Sky & The Classics

Richmond Racer

mroli wrote:

Very few teams have a no 2 as strong as Porte/Froome - Uran would be a lot of team's no 1 rider and Cataldo an adequate third man?
Kiryenka/Rogers = Siutsou/Zandio
Early climbs sorted by Dombrowski and Kennaugh (also on flat pulling duty with Pate who presumably will do 100s of miles on the front).
Knees is Wiggins' bodyguard of choice.

Still pretty strong even by WT standards...

No "fast" man - surely someone has to contest the sprints (Swift or Sutton?)

Sky dont seem interested in GT sprintage where they're seriously aiming for the top step, by the look of it. Swifty - the unluckiest bugger in the peloton when it comes to injuries - is back on the rehab road for the hundredth time anyway, after he crashed in the Challenge Mallorca series. Sutton's still not at 100% after problems last year with his back, though he rode P-R.

inkyfingers

RichN95 wrote:

inkyfingers wrote:

Danlikesbikes wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

argyllflyer wrote:

Cataldo's next race is Trentino:

Seemingly confirmed Trentino squad (has bib numbers): Wiggins, Cataldo, Dombrowski, Kennaugh, Knees, Pate, Suitsou, Zandio.

With the addition of Uran, that looks like their Giro team

Train & race together ethos, think I'd agree with you there.

If that is the team I can see Wiggins only having Uran for company when the really serious mountains appear, maybe Cataldo as well. Dombrowski and Kennaugh are not proven at this level and the rest are more for the flat/rolling stages. Definitely lacking a Froome/Porte/Kiryenka/Rogers (I know he's gone to Saxo) type that can set a really nasty tempo on the bigger climbs.

They don't need to set a really nasty tempo though. They just need to make sured nobody gains much. There's about two hours of ITT in this race so if Wiggins finishes in a front group of a dozen every day, that's fine by him..

Wiggins is going to gain time in the TTs, but lets not forget that Hesjedal, Gesink and Evans can all ride a decent TT on their day, even if Wiggins gains 2-3 minutes in the TTs that's not a huge advantage when it comes to the really steep stuff.

I still think he can win, I just think he'd like another strong climber in the team to help him close gaps etc when it gets nasty.

danlikesbikes

Richmond Racer wrote:

Catalado for sure will be with Wiggins and Uran for the final high stuff. Also Siutsou is basically very similar to Kiryienka - hard as nails and a very good climber. Just didnt get the chance to see it so much last year as he crashed out of the Tour on stage 2. Dont forget that Siutsou finished 9th in the 2011 Giro when he was with HTC, when he riding for Cav rather than the team riding for him for GC.

Easy to forget about him so much so that I had. If he is half as good as roboyenka then would make it a different prospect.

Richmond Racer

inkyfingers wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

inkyfingers wrote:

Danlikesbikes wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

argyllflyer wrote:

Cataldo's next race is Trentino:

Seemingly confirmed Trentino squad (has bib numbers): Wiggins, Cataldo, Dombrowski, Kennaugh, Knees, Pate, Suitsou, Zandio.

With the addition of Uran, that looks like their Giro team

Train & race together ethos, think I'd agree with you there.

If that is the team I can see Wiggins only having Uran for company when the really serious mountains appear, maybe Cataldo as well. Dombrowski and Kennaugh are not proven at this level and the rest are more for the flat/rolling stages. Definitely lacking a Froome/Porte/Kiryenka/Rogers (I know he's gone to Saxo) type that can set a really nasty tempo on the bigger climbs.

They don't need to set a really nasty tempo though. They just need to make sured nobody gains much. There's about two hours of ITT in this race so if Wiggins finishes in a front group of a dozen every day, that's fine by him..

Wiggins is going to gain time in the TTs, but lets not forget that Hesjedal, Gesink and Evans can all ride a decent TT on their day, even if Wiggins gains 2-3 minutes in the TTs that's not a huge advantage when it comes to the really steep stuff.

I still think he can win, I just think he'd like another strong climber in the team to help him close gaps etc when it gets nasty.

Evans looks a spent force...but Nibbles definitely seem to have improved his TTing.

There's also the matter of those pesky time bonuses...

wombly_knees

Are there time bonuses in mountain stages? Not sure about Nibali's long tting, he's always seemed good in short distances.

argyllflyer

Richmond Racer wrote:

argyllflyer wrote:

Cataldo's next race is Trentino:

Seemingly confirmed Trentino squad (has bib numbers): Wiggins, Cataldo, Dombrowski, Kennaugh, Knees, Pate, Suitsou, Zandio.

With the addition of Uran, that looks like their Giro team

Again, can't speak for accuracy but Pro Cycling Stats suggests the current starters for the Giro include:

Wiggins, Henao, Lopez, Kiryienka, Dombrowski, Cataldo, Uran and Pate. They list Kennaugh as a reserve. Were that accurate, it leaves one slot open still, perhaps with one of the Trentino contenders riding for it?

Ultimately it's all speculation this far out. However, I think the Trentino squad is merely those stage racers that are not doing the bulk of the Ardennes as opposed to an indicator of the Giro squad.

edhornby

Milton50 wrote:

If the goal is just to win a classic/semi-classic e.g. the likes of E3,GW,DVV then, yes, it seems a touch modest given that they've already had a cluster of results around the podium in those races.

If you count Cavendish's win at KBK last year as world champ then it's been achieved....

I've heard it said that Wiggins is doing LBL but not amstel

bigmat

edhornby wrote:

Milton50 wrote:

If the goal is just to win a classic/semi-classic e.g. the likes of E3,GW,DVV then, yes, it seems a touch modest given that they've already had a cluster of results around the podium in those races.

If you count Cavendish's win at KBK last year as world champ then it's been achieved....

I've heard it said that Wiggins is doing LBL but not amstel

Didn't Sutton win that the year before as well?

danlikesbikes

Looks like it could be an interesting few weeks if Gilbert can carry his form over from today & if Sagan is resting now for bigger races

rubertoe

I have been thinking about this, not sure if its already been mentioned ( I couldnt be bothered to read the whole thread).

But surely racing some of the other classics should be a good start, get some racing miles in the legs, I know i read somewhere that for a GT its fine training at tiede as its all about threshold, 20km climbs at x watts. where as classics and other 1 day races are much more fluid!

Sky as a classic/one day squad simply don't race enough IMHO.

inkyfingers

Danlikesbikes wrote:

Looks like it could be an interesting few weeks if Gilbert can carry his form over from today & if Sagan is resting now for bigger races

Sagan will likely win Amstel, but not Fleche or Liege (not sure he's even riding them).

J Rod obviously the favourite for Fleche, though I think Henao could do well there.

Liege could be quite wide open, especially if Gilbert is not at his best still, if he isn't then I could see J Rod doing the double now he's worked out how to win classics.

cal_stewart

pip to win all 3 again.

danlikesbikes

inkyfingers wrote:

Danlikesbikes wrote:

Looks like it could be an interesting few weeks if Gilbert can carry his form over from today & if Sagan is resting now for bigger races

Sagan will likely win Amstel, but not Fleche or Liege (not sure he's even riding them).

J Rod obviously the favourite for Fleche, though I think Henao could do well there.

Liege could be quite wide open, especially if Gilbert is not at his best still, if he isn't then I could see J Rod doing the double now he's worked out how to win classics.

Understand that Sagan is missing a few races but can't remember which ones TBH but good to see Gilbert is finally coming good, but guess the real test will be on the weekend & probably over the next few.

RichN95.

Rich's guide to winning a one day race:

Step 1: Look at the race parcours
Step 2: Grade the parcours according to the difficulty of the key climbs, with bonus marks for 100 year old farm tracks.
Step 3: Match the score to the rider on Rich's Spectrum of Talent (TM): Cavendish - Boonen - Cancellara - Sagan - Gilbert - Rodriguez
Step 4: Buy relevant rider.


(High ranking scientists are trying to combine my Spectrum of Talent with Iain's Chipometer to form a Unifying Theory of Classics)

danlikesbikes

RichN95 wrote:

Rich's guide to winning a one day race:

Step 1: Look at the race parcours
Step 2: Grade the parcours according to the difficulty of the key climbs, with bonus marks for 100 year old farm tracks.
Step 3: Match the score to the rider on Rich's Spectrum of Talent (TM): Cavendish - Boonen - Cancellara - Sagan - Gilbert - Rodriguez
Step 4: Buy relevant rider.


(High ranking scientists are trying to combine my Spectrum of Talent with Iain's Chipometer to form a Unifying Theory of Classics)

Winner winner chicken dinner of the quote of the day IMHO

Abdoujaparov

RichN95 wrote:

a Unifying Theory of Classics

Is Bike Radar ready for this? It might melt.

argyllflyer

Danlikesbikes wrote:

Understand that Sagan is missing a few races but can't remember which ones TBH but good to see Gilbert is finally coming good, but guess the real test will be on the weekend & probably over the next few.

Sags is doing Amstel but is not doing the other two.

ratsbeyfus

RichN95 wrote:

Rich's guide to winning a one day race:

Step 1: Look at the race parcours
Step 2: Grade the parcours according to the difficulty of the key climbs, with bonus marks for 100 year old farm tracks.
Step 3: Match the score to the rider on Rich's Spectrum of Talent (TM): Cavendish - Boonen - Cancellara - Sagan - Gilbert - Rodriguez
Step 4: Buy relevant rider.


(High ranking scientists are trying to combine my Spectrum of Talent with Iain's Chipometer to form a Unifying Theory of Classics)

You'll never be able to create a unified theory unless you include a 'panache' index. Unfortunately, it's quantum in nature and so mucks up everything.

yourpaceormine

I do wonder if in 2 or 3 years time everyone who has scoffed/been disappointed by Sky's classics campaigns will have egg on their faces? In the same way everyone scoffed at a) Sky's approach to everything and b) the Grand Tour campaign

chrisday

ratsbeyfus wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Rich's guide to winning a one day race:

Step 1: Look at the race parcours
Step 2: Grade the parcours according to the difficulty of the key climbs, with bonus marks for 100 year old farm tracks.
Step 3: Match the score to the rider on Rich's Spectrum of Talent (TM): Cavendish - Boonen - Cancellara - Sagan - Gilbert - Rodriguez
Step 4: Buy relevant rider.


(High ranking scientists are trying to combine my Spectrum of Talent with Iain's Chipometer to form a Unifying Theory of Classics)

You'll never be able to create a unified theory unless you include a 'panache' index. Unfortunately, it's quantum in nature and so mucks up everything.

My research work so far suggests we can overcome quantum effects, particularly the tricky matter of Panache Superposition, if we include the Merckx Boson in calculations.

inkyfingers

yourpaceormine wrote:

I do wonder if in 2 or 3 years time everyone who has scoffed/been disappointed by Sky's classics campaigns will have egg on their faces? In the same way everyone scoffed at a) Sky's approach to everything and b) the Grand Tour campaign

Whatever the end result those sorts will never admit they were wrong. When Sky started out and were rubbish at stage races they laughed, now they are good they say it's because they are doping.

danlikesbikes

Well this just popped up from BR on Facebook - looks like its a classics race so thought I'd share http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-In9cCbZ8AZk/U ... lBongo.gif

RichN95.

chrisday wrote:

ratsbeyfus wrote:

You'll never be able to create a unified theory unless you include a 'panache' index. Unfortunately, it's quantum in nature and so mucks up everything.

My research work so far suggests we can overcome quantum effects, particularly the tricky matter of Panache Superposition, if we include the Merckx Boson in calculations.

'Panache' is like Intelligent Design, it's just a sneaky way for some extremists to smuggle their ancient BS philosophy into an adult scientific debate

argyllflyer

Sky's squads for the rest of the month:

http://www.teamsky.com/races/0,27631,20 ... l#month=04

Ed_tron

argyllflyer wrote:

Sky's squads for the rest of the month:

http://www.teamsky.com/races/0,27631,20 ... l#month=04

Yup, JTL is up for all three. I hope he gets a chance to shine.

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290, ... 07,00.html

heavy_rat

thought wiggins was going to ride L-B-L. Disappointed that he's not in it

Richmond Racer

heavy_rat wrote:

thought wiggins was going to ride L-B-L. Disappointed that he's not in it

Me too. As I've pointed out elsewhere, he's going to wear away the tarmac on Mt Tiede and Sa Calobra if he makes many more efforts up 'em

argyllflyer

Trentino, likely to see him trying more of those explosive attacks that he displayed in Catalunya and spoke of thereafter, finishes on the Friday so scooting up to Belgium for an early start on the Sunday might not be seen as the best use of his weekend?

http://www1.skysports.com/cycling/news/ ... o-d-Italia

ocdupalais

Richmond Racer wrote:

heavy_rat wrote:

thought wiggins was going to ride L-B-L. Disappointed that he's not in it

Me too. As I've pointed out elsewhere, he's going to wear away the tarmac on Mt Tiede and Sa Calobra if he makes many more efforts up 'em

There's not that much tarmac as there is.

Lots of tourniquets and needles, though, obviously...

ratsbeyfus

chrisday wrote:

My research work so far suggests we can overcome quantum effects, particularly the tricky matter of Panache Superposition, if we include the Merckx Boson in calculations.

I do hope that's not related in any way to the Eddie Boasson?