AG2R's winless streak
Has a pro team ever gone an entire season without winning a race? AG2R are the only World Tour team yet to win a race this year. The closest they've come was Nocentini getting 2nd place in the final stage of the Crit Intl.
They're bound to win soon... right?
They're bound to win soon... right?
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Yeah, they'll win something, sometime.
There's too much pleasure to be had in watching this year's Lanterne turn out to be Saxo Bank.
Although even more if it could be Radioshack Nissan Threenames.0 -
afx237vi wrote:Has a pro team ever gone an entire season without winning a race? AG2R are the only World Tour team yet to win a race this year. The closest they've come was Nocentini getting 2nd place in the final stage of the Crit Intl.
They're bound to win soon... right?
They need to quit messing about and get Roche to lose 5 minutes then get in some breaks at the Tour/Dauphine rather than him struggling pointlessly to finish in the top 20 on GC."I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0 -
inkyfingers wrote:afx237vi wrote:Has a pro team ever gone an entire season without winning a race? AG2R are the only World Tour team yet to win a race this year. The closest they've come was Nocentini getting 2nd place in the final stage of the Crit Intl.
They're bound to win soon... right?
They need to quit messing about and get Roche to lose 5 minutes then get in some breaks at the Tour/Dauphine rather than him struggling pointlessly to finish in the top 20 on GC.
Agree with that, but their entire team is made up of riders from a similar mould. Roche, Peraud, Gadret, Riblon, Nocentini, Dupont... they all think they're GC riders and invariably end up finishing somewhere between 5th and 15th. None of them are winners.
Edited to add: Now that I posted this thread, they'll win a stage in either Turkey or Romandie tomorrow.0 -
True, they'll probably get a stage win at the tour if they let some of those guys get into breaks, it's basically their only shot at glory.
Looking at their results last year, only notable results were Etoile de Besseges, a stage in the Giro and a stage in Beijing.
At least they have guys who could win races, I don't see many wins in Saxo's line up (that is until the superheavyweight champion returns)."I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0 -
Jimmy Casper will surely pop up and win something at some point. And don't forget that Anthony Ravard has still got the Classic de l'Indre to win later this year.0
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I think Bardet will win something soon. I hope so anyway.0
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Whatshisface (EDIT:^^^^^Thats the chap) looked quite good in stage 2 of Turkey putting in a few digs trying to catch that bulgarian bloke. *
*my in depth knowledge of riders names coming to fore there...0 -
As a squad they seem to be evolving into team that could provide good mountain support to a GC contender. At the last stage of the Crit Int'l, it looked like they had more riders in the lead group than any other team. Fat lot of good it did them, mind.
I think they need to do two things - i) sign a better GC contender and ii) change the contracts of all their top guys to something like €50K plus win bonuses. The squad seems to have a "as long as make a bit of an effort, I'll get my money regardless" mentality.
Actually, there's a third thing if they want to be GC contenders - learn to time-trial, individually and collectively. Whatever they might achieve in the mountains, they're likely to pee down the drain in a TTT - the performance in Trentino was dismal.'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0 -
Nocentini has been riding well the past couple of weeks. I'd expect him to do something in the Giro.0
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Rick Chasey wrote:Nocentini has been riding well the past couple of weeks. I'd expect him to do something in the Giro.
He usually has a couple of long breaks on the mountain stages around the end of the second week'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0 -
Who is actually the team leader on AG2R - is it still Roche?
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LangerDan wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:Nocentini has been riding well the past couple of weeks. I'd expect him to do something in the Giro.
He usually has a couple of long breaks on the mountain stages around the end of the second week
Yup. I like him. He'd be great for QS.0 -
afx237vi wrote:
Agree with that, but their entire team is made up of riders from a similar mould. Roche, Peraud, Gadret, Riblon, Nocentini, Dupont... they all think they're GC riders and invariably end up finishing somewhere between 5th and 15th. None of them are winners.
Is this the problem with the points system like Harmon and Kelly were talking about at LBL? By AG2R getting a few guys in decent positions in the same race, rather than say one guy who goes on to win are they scoring a good level of points which will help maintain their Pro Tour status?0 -
I'd forgotten that with Bertie's exclusion from the results of the 2011 Giro, Gadret moved up to third overall. Not sure Wiki is that impressed, though - his potted biog finishes with the line "He has won a race against a horse"'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0
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hammerite wrote:afx237vi wrote:
Agree with that, but their entire team is made up of riders from a similar mould. Roche, Peraud, Gadret, Riblon, Nocentini, Dupont... they all think they're GC riders and invariably end up finishing somewhere between 5th and 15th. None of them are winners.
Is this the problem with the points system like Harmon and Kelly were talking about at LBL? By AG2R getting a few guys in decent positions in the same race, rather than say one guy who goes on to win are they scoring a good level of points which will help maintain their Pro Tour status?
If that is their tactic, it's a dangerous one to play because they're currently 16th out of 18 teams.0 -
beancounter wrote:Who is actually the team leader on AG2R - is it still Roche?
bc
you are Gadret. can I claim my prize now0 -
*Note to self
Update avatar“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
beancounter wrote:Who is actually the team leader on AG2R - is it still Roche?
bc
and therein lies their problem I think - even the riders don't seem to know!0 -
Irish legend Sean Kelly echoes those sentiments and adds that Nicolas Roche should consider a similar approach in chasing stage wins.
“Yeah, I think he’s up to it,” asserts Kelly on Martin’s capabilities to win a stage.
“Both of the guys, Roche as well, are up to a stage win. For me, Roche; he’s chasing general classification and I think it’s coming to a stage now where if you’re not getting into the top 10 pretty easily, if you’re fighting and fighting to get into the top 10 every year, for me, it’s not the way to do it.”
“I would try and lose a lot of time in the earlier stages, then get into breaks on mountain stages and win. That’s what Roche is capable of doing and if you can get that right and win two stages in the Tour de France; that would be huge for him.”
http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news ... d-do-same/“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
afx237vi wrote:
Agree with that, but their entire team is made up of riders from a similar mould. Roche, Peraud, Gadret, Riblon, Nocentini, Dupont... they all think they're GC riders and invariably end up finishing somewhere between 5th and 15th. None of them are winners.
They won the team classification in the Crit International - doesnt count as a proper win but does illustrate your point finishing 5th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Surely they could have tried something more on the final climb?
As far as Nick Roche goes, he did finish 14th in the tour two years ago and may have hoped to go a step further last year but it wasnt to be. Does anyone know what happened to him in Catalonia? I would have thought that a climb close to the finish that was steep enough to get rid of the main sprinters should have been good for him so he should have won at least one stage - was he injured? How fair is a comparison between Nick Roche's potential and that of Dan Martin? Not that Dan Martin wins a lot but he does place higher.0 -
Didn't two AG2R riders abandon in Romandie yesterday?0
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http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nicholas-roche-puts-off-contract-talks-to-work-on-results
Nico on his Form, Calendar and End of Contract.0 -
LeicesterLad wrote:http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nicholas-roche-puts-off-contract-talks-to-work-on-results
Nico on his Form, Calendar and End of Contract.
There's a Nico Roche biography?!?!?
Why? :? :shock:0 -
johnfinch wrote:LeicesterLad wrote:http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nicholas-roche-puts-off-contract-talks-to-work-on-results
Nico on his Form, Calendar and End of Contract.
There's a Nico Roche biography?!?!?
Why? :? :shock:
I just finished reading it yesterday.
It's based around his 2009/10/11 tour diaries, padded out a bit (well quite a lot actually).
It was ok but nothing special.
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Gadret could manage a win in the Giro. Roche is out of contract after this season and if he doesn't do something big I doubt he will be offered many team leader roles. Support rider at Team Sky next year maybe?0
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Didn't Lotto go until the end of the Giro a few years ago (09?) until they won a race?0
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I quite enjoyed Nico's autobiography. Thought it was well put together.http://www.georgesfoundation.org
http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.com/
http://www.12on12in12.blogspot.co.uk/0 -
TakeTheHighRoad wrote:Didn't Lotto go until the end of the Giro a few years ago (09?) until they won a race?
Evans won a stage of Coppi e Bartali in March that year and Kaisen won a stage in Turkey, too.
From a quick browse of CQ Ranking, the latest first win of the season that I've found was Euskaltel's David Herrero who didn't open the team's account until he won a stage of the 2005 Clasica Alcobendas on 8th of May.0 -
squired wrote:Gadret could manage a win in the Giro. Roche is out of contract after this season and if he doesn't do something big I doubt he will be offered many team leader roles. Support rider at Team Sky next year maybe?
Two seasons too late for that move. Sky have got plenty of better riders to fulfill the role.
Roche suffers from not being a proper climber. His best chances of wins are on those mountain stages with long stretches from the final climb to the finish but often struggles too much on the climbs. Maybe he should start thinking of the hilly classics or perhaps going for some one week stage races where you don't have the really big mountains? I think the GTs are beyond him now.0 -
Hooray!
Sebastien Hinault has won stage 3 of the Circuit de Lorraines.0
