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DFL Extreme | Season 4, 2010
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 09-04-2009 21:43
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 09-04-2009 21:46
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Grand Tour Champion
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2000 replies aaah!
stunning squad - any chance you could give deignan a GT with help from blythe, wegelius and lloyd
the giro wants it
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 09-04-2009 21:47
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Grand Tour Champion
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oh and dan martin
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 11:43
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Bot Agent
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 09-04-2009 21:53
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Grand Tour Champion
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time for a jersey change?
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 09-04-2009 21:55
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wackojackohighcliffe wrote:
2000 replies aaah!
stunning squad - any chance you could give deignan a GT with help from blythe, wegelius and lloyd
the giro wants it
I think youll like my Vuelta plans even better  |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 09-04-2009 21:59
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wackojackohighcliffe wrote:
time for a jersey change?
Who made it? |
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 09-04-2009 21:59
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Grand Tour Champion
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cant wait
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 09-04-2009 23:46
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Three teams really stand out as major rivals to DFL this season. (Note: Screenshots only show each team's best 20 riders)
Dekker and Gesink remain as two very strong riders for Rabobank, while John-Lee Augustyn has come in from Discovery Channel to effectively replace his own former teammate Mauricio Soler. They may not have a sprint but as well as their climbers, they also look strong on the cobbles. No puncheur my harm their overall ProTour hopes though.
CSC's three core riders remain - Cancellara and the Schlecks. Andy Schleck won the Tour de France in 2009 by 15 minutes, while the team also won the biggest one day race with Cancellara. It cannot be forgotten also that Frank Schleck won Amstel Gold and was 2nd in Fleche Wallone last season. With the strength to back their leaders up, CSC are probably our biggest rivals.
You can never count out Discovery Channel, with Janez Brajkovic, Manuel Lloret and Luis Leon Sanchez at the helm. Soler joins, completing a direct swap with Augustyn. Hincapie is now unlikely to do much on the cobbles though, and they do not really have anybody else who could score highly.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 10-04-2009 00:23
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 10-04-2009 00:06
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The departure of Kohl, Popovych, Visconti and Sanchez may allow the rest of the team to flourish now with less leaders looking for a good result - but nevertheless the loss of Kohl will be a blow to the team. While Rodas impressed in the Giro, Cunego struggled last season. They have made some strong signings though, with Zubeldia, Gadret, Kairelis and Txurruka arriving at the team.
Riccardo Ricco was a major factor in helping Barloworld maintain a ProTour spot, and now they look to go from strength to strength. While Orozco and Belkov continue to improve Visconti and of course Igor Anton are both key signings for the team. It will be interesting to see if Igor Anton will be able to replicate his Vuelta-winning 2008 form for us here at Barloworld.
Lampre have undergone a major transformation over the off season - their 7 best riders are all new. Its hard to look further than Alejandro Valverde, the former Caisse d'Epargne star and last years ProTour winner. But without the strength in depth of the Spanish team, can he repeat his glories? Popovych and Rovny will lead the support of him. Also joining is Romain Feillu who has at last left Agritubel after three hugely successful seasons there. He has ridden the Tour de France twice but already by July in a season he will have raced a ton of race days, so perhaps this will be the year for his first real chance to take some major stages. Lampre will be very expectant of him - particularly having discarded both Bennati and Napolitano aswell as Ballan.
Tom Boonen, Gusev and Weylandt already provided a strong backbone for the team, in the cobbles at least, and the team is now further improved by two big signings. Denis Menchov leaves behind Lampre, while Stijn Devolder joins from Euskaltel having been unable to keep the Basque side up single handedly.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 10-04-2009 00:23
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 10-04-2009 00:18
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Team Manager
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Just how well can a team cope with the loss of their team leader? Caisse d'Epargne were faced with that problem, and have looked towards younger riders with the signing of Vincenzo Nibali and Theo Eltink. However, both are as yet unproved in a Grand Tour scenario. Instead perhaps Nibali will perform in the hills - and he certainly has the team behind him to do just that.
Kreuziger continues to lead Liquigas and the Italian team's hills aspect is now improved, with Kim Kirchen being replaced by Samuel Sanchez. Pozzato and Franzoi will go for the cobbles, while newly-licensed Australian Heinrich Haussler will have good support from Eros Capecchi in the sprints.
Climbers, climbers, and then some more climbers. Dont expect to see Saunier Duval active in any terrain other than the mountains. Carlos Sastre's signing means that they now are even stronger than last season, and with strong support he could well improve on 3rd in the Vuelta or perhaps target the Tour - something he was unable to do for CSC.
Danilo di Luca continues to lead the team and maintains a strong level of support in the hills, Steve Morabito being the latest to join the team. The team also continues to look strong in the sprints. Cavendish may be gone, but Ciolek and Greipel are now joined by Thor Hushovd. |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 10-04-2009 00:20
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wow. Rabo has great climbers, great cobblers but NO sprinter, not even a 70 one...
Edited by alexkr00 on 10-04-2009 00:20
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 10-04-2009 00:29
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Pereiro and Kvasina did well last season - but the Spaniad is starting to decline and may struggle to produce a repeat performance. The team does have some strong sprinters though, with Sutton, Rasmussen and Bazayev.
Two new signings, complete with doped qualities, bolster the Ag2r line up - Kohl and Schumacher. How well will Schumacher do in the ProTour, returning after two seasons with Slipstream. Look out for their sprint team too, including DFL riders Manan and Stevic.
Wiesenhof looked to be approaching the season with only Jelle Vanendert to help them. Morabito was gone, and they looked to be spending just the 1 season in the ProTour once again. But then, on Christmas Day, they announced the signing of Alessandro Ballan. The former World Champion's strengths in the hills and cobbles may yet be able to save Wiesenhof.
Andrey Grivko has already single handedly kept FDJeux up once, and he may have to do it again as the French team failed to strengthen in the transfers. They will also be looking to Marcus Burghardt, the German having failed to shine in 2009. |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 10-04-2009 00:34
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Not fighting hard to keep Thor Hushovd could be Credit Agricole's undoing. As that along with Cobo's departure leaves them with little to call upon for major points scoring.
Oliver Zaugg really needs to have a major breakthrough this season, as only he and Markus Fothen are there for the team on the climbs. They have Farrar and Cardoso for sprints, but it will be a struggle.
Velits, Van den Broeck and Garate could potentially throw off a performance on the climbs, Forster could do the same in the sprints. But ultimately, a lot will rest on one week in April and the performances that Leif Hoste is able to deliver. They only just survived last season - can they repeat the feat?
They may point to their sprinters, well thats the only thing they can point to. It is going to be very very hard for them to survive, and I do not think they have any hope at all. |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 10-04-2009 01:05
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Leading Continental Teams - Part 1
Cofidis and Euskaltel will both be looking to bounce back up into the ProTour, and definately have a chance of doing so as Bouygues Telecom continue in their efforts this being their 3rd season as a continental team. Fellow French team Agritubel may start to struggle with the loss of Feillu while Chocolaude Jacques, 3rd last year, may also have missed their chance. In contrast, Panaria now look set to be developing into a more serious contender rather than just being consistently in the top 10.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 10-04-2009 01:10
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Leading Continental Teams - Part 2
Here are two teams who are possibly the favourites for promotion. Rabobank Continental may not have a huge standout rider - although they have signed Rebellin - but their strength in depth is impressive to say the least. Slipstream meanwhile are slightly different ... Zabriskie, Leipheimer, Coyot, Boom, Goss ... the list goes on.
Now for three teams who although have some strong riders, are unlikely to battle for promotion due to their race schedules.
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 10-04-2009 09:29
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great presentation and nice to see mizbani riding PT
I think the jersey was made by a guy called something like Northwave 59 on the cyanide forums
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| Deadpool |
Posted on 10-04-2009 13:01
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Yeah, great presentation, it'll be tough to win the pro tour again |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 10-04-2009 13:38
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And heres the best remaining free agents. Petacchi is again without a team, only this year he has been joined by fellow sprinters Bennati, Napolitano, and Ventoso
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| schleck93 |
Posted on 10-04-2009 14:01
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Crazy how such great sprinters can be free agents 
BenBarnes wrote:
Thor wears a live rattlesnake as a condom.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 10-04-2009 16:42
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Team Manager
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Yeh, I think it must be some sort of setting in the game that makes teams prefer climbers - I dont think any rider with 70 mountain or higher is a free agent |
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