Movistar Tactics

dish_dash

So at the team launch (men's, women's, and u23 teams) there was a suggestion that they would take Valverde, Quintana, and Landa to the TdF... with Landa saying that if the other two were in trouble he wasn't going to wait.

It's gonna be an interesting season there. Valverde on the recovery, Quintana on the back foot, and Landa eagerly bounding forward...

fenix

Surely age must be telling on Valverde by now ? Landa will be walking ll over him ?

Mad_Malx

Last year, before the tour, Valverde was looking better than ever.

ShutupJens

Seems to be the case every year with Valverde. Seriously impressive rider

Richmond Racer 2

His powers will never wane

Dorset_Boy

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

His powers will never wane

It'll be a miracle of Contador standard recovery if he comes back stronger after his leg break.

There'll be lots of in fighting in Movistar though if all 3 ride the Tour.

gsk82

Dorset Boy wrote:

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

His powers will never wane

It'll be a miracle of Contador standard recovery if he comes back stronger after his leg break.

There'll be lots of in fighting in Movistar though if all 3 ride the Tour.

I can picture it now. Quintana attacks and sky sit back, knowing valverde and landa will chase him down

joey54321

I think Valverde will play second fiddle to the other two. With both Landa and Q it could make things interesting. Perhaps each going too hard early season to 'prove' they should be out and out leader for the Tour?

bobmcstuff

They're going to have too many chiefs. Could be interesting especially with the slightly smaller teams, not many support riders to go round.

kingstongraham

gsk82 wrote:

Dorset Boy wrote:

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

His powers will never wane

It'll be a miracle of Contador standard recovery if he comes back stronger after his leg break.

There'll be lots of in fighting in Movistar though if all 3 ride the Tour.

I can picture it now. Quintana attacks and sky sit back, knowing valverde and landa will chase him down

You mean Bahrain-Merida sit back, surely?

rick_chasey

That leg break might be the end ya know. Took him a long time to recover from that.

If I was a team boss I'd definitely go with multiple leaders, but the evidence that they work doesn't really stack up.

Only time it's worked in a big race I can remember was 2008.

Though I wonder whether that's because teams with multiple leaders know they don't have the #1 favourite, hence the hedge.

smithy21

Landa leading, Quintana back up, Valverde wildcard.

Quintana has had enough chances.

andyp

smithy21 wrote:

Landa leading, Quintana back up, Valverde wildcard.

Quintana has had enough chances.

He's ridden ten GTs, from that he has two wins and four other podium finishes. Landa has also ridden ten GTs, he has one podium finish.

I think Quintana is still worth backing.

richard_t._biscuit

So having co-sort-of-but-not-really-it's-not-quite-clear-team leaders in Valverde and Quintana the last few years worked so well for them they want to throw Landa into the mix too?

redvision

smithy21 wrote:

Landa leading, Quintana back up, Valverde wildcard.

Quintana has had enough chances.

I think this is the likely scenario.

Quintana is still quality but he just can't seem to make that extra leap to reach the very top and beat Froome.
I think Landa can.

Vino'sGhost

redvision wrote:

smithy21 wrote:

Landa leading, Quintana back up, Valverde wildcard.

Quintana has had enough chances.

I think this is the likely scenario.

Quintana is still quality but he just can't seem to make that extra leap to reach the very top and beat Froome.
I think Landa can.

Maybe froome will be banned for cheating.

Maybe quintana was clean and should have beaten froomey if it were a level playing field.

redvision

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Maybe quintana was clean and should have beaten froomey if it were a level playing field.

You mean if he had a salbutamol inhaler as well??

specialgueststar

Unleash the Cur

No_Ta_Doctor

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

His powers will never wane

It's a Samson thing. Just what did they use to seal in his hair-weave?

rick_chasey

Entirely depends on how ballsy you want to be with it.

If you're happy to do things like send Quintana a long ways out up the road and really throw the weight around, then I think it can work.

You do need iron discipline and you need to take the risks however.

Ultimately it's a line up that doesn't really suit being conservative.

andyp

Rick Chasey wrote:

Ultimately it's a line up that doesn't really suit being conservative.

Knowing Movistar, and their inate conservatism, this is probably just an expensive way of guaranteeing themselves the team prize at the Tour.

rick_chasey

Fair.

It was quite disappointing how they had the team to send guys up the road and be really interesting in the Giro and then Quintana just didn't do anything with it.

philbar72

Quintana is still the best overall rider for Gc on a steep mountainous parcours, he's just not strong enough on an alpine circuit with few surprises. Valverde for the stage wins on the short sharp shock stuff, where his top end gets him away from other challengers (though I think this could be the year he starts showing his age). Landa to realise his TT is never going to be good enough against the major players.

redvision

philbar72 wrote:

Landa to realise his TT is never going to be good enough against the major players.

And Quintana's TT is????