Ollfardh wrote:
BMC is better as well (Brewers just fucked up in season part 1 last year ).
In my defence, my team was not very good in the first season part. I got the TDU badly wrong but after that it was just more Cadel Evans and a lack of a sprinter that killed us.
(I see the smiley and know you're semi-joking but as it's partly true just thought I'd tell the whole story. )
I've learned from my mistakes now and plan to be well up in the rankings by the end of March.
You're blaming bad luck?! I think you can just blame Cadel.
While being sorry that Jack was forced to leave the team, I've found comfort in knowing that there is more important things and also bigger plans in the making. After a long ceremony, I'm proud to say that I can welcome all our new additions to our little clan and I can finally call someone Brother Kittel.
While someone would see it as an insult, I've taken the challenge before me and instead of feeling this as bad news, I've taken this as a challenge to become better and learn from the best. I do plea that me and Kittel won't enter the same races, as it would be a waste of the teams biggest sprinters and that Marcel won't take it personal.
I have big expectations to this season and I see myself growing stronger and stronger the further I keep fighting for my spot, which still is not quite clear. I have send an wishlist over races I want to partake in, but I will leave that to the good judgement of my manager, so I hope I can get some good results in Australia, but you may see me in Gabon if we're participating there.
I know the signing of Kittel isn't the perfect news for you, but believe when I say we didn't plan for him. But suddenly the oppurtunity was there, and we couldn't say no to such a great name. I realise this is not what you expected, but we'll have to find a way to solve this.
Since you don't want to ride with him, and I agree that using our 2 best sprinters in a race would be a shame, we'll find a schedule that suits you. As Marcel is going to le Tour, you will get your chances in the Giro. We'll use Mark Renshaw as main leadout for you guys, it's what he does best!
I have accepted Marcel Kittel's presence and I look forward learning from a master, meanwhile I'm looking forward to the season and even though I know were going to Australia, a trip to Gabon seems very exciting as a warm up too.
Mangere Kaha will start the season in Gabon, where he will contest the flatter stages, aiming for a stage win. Next will be Tour Down Under, as he really wanted to ride that. Finaly, in Driedaagse De Panne he will have to serve as Kittel's leadout. A short schedule, but we don't want to burn him up too early in the season.
Khan, we hope this is more or less what you like. Sorry about Driedaagse, but you had 4 spare racedays I had to use somewhere. Don't worry, you won't meet Marcel anywhere else. Later on it's the Giro for you and we'll apply for Denmark as well, since you really wanted that
Jorge Cristobal Riquelme will also start the season in Gabon, aiming for the hillier stages and leading out Mangere on the flat. Maybe even a good GC is possible, but we know we can't expect the same dominance as in our Brouwer year. Next race is Tour Down Under as well with the same targets. He had a nice top 10 last year, we're hoping he can repeat that. Almeria and Strade Bianche are next, two classics that should suit him (with another Brouwer win to defend in Almeria). Paris-Nice is hilly this year, so a good result can be possible there as well. Milan-San Remo is mandatory as well, though it will be in a support role. Catalunya is next, more stage hunting. And if we get the wild card, GP Indurain might be on the menu as well.
Jorge, No Grand Tour for you this year, we'd rather have you aiming for stage wins in the smaller WT races and a whole bunch of classics. You didn't win anything for us last year, until you surprised everyone on in the World Championships, so we'd like that to change. Most of all, we really want you to check in here for training more often.
I'm getting excited about starting on two different continents this season and I will do my best to take my chances. It's good to see that me and Jorge can help eachother when needed and I do expect to take every chance to try and get my first stage win.
In Australia I will have the best leadout in the world (Renshaw) and I can already expect Malori to join me in the Giro, so I'm pretty much hyped about getting started. I'm glad that I can ride in Denmark too and I hope I can participate in all 62 race days, even though de Panne isn't my favorite race, I will still keep that promise.
Now I must meditate some more upon these news and I'll get back on the cycle from tomorrow.
Well, they sucked last year and they didn't improve much.
39 - UnitedHealthCare
Marc De Maar will keep them ahead of Novo.
38 - Neri Sottoli
Doping suspensions weakened them a lot.
37 - RusVelo
Less Vodka, more points.
36 - Crelan
Vantomme and breakaways won't give them much
35 - Wanty
A slightly better team then Crelan.
34 - Bretagne
Frenchies gonna french.
33 - Sojasun
Slightly better frenchies.
32 - Topsport Vlaanderen
Should be the most talented of the non-managed teams.
31 - Drapac
The new team did some very good transfers to build a basis, but they shouldn't have any promotion ambitions. A win is definitely possible, with a lot of World Tour veterans and Leigh as lead sprinter.
30 - CCC
They brought in some foreign mercenaries with Trentin, Sinkeldam, Nokkvason and Schneider and it should give them a big point boost. The talent is there, so with some good race selections, the wins will have to follow
29 - IAM
Missed the transfers, but they still have a solid team. Haussler, Tschopp, Lokvist and Pelucchi will score their points and there's a solid group of domestiques behind them.
28 - Caja Rural
Last year's worst team has picked up some improvements with Arredondo, Machado, Alarcon and Duque. Definitely a few steps up, so they should be able to finish far away from last year's ranking.
27 - NetApp
Nerz for Konig was a big mistake, they could've gotten a better replacement for their star rider. You have to love their team though, playing the youth card. But for the rankings, they might miss that top rider.
26 - FDJ
Their eccentric manager prefered to keep Demare and Bouhanni instead of getting a full roster. It's a guess that might pay off if he gets the racedays right. If not, I fear an even worse result the last year.
25 - Bardiani
Someone always has to try the sprinter team. Viviani, Brookes, Modolo, Colbrelli and Ruffoni would make every CT team jealous, but even they are toast if Cavendish, Greipel or Kittel shows up. It will be all or nothing for Bardiani.
24 - Colombia
The Colombian identity is lost, but with Guido, Bernard, Dowsett and Harrini they will score points on terrains they didn't get anything before. The team lacks a star to fight for promotion though.
23 - Cofidis
They had a very good transfer season, picking up young talents and balancing them team. They're one big name short for promotion, but they will have their successes this season.
22 - Vacansoleil
Another team with quite a few transfers, but they made some mistakes in letting Van Poppel, De Gendt and Poels go. What's left is an old and not so very dutch squad. It will need good management to get this team working again.
21 - MTN
No major transfers here, so they're expected to finish about where they ended up last year. A very nice african team to watch though, Hunter, Abundi and Janse Van Rensburg make their team stronger, but it will be mostly about Ciolek again.
20 - Lampre
Lampre managed to keep their team together despite going down to the Continental Tour, so they should have a good season. However, some would call their manager a bit absent-minded, which might cause problems with fines.
19 - Androni
A very strong team build around young talanted riders that should bring them into the battle for promotion. Especially Delfi Cervero will be their key rider, can he finaly show his talent or will it be another FDJ season for him?
18 - Champion System
A few very strong signings for them, while keeping the asian and communist identity of the team. If Kim and Kakhi perform well, they'll will be very close to promotion to the World Tour.
17 - AG2R
They looked defeated, failing to stay in the World Tour and with big budget problems, but they managed to turn it around and keep Betancur and Bardet. It's the only team going down I see rebounding and going up again at the end of the year.
16 - Euskaltel
It was close for them last year, and it might even be closer now. The team itself is Basque perfection, but it hurt them in quality. Sanchez and Lobato were very important for the team, so Izagirre and Verboven will have to rise up to keep them in.
15 - Lotto
Another team with little transfers. They should have the same problems like last year with limited stage racers on their roster. Greipel and Roelandts will have to carry the team to stay in the World Tour.
14 - Europcar
Losing Po-ding and a slow transfer season hurt them, but Coquard, Khamphan, Schroder and Hinault should give them an extended stay in the World Tour if all goes well.
13 - Giant
They totaly threw their team around, giving up talent for experience. We really don't know where to put this team, they should stay in, but it can go horribly wrong as well if their stage racers don't score.
12 - Orica
Somehow they managed to keep the team together, while adding Evans, Birt and Johnson to cover their stage race weakness. They should have less problems staying in then last year.
11 - Katusha
Kristoff, Kreuziger and Spilak will give them some good points, but after that there's a quality gap. Choosing youth is a good thing, but they did lose a lot of point potential on the way.
10 - Trek
The first thing to notice is the small roster, only 23 riders, which might hurt them towards the end of the season. Horner's age made him a mediocre stage racer, and they have quite a few of them already with Kiserlovski, Rogers, Monfort and Schleck. Having Cancellara is a big plus though, he will have to save their season.
9 - Cannondale
Team Sagan has become even more Saganish then last year, even though they sold Juraj Sagan. With Viviani gone, they lost their back up sprinter for Sagan and with Basso they put al stage race pressure on Caruso and Sagan. But Peter Sagan will save they day for them. Did I mention they have Peter Sagan?
8 - Quick Step
The cobble dominance is gone and they lost Cavendish as well, but with Porte, De Gendt and La Bestia they have covered other weaknesses. They didn't really weaken, but other teams came a lot better out of the transfer season.
7 - Tinkoff
The biggest transfer in the game, and they got the better of it, for now. If you look at their ages, Rodriguez, Contador and Moreno won't last that much longer, but they will still score this season. Despite their great stage racers, they lack heavily on cobblers and sprinters for a WT team.
6 - Garmin
Grabbing Wiggins, McDermott, Stybar and Yates with minimal losses, great transfer season for them. They could get very far, although I do feel their lack of sprinter will hurt them in the end.
5 - Belkin
Losing Brouwer was a nightmare, but with Kittel they got a good replacement in the end. A few good domestieque trades doesn't change the fact that their stage racers can't compete with the bigger teams.
4 - Astana
With Degenkolb and Turgot, they covered their weak spots, though the transfer season lost them their Kazak identity. They added a few young talents as well, but in the end their squad lacks depth to fight for the podium.
3 - BMC
It will be a very close season for the top 3 teams, but BMC doesn't have the stage racers Sky and Movistar have. But they are definitely the team that came best out of the transfer period, so Konig and Hanzen and will give them a fight until the end.
2 - Team Sky
They lost some big names with Wiggins, Porte, Sithembile and Hanzen. Cavendish is a nice addition of course, but it will be Pedersen or Weschenbach that will decide Sky's season. Deadly efficient or Cerveloesque unbalanced, that will be the question.
1 - Movistar
They kept their big 3 together with an even stronger Quintana, Valverde and Costa. Calzone and Lobato can handle the sprints now and Flecha will even give them the occasional cobble points. With a bit more luck then last year, they can beat Team Sky.
Edited by Ollfardh on 23-01-2015 12:35
What is everyone's facination with our small squad size? Most of our riders were incapable of scoring points anyway. Plus you only need a few race days if you win them all Surprsied you put both Cofidis and Vacansoleil ahead of us. Though i mostly agree with the WT thoughts, i would put Orica below Giant and Europcar.
Well, I really think the CT will be interesting to watch. I could easily have put you 5 places higher, it's that close in my opinion. But I do expect AG2R, Androni and Champion System to fight it out for promotion.
World Tour, yeah. A few teams I really didn't know where to put them. It will depend on race selection mostly.
Good read but I think you're underestimating Euskaltels transfers. We've got a lot of more depth in all terrains and Intxausti is stronger than Sánchez was after the decline. He got a lot of points by finishing just inside top 10 but with the decline I'd expect him to mainly finish just outside the top 10 if he was used as a leader.
Lobato could have gotten us a lot of points this year, but in fact he didn't score that much last year as he got upgraded a lot thorughout the season. A new rider will get taht rolde this year. Castroviejo should be able to bring us some good TT results this year which for some part will compensate a bit.
Not saying that we won't be near the bottom, but the team as such should be quite a bit stronger than last year overall. Also because we have a lot of more depth and possible point-scorers than last year.
Post similar to the one about our cobbles squad will slowly shoe that I'm right when you look at the details
Well, I'm not really saying you got worse, but you didn't catch up with the teams who finished in front of you in my opinion. But please, prove me wrong, WT needs Euskaltel Edited by Ollfardh on 23-01-2015 13:38
Nice effort with the rankings. Especially the Conti tours should be fascinating, hopefully it will go right to the end. AG2R, Champion Systems and Androni should definitely be there, but I wouldn't count out FDJ or even Bardiani. I would certainly bedisappointed if we did not make the top 20.
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Brotherhood
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