Liquigas : Too much talent?

iainf72

Thoughts?

We saw both Nibali and Franco P yesterday, while Bennati was one of the fancied riders. Peter Sagan has already had an excellent start to the year.

Roman K has won a race and is racing with Basso next week in Spain.

They seem very grand Tour heavy and while they did seem to play nice in the Giro last year I wonder if it'll go to poop this year. Especially as it seems Franco P has decided to move on.

Second on CQ Rankings behind HTC for the year so far.

Inovache

Yes possibly a team of too many leaders. Rivalries existed last year as well on the team. I think Nibali was planning on a move last year (Team Sky was mentioned) for fear of being overshadowed by more established riders. It'll be interesting to see who leads them in the Tour.

Kléber

They've got some very good riders but my take is that none of them are the best of the best. Kreuziger is very good but he's unlikely to make podium in the Tour, although the white jersey is possible. The same for the others, they lack something to land the biggest of wins, Nibali is promising but has yet to deliver.

Having a collection of guys capable of getting in the top-5 in many a race is one thing - think Leipheimer and Andreas "surprise package" Kloeden - but it's possible to manage this according to different races. For example Basso is skipping the Giro, Pellizotti is aiming for the Giro etc. Perhaps it could all blow up but for the time being it puts cards in the hands of Liquigas, they certainly have one of the strongest rosters going.

But whether Bennati can outdo Cavendish, Kreuziger is better than Andy Schleck or Basso can beat Contador, I'm less sure.

stagehopper

If you merged the Liquigas and Team Sky squads and then reformed two new teams as Skygas and Team Liqui, you'd get two very strong all-round teams for the whole calendar.

mididoctors

Nibali may step up....

plus his ability to attack on the descent is becoming critical in the ever tighting GC we see at GT's these days

iainf72

Kleber - Isn't Basso riding the giro in support of Franco?

Kléber

iainf72 wrote:

Kleber - Isn't Basso riding the giro in support of Franco?

Yes, you're right. I meant to say he's not going for the GC but will ride to help others, in return he wants them to back him in July.

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

They seem to be working very well as a team, despite the too many chiefs problem. Note how Nibali was off the front yesterday with 2km to go, and had the chance to go with Pozzato's attack, but instead dropped back to help lead the bunch (and Bennati) back up to him instead.

Cheers, Andy

EKIMIKE

They have a crazy strong team for the Grand Tours. Nibali seems more exciting than Kreuziger but Roman has actually won Romandie and Suisse so arguably has the better credentials. As well as the 4 GC riders, I think Sylvester Szmyd is probably the best mountain domestique about atm.

Sagan and Kuschynski for the classics/classics style stages. Bennati and Chicchi look equally good in the sprints too.

Too strong? Hard to say. They seem to be all working well together.