TheManxMissile wrote:
What is everyone's facination with our small squad size? Most of our riders were incapable of scoring points anyway. Plus you only need a few race days if you win them all Surprsied you put both Cofidis and Vacansoleil ahead of us. Though i mostly agree with the WT thoughts, i would put Orica below Giant and Europcar.
I was pleased to see my first ever transfer season got a thumbs up but I will be very surprised (and delighted) if Cofidis finish ahead of FdJ this season. Will be fun to watch .
Ollfardh wrote:
Season preview on the previous page, for those wondering
And I was promised more previews, where are they?
Waiting for the full screenshots.
Oh,and can somebody make the In-Out riders for their team(including custom riders as well)so that it can be easier to the previewers to look and examine it?
Edited by Forever the Best on 23-01-2015 20:24
The user formerly known as 'The Schleck Fan' Gracias Alberto.
I love those predictions. Very interesting to read and it is nice to see a second set of opinions. I think Garmin could be higher as "only" sixth while FDJ should definitly be higher, too.
Ollfardh wrote:
1 - Movistar
They kept their big 3 together with an even stronger Quintana, Valverde and Costa. Calzone and Lobato can handle the sprints now and Flecha will even give them the occasional cobble points. With a bit more luck then last year, they can beat Team Sky.
Nice to see where you'd rank Katusha. That's around the spot where I see us finishing as well. A top 10 would be nice though.
However, I don't agree with you that after the leaders there is a lack of quality. Trofimov, Caruso and especially Chernetskyi who will improve depending on my activity will also score me some nice points.
Also I expect sky to beat Movistar in the rankings.
With Sep Vanmarcke we have an absolute star, as he showed last year by winning Paris-Roubaix. It's really hard to win a monument, so we don't expect he to repeat that this year. But since he got even better then last year, some good results and a win somewhere can be expected. Lars Boom is a great lieutenant, capable of some nice reults on his own. Maarten Wynants and Maarten Tjallingii may be a bit older, but they're still very usefull domestiques. Newcomers Guillaume Van Keirsbulck and Jasper Stuyven are good additional with future potential here. We think we should get a 9/10 for our cobbles team.
Hills
Bauke Mollema improved a bit as well last year, but he's still not the big winner. With a solid ride, some more top 10's should be possible though. Support comes from Robert Gesink, Luis Leon Sanchez, Lars Petter Nordhaug, Tom-Jelte Slagter, Paul Martens and Jorge Cristobal Riquelme. Cristobal Riquelme is especially useful when it comes to sprint finishes after a hilly race. Furthermore we signed a real talent with Silvio Herklotz. We give ourselves a 7,5/10 here
Sprints
Marcel Kittel is an absolute star. He is a top sprinter who should give us plenty of wins this year. But it doesn't stop there, with Mangere Kaha we have an excellent 2nd sprinter as well. He should give us some nice reults as well. We also have one of the best, if not the best, leadouts with Mark Renshaw. Theo Bos has also shown great leadout potential last year, but can get points on his own as well. Moreno Hofland is a young talent who should bring home after improving a lot last year and with Wouter Wippert we got ourselves another good young talent. A 9/10 seems well deserved here.
Stage Races
This area was a complete failure last year, missing a top 10 in Giro, Tour and Vuelta. But, we improved here as well. Bauke Mollema should be able to get a top 10 somewhere. Wilco Kelderman will return to the Giro to take revenge for his 11th last year. Robert Gesink will hopefully return to his top level this year and Luis Leon Sanchez is always dangerous in Spanish races. Furthermore, with Warren Barguil and Sebastian Henao, we have signed 2 big talents here as well. An 8/10 here should be the result.
Time trials
A huge addition here with Adrian Malori, he's our team leader in this section. Wilco Kelderman is also still a pro here, as are Lars Boom and Luis Leon Sanchez. Stef Clement is still a very usefull domestique with time trial skills, and Bauke Mollema and Robert Gesink are also decent in this area. Maybe we can actually win a Team Time Trial this year? Either way, we think a 7,5/10 here should be correct.
~~~~
Leaders
With Sep Vanmarcke and Marcel Kittel, we have two guys who can win top races. Bauke Mollema, Wilco Kelderman, Luis Leon Sanchez and Jorge Cristobal Riquelme are solid point scorers as well. With Mangere Khan, Adrian Malori and Warren Barguil, we think we got some good point scorers in as well, don't be surprised if one of them wins a race this year.
Talents
While he's a leader already, Wilco Kelderman is only 22 and has plenty of potential left in him. Jorge Cristobal Riquelme starts his second season with us, but we feel his progression can be higher than what he showed last year. Mangere Kaha only turned pro at 21, but as mentioned above we are expecting great things for him. Warren Barguil is the same age as Wilco, and we hope the Belkin training ways allow him to catch up with Wilco. Tom Jelte Slagter has an important year ahead of him, at 24 he will have to show if he can be a leader or remain a domestique. Sebastian Henao is one of our biggest talents, only 20 years old but already a great climber. Finaly we have guys like Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Moreno Hofland, Jasper Stuyven, Silvio Herklotz, Wouter Wippert, Jetse Bol and Marc Goos. They'll be domestiques this year, but they're all very young and we want to see them grow towards the next seasons!
Domestiques
Aside from the young guys mentioned above, we still have riders like Jos Van Emden, usefull on cobbles and team time trials. Tom Leezer is great on the flat and has decent sprint and cobble abilities. Steven Kruijswijk is a good climber and the ideal Grand Tour Domestique. Paul Martens is great for hilly races and can also pick up quite some points himself, like the 310 he scored last year. Stef Clement is great for climbing and time trialing, and can even pick up a stage win when you don't expect it.
The team has just been under a preview and I couldn't help notice that I was mentioned a few times, both as 2nd best sprinter and one of the biggest talents. I have big shoes to fill, but for my age I guess I should just be happy to be here. I've trained a lot with the team and we're ready to take to Gabon for our first race.
5 ok flat stages and 2 hilly are on the programme, but even so the whole race is one big thing for us sprinters and we will have to prove ourselves before going into the bigger races. Gabon is the ideal place to start your season and I will get the earliest possible experience to start the whole thing.
3 Stage Wins for the whole season are my goal and while not being many, I think that I still have a lot to improve in and if I find the correct balance, then I think I can do this goal and even more.
Where I come from anger is shed in dance and silence is not always appreciated, but I think otherwise and I would say I have my own understanding of the Maori traditions.
I would never be able to return to my family and I guess that's why I'm so eager to make a new one here at Belkin. We're all brothers alike and venturing into the battlefield is never safe, but victory hides beneath the dusty fields we're about to embark on.
It's almost there, the first race of the new season. Last year, this was a huge success for us, as Willem Brouwer won stage 1, the GC, the youth jersey and we also claimed the team classification. We doubt last year's succes can be repeated, so we send a small squad aiming for a stage win.
Mangere Kaha will make his debut here, let's see where he can finish on the flat stages. Jorge Cristobal Riquelme will aim fo rthe hillier stages. With Hofland and Martens, we should be able to get a good sprint train going as well. Finaly Slagter and Wynants could try to get in the breakaway.
Last year was a disaster for us, we returned with very little points from South America. This year, we want to take revenge and send a slightly stronger squad.
Theo Bos Sebastian Henao Silvio Herklotz Moreno Hofland Wilco Kelderman Steven Kruijswijk
Two more riders to make their professional debut here, Herklotz and Henao will be here to learn before the harder races in Europe come. They might be able to get in a breakaway. But the team leader is of course Wilco Kelderman, it's early in the season still, but a podium might be possible. Kruijswijk will be his main helper and Bos and Hofland will contest the sprints.
Last year we had a decent Tour Down Under, where Jorge Cristobal Riquelme got us 2 stage podiums and a top 10 overall. We lost Graeme Brown, Jack Bobridge and David Tanner in the offseason, so the spotlight will be on Mark Renshaw and Mangere Kaha.
Jetse Bol Jorge Christobal Riquelme Robert Gesink Mangere Kaha Paul Martens Mark Renshaw Tom-Jelte Slagter
With Renshaw as leadout, Khan might get a few good results on the flat stages. On the hills, Gesink and Cristobal Riquelme could try something with the aid of Slagter and Martens. Bol will be a pure domestique this race. We hope for a good start in the World Tour, although this is a race that doesn't really suit us.
The team of winner Brouwer last year is hoping to repeat history. They brought fewer riders than last year though, which might hurt them should they get the leader's jersey early on. For the GC they are looking at u23 World Champion Riquelme and should he fail, they can easily switch to Slagter. While Kaha is probably their main sprinter, they can switch to Riquelme, if he needs the bonification seconds on the finish line.
Taken from mvhoodgalem's preview
Greetings
The Tour of Gabon is set to start in a few days and the team has arrived! We've been mentioned a lot during the off season and we've come out united in order to take the cycling world with storm!
I will get support from Martens, Hofland and Riquelme, so I think we have a strong team for this race, which will be my debut for the team aswell! I'm glad that Jorge will be there to help me and I do believe that I can handle those hills with his help. I've been waiting for this my whole life and now it's up to myself to see which standards I can set for this season.
Brother Brouwer won last year and I do belive that both Jorge and myself can do him and our manager proud once more.
Sprints
FL
SPR
ACC
HILL
Carlo Calzone
78
79
78
68
Juan Jose Lobato
74
78
76
68
Mangere Kaha
74
78
76
64
Benedikt Weschenbach
71
78
77
79
Abasi Abundi
70
80
75
61
Jorge Cristobal
73
76
75
76
Jurgen Roelandts
76
76
76
72
As you can see the opponents are tough, but I think that we have a good chance to dominate this race, which doesn't seem to be the most popular race within our rivals reach. I'm sure we can do some great stuff here, but I personally need to stay focused for my goal in Australia later this month.
Like last year, we want to take a good start by riding a lot of races early in the season, putting pressure on the other teams. We want to ride on all continents this year, so aside from the mandatory Tour Down Under, we also go to Gabon and Argentina again in January.
CT.5 Tour de Gabon [13-19 January] CT.5 Tour de San Luis [20-26 January] WT.4 Tour Down Under [21-26 January]
After a busy first month, we'll take things a bit more easy in February. GP La Marseillaise will be the preparation race for our classics squad, so they're ready for the real work in the spring.
CT.6 GP La Marseillaise [2 February]
A lot of classics in March, including the new race Roma Maxima. Our focus will be the World Tour of course, with Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo there's a lot of important races here.
CT.4 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad [1 March] CT.5 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne [2 March] CT.5 Clasica Almeria [2 March] CT.5 Strade Bianche [8 March] CT.6 Roma Maxima [9 March] WT.3 Paris-Nice [9-16 March] WT.3 Tirreno-Adriatico [12-18 March] CT.6 Nokere Koerse [19 March] WT.1 Milan-San Remo [23 March] WT.4 Volta a Catalunya [24-30 March] CT.4 Dwars Door Vlaanderen [26 March] WT.2 E3 Harelbeke [28 March] CT.6 Criterium International [29–30 March] WT.2 Gent-Wevelgem [30 March]
From then on, it's preparing for our main focus of the season, Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Paris Roubaix and of course the Amstel Gold Race. The Volta Limburg Classic is the most important race here. We didn't win last year, so we hope to get revenge this year.
CT.6 Driedaagse De Panne - Koksijde [1-3 April] CT.6 GP Indurain [5 April] CT.6 Volta Limburg Classic [5 April]
Edited by Ollfardh on 05-02-2015 09:49
Surprsied you put both Cofidis and Vacansoleil ahead of us. Though i mostly agree with the WT thoughts, i would put Orica below Giant and Europcar.
.
?
Brotherhood
Jorge Cristobal Riquelme
Moreno Hofland
Paul Martens
Maarten Wynants
Sebastian Henao
Mark Renshaw
Tour de Gabon [13-19 January]
Tour de San Luis [20-26 January]
GP La Marseillaise [2 February]
Clasica Almeria [2 March]
Strade Bianche [8 March]
