worth mentioning that the team does have a great lineup of semi-good climbers who could potentially take stagewins or mountain jerseys.
The problem here is that there is ultimately too little top riders for the PT. It would be a great CT team but the sub-top riders just doesn’t score much points in the PT, and as such, this could be a team going back into the CT.
Festina – Corona
Doing well in every aspect of the season last year, Team Festina managed to get 3rd in the overall PT rankings. The team hasn’t changed drastically so it could be another good season. Alberto Contador, who had a bad season last year has improved quite a lot by taking mountain training in the alpes, and is now among the very best climbers in the world. He should have no problems getting podium in the Vuelta on paper. Whether or not that is a dream world will be revealed once the race gets going. Backing Contador is riders such as Castaño and Ardila who both had decent seasons last year. If they can build on that and continue the results it seems to be bright looking into the GT’s and small tours. In on a loan comes Angel Madrazo, who himself could do a top 15 from time to another. Looking at the hills this team must be among the best if not THE best. Samuel Sánchez had a fantastic last season, and eventhough he is fading slowly he should still be among the 10 best PT hilly riders this year, and with the comeback from young Diego Ulissi, whom already showed great prospects last season this could be his season to shine. Looking at the cobbles the team has decided to part with Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd, who initially was a captain but evidently was weight too light. Instead has the Belgian rider Frederik Nolf redeemed himself as captain, but whether that is enough is guessing. Sam Bewley has been brought in on a loan to fill the gap of Thor Hushovd, and with similar stats the team hopes that the youngster can provide the team with atleast the same amount of points as Thor Besides that loss the team has closed it by getting Anthony Lavoine, Blaise Sonney and Roman Maksimov who are all decent sprinters. Many teams have 4-5 strong TT’ers. Festina has 7, but they may not be good enough. Several of them already showed good TTT shape last year, but have they improved enough to help the team getting better results?
This is a team that should be in top running for top 5. It’s really hard to tell whether or not it will be a better season. I think no, eventhough there is a team to build. Somewhere in the 3-4-5 Is probably Festina’s target.
Jack Wolfskin
Now would you look at this!? A promoting team that has designed a team for good results! Top leader Robert Gesink is among the very best riders in the world, and we can definitely assume that he will be doing some very strong results throughout the season. Not only is he a quality GT rider he is also one of the better hilly riders in the bunch. His main problem is the sprint, which could lead to other hilly riders overtaking him in the final battle for victory. Besides Gesink the team has the benefit of a Spanish GT rider in Ruben Plaza. He have been doing very well in recent seasons and nothing seems to be changing. He is definitely in the running for a top 5 Vuelta and several other great small tour results. Wim van Huffel is the last climber worth mentioning. He could do a good result in one or 2 small tours, but is destined to become a water carrier for most races. As the hilly captain has already been mentioned we look into the cobbled season. The team has several strong cobblers, but none good enough to make any significant results. The team will be hoping for breakaways, but is very unlikely to get points from either cobbled races. In the sprints Michael van Stayen could very well becoming one of the top sprinters this season, and spicing it with Hans Dekkers the team should be up for some sprint results occasionally. Where this team has it’s further strengths is in the TT’s and small “flat” tours. Joost Posthuma and Dominique Cornu are really great riders for small tours without any mountains. They are among the 10 best TT’ers in the world and are both capable of doing a decent hilly stage aswell. Also Jason Donald and Koen de Kort are strong TT’ers, and this team could feature an amazing TTT team if they decided to do so.
This is a team that will definitely not go back into the CT ranks. Unless the manager has problems adapting into the tactical games of the PT, this is a team that could well go within the top 10 of this years season.
La Gazzetta dello Sport
Last season’s dominating team. It’s hard to believe that this team will not be in the running for the overall win, and as such we take our standing point. Damiano Cunego is as strong as ever and will continue to crush anything in his path. The problem for Cunego is the fact that he tires very quickly and therefor doesn’t have quite as many racedays as his other competitors. And with the departure of Danilo Di Luca he is now also alone to achieve in the hilly races. His racedays will have to be carefully picked, but we know from experience that this is a tactical mastermind. Looking at the team’s chances in smaller races, riders like Wilmer Vasquez, David de la Fuente and Jairo Agudelo doesn’t make your pants go on fire immediately. The team has definitely gotten a huge loss by parting with the old star Danilo Di Luca. The team does, however still have one of the very best TT’ers in the world, Michael Rogers, and his qualities will be used a lot this season. Last year he was a shredding part of the Giro squad, but could we actually see him as a leader of other GT’s instead this year? We know he will win races, and he also will this year. The team has decided to train Dennis van Winden into a seriously good TT’er this year, what they will gain from this is to me a big question, as there are many TT’ers with presumably the same assets, and with his lack of hilly and sprinting abilities he will most likely become a helper more than a leader. The team does have a very good TTT team and we could probably see the team move already in Qatar for the win, because the team also have the best sprinter in Daniele Bennati! And if we know the team right also Marinangeli and Santambrogio somehow always manage to get within the best positions helping out Bennati winning. This is a destined point gather. The team doesn’t have any cobblers, so we quickly jump to the conclusion.
The team is still among the very best in the PT, but the absence of Danilo Di Luca, Joost Posthuma and Michael Ford is likely to be seen this year. To win the PT again the riders must perform within every inch of their capabilities and that could happen, but I doubt it. Top 3 must be the achievable goal.
Lafarge
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When you briefly look through this team it looks like many others. A couple of GT riders, a decent sprinter and some lacking cobbled qualities, but looking into the facts this could prove to be a very very difficult task! The best rider in the team is Gianpaolo Caruso, and with the quality of the Giro he will struggle to get more than a top 7 this year, and even so he should be lucky. Denis Menchov have been signed and is also a very strong rider, but he has had a year of abensce from the scene of top cycling and is slowly fading. What can we really expect from him? He has the advantage of more racedays than Caruso, but it could be difficult for both riders really getting within the chance of winning anything. Loanie Justo Tenorio is also a strong rider, but will he be ready to beat the likes of Intxausti, Contador and Plaza in the running for a top 5 in the Vuelta? I doubt it, and seeing that other nationalities is likely to attack the Vuelta aswell Justo should be happy getting a top 8. The team doesn’t have a honest chance in the hilly classics as Cyril Gautier is the man to watch, the team don’t have a cobbled leader and the best sprinter is Mitch Docker. As reporters we could be far off, but this seems like an impossible task to overcome. William Bonnet could be the key rider, but he still lacks just a tad to be among the best TT’ers which could really be beneficial looking at his strong sprinting aswell.
The team is interesting and has some great assets, but are just not strong enough for the PT as we see it. It has to be a relegating team.
Lipton Ice Tea
From one end of the scale to the other! Lipton is very likely the best team in the PT this year on paper. Emanuele Sella will, as always, be fighting a killer with Damiano Cunego for the Giro victory, but look who’s after him! Andrei Kashechkin will probably be able to take top 5 Tour de France and David Arroyo could very well do the same in the Vuelta! And after that they still have plenty of racedays. This team is just immense in the small tours and should be able to kill just about anything. Vadim Ratiy is also a strong asset to the team, but he is likely to provide for helpings only. The Ukrainean rider has the potential to shred the pack and leave only the best with his captain. A invaluable helper! And as if it wasn’t enough Tom Danielson is another helper to this team. Riding for himself he should be able to do top 10’s from time to another but helping his captains he could do great damage! The teams Achilles is the hills. Very well the team has signed Sergio Ghisalberti who can actually do a very good hilly race, but as there are a lot of points to gather in the classics this could be where the team lost contact just a bit. The talented Cesare Di Maggio has the potential to become a world class hilly rider but he really do lack the endurance to overcome the long hilly races. Jerome Bagnies will not lose contact in the cobbles and neither will Oscar Avellino in the sprints. This team is just amazing.
If not this team wins the PT this season, something is seriously wrong. It is by far the strongest team looking at the captains and there isn’t a hole big enough for other teams to really compensate. A winner!
Pearl Adidas
Last year’s Tour de France winner Markus Fothen is yet again the captain of his team. He and Rujano will easily get some great results. But there is a bit of a gap after them. 2 might be enough but several teams has got 3 good GT riders and Petar Panayotov is simply not good enough to take wins anywhere. He will be a quality helper, but not a winner. In the hills this team have improved drastically by assigning Jan Bakelants. Not yet fully developed this youngster can easily trick the best hilly riders in the pack already. You have to be a bit scared what he might be able to do next year! With the help from Weening, Vastaranta and Kangert he have all opportunities to do a very strong season, perhaps even winning a monumentum. In the cobbles Enrico Franzoi, Wim de Vocht and Kenny de Haes should be enough to make it through the cobbled season without suffering a great amount of points lost. And as Vanderbiest is looking to be among the best sprinters the team is looking set for this season. Mauro Richeze is also a decent sprinter and you can never underestimate the combination of sprinting and hills that Jukka Vastaranta posseses.
This could potentially be a top team, but whether or not it’s enough to make them go into the top 5 is very difficult to say. The best bid is probably just behind the top 5, so a 6-7th place perhaps.
Philips – TDC
The unrealiable Danish Tele company has decided to spend the monopolistic money to sponsor this cycling team, and with good reason. A great comeback last year put the team into a great overall PT position and the transfer season has been nothing but positive. Thomas Dekker was among the top scorers last season, and nothing seems to divide that faith. The former Tour de France winner Stijn Devolder has also made his arrivals noticed. A great rider that can not only provide the team with a shot at top 3 in the Tour de France he may well be the main candidate for winning the TONE and could very well be a victorious cobbler. The hills have always been the main problem of this team but not anymore. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver has been signed and that is really something! He can probably do a good season. Not a great, but a good and that is basically what the team needed. A stabile hilly rider. He also has a good shot at doing well in smaller tours and as the team have really fired up in the helpers section also Lövkvist, Gerdemann and Pecharroman can very well become essential to the team. In the sprinting section Serebriakov has been presentated, and despite the fact that he does not look like the best sprinter in the pack he has been doing very well the last two seasons. Also Martin Pedersen can snatch a victory once in a while. The team is cropped with good attackers and that could very possibly be the key for the less famous riders.
This team has what it takes to go into the top 5. Many many teams are in this field this season, so due to the fact that we know 2 teams that might be better we assume that this team will be just outside the top 5.
Sony Ericsson
Another promoter, who briefly was in the CT has announced their arrival. And this time it’s for the stay, be sure of that! One of the strongest talents in the world has finally maxed out. The manager have decided to train him into a very strong hilly rider. A decision that had not been made if we were coaching the team, but nonetheless makes him among the very best hilly riders in the world. The rider we are describing is obviously Yuri Trofimov. In the late transfer season Marco Marzano was secured. A rider that will basically be the best GT rider in the team. This is not very good, why the mention of Trofimov’s trainingschedule was previously mentioned. Marzano is a decent climber and a decent hilly rider, but he uses too much energy on the flat and the TT’s which will never make him a top candidate for any race. He should be lucky to get into the top 10 of the Giro, but still there is a chance. Walter Pedraza has been doing quite well in the CT, but will he adapt to the PT? It’s really not too likely, but he do have the stats to make a decent GT rider. The hilly section is by far the strongest in this team. Trofimov must create sublime results and with help from Santo Anza, Manuele Mori and Alessandro Ballan the team is surely among the best equipped hilly teams. Also Ballan must be the key for this team as he will score a lot of points in the cobbled season. He also have a good shot at winning races like Milano-San Remo due to his never stopping engine. The team have no less than 4 good sprinters in Paride Grillo, Raul Granjel Cabrera, Cameron Meyer and Assan Bazayev. Those 4 will be up there in almost every sprint they take part of.
The team will not relegate. For that they are too strong, but they will not get a super result either. The team will finish somewhere in between 12-15.
Team B&O
Luxury Television doesn’t equal luxury riders. This team is based upon youth, and eventhough they struggled a bit in the survival fase last season it is a decent team, that has only gotten better. The team is basically build on 2 World class riders. The first is Aleksandr Pluchkin, who is best described as one of the best GT riders in the world. Whenever he enters a race he does so to win it. The same can be said on the teams other captain Edvald Boasson Hagen. The Norwegian super talent had a decent season last year, but nothing more. He is definitely among the best hilly riders in the world, but is yet to really show it. This could be the year for him. He has got a great lineup of helpers in Domenik Klemme, Andrei Grivko and Nico Keinath. All riders that could potentially get good results themselves aswell. Kobe Vanoverschelde is becoming a very strong sprinter and with some decent helpers such as Jonas Aaen, Alex Rasmussen and Troels Vinter he really have a shot at making some wins. In the cobbles Tom Veelers have finally developed into a rider that you can actually expect something from. He isn’t the strongest cobbler out there but the flat cobbled races will often finish within a small group, and if he is there he could win.
It’s a very nice team that has a base in youth, but therefore also have limitations. Like the team above this is a team that is likely to end up in the region of 12-15.
Team Nespresso
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Another promoting team with a strong team. The Nespresso team captain is Vladimir Karpets. The Russian GT rider has a great ability to always fight for positions, but will he be strong enough to take wins? That is really the big question. Besides Karpets the team also have Sergio Henao Montoya who seems to be getting stronger and stronger. The Colombian rider is definitely among the best climbers in the world, but he does lack the killer instinct and the share strength to battle the watch for overall wins. 2 other strong riders have been signed for the purpose of GT’s or small tours. Danilo Di Luca and Martijn Keizer. Both riders are very difficult to put into a box. Keizer is one of the strongest Timetriallists in the world and also a decent climber, but he isn’t a very good finisher and he isn’t very strong when the percentages go drastically in the air. Danilo Di Luca is exactly the opposite. He is a good climber and an even stronger hilly rider, but his Timetrial abilities are nothing to sing about. But all in all it is a good GT team. Di Luca is the only captain in the hilly races. He is still strong, but it’s really becoming difficult for him to get away, but perhaps with the help of Pierrick Fédrigo he can do something. For the cobbled season this is also a good team. Geert Steurs is a bright talent, and could become very good, but he has showed that his resistance isn’t the best in the world, why the never ending attacks could be his dead. He does get a good backup from Sibilla and Portal though and should get some good results. In the sprints the very talented Ivano Lo Cicero might just be ready to overtake the throne as one of the best sprinters in the world, also Nolan Hoffman could do well. Finally the young german TT’er Jacob Fiedler could provide this team with some strong results.
This is a good team, but it doesn’t seem to have what it takes to be in the very top, a good midpack finish is the realistic end position. Somewhere around 10th.
Team Starbucks-Radioshack
The Starbucks squad is also new in the PT, and it shows. The lack of a real GT rider shows, and eventhough Andrei Amador is a good rider he is still behind the very best. Robert Kiserlovski and Vladimir Efimkin are also very good climbers, but as they both lack the ability to go successfully through a TT they will probably be in the low-end of the top 10’s at best. The teams best hilly rider is subtop/helper Giovanni Visconti. He is sublimely strong and probably one of the best wing-mans you can have for hilly races, but he is not strong enough to make results himself, and that is many points lost. The combination of Arnaud Coyot and Matti Breschel could be very good for the cobbled races, but it is also sub top, and might not give all that many points. In the sprints old man Oscar Freire still has a little left and could provide the team with valuable points, but besides him only Breschel and Renshaw can be called “sprinters” and none of them are pure sprinters. It will be interesting to see what the freedom given to Trent Lowe and Kristjan Koren will do to them, but both should really just be strong domestiques, and given that they are among the very best riders of this team it will be very difficult.
The team will not be able to survive, or if they do it will be marginally survival.
Vesuvio-Accumalux
Last season we had an expectation that this manager could turn just about any team into winners. He couldn’t, but that being said the manager still has a tendency to tactical geniousness, which can become valuable, and seeing that the team has improved from last year this is definitely also one to watch! Frank Schleck is inquestionably the best hilly rider in the pack. He also was last year, but at that point he didn’t exactly outperformed the others, if he rides up to his potential no one can touch him. Besides that he is a fantastic GT rider and a former Tour de France winner. But it doesn’t stop here. Last year’s revelation Beñat Intxausti is still at the team and with one year’s gained experience he can be the big star of 2011 cycling. Also newcomer Rigoberto Urán had an amazing season last year, and is without doubt among the best GT riders in the world of cycling. The team doesn’t care for cobbled races at all, so we ditch to the sprints. Jan Hopman is the best sprinter of the team and without laughing at the dutch rider he really isn’t a sprinter. Michael Ford, Marcel Kittel, Nick Clesen and Marcel Barth makes up a good run of Timetriallists that combined could give some very good TTTs. 4 riders doesn’t make a team though, so it will take some of the top riders to make a superb team.
3 of the best riders in the world is enough to make this team one for the top 5. Whether it can stretch to top 3 is difficult to say.
Warner Brothers
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… Or should we say Team Boonen? That has been the fact for quite some years now, but what is this? Simon Spilak has been signed. And that is one of the absolute best riders within the world. He can ride both GT’s, small tour and hilly races, and will be a favorite in all of them. He can even cobble quite well which makes him a candidate for TONE. Having mentioned Spilak we also have to mention Tom Boonen. He is the backbone of the team, and probably the best rider in the world next to Damiano Cunego. Those 2 riders alone will secure the team from relegation, hell even Tom Boonen is enough. This is enough to close in to the top 10. Juan-Antonio Flecha is a great helper for Boonen in the cobbled races. The team has developed slightly besides that. Also riders such as Santiago Perez Fernandez, Yannick Talabardon, Sergei Kolesnikov, Carlos Barredo and Sebastian Rosseler could make results occasionally, especially Barredo have been doing decently in the previous season’s, but Sergei Kolesnikov seems to have improved a lot in his training period.
Warner Brothers have developed during the offseason and we are looking forward to see them a lot more in this season, than in previous season’s. We believe that it will be enough to make the top close to the top 10.
Wikipedia
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The American team was the best candidate to beat La Gazzetta last season, but the off season has changed the team dramatically. Spilak and Urán has left the team along with super talent Keizer, and in has come the American superstar Taylor Phinney. A rider quite similar to Spilak, but who is to take the level in the other GT’s? David Zabriskie has a never ending battle with Michael Rogers in being the best TT’er in the world, and he is also a quarantee of a lot of points, but he will probably be given some more freedom to ride his own chance than last season, but he isn’t the strongest climber in the pack so the manager will have to select his races carefully. In the hills Tejay van Garderen has been brought in, and what a scoop. He is definitely one of the best hilly riders this season and if all plays along nicely then he will score several points in the hilly races. Unfortunately he isn’t a good enough climber to go as leader in small tours, and his TT isn’t the best either. In the cobbles this team is also one of the best. Marcus Burghardt is an almost epic cobbler and a clear candidate for races such as TONE aswell. Tyler Farrar has improved a bit as a sprinter but is not the top sprinter the team could really need. Timofeev is a decent sprinter that could get some results of himself also. Ivan Kovalev, Sebastien Ivars, Christian Meier and Olivier Kaisen are all strong TT’ers that could get a decent result, but the team really do need another GT rider.
The team is not as strong as last season, eventhough Spilak has been directly swopped for Phinney in terms of quality and Urán has been swopped for van Gaarderen. A top 5 is likely, but a result just outside the top 5 is aswell.
The final verdict:
The PT is closer than ever and will be very very interesting. Strong teams have gotten worse, while subtop teams have gotten better. It will be very difficult to guess the final outcome but we have decided to give it a go nonetheless:
1 Lipton Ice Tea
------------------------------------ 2 La Gazzetta dello Sport
3 Domina Vacanze
------------------------------------ 4 Festina - Corona
5 Vesuvio - Accumalux
6 Philips - TDC
7 Wikipedia
8 Pearl Adidas
9 Jack Wolfskin
10 Warner Brothers
------------------------------------
11 Carmeuse
12 Team Nespresso
13 Team B&O
14 Sony Ericsson
15 Café de Colombia
16 Energie-Diesel
------------------------------------ 17 Lafarge
18 Auber 93 - Look
19 Team Starbucks-Radioshack
Good luck to every one of you! And feel free to comment.
Looking at the hills this team must be among the best if not THE best.
I see youre modest as ever, even with an aging Samuel Sanchez, who overperformed a tad last year, still as your leader
Modest or not I think it's realistic :-) My team is the only one who has 2 captains for hilly races. 80 hill and 79 hill. Diego Ulissi also with the highest endurance stat in the game. So I know there are better hilly riders around, but hilly "team" I think mine is the strongest :-)
Looking at the hills this team must be among the best if not THE best.
I see youre modest as ever, even with an aging Samuel Sanchez, who overperformed a tad last year, still as your leader
Modest or not I think it's realistic :-) My team is the only one who has 2 captains for hilly races. 80 hill and 79 hill. Diego Ulissi also with the highest endurance stat in the game. So I know there are better hilly riders around, but hilly "team" I think mine is the strongest :-)
From what PCM has shown, having a hilly team is basically all about your leader. And on paper, I make Samuel Sanchez bottom end of the Top 10, depending on the race schedules of the likes of Spilak and Gesink.
See La Gazetta last year, they had Di Luca and Cunego, both fairly level stats wise. Did both go on the attack? No, it was generally one or the other - or one, then the other much later when it was too late.
This team has improved the base by signing Alejandro Valverde. This alone should also secure the survival of the team, but it’s unlikely that the team will feature in the overall top 10.
I've trained Duarte up to 80 in the mountains and 75 in TT and am hoping that this will push the team close to the Top 10. With 3 decent stage racers I hope it will get me close...
Nice preview - though I think La Gazzetta will be very good again. Mrlol probably had a lot of money in reserve for training.
This team has improved the base by signing Alejandro Valverde. This alone should also secure the survival of the team, but it’s unlikely that the team will feature in the overall top 10.
I've trained Duarte up to 80 in the mountains and 75 in TT and am hoping that this will push the team close to the Top 10. With 3 decent stage racers I hope it will get me close...
Nice preview - though I think La Gazzetta will be very good again. Mrlol probably had a lot of money in reserve for training.
Duarte needed hill training more than TT imo
And mrlol has money yes, but he has yet to use it, and there is a limited timeframe for training
Yeah I have implemented trainings in the preview, so i know Duarte is 80 mountain. I doubt he will be very strong though. Last season he was really dissapointing, and that was with 79 mo I think :-)
To SN:
You are probably right, we'll have to see. I think Sammy is my main man for the hills, and he will probably do pretty well eventhough he is -1 from last season. Remember that he did well the season before also, and that was with -2 I think, so he should still be pretty good.
Ulissi should be able to do a nice sprint from the chasing group perhaps to round off the top 10s or something like that. That was the idea atleast. Whether or not it's possible I don't know :-)
This team has improved the base by signing Alejandro Valverde. This alone should also secure the survival of the team, but it’s unlikely that the team will feature in the overall top 10.
I've trained Duarte up to 80 in the mountains and 75 in TT and am hoping that this will push the team close to the Top 10. With 3 decent stage racers I hope it will get me close...
Nice preview - though I think La Gazzetta will be very good again. Mrlol probably had a lot of money in reserve for training.
Duarte needed hill training more than TT imo
And mrlol has money yes, but he has yet to use it, and there is a limited timeframe for training
Yeah and it is also about which riders to train... It would be silly to spend it on Morris Possoni, Matteo Bono, Mauro Santambrogio and Alex Dowsett and then there is only Jairo Agudelo, Kristof Vandewalle, Rick Flens and Dennis Van Winden left. 3 of those can become good TT'ers, but can it add up? Or is it Agudelo who is going to become a decent GT rider instead?
This team has improved the base by signing Alejandro Valverde. This alone should also secure the survival of the team, but it’s unlikely that the team will feature in the overall top 10.
I've trained Duarte up to 80 in the mountains and 75 in TT and am hoping that this will push the team close to the Top 10. With 3 decent stage racers I hope it will get me close...
Nice preview - though I think La Gazzetta will be very good again. Mrlol probably had a lot of money in reserve for training.
Duarte needed hill training more than TT imo
And mrlol has money yes, but he has yet to use it, and there is a limited timeframe for training
Yeah and it is also about which riders to train... It would be silly to spend it on Morris Possoni, Matteo Bono, Mauro Santambrogio and Alex Dowsett and then there is only Jairo Agudelo, Kristof Vandewalle, Rick Flens and Dennis Van Winden left. 3 of those can become good TT'ers, but can it add up? Or is it Agudelo who is going to become a decent GT rider instead?
Crommy wrote:
Wait - where have you found out about the training done so far?
To help him do these previews, and since he has already sent in his training, I gave him the most uptodate copy of the Excel database Ive got. Itll be posted up, along with the full list of trainings, when the race planner files go out (hopefully this week)
Edited by SportingNonsense on 04-04-2010 19:11
SportingNonsense wrote:
And mrlol has money yes, but he has yet to use it, and there is a limited timeframe for training
I thought telling you my training plans on msn would be enough?
"I think I'll stick with training X for X"
That was a bit of a vague statement for me to take as a final decision, and thats what you told me on MSN (obviosuly without the Xs and with the actual details). I thought youd PM me afterwards to finalise your choices, and you hadnt until now.
Quick, call time on training right now. La Gazzetta don't need any more training.
We'll see with Duarte. Gomez Marchante will probably ride two GT's, Valverde one plus hilly classics, and Duarte a lot of the shorter stage races. They tend to be a little hilly, so maybe I should've trained him in the hills, but decided to go for TT instead. We'll see how it goes.
