New Sprinter wanted Spoiler
Sky must be on the look out for a differnet sprinter. Henderson obviously tries hard but is not in the top 5 sprinters. They are perfecting the lead out but today just ended up leading Gripel out perfectly. Henderson might have been the best available last year, so it will be interesting to see if they go for another. Does anyone know the contracts the sky team are on i know Wiggo and Bosan Hagen are 3 years but there must have been a few of them who were available and were brought in to fill out the roster for the year until better riders were available.
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Henderson isn't and has never been portrayed as a bunch sprint winner. Sky are going through the motions in the sprints and having a good go. CJ Sutton and Henderson are both very able sprinters but aren't of the same level as pure sprinters such as Cav and Farrar.
It isn't possible these days to run a team with a GC contender and sprinter and Sky are wise not to try.0 -
The trouble is that only a few sprinters are really capable of winning, so Sky would have to go in the market for a very big name. That said, Sky are slipping down the team rankings and will face problems next year in qualifying for races if they don't start getting more results or unless they buy someone with a sackful of points. Hopefully July will go well for them.0
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I think there are quite a few teams who need to be more worried though, Milram, Radioshack...even Quick Step at this rate!"I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0
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I don't think the lack of a sprinter (although Steegmans is no slouch when fit) is top of Radioshack's list of worries at the moment.
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henderson ain't that bad... he has won sprints..perhaps a tad second tier but this is the rear end of a very hard race... he hasn't just ridden round.
.been in a or attempted to be in more than one break"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
I get the impression Henderson is more of a Renshaw-type lead-out man. On the track he was into the points race and 4 km pursuit, and I reckon if they had a "pure" sprinter then Henderson would be excellent as the last man for him. As it is he is able to pick up the odd win but is unlikely to beat a pure sprinter in a straight up sprint.Le Blaireau (1)0
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inkyfingers wrote:I think there are quite a few teams who need to be more worried though, Milram, Radioshack...even Quick Step at this rate!
Why Quick-Step?0 -
Rodrego Hernandez wrote:Henderson isn't and has never been portrayed as a bunch sprint winner. Sky are going through the motions in the sprints and having a good go. CJ Sutton and Henderson are both very able sprinters but aren't of the same level as pure sprinters such as Cav and Farrar.
It isn't possible these days to run a team with a GC contender and sprinter and Sky are wise not to try.
They have a GC contender? Scottish and British...and a bit French0 -
+1. He was a lead out man at THC?DaveyL wrote:I get the impression Henderson is more of a Renshaw-type lead-out man. On the track he was into the points race and 4 km pursuit, and I reckon if they had a "pure" sprinter then Henderson would be excellent as the last man for him. As it is he is able to pick up the odd win but is unlikely to beat a pure sprinter in a straight up sprint.
EBH is better bet for future, until Cav joins them
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oldwelshman wrote:
+1. He was a lead out man at THC?DaveyL wrote:I get the impression Henderson is more of a Renshaw-type lead-out man. On the track he was into the points race and 4 km pursuit, and I reckon if they had a "pure" sprinter then Henderson would be excellent as the last man for him. As it is he is able to pick up the odd win but is unlikely to beat a pure sprinter in a straight up sprint.
He was the lead-out for Greipel at the Vuelta last year, and as is traditional for AG's lead-out men, won a stage himself after one of AG's frequent disappearances.Twitter: @RichN950 -
inkyfingers wrote:I think there are quite a few teams who need to be more worried though, Milram, Radioshack...even Quick Step at this rate!
Rabo is probably looking for another sprinter too. Freire will retire after the 2011 season, Brown's contract ends this season. Boom, Leezer and Martens have a fast finish, but they are not real sprinters.
They won't buy an established sprinter (who will demand a lead-out train), they'll "promote" sprinters from the Continental team. Which leaves Vermeltfoort (already signed his contract) and Van Poppel (has the possibility to join Cervelo).0 -
DaveyL wrote:I get the impression Henderson is more of a Renshaw-type lead-out man. On the track he was into the points race and 4 km pursuit, and I reckon if they had a "pure" sprinter then Henderson would be excellent as the last man for him. As it is he is able to pick up the odd win but is unlikely to beat a pure sprinter in a straight up sprint.
I agree. I muse about whether or not they'll go for Greipel, or offer Cav the sun, moon and stars along with a smart lead-out train. Greipel is good, but he can't guarantee wins.0 -
Tusher wrote:DaveyL wrote:I get the impression Henderson is more of a Renshaw-type lead-out man. On the track he was into the points race and 4 km pursuit, and I reckon if they had a "pure" sprinter then Henderson would be excellent as the last man for him. As it is he is able to pick up the odd win but is unlikely to beat a pure sprinter in a straight up sprint.
I agree. I muse about whether or not they'll go for Greipel, or offer Cav the sun, moon and stars along with a smart lead-out train. Greipel is good, but he can't guarantee wins.
No chance. There's too many of Cav's mates at Sky. I'd bet Greipel will be at Quick Step next season.
I reckon they'll persist the way they are for 2011 (a fit EBH will help) and try and develop Swift a bit more. By then they will have a fairly slick lead out operation and Wiggins will have had two decent cracks at the Tour. Then it'll be big bucks on the table for Bingo and Renshaw.Twitter: @RichN950 -
Aye, I think they're both wedded to each other now- The Two Marks Show.0
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yeah i agree with this especialy quickstep! boonen looks incredible at the moment!inkyfingers wrote:I think there are quite a few teams who need to be more worried though, Milram, Radioshack...even Quick Step at this rate!Coveryourcar.co.uk RT Tester
north west of england.0 -
I thought SKY's plan was to win the TdF in 5 years? So I don't think getting a top class sprinter is top of the list. If they are going with Wiggins as their main GC rider I don't think he'll be happy going back into the lead out train, like he was ar HTC?
As Rodrego said ealier it's not possibly to go for GC and sprints, look at Lotto with McEwan and Eavns in the end it did help either rider.
So they will probably just stick with developing Swift for the sprints for now.0 -
DavMartinR wrote:I thought SKY's plan was to win the TdF in 5 years? So I don't think getting a top class sprinter is top of the list. If they are going with Wiggins as their main GC rider I don't think he'll be happy going back into the lead out train, like he was ar HTC?
As Rodrego said ealier it's not possibly to go for GC and sprints, look at Lotto with McEwen and Eavns in the end it did help either rider.
So they will probably just stick with developing Swift for the sprints for now.
I agree that you can't really do GC and sprints properly, although it's possible to make a decent stab at both.
Sky's aim (which I don't think they'll achieve, but no shame in aiming high) is to have a GB winner in 5 years. That means two options - Wiggins or Kennaugh. Wiggins has had this year completely to prepare for the Tour. Kennaugh, although he'll only be 21, will have the Vuelta as his main target this year and will probably do the Giro next year. Then BW gets another Tour. By then they'll know whether they're onto something. If PK shows promise in the next 12 months, he can still have two years of developing with less than 100% support before really stepping up with a full team..Twitter: @RichN950 -
I can see where your coming from Rich, but would bringing someone like Cav on to the team say in 2012 be more of a hindrance to Kennaugh? I suppose it would be ok if Cav would be happy with just stage wins, but if Cav wants to go for the geen jersey then you've got to give more of the team up to support that.
I think the last big team to try both was Telekom which was good for Zabel but not so good for Ullrich.0
