GrumpyOldGuy Posted April 14, 2015 Posted April 14, 2015 I will be loitering around this thread and getting insights again. I cannot contribute much though. If I may ask a favour: I don't recognise most of the riders in the pictures. Please add names especially when they are in civvies. Go Berto! Left to right as it looks to me, I might be wrong so....... Nacer Bouhanni, Kwiatkowski, Rigoberto Uran, Fabio Aru, 'Berto, Ivan Basso, Julian Arrandondo.
GrumpyOldGuy Posted April 14, 2015 Posted April 14, 2015 Warren Barguil, GOG 23 year oldJust finished his neopro status Special one this I reckonClimber foremost http://inrng.com/medias/img/warrenbarguilvueltabis.jpg Aah Okay, I actually forgot about him, yes, good climber but the youngsters may just lack a little experience to win the big tours just yet, I know everyone is punting up Aru, but I dont know, its not usual to win these grand tours on the second or third time out, usually it takes a few years of tour experience.
tombeej Posted April 14, 2015 Posted April 14, 2015 Barring injury, illness or bad luck, this year's Giro is tailormade for Richie Porte. The way his prep has gone so far this year, he's on track for podium at least. I say again, anyone who is not a world class time trialist will not be a contender this year. GC riders will be separated by minutes - not seconds - on stage 14. To be a contender you need (1) lots of grand tour experience, (2) a strong team with a clever strategist in the team car, (3) some serious climbing chops, (4) and be a brilliant time trialist. On that note, my podium is AC, Porte, Uran. It will be interesting to see how AC handles being weak in (2) now. With Riis gone and his team rudderless at the moment, it will surely have an impact.
tombeej Posted April 14, 2015 Posted April 14, 2015 One last quality the contenders must have: an ability to thrive in very poor weather, both in terms of mental strength and also in terms of bike handling skills. This is the Giro after all .
'Dale Posted April 15, 2015 Posted April 15, 2015 Barring injury, illness or bad luck, this year's Giro is tailormade for Richie Porte. The way his prep has gone so far this year, he's on track for podium at least. I say again, anyone who is not a world class time trialist will not be a contender this year. GC riders will be separated by minutes - not seconds - on stage 14. To be a contender you need (1) lots of grand tour experience, (2) a strong team with a clever strategist in the team car, (3) some serious climbing chops, (4) and be a brilliant time trialist. On that note, my podium is AC, Porte, Uran. It will be interesting to see how AC handles being weak in (2) now. With Riis gone and his team rudderless at the moment, it will surely have an impact. Porte is looking lean and mean heyAnd he's won every race he's been in as far as I know, including Paris-Nice. I reckon he is wanting to boost his cred, leave the Skyborgs during the next transfer season and claim the nr 1 GC spot in another team.Like Uran.
GrumpyOldGuy Posted April 15, 2015 Posted April 15, 2015 Porte is looking lean and mean heyAnd he's won every race he's been in as far as I know, including Paris-Nice. I reckon he is wanting to boost his cred, leave the Skyborgs during the next transfer season and claim the nr 1 GC spot in another team.Like Uran.Hmmph, I am not a Porte fan, so I just left him out. Its also my ostrich approach to anything SKY related. From what I can see Barguil probably wont be riding the Giro, he apparently has his sights set on the TDF. Its fine though, he and Froome can exchange stories on stem lengths again, seems a bit arrogant, even for a Frenchman!
GrumpyOldGuy Posted April 15, 2015 Posted April 15, 2015 It will be interesting to see how AC handles being weak in (2) now. With Riis gone and his team rudderless at the moment, it will surely have an impact. Yeah, but to be honest, like Bruyneel, Riis was a dinosaur teetering on the brink of extinction, his theory of training didn't go down in the modern peleton and it was just a matter of time before he was exposed and got the boot. No loss in my opinion, now if Saxo could sign a manager like Jonathon Vaughters...........!!
'Dale Posted April 15, 2015 Posted April 15, 2015 Hmmph, I am not a Porte fan, so I just left him out. Its also my ostrich approach to anything SKY related. From what I can see Barguil probably wont be riding the Giro, he apparently has his sights set on the TDF. Its fine though, he and Froome can exchange stories on stem lengths again, seems a bit arrogant, even for a Frenchman!HeheheheeDon't like them Skyborgs either.????
tombeej Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 Yeah, but to be honest, like Bruyneel, Riis was a dinosaur teetering on the brink of extinction, his theory of training didn't go down in the modern peleton and it was just a matter of time before he was exposed and got the boot. No loss in my opinion, now if Saxo could sign a manager like Jonathon Vaughters...........!!The thing is that AC and Riis were a tight partnership and AC respected & trusted his race tactics implicitly, from what I understand. I agree that Riis is a dinosaur with a whole lot of baggage (same with Vinokourov and Ekimov), but the psychological aspect of racing a grand tour can't be underestimated. That said, I'm sure AC has the mental strength. After all, he did manage to win the 2009 TDF in a team where his manager (Bruyneel) was all about another 'teammate' (LA).
tombeej Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 Hmmph, I am not a Porte fan, so I just left him out. Its also my ostrich approach to anything SKY related. From what I can see Barguil probably wont be riding the Giro, he apparently has his sights set on the TDF. Its fine though, he and Froome can exchange stories on stem lengths again, seems a bit arrogant, even for a Frenchman!But Porte is one of the genuinely nice guys in cycling. I really like his attitude. I'm a fan.
GrumpyOldGuy Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 The thing is that AC and Riis were a tight partnership and AC respected & trusted his race tactics implicitly, from what I understand. I agree that Riis is a dinosaur with a whole lot of baggage (same with Vinokourov and Ekimov), but the psychological aspect of racing a grand tour can't be underestimated. That said, I'm sure AC has the mental strength. After all, he did manage to win the 2009 TDF in a team where his manager (Bruyneel) was all about another 'teammate' (LA).Yes, indeed I agree, Riis and 'Berto had a very good relationship dating way back, how it will effect 'Berto's preparation and race tactic I dont know and I expect there will be a time of adjustment required, but Yates is also well respected and (sadly some might say) he and Riis were also long time associates, so I am hoping someone like Sean can step into the role without too much controversy, certainly they need to steer the ship a bit right now.
ScottCM Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 I'm extremely excited to see what Wilco Kelderman can do this year after riding in all three grand tours last year.
'Dale Posted April 17, 2015 Posted April 17, 2015 I'm extremely excited to see what Wilco Kelderman can do this year after riding in all three grand tours last year.I'm watching him closely too
Nibali Posted April 22, 2015 Posted April 22, 2015 Hesjedal will be hoping to clinch GC image.jpg Not with that Shimano car so close...
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