No Wegelius

DaveyL
DaveyL Posts: 5,167
edited June 2009 in Pro race
Just read on Charlie Wegelius's twitter feed that he hasn't been selected for the Tour.

Just exactly who do the management envision helping Cadel in the mountains?
Le Blaireau (1)

Comments

  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,485
    Other teams? That's crazy. Every year Evans is left isolated and yet Lotto's management never do anything to resolve it.
  • Arkibal
    Arkibal Posts: 850
    I thought Lotto hired Wegelius to help Cadel in the mountains?
    Strange.
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    Arkibal wrote:
    I thought Lotto hired Wegelius to help Cadel in the mountains?
    Strange.

    Strange very strange, mind you he had a very low key Giro
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • ms_tree
    ms_tree Posts: 1,405
    It'll be another year of Cadel-no-mates!
    'Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.'
    Neil Gaiman
  • leguape
    leguape Posts: 986
    I love their logic that they've picked a mix of guys for the flat and the mountains. Like Staf Scherlincx and Greg Van Avermaet? Helpful. That looks like they've picked a sprinter or two because they don't think they'll win anything otherwise and want as many belgians in as they can.
    http://www.atomicecho.com/cycling
  • MrT
    MrT Posts: 260
    I think they probably picked the team whilst downing a couple of pints of Trappist brew at 14% a glass : :?
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    hmm, is there a time limit for the tour...

    win the lottery, buy all the riders... then stop them racing and ride alone
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • bossman13
    bossman13 Posts: 106
    DaveyL wrote:
    Just read on Charlie Wegelius's twitter feed that he hasn't been selected for the Tour.

    Just exactly who do the management envision helping Cadel in the mountains?


    ermm....how about matty lloyd and van den broeck, both of which are stronger than wegelius in the mountains.

    :roll:
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    Don't forget Dekker!

    He's warming up nicely for the Tour. Expect to see him near the front in week three.
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    Thomas Dekker? Really? Did he do something that I missed? Because he's been rubbish for years already and he's still only 24.

    Van den Broeck, Lloyd and maybe Vansummeren will be of help, but the rest? Van Avermaet and Schierlinckx are stage hunters, and it'll be a good fight for the lanterne rouge between Delage and Lang.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,485
    bossman13 wrote:

    ermm....how about matty lloyd and van den broeck, both of which are stronger than wegelius in the mountains.

    :roll:
    Have you ever watched a race which Charly Wegelius has ridden? He's put hours and hours in on the front of the peleton on mountain stages for years, doing his job for a series of team leaders who've respected the work he does.

    Matt Lloyd has never finished a GT, and Van Den Broeck has finished just the one. Every year Evans is left isolated in the mountains, so Lotto hired Wegelius to do a job that needs doing and one that Wegelius knows how to do. Lotto's management must be idiots if they think this is a sensible move as they are trusting rookies to do a job that requires knowledge, selflessness and the ability to ride strongly in the last week of a three week race.
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    afx237vi wrote:
    Thomas Dekker? Really? Did he do something that I missed? Because he's been rubbish for years already and he's still only 24.

    Van den Broeck, Lloyd and maybe Vansummeren will be of help, but the rest? Van Avermaet and Schierlinckx are stage hunters, and it'll be a good fight for the lanterne rouge between Delage and Lang.

    Did some real sterling work for Rasmussen two years ago.

    Finished third in the Tour de Suise final TT...

    He'll be useful.
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • leguape
    leguape Posts: 986
    teagar wrote:
    afx237vi wrote:
    Thomas Dekker? Really? Did he do something that I missed? Because he's been rubbish for years already and he's still only 24.

    Van den Broeck, Lloyd and maybe Vansummeren will be of help, but the rest? Van Avermaet and Schierlinckx are stage hunters, and it'll be a good fight for the lanterne rouge between Delage and Lang.

    Did some real sterling work for Rasmussen two years ago.

    Finished third in the Tour de Suise final TT...

    He'll be useful.

    I don't remember him putting his nose in the wind half as much as Menchov or Boogerd did though.

    For me, looking at the Lotto selection Wegelius' mistake seems to be not being Belgian.
    http://www.atomicecho.com/cycling
  • Cumulonimbus
    Cumulonimbus Posts: 1,730
    afx237vi wrote:

    Van den Broeck, Lloyd and maybe Vansummeren will be of help, but the rest? Van Avermaet and Schierlinckx are stage hunters, and it'll be a good fight for the lanterne rouge between Delage and Lang.

    Lang put in a big attack on stage 9 last year only to see Ricco charge past him. He later held the mountains jersey as a result of his breakaway on stage 9 after Ricco got busted and Saunier Duval got chucked out. He also finished 8th in the last time trial - i would have thought he would be a valuable rider in the TTT.
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    leguape wrote:
    teagar wrote:
    afx237vi wrote:
    Thomas Dekker? Really? Did he do something that I missed? Because he's been rubbish for years already and he's still only 24.

    Van den Broeck, Lloyd and maybe Vansummeren will be of help, but the rest? Van Avermaet and Schierlinckx are stage hunters, and it'll be a good fight for the lanterne rouge between Delage and Lang.

    Did some real sterling work for Rasmussen two years ago.

    Finished third in the Tour de Suise final TT...

    He'll be useful.

    I don't remember him putting his nose in the wind half as much as Menchov or Boogerd did though.

    For me, looking at the Lotto selection Wegelius' mistake seems to be not being Belgian.

    *shrugs* I remember...

    Dekker's Dutch anyway which is probably why I pay more attention to him... We'll see anyway. Dekker's certainly better than Wegelius in my book...
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,241
    I'm not so sure that it's such a bad move. The way I see it the TTT is Evans's biggest achilles heel, so SL need to get fairly strong with that in mind, and I can't remember CW being much of a TTer.

    In the past Evans has had no support, so any from Lloyd, Dekker, JVDB or Lang is an improvement. Then there is the Astana factor. If they reproduce the Bruyneel train up the mountains like the old US Postal days, then this will aid Evans, as he's comfortable with a fast steady pace - it's chasing repeated attacks from different riders that he can't handle. If Astana thin the field down on the mountains then he just has to focus on following Contador.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • The Prodigy
    The Prodigy Posts: 832
    Evans has spoken of the support he would get from Wegelius in the mountains in recent interviews so for whatever reason they have left him out I wouldn't have Cadel is particularly pleased about it.
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    The final decision was between Lang and Wegelius. I can see how Lang was preferred for the TTT.

    Last year Evans was top favorite and lacked helpers in the mountains. Now he won't be favorite and having mountain helpers is not as essential as last year. Prioritizing not losing time in the TTT is a negative strategy, but I can understand how they only see Evans winning with some major slip of Contador somewhere later on.

    I can see a rationale for all other picks, Van den Broeck, Vansummeren, Dekker and Lloyd in the mountains, Scheirlinckx for the dirty work on the flat and for being Belgian (nothing strange about that, after all it's a Belgian team, and nobody complains about Sky going to prioritize British riders, do they?), Van Avermaet deserving to be in there for himself, to win a stage (after all Evans is not exactly a dead certainty for the GC win even if they gave him dream support). I would probably have picked Wegelius over Lloyd.

    But what is Delage doing there, and as an early certainy?!?! The final choice was between Wegelius, Lang and Sentjes. Mickael Delage, Gilbert's mate, but since he'll not be there, what else??
  • lucybears
    lucybears Posts: 366
    Italian directeur sportif Roberto Damiani explained the decision to Cycling Weekly.
    http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... -team.html
    interview.cyclingfever.com
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    As it says in that article - form is one factor which we can't really know. Wegelius has done great work in the mountains in the past but if he isn't riding well at the moment do you risk picking him in the hope he can find form in the next week or so or do you go with someone who is performing at the moment.
    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    andyp wrote:
    Other teams? That's crazy. Every year Evans is left isolated and yet Lotto's management never do anything to resolve it.

    The management have said nine other riders are going better than him so i suspect they are in a better position than you or i to make that call.
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    Tom Butcher wrote:
    As it says in that article - form is one factor which we can't really know. Wegelius has done great work in the mountains in the past but if he isn't riding well at the moment do you risk picking him in the hope he can find form in the next week or so or do you go with someone who is performing at the moment.

    +1
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • bossman13
    bossman13 Posts: 106
    Moray Gub wrote:
    Tom Butcher wrote:
    As it says in that article - form is one factor which we can't really know. Wegelius has done great work in the mountains in the past but if he isn't riding well at the moment do you risk picking him in the hope he can find form in the next week or so or do you go with someone who is performing at the moment.

    +1

    +2

    thats spot on. i think some posters here need to take off their partisan blinkers

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