Predictions 2018

[Underachiever]

Curious to see how much Jungels have developed.

 

Also very curious to see if Valverde can reach those same heights after the knee op. 

 

Ditto to see if Kruiswijk can have a repeat of 2016, sans falling off his bike.

 

And then the biggest anticipation for me!!!  Schurter vs. M vd Poel on XCO circuit.  The youngster is a beast on the Cx scene this season. 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Ha ha..

 

Landa has already said he won't wait for NQ if he hasn't lost time and NQ finds himself in trouble.

 

Gaviria will def have a good year.. fast rider and very versatile.

 

Allaphilipe, Valverde and Nibali to duel it out during the Ardennes.

 

Viviani to have a great season wherever he rides

 

 

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...and this is where the Euro teams differ, or shine, well for me any way, Movistar will never call Landa back if he goes and leaves NQ on someones wheel in the bunch, they race, like the teams of yesteryear...**sigh**

[Patchelicious]

...and this is where the Euro teams differ, or shine, well for me any way, Movistar will never call Landa back if he goes and leaves NQ on someones wheel in the bunch, they race, like the teams of yesteryear...**sigh**

And thats why they don't win....

['Dale]

Richie Porte to finish top 3 of le Tour despite the terrible kit design for '18 ????????

 

https://youtu.be/jLtIe4wPcyw

[Underachiever]

Richie Porte to finish top 3 of le Tour despite the terrible kit design for '18

 

https://youtu.be/jLtIe4wPcyw

If he can stay on his bike.  Which I am hoping for!!

[Bonus]

Would Landa have left Sky if he'd known about Froomes current "situation" I wonder? Or did he know? Sky have known for many months now . . . .

[Gen]

And thats why they don't win....

They win.. they just don't win the TDF...which in a lot cycling fan's/press eyes seem to be the only race that matters..sigh.

 

We should be hard on Sky..why has it taken them so long to win another GT.. and why don't they win more one day races [emoji6][emoji6][emoji6]

 

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[Gen]

Would Landa have left Sky if he'd known about Froomes current "situation" I wonder? Or did he know? Sky have known for many months now . . . .

Think the Landa to movistar deal was done bit not official in July already.

 

Ag I hope De La Cruz won't go backwards at Sky.

 

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[kosmonooit]

...

 

And then the biggest anticipation for me!!!  Schurter vs. M vd Poel on XCO circuit.  The youngster is a beast on the Cx scene this season. 

 

 

Definitely! he is perhaps the only one who can challenge Nino. Will Mat be doing the full UCI XCO season? I know he has set his sights on qualifying for Tokyo.

 

Also on the Womens side, with that lovely lady Kate+fate now mixing it up with the Elites. Will Jenni make a comeback? Will Jo!anda fine her shape for a few WC wins? Womens XCO racing has been much more open and exciting than the mens, and they all are such likeable people.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Richie Porte to finish top 3 of le Tour despite the terrible kit design for '18

 

https://youtu.be/jLtIe4wPcyw

I will be very surprised if Porte can be back at tour podium level this year, I think he will find that very difficult.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Would Landa have left Sky if he'd known about Froomes current "situation" I wonder? Or did he know? Sky have known for many months now . . . .

Good point. 

 

But I think yes, I think he is more comfortable in a Spanish team, he will relate to the culture.

[kosmonooit]

Good point. 

 

But I think yes, I think he is more comfortable in a Spanish team, he will relate to the culture.

 

 

Although he is a Basque

[Patchelicious]

They win.. they just don't win the TDF...which in a lot cycling fan's/press eyes seem to be the only race that matters..sigh.

 

We should be hard on Sky..why has it taken them so long to win another GT.. and why don't they win more one day races [emoji6][emoji6][emoji6]

 

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I might be wrong, but from memory they have 1 Grand Tour out of the last 10, wouldn’t exactly call that winning.

 

But again this is a red herring to my point. My point was that the techniques of yesteryear won’t yield you the same results in today’s sport.

[dsw]

Yah, Postal adopted a slightly different tactic, LA would put all his guys on the front and they would blitz into the climb at top speed, this blew 90% of the peleton and all the pretenders out the back right from the get go. 

Then LA would be left with one climber usually Rubiera who would keep the pace at a max and get rid of as many as possible, but by half way mostly Lance was on his own with the likes of Ullrich, Mayo, Beloki, then it was everyman for himself. Made for super racing and great entertainment.

 

Sky uses a different tactic, they just keep a high tempo from start to finish, the other contenders can attack and sometimes do, but at that level today they are all kind of on a par, so getting away is almost impossible, and Froome can just sit in the slip while they are out in the wind. 

Besides its not a European method of racing, you will never see say Movistar try this although I think they could, but its an alien tactic to them, the Euro teams don't race like this.

So usually they just sit in the bunch and try and attack to get time in the last kilometer, it may be an effective tactic for Sky, but it completely stifles the race and makes it as boring as all hell.    

 

Technology has improved a lot since the Postal era hence the tactics are different. Cycling at the top level has become totally data driven and in order to have the best chance to win a team must optimize it's W/Kg over the duration of the race. Therefore I doubt whether we will anytime soon see more “exciting” racing in Grand Tours whether Team Sky is the dominant team or not. 

[dsw]

I also predict that Moscon will have at least 3 DQs to his name this year

 

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Yeah he seems to be a bit of a loose cannon but is also a super strong rider and I won't be surprised if he soon wins a big single day race or classic.  

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Technology has improved a lot since the Postal era hence the tactics are different. Cycling at the top level has become totally data driven and in order to have the best chance to win a team must optimize it's W/Kg over the duration of the race. Therefore I doubt whether we will anytime soon see more “exciting” racing in Grand Tours whether Team Sky is the dominant team or not. 

This is true, good point. 

 

To me though its like watching a posse of colourful robots, Berto, Valverde, perhaps the last of the old school who still ride (or rode in Berto's case) on instinct.? I think possibly so.