andy222c wrote:
I think Contador will end his season with Saxo Bank this year. And as issoisso pointed out, either Movistar or Quickstep, will take him for 2013.
Especially Quickstep would be a great match i think. They have no real GC man apart from Leipheimer (who's getting older every day), and the relationship between Leipheimer and Contador seems to be okay enough to be working together. And then Quickstep definitely got the money for him, if they really want him
Who doesn't?
I don't. See you in 365 days from now, my age will still be the very same.
Is today your birthday?
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182]Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
andy222c wrote:
I think Contador will end his season with Saxo Bank this year. And as issoisso pointed out, either Movistar or Quickstep, will take him for 2013.
Especially Quickstep would be a great match i think. They have no real GC man apart from Leipheimer (who's getting older every day), and the relationship between Leipheimer and Contador seems to be okay enough to be working together. And then Quickstep definitely got the money for him, if they really want him
They have Velits, who is able to get better results on GT's than olding Levi (of course not the results Contador can achieve) and Levi, Martin who can win almost every week-long stage race, so i think they are o.k with stage-racers.
And they have Stybar, who is going to pawn everybody in few years
But i agree now it is only Movistar and OPQS who can afford him.
Velits have to develop more before he can reach a podium in a GC, like he did in 2010. The pack won't let him go too far now, because he's too big a threat now.
He wasn't a threat in 2010 (which he though proved the pack wrong), which was one of the main aspects in his podium spot. Though i still think he deserved the podium, which he especially proved with his TT stage win in the last part of the Vuelta.
There's no doubt that he will be a main contender for Grand Tour GC's someday, but i still think he'll need some development.
I have to admit that i don't believe in Levi anymore. I'm sure that he can win some week-long stage races, and still ride very well. But for the Tour i don't believe in him.
Though this years tour actually fits him quite well, and i think he will surprise a little this year, but that will be his last year on the top i think.
I know it sounds a little like duouble standards, but that's just my crazy opinion
Martin will do well this year, but he's still too slow in the mountains for Grand Tours. If he wanted to let some of his TT skills go away, he could have a transition like Wiggins.
And Stybar.... Hmm, he have to prove something on the road before i will count him as a talent or anything
Overall conclusion - Quickstep has a very good team for stage races, but in the Grand tour GC's, they aren't near anything before Velits will have the level to race against the very best.
Therefore they could need a man who has the level to win a grand tour i think
andy222c wrote:
I think Contador will end his season with Saxo Bank this year. And as issoisso pointed out, either Movistar or Quickstep, will take him for 2013.
Especially Quickstep would be a great match i think. They have no real GC man apart from Leipheimer (who's getting older every day), and the relationship between Leipheimer and Contador seems to be okay enough to be working together. And then Quickstep definitely got the money for him, if they really want him
They have Velits, who is able to get better results on GT's than olding Levi (of course not the results Contador can achieve) and Levi, Martin who can win almost every week-long stage race, so i think they are o.k with stage-racers.
And they have Stybar, who is going to pawn everybody in few years
But i agree now it is only Movistar and OPQS who can afford him.
Velits have to develop more before he can reach a podium in a GC, like he did in 2010. The pack won't let him go too far now, because he's too big a threat now.
He wasn't a threat in 2010 (which he though proved the pack wrong), which was one of the main aspects in his podium spot. Though i still think he deserved the podium, which he especially proved with his TT stage win in the last part of the Vuelta.
There's no doubt that he will be a main contender for Grand Tour GC's someday, but i still think he'll need some development.
I have to admit that i don't believe in Levi anymore. I'm sure that he can win some week-long stage races, and still ride very well. But for the Tour i don't believe in him.
Though this years tour actually fits him quite well, and i think he will surprise a little this year, but that will be his last year on the top i think.
I know it sounds a little like duouble standards, but that's just my crazy opinion
Martin will do well this year, but he's still too slow in the mountains for Grand Tours. If he wanted to let some of his TT skills go away, he could have a transition like Wiggins.
And Stybar.... Hmm, he have to prove something on the road before i will count him as a talent or anything
Overall conclusion - Quickstep has a very good team for stage races, but in the Grand tour GC's, they aren't near anything before Velits will have the level to race against the very best.
Therefore they could need a man who has the level to win a grand tour i think
I agree almost with all you said, except i think that Velits could be and should be the leader for Tour yet this year, as only fall prevented him from entering the top 10 last year and that was the year favourites knew about him already (he was 18th overall iirc and was 4th on Alpe f.e.).
He of course need more development to reach even higher, but still he is better GT rider than Levi now in my eyes (and the route also suit him, as he is very good TT).
But i am little bit biased obviously and bit off-topic. I must admitt i like OPQS how it is and despite admiring Contador, i would not like see him going there much, especially because i think their future is with Kreuziger...
I'm also quite convinced that it isn't Quickstep's philosophy to take in a rider like Contador, but i still think he would fit in quite well.
But i'd also rather see that they'd tried to develop there own stars, such as Velits. But let's see how it goes
andy222c wrote:
I'm also quite convinced that it isn't Quickstep's philosophy to take in a rider like Contador, but i still think he would fit in quite well.
But i'd also rather see that they'd tried to develop there own stars, such as Velits. But let's see how it goes
They tried very hard to sign him when he ended up going to Saxo Bank
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"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
andy222c wrote:
I'm also quite convinced that it isn't Quickstep's philosophy to take in a rider like Contador, but i still think he would fit in quite well.
But i'd also rather see that they'd tried to develop there own stars, such as Velits. But let's see how it goes
They tried very hard to sign him when he ended up going to Saxo Bank
Was not that a year they tried and failed to sign Kreuziger also? I think Quickstep was very interested in him and there are still talks he will end there for sure when his contract runs out? Owner Bakala is building nice Czech colony for him there.
