Last year the CT was dominated by Ikea, who are gone. The other top teams from last year got promoted. So we're all asking, who will promote this year? Who will be the best teams? Who will be this seasons "Bacardi" and promote in their first season? Will anyone do it?
This is the first preview of the CT, and is therefor somewhat lacking. Lacking because I lack a fully updated DB, and because training is not done. So if there are any mayor mistakes please tell me and I will try to fix them. I also decided that concerning talents I will post them for the team they are riding for this season, but will try to note it if they are loaned. Note again, there will be mistakes!
The relegated teams
Cerne
Spoiler
Star riders:
*** Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Hills)
** Pedro Nicácio (Stage Racer)
* Maurizio Biondo / Bruno Santos / 2 other sprinters with hard to spell names (Sprinters)
Great talents:
Elia Viviani, Rafael Reis, Bruno Borges, Lionel Coutinho
Relegated from the Pro Tour last year, and most of their star riders decided to not stay at the team, making Leon Sanchez the sole big star on the team. Sanchez will do well, no doubt about that, but Nicacio and their sprinters are not at the among the best in the CT and even though they might get some good results here and there it will not be enough.
On the other hand there is no doubt that Cerne is in a mayor rebuilding face, and they got some of the biggest talents in the world in Viviani, Reis, Borges and Coutinho. In addition to them they got a lot of other good talents.
Cerne will become a great team again in 2-3 seasons, this season they are simply not strong enough and Sanchez Gil alone can't save the season.
Great talents:
Toms Skuijns, Alex Kirsch, Bob Jungels
Not really relegated, but they got moved down no matter what. They were the big suprise of last years Pro Tour, but the team does not look like that at all and are to be honest one of the weakest teams in the CT. Sicard and Gaudin should be able to get the team some good results, while Feillu*2, Drujon and Morizot might get a result here and there, but in general this is a weak team. Then again, you never know what their manager could do!
There are some big talents in this squad, but they are mostly loaned in and unfortunatly Focused Cycling will not get to use them when they really start to shine.
The ProContinental in 1 min, then the new teams as soon as I've written them.
In my opinion the strongest squad in the CT. Claeys, Monfort, Cobo, Lloret, Ciolek, Gil, de la Fuente, Ciolek etc will grant the team wins and top positions. It's the sheer debt of quality that really defines this team, they will have favorites in pretty much every race they race and are (unlike most team) not dependant on 1-2 riders doing great. I belive that even if their riders in average underperforms they will fight for promotion. My favorite to win the entire CT.
To be negative about the team they lack cobble riders (Then again, they wont ride this type of races...) and they lack talents. Then again, who needs talents when they will promote this year?
I believe that Bianchi is the team to beat this year. In the end they will end up in the Pro Tour.
Bimbo Nutella
Spoiler
Star Riders:
*** Bernhard Eisel (Cobbles/sprinter)
** Linus Gerdeman (Stage Racer)
* Greg van Avermaet (sprinter)
Great talents:
None at all
Bimbo Nutella are a team that can both do well and fail totally, I feel they will be more towards the fail side. Eisel and Gerdeman are strong riders, and can give good results. There are also sevral other strong climbers in the team, and they will be able to get some good team results in the mountains.
For the cobbles Eisel got good support, but will he really be able to battle the Koppert/Bpost squads? Or the strenght of Blythe? I doubt it.
Avermaet is a good sprinter, but considering the strenght of sprinters (Benatti, Mohs, Ciolek...) I doubt he will score enough to make Bimbo a top team.
My conclusion is that Bimbo is an ok CT team, but not in the top level. They are also lacking in the talent department.
California Giant
Spoiler
Star Riders:
*** Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Puncheur)
** Ryan Eastman (Stage Racer) / Kristjan Koren (Time Trialist)
* Juan Jose Haedo (Sprinter)
Great Talents
There's even less talents here than in Bimbo Nutella...
Rising from the Mercedes team and in my opinion they've been doing some interesting transfers. Pozzatto left the squad in a deal that involved Samuel Sanchez, and I belive the aging Spaniard will be able to deliver this season as he got good stats all over. On the other hand they signed (and rumours say they will train him stronger) Koren, a rider who will battle the likes of Boom, Ignatiev and Reus in the stage races with Hills and TimeTrials. No doubt he will get good results
California Giant also got the strong stage racer Ryan Eastman who will be able to score some good results togheter with the pure climber Stetina. For the sprints they got a rider who are known to deliver in Haedo. They also got good domestiques for all their races, with riders like Peterson, Tolleson, Pasamontes, Weiss, Colex, Howes etc ready to support their leaders.
In my opinion this is not a promoting squad, but with luck and great tactics from the DS they can be up there. However I guess they will be more around the middle.
Emu Export
Spoiler
Star Riders:
*** Mihayil Krasponerov / Magno Nazaret (Climbers)
** John Lee Augustyn / Daniel Navarro (Stage Racers)
* Cadel Evans / Saul Raisin (Stage Racers)
Great talents
Got some talents, but none great
Emu Export is one of those team I believe did one of the best transfer seasons. Last year they were at the bottom of the CT, this year they got a much better team. Krasponerov and Nazaret are great climbers, and will be right up there in all mountain finishes and will score Emu alot of points. They also got great support from the rest of the team, this is one of the strongest climbing teams in general.
On the other side they are pretty much putting all their eggs in one basket. They got one sprinter, no cobbleriders, no puncheurs and no Timetrialists, so a pretty one-dimensional team.
Emu is a weaker version of last years Benfica squad, and a team that will finish around the middle of the pack this year.
Hollister [Jersey missing]
Spoiler
Star Riders:
*** Allan Davis / Alexandr Serebriakov (Sprinters)
** Robert Kiserlovski (Stage Racer)
* Zakkari Dempster (Time-Trialist)
Great talents
Yonathan Monsalve, Jarlinson Pantano Gómez, Pedro Pablo Pereyra
I will start of by asking how the hell they could get Monsalve for 100k considering the prices other talents went for? He's the second best Stage-Racer talent this year (imo) and will become a future monster! They also got Pantano Gómez who will be a great climber.
When you look at their best riders it's their sprinters that meet your eye, Davis and Serebriakov are among the stronger sprinters in the CT and will secure Hollister som good results, but you can't forget that there are alot of good sprinters and you can never trust mass sprints.
For the mountains they got Robert Kiserlovski, he's a good climber and will get great support from riders like Marinez and Szmyd, while I bet Ochoa Quintero will ride for himself mostly. They also got Proni who's an okay puncheur.
In my opinion a team that could end pretty much everywhere, alot depending on their sprinters. Most likely they will be on upper half of the middle, but you'll never know. A team worth watching.
Jayco - Red Bull
Spoiler
Star Riders:
*** John Gadret (Stage Racer)
** Kim Kirchen (Stage Racer / Puncheur)
* All their sprinters (except Greame Brown ofc)
Great talents:
The team lack great talents, they got the loaned in Tzortzakis who will be a great sprinter in the future, but as I said, he's just loaned in.
Many think that Jayco - Red Bull did the best transfer season, and I can see why they think that even if I don't believe so myself. The first thing you notice about them are their great depth, only beaten by Bianchi in my opinion. They got 7 sprinters who can take stage wins, and 6 riders who can be in top 10 of the hilly riders. On the other hand they lack a real number one.
Gadret and Moreno are good climbers, but Gadret are just back from a silent year and we doubt he is at the same level as he was before his break. If Gadret can find his form he will do well, and will get alot of support from the rest of the squad.
Jayco - Red Bull are a squad that goes for depth rather than clear leaders and it will be interesting to see how they will do this season. I personally believe we will see Jayco - Red Bull in the top fifteen, but can't really see them as a real promotion contender. I hope Smowz proove me wrong!
Pirelli - Alfa Romeo
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Jurgen van den Broeck / Nicolas Roche (Stage Racers)
** Carlos Castaño (Stage Racer)
* Assan Bazajev (sprinter)
Great talents
The team got some rider who can become better, but no great talents
Pirelli is another squad who looks alot stronger this year than the last, they've also managed to turn a squad with about the same avg age as RL Radioshack into a younger (not young per say, but younger) squad. They also got some nice leaders.
The squad is all about their 3 stars, van den Broeck, Roche and Castaño. All 3 will be able to get good results and not only in the mountains, all 3 are also good puncheurs and timetrialists, something I believe will give them an edge. They also got good domestiques in riders like Saldarriaga.
Apart from their climbers Bazajev and Di Nucci could win some stages, but are not among the strongest sprinters in the CT.
Pirelli are another squad I believe will be on the upper half of the continental tour, and could with luck be among the 5-6-7 best.
Pokerstars.com
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Jose Rujano (Stage Racer)
** Erik Mohs (Sprinter)
* Frederik Nolf (Cobbles)
Great talents
John Degenkolb
This is a team that should be among the top teams this season. They got the second best climber in the CT in Jose Rujano, who will be among the best in every stage race he enters, and if I'm right will win some of them aswell. He will get support from Kern and Van Goolen, who might seem few compared to some other teams, but Rujano is simply so strong that it will be enough.
Last year this team controlled the peloton in the cobble classics, considering that Bpost is in the CT this year they will not have the same control, but I think that they will get better results as they've signed Frederik Nolf, a great cobbler. He will get support from Kluge, Van Impe, Boucher and Geslin. Maybe not the best cobble team, but among the 3 best atleast.
In my opinion one of the team that can challange Bianchi for the top spot, and I also believe that Rujano are a potenial top 3 on the individual list. Pro Tour watch out, in a year you might have to battle Rujano in the mountains again, and Mohs in the sprints!
Proximus-Trek
Spoiler
Star Riders
***(***********) Alejandro Valverde (Puncheur / Stage Racer)
** Mark Cavendish (Sprinter)
* Hassen Ben Nasser (Puncheur)
Great Talents:
None great, best being Hacecký
The single best rider of the CT are the clear leader of this squad, last years Vuelta winner Alejandro Valverde. He will win the races he race, simple as that.
Apart from the Valverde the team got two great riders in Cavendish and Nasser, both should be able to give the team alot of points. They could also hope for some results from Kip, Ma and Ulanowski, but can't really count on them.
The squad lack dept except for in sprinting and I believe that their 3 leaders wont be enough, even if they all do great. There is also something called the "Waghlon-effect" who can bite this team in the ass. My guess for their season is the upper-half but not promotion. You can call them the opposite of Jayco-Red Bull who went for depth.
Rapha Condor
Spoiler
Star Riders:
*** Adam Blythe (Cobbles)
** Peter Kennaugh (Sprinter)
* Jonathan Bellis / Chris Froome (Puncheurs)
Great talents
Teklehaimanot, Teklit and Grmay are interesting riders. Not among the greatest, but really interesting.
One of the strongest squads last season decided to go from a pure british team to a british/african squad. A result of this is that they look alot weaker than last year, but that does not mean they are weak.
Adam Blythe is among the strongest cobblers in the CT, and while he only got Bakari as a good supporting rider I belive that he can give some good support and that Blythe will be among the top 3 performers during the cobble classics.
From "the worlds best sprinting squad" that they had last season only Kennaugh are left. In other words they've lost 2 of the best sprinters in the world, but Kennaugh are still a good sprinter and can not be counted out aslong as a stage/classic is flat.
They also got 2 good puncheurs in Bellis and Froome, who together will be able to get good results for the team. In addition to that they got 2 great time-trialists who will be at the top of Isle of Man TT and Duo Normand.
Rapha Condor is a great team, but weaker than last year. I can't see them being in the top 5, but they are a good top 10/15 team and they will get better as their Africans get experience.
Saab-Scania
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Thomas Lövkvist (Stage Racer)
** Thor Hushovd / Francesco Chicchi (Sprinters)
* Matti Breschel (Cobbles/Sprinter)
Great talents:
Phillip Lavery is the biggest talent on the squad
Saab - Scania is an interesting scandinavian team with 3 of the best Scandinavians as leaders, and also got some interesting foregneirs like Chicchi and Eltink.
Lövkvist is the biggest star of the team, and a good stage racer, unfortunatly he lack the skill to stay with the best up the mountains and will also loose time to the best timetrialers on their ground. He will however be able to get some good results for Saab - Scania.
Hushovd and Chicchi are the best sprinters on the team, but also Breschel, Van Hummel and Westling are good sprinters. Their sprinters are not as good as the best, but should be able to score the team some good results.
Breschel are their leader for the cobbles and even though he aint the best cobbler he can be dangerous becuse of his finishing speed. Hushovd also knows how to get over the cobbles, but he's getting old and are not as good as he used to be.
Even though I love the build-up of this squad, with Lövkvist, Breschel and Hushvod they are unfortunatly not among the best in the world. I do believe that Saab will end around the 15th position, but if they are unlucky they can end lower.
T.CS Bank - OJSC
Spoiler
Star Riders:
*** Mikhail Ignatiev
** Vladimir Efimkin / Sergei Kolesnikov
* Alexander Kolobnev
Great talents
Petr Ignatenko
The former Tinkoff squad are a strong team, with a leader that can win the individual ranking in Ignatiev. He's the strongest timetrialist in the CT, and will be a favorite for races like Bayern Rundfarth and Isle of Man TT.
Efimkin and Kolesnikov are strong climbers, but not among the very best of the CT. Still they will be able to get some good results. The team also got a good squad of sprinters, like Markov and Trusov who should be able to get some good results in sprints.
Kolobnev leads their hilly squad and with good support he should be able to get some good results.
I believe that T.CS Bank - OJSC will be one of the team fighting for promotion, but can't see them beat the likes of Bianchi. Still a team for the top fight.
Unicredit
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Danilo Napolitanio (Sprinter)
** Pieter Weening / Giovanni Visconti (Puncheurs)
* Fabio Borghesi / Alejandre Borrajo (Sprinters)
Great talents
Tosh van der Sande, Nairo Quintana, Salvatore Puccio
Unicredit are a team that can do 2 things, sprint and ride over hills. For sprinting they are one of the best teams in the world, with Napolitanio as a great leader with good co-leaders like Borghesi and Borrajo. The problem here is that sprints are a lottery, but I believe they will do better this year than last.
For the hills they got Weening and Visconti, both are okay riders but not among the best riders in the CT. Still they will get some good results from them.
Also got to comment on their talents, who can become quite good riders in the future, Quintana will be one of the abselutely best climbers in the world.
Even though Napolitanio are one of the best sprinters in the world it will not be enough to make Unicredit a top team in the CT. I think they will end on the bottom half this season, but would of course be happy if they prove me wrong.
Vespa-Aprillia-De Rosa
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Domenico Pozzovivo (Stage Racer)
** Francesco Ginanni (Puncheur)
* Matteo Carrara / Gabriele Bossisio (Stage Racers)
Great Talents
Mattia Cattaneo are the greatest talent in the world, unfortunatly they are only loaning him.
Vespa-Aprillia-De Rosa are one of the strongest teams in the CT, and might be able to promote. In my opinion they are not as strong as Bianchi, but among the 3-4-5 teams that could in a good season beat Bianchi.
Pozzovivo are the biggest signing for Vespa this year, and he is one of the strongest stage racers in the entire CT. He will asure Vespa some good results this year, and end high on the induvidual rankings. I see no weaknesses in him.
Ginanni are also back as a leader for Vespa, and will have a better season this year. Atleast I believe so. He's perhaps the best puncheur in the CT, and without riders like Ponzi, Efimkin, Schumacher, Ricco, Gilbert and Pozzato the competition is less than last season.
Apart from their stars the team got 2 good stage racers in Carrara and Bossisio, they will lead the team when the others can't and should score some good results. Behind this 4 Vespa aint that strong, but got some nice domestiques and mediocre sprinters who can score a nice result now and then.
Vespa-Aprillia-De Rosa got 2 of the abselutely best riders in the division, and I believe that those 2 will make the team fight for promotion.
VolksWagen-Siemens
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Vadim Ratiy / Marco Marzano (Stage Racers)
** Kai Reus (Time Trials)
* Alexandar Flügel (Puncheur)
Great Talents
Rick Zabel, Georg Preidler, Winner Anacona, Gregory Brenes
This is my own team, and I'm happy with it. Ratiy and Marzano are some of the best climbers / Stage Racers in the CT and will get me some good results.
Kai Reus is one of the best timetrialists of the CT, and will fight with the likes of Boom, Koren and Ignatiev in the stage races with hills and time trials. Schädlich is also a good time trialist for races like Duo Normand and Isle of Man TT.
Alexandar Flügel is the only puncheur on the team and while he's not at the level of Ginnani and Claeys, but will hopefully get some good results.
Other than that the team got some below-top sprinters, okay domestiques (Noval, Pfannberger, Müller and Veikkanen) and good future talents.
Hopefully my team will battle for promotion, I don't believe that my team are the strongest, but we should be up there.
WWE
Spoiler
Star Riders:
(********) Thomas Voeckler (Hero)
*** Sergio Paulinho / Fredrik Kessiakoff (Stage Racers)
** Andre Greipel / Michael Vingerling (Sprinters)
* Jerome Pineau (Puncheur)
Great talents
Jens Keukleire, loaned in but still a great talent.
WWE looks stronger than last years Bbox squad, but they are still not one of the best squads in the CT. They got their poster boy Thomas Voeckler who can only be seen as a hero for all cycling fans, everyone got to watch out for him, no matter what.
For Stage Races the team got Fredrik Kessiakoff and Sergio Paulinho as the big stars, they are not among the best in the division, but both should be able to score some good results over the season. They also got some nice climbers in Sørensen, Astarloza, Diniz and Txurruka.
Their big sprinter is Andre Greipel, he didn't really have a good season last year, and we're afraid he still lack the strenght to beat the best sprinters in the flat classics. If he however is used in the stage races we believe he should be able to score a good amount of stage wins.
Their hilly captain is Jerome Pineau, a good puncheur that lacks the final strenght to make him a great one. He should be able to score top 10's, but unfortunatly for the team that is where his level are.
They are a much stronger team than last year, but as I said earlier not yet a top team. Should place themself around the middle.
Star Riders:
*** Jose Alarcon (climber)
** Gustav Larsson (Stage Racer)
* Anthony Roux (Puncheur)
Great talents
Emilien Viennet
An interesting new team, with 1 clear leader in Alarcon. He was last years best climber, and will most likely be it again this year, and can even win the individual ranking. Then again, the competition is maybe even harder this year, specially with his countreyman Rujano going down to the CT.
The second leader in Aker is also a known star, last year on the same team as Alarcon, the ever-winning Ikea-Bianchi. Larsson should be able to get some good results in races that includes both mountains and time trials, and will be a good point gatherer for Aker. They also got good climbers like Jaramillo, Vasquez and Ortega who could get some good results.
Roux is a good puncheur, even though he's not at the level of the best in the CT. Still he will be able to score some good results. Aker also got 2 okay sprinters in Haedo and Jørgensen, that can get some good results if they are lucky.
Aker Solutions got a team with lots of potenial that could end anywhere in my opinion, but I think that even though their main leaders are strong they will end at the bottom half, simply becuse Alarcon are eating to much of the wage budget.
Bpost
Spoiler
Star Riders:
*** Nikolas Maes / Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Cobbles)
** Niels Albert (Cobbles)
* Jelle Vanendert (Puncheur)
Great talents
Joeri Stallaert, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Silvan Dillier, Jan Polanc
An interesting new team. If you are looking for who will win the northern classics this year you can stop looking. They simply got the best cobble team in the world, even if you include the Pro Tour I think this team is the best. Vanspeybrouck and Albert pretty much met up and won the CT cobble-classics last year, and this year they got Maes, Vansummeren and Broers with them... If you beat this team on the cobbles you got the right to laugh at them for the rest of the season.
They also got some good puncheurs in Vanendert and Gautier, not among the best but still riders who can score a nice amount of points, but thats where it stops. Elijzen is a nice time trialist, but considering the competition from Ignatiev/Boom/Reus/Schädlich/Stanndard/etc he wont score that much points this season. Van Loocke is also a nice sprinter, but I belive that he will not be able to compete with the best this season. Still, at 50k wage he's worth it. Seeing that De Greef is their best Stage Racer we can just say that they should stay away from those races...
They also got some interesting talents, and (suprise! Suprise!) 2 of them could turn into great cobbleriders, 1 could become a sprinter or a cobble rider (or a Boonen-light), and they also got riders who can learn to climb!
Bpost got an interesting squad, and I believe that they will be at the top of the division after the cobble classics. After that? Be ready for a long fall for the belgian team. In the end I predict them on the bottom half, but they may suprise!
CSC-Orbea
Spoiler
Star Riders:
*** Igor Anton (Climber/Stage Racer)
** Roman Maksimov (Sprinter)
* Rui Costa (Puncheur/Timetrialist)
Great talents
Andrew Talansky, Juan Gelabert
CSC got a pretty interesting squad, with 2 stars and a great depth. Their first, and biggest star, is Igor Anton. A great climber who will get CSC some good results in their first season back in proffesional racing. He's not the best in the division, but we believe that he will stay with the best and be atleast top 5 in most races he enter.
Roman Maksimov is a strong sprinter with a fantastic acceleration. I got a feeling that he will be one of the best performing sprinters this year and score alot of points for CSC.
Their last big leader is Rui Costa. He lacks the strenght in Timetrialing that Ignatiev/Koren/Reus/Boom got, but he makes up for it by being a better puncheur than Koren and Reus. This is a rider that can suprise many, mark my words.
Other than their leaders they got a lot of interesting climbers, and if Anton underperforms they are ready to take over. They also got some okay sprinters/leadoutmen. And last but not least the got Kovalev, who together with already mentioned Costa will make a good Duo Normand team.
CSC is another team that can get anywhere from 10th to really low. And for me they are a really hard team to place, I will however say that they probobly will be somewhere around top 20, but can do both better and worse.
Cyclevox
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Ignas Konovalovas (Puncheur/Timetrialist)
** Tomas Vaitkus / Mitch Docker
* Ricardo van der Velde / Trent Lowe / Sandy Casar (Stage Racers)
Great talents
Scott Thwaites
Ignas Konovalovas is like Rui Costa, but a slightly better puncheur. Should be able to score some good results, and even shock by beating the favorites in the hills.
Vaitkus showed last season that he got his own way to win sprints, and if he does that again this year he will make Cyclevox and interesting team to watch. They also got a more "normal" sprinter in Docker, who did really well in the Pro Tour last year, will he contiue his succses in the CT? To be honest I believe he's a bit to weak, but he can prove me wrong.
Cyclevox also got a nice Stage racing trio, not among the best in the circus but should be able to get a good bunch of top 10's in GC's.
In the end I believe that Cyclevox got far from the best team in the CT, still I don't believe they got the weakest team either. Still they will fight in the bottom.
Ferrari-ERG
Spoiler
Star Riders:
*** Ginapaolo Caruso (Stage Racer)
** Przemyslaw Niemiec (Stage Racer)
* Crescenzo D'Amore / Emanuele Rizza (Sprinters)
Great Talents
Marco Zanotti and Stefano Agostini can become nice riders, not great but nice. Luca Sterbini will also become a good timetrialist.
Ferrari got a great leader in Caruso who will be able to bring the team some good results. He's not at the same level in climbing as Rujano or Alarcon, but makes up for it by his great stamina, resistance and recuperation.
Niemiec is also a good stage racers, who will try to hang on in the mountains and then win during the timetrials. He might get the team some good results.
Their sprinters are okay, but not among the best. Can score some good results, but do not rely on them.
The team got some nice domestiques in Santambrogio, Osella, and Salerno.
Ferrari are a team that can do well, but too much rely on Caruso and Niemiec. If they fail the entire team fails. Anyway I predict them on the top of the bottom half.
Koppert
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Tom Veelers / Fabien Taillefour (cobblers)
** Hans Dekkers (Sprinter)
* Sebastian Langeveld (Cobbler)
Great talents
Arman Kamyshev (loaned in), Tom Jelte Slagter, Jaco Venter, Jan Dieteren
After Bpost this is another team really going for the northern classics, and with Veelers, Taillefour and Langeveld they got a really strong team. Not as strong as Bpost in my opinion, but a worthy competitor who will score alot of points in this part of the season.
After the cobbles they got 2 things to do, Time Trial and Sprint. Flens are their best timetrialer, and while not the best in the CT he should get some good results, and maybe even a stage win. They could also get some stage wins in TTT's.
For the sprints Dekkers is their best choise, but also Traksel, Hopman and Stroetinga could get a good result here and there.
Their stage racing squad and hilly squad can be descibed by one word: Nonexistant
This is a team I also believe will be in the bottom half of the CT. They will be high after the Northern classics, and then start their fall. One thing though is that the got a lot of potenial for the future with the TTT squad, if they manage to sign a good leader who can make use of it they will be scary in races with TTTs.
Meji-Fuji
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Yukia Arashiro / Anuar Manan / Sung Baek Park (Sprinters)
** Matthew Lloyd (Puncheur)
* Jack Bauer (Timetrialist)
Great Talents
Chen Shikai, Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka, Genki Yamamoto, Ho-Ting Kwok
A welcome addition to the CT, even if they wont even be close to the top. Meji are a team that goes all out on signing only riders from their region, this makes the team a really interesting one, but unfortunatly not a really good one. On the bright side however they got some really good talents, who in due time might make this a top half team.
Their biggest stars are their 3 sprinters, Arashiro, Manan and Park. They should be able to bring some good results to the team, but I'm afraid that they can't really compete with Benatti, Cavendish, Ciolek, Kennaugh etc etc etc.
For the timetrial-stageraces they got one of the riders in the game that some teams (Waghlon...) could sign for his name alone, Jack Bauer. He should be able to get some top 10's, but when comparing him to the likes of Ignatiev he's simply too weak.
For the hilly classics they got Matthew Lloyd, a nice rider by himself but simply not strong enough for the competition, Bianchi got domestiques stronger than him.
It's sad to say that Meji will fight right at the bottom of the CT, but I got to do it. Still I'm cheering for them!
Oz Cycling
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Baden Cooke / Ahmar Haidar Anuawar / Simon Clarke (Sprinters)
** Shaun Lewis (Climber)
* Jack Bobridge (Timetrialist)
Oz Cycling is another regional squad, and they got a squad that it is easy to cheer for. On the other hand, it's not really a strong squad.
Their sprinters are good, not the best, but not the worst either, and should be able to score some stage wins for the team. Apart from that none of them will be great point scorers.
Shaun Lewis is an okay sprinter in his own right, but considering the other sprinters in the division Lewis will be looking at top trained asses riding away from him while his legs hurt.
It's the same with Bobridge, a rider who will become a Timetrial star in the future. In the present however he's just not fast enough to battle the best.
I like the Oz squad, but I'm afraid it's simply not strong enough. I expect them to battle Meji for the bottom place. On the positive side, they got a really nice jersey, my favorite!
Puma-SAP
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Daniele Bennati (sprinter)
** Lars Croket (sprinter)
* Pierre Rolland (Timetrialist)
Great talents
Olivier Le Gac, Mario Vogt, Tom Dumoulin, Jasha Sütterlin
This is a team who can sprint, sprint, sprint, sprint and... oh, they got a timetrialist!
It's acctually as simply as that, they got the best sprinter in the world, and a great sprinting team built around him, but apart from that there is pretty much nothing in this squad. Wait for them to chase the breaks so they can win the mass sprint.
The problem for them is that Sprints is not the most reliable way to get points, and even though Bennati is the best sprinter in the world even he can be beaten. Still Vedel Kvist, Gasparrotto and Croket can also get some good results
Apart from their sprinters they got Rolland, a good timetrialist, but he's a bit behind the best timetrialists and will not be the best scorer in the league.
For the future however they got some interesting riders, Vogt and Le Gac will become 2 really strong puncheurs in the future, whle Dumolin and Sütterlin will become really strong timetrialists.
This team is dependent on a good season from Benatti, if he fails they can end last, if he does well they will still end far behind. I gotta place them within the bottom 5.
Rothaus-Aegon
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Lars Boom (Timetrialist/Puncheur)
** Maxime Vantomme (sprinter)
* Ryder Hesjedal (Stage Racer)
Great Talents
Jakub Novak, Thomas Koep, Johim Ariesen, Alexander Krieger
In my opinion one of the strongest new teams. Lars Boom is a strong allrounder with his strenght in timetrials and hills. He will be competing against riders like Ignatiev, Koren and Reus and I'm sure that he will atleast be top 5 in these kind of races.
Vantomme is one of the best sprinters in the CT, but he had a horrible season last year and I believe that 700k is alot more than he's worth. On the other hand, if he delivers, who can blame Rothaus for signing him? They also got alot of other nice sprinters around him for support, and for stage wins by themself.
They also got 2 nice stage racers, with Hesjedal being the best. He's not among the top in the CT, but could still get some top 10's, and maybe even a few lucky top 5's.
For the hilly classics they got Hermans, a rider who can get some good results.
In general this is a team that will score consistently over the season, and while not being a top team they are not a team for the bottom either. I see them somewhere around top 15.
Trilux-Falke
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Matthias Kessler / Fabian Wegman (Puncheurs)
** Heinrich Haussler (Sprinter)
* Arnaud Coyot (Cobbler)
Great talents
Ruben Zepuntke (loaned in), Patrick Bercz
Trilux-Falke is a classic middle of the table team in my opinion. To start it of they got a strong Puncheur pair in Kessler and Wegman, two riders who while they are not the best togheter they will score a nice amount of points.
For the sprints Trilux got Haussler, a strong sprinter who will be able to get a few stage wins, and on a good day he can even survive over hills.
Another interesting rider on the team are Arnaud Coyot, who will be their main man on the cobbles. Trilux have signed a strong team to help him aswell, with riders like Eichler, Saramontis, Tronet, Krauss, Walsleben and Zepuntke. The last one being the biggest German cobbletalent, unfortunatly for Trilux-Falke he's mine (MUAHAHAHAHAHA, ehm...).
In general I belive that specially Kessler and Wegman will score them enough points to keep them away from the fight at the bottom. Where they will end is hard to predict, but somewhere high on the bottom half maybe?
Venchi
Spoiler
Star Riders
*** Fabio Duarte / Franco Pellizotti (Stage Racers)
** Claudio Corioni (Sprinter)
* Cesare Di Maggio (Puncheur)
Great talents
Phan Age Haugard, Mario Gonzalez Salas
Venchi is one of the strongest of the new teams, and could really suprise this year. Duarte and Pellizotti are both riders who can win stage races, and if they are not winning, atleast get top 5's. They also got some good timetrialers to help them if needed for TTT's.
Corioni is a really good sprinter, who should get the team some stage wins. Marinangeli is also a nice sprinter, but might be best used as a leadout man?
Du Maggio is the big question mark of the team. He got the potenial to be a really good puncheur, but will he live up to the potenial? If he does Venchi can really climb on the rankings.
I believe that Venchi will end as one of the best new teams. Maybe even top 10? Alot depends on Duarte/Pellizotti, and if Di Maggio will do well.
Might be some difference from my anlyzes earlier :-p
Top 10 will be much tighter than last year I believe luck will play a mayor role. Same with the bottom 15 (except for the last 2) where I believe I can have everyone wrong :-p
Anyway, good luck to everyone this season I hope to see alot more previews soon!
Edited by Heine on 10-07-2011 10:21
A good start of the preview, I am really looking forward to the continue, and hoping to snap up some more information about the other teams and managers myself
Good work, Heine. Really helps to highlight the big names and leaders of each team, as well as their strengths and weaknesses, without being too complicated
Looking forward to the new teams and how (badly) you rate Cyclevox
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laidbackmarc wrote:
Will there be an Preview of CT2 as well when we finished the transfers?
Great work, a good start as an CT2 manager who wants to learn about his future opponents?
Who knows? I will do it if I'm bored enough (I bet someone like Smowz will do it anyway, and I know he will do one for the CT, really looking forward to that) :-p My fiance is away and I'm pretty much broke, so got nothing to do tonight, so it was a perfect time for me to do something like this ;-)
In terms of the puncheurs, it's certainly my impression that there's more stage races that suit them this year - I'm hoping big things for Ginanni. Proni has gone and I think having him in the team often hurt Ginanni - so I'm looking to him to repeat something like his 4th place in the individual standings of a few years ago.
Nice work Heine and it's good to see a preview out already even with the lack of a final db/training as you mentioned yourself.
Just wanted to correct you that I've loaned Puccio out to UniCredit and also Fabio Aru to Venchi. I would love to see your prediction of Pirelli ending comfortable inside top 10 happen but there are so many good teams this year that luck will be the most important for sure.
Oh and Ndbri is also riding for Rapha now!
Edited by rycadinho on 09-07-2011 21:48
About my team you were spot on. I tried to get another big name to join LLS, but Rui Costa's and Tiago Machado's prices skyrocketed in an unpredictable way so I sticked with my youngsters. On the other hand Pozzovivo's transfer boosted my financial status, which made my training plans more interesting.
I was aiming to conquer my goals with LLS, but I couldn't imagine the CT would retain riders like Valverde or Ignatiev and that makes my goals much harder than I first predicted.
Hey and when did Martins and Cunha become hard to spell?
Gustavovskiy wrote:
Great preview Heine, congrats.
About my team you were spot on. I tried to get another big name to join LLS, but Rui Costa's and Tiago Machado's prices skyrocketed in an unpredictable way so I sticked with my youngsters. On the other hand Pozzovivo's transfer boosted my financial status, which made my training plans more interesting.
I was aiming to conquer my goals with LLS, but I couldn't imagine the CT would retain riders like Valverde or Ignatiev and that makes my goals much harder than I first predicted.
Hey and when did Martins and Cunha become hard to spell?
Iiirc one of them had a hell of a front name atleast :-p And I just couldn't bother to copy/paste :-p So I gave them up (A)
The new teams are up, will make a ranking now and post them. I'm afraid that it will destroy the conclucions I've made at the end for each team :-p But the conclusions were made from how strong I felt the different teams were while writing ;-)
Great preview. But Roy isn`t in my team. One mistake in Roman`s DB.
But still good to see that my team looks strong, although weaker without him.
I am not too optimistic with ~top15.
I hope to see alot more previews soon!
