Pro-cycling thread

Who will Sky take to TdF?

Froome
Poels
Thomas
Bernal/TGH
Kwiatkowski
Ellisonde
Moscon
Rowe

A Henao? Kiri? It really is a ridiculous squad.

surely Dylan van Baarle and Castroviejo will be there somewhere?

Van Baarle will be alot of help for the cobbled stage

Maybe instead of Bernal/TGH or Rowe?

Not sure Ellisonde goes after the Giro.

Not sure Poels does either. He's wanted a crack at a GC, offering the Vuelta up to him makes sense. I reckon:

Froome
Thomas
Bernal
Tao
Kwiat
Moscow
Rowe
Stannard/Van Barrle/Castroviego (think Castroviego nudges it thanks to the TTT)

Froome - leader
Thomas - backup/superdomestique
Poels - Mountain dom
Elisonde - Mountain Dom
Kwiat - Rouleur, early stages of mountains
Rowe - Rouleur
Moscon / Van Baarle - Rouleur/Rouleur with cobbles experience
Castroviejo/ Knees - TT / experienced allrounder

noway Bernal or Tao get in that team yet unless Elissonde is too knackered from the Giro, even then, Henao is better

I'd be amazed if Poels doesn't ride, hes too valuable not to bring to the tour, maybe next season he will get the Giro

Not even vasil kiriyenka as superdom

They've hinted Bernal will go to France.

I actually meant to put Stannard instead of Rowe. Rowe's comeback has been impressive but surely not ready for a GT yet.

Don't think there's room for Van Baarle in a team of eight. Plenty of cobbles talent elsewhere in the team.

Brailsford referred to the riders training at Tiede in May as 'the Tour group' which suggests the bulk of the team comes from the riders there. I think the Dauphine team contains most of them, plus Tao, so you'd expect them to form the core of the team.

The opening ten days are complicated, personally I'd sacrifice a climber for a rouleur/one day rider, but with Kwiatkowski and Moscon, Sky have two riders who can do both roles.

How many other teams even have one 'rider that can do both roles'

Just being able to say "yeah, Kwia's going but not as leader" is fairly impressive. Then "yeah, wout too".

Keeping Kwia well paid, motivated, and happy in his role is some serious management. He must have really bought into the program. Is he short tours and one day leader?

The operative word here is "bought" hahaa, not too much managing to be done when you can tell him he's had all the opportunities he's wanted in the classics and has also won Algarve and Tirreno this year.

Sky always take two Roleur/Cobbles type guys for the early stage KM's. Though the teams are reduced to 8, with
the inclusion of the cobbled stage, I reckon they still take 2. Rowe definitely goes - he's road captain. Really I think it's between Castroviejo and Van Barrle.

Ellisonde has only ridden 1 GT the last two seasons. Back to back ones with a very tough Giro behind him would be a shock

Sky can even rotate mountain domestiques, not many teams can do that.

I think the TTT will play a major role in GC at the Tour this year, as that’s the one place where you can create a race winning gap over most of your rivals. Of the teams with serious GC rivals to Froome, only BMC can match them there. I think that will play a major role in team selection.

BMC.
Yeah, but
BMC.

It’s Tejays year

Steve cummings has just abandoned the dauphine.

He’s had a rotten year, I’d be surprised if makes the Tour team.

To be fair, Dimension Data have had a poor year with the exception of Ben O’Connor. They need Cavendish to win a couple of Tour stages to salvage it.

Another impressive ride by Tao. He's out of contract at the end of the season, his performance this week has definitely seen his value rise. I can't see Sky letting him go, but he's earned himself a substantial pay rise.

I really like dimension data and their bandit strategy.
Early Wolfpack.

Fuck that corner

Wow Tao.

Imagine not taking him to the Tour!

I guess 8 man teams has scuppered his chances. Shame. I think he needs to go. Top 15 in Dauphine GC. Top 10 on today's stage. 2nd in Youth classification. He's smashing it.

As team management, you have to balance the short term interests of the team with the long term development of your young riders. Tao is a second year pro, last year he rode a handful of WT races, this year he’s ridden more, but to throw him into the Tour may harm him more than it benefits him. For example, say he was so fatigued that he wanted to drop out at the end of the second week, but Froome was in yellow. Do you think short term or long term?

Adrian Timmis is, sadly, a good example - he was clearly very talented and did well at the Dauphiné in 1987, rode the Tour and never really recovered from it, and his career was prematurely ended.

I think Sky should get Tao to ride a GT this season, but the Vuelta would be less pressurised than the Tour.

I’d say the same for Bernal too.

Word.

As Tao is smart in his own right, very switched on. As we saw with doing an extra year u23. He’ll stay with sky as the sky programme is working for him in development terms.
If he went to a gt it would also be only because he thought he was ready. Which it seems he is, but perhaps not for the pressure of the tour, as you say can’t drop out of on his knees.
A gt really buries people. Doing the Vuelta means he can then take as long as needed to recover without loosing part of a season.

Also forgot to come and tell you all how happy I am to see Dan martin win. How deserved is that. What a grafter.

Punt Frooome. Tao for the Yellow.

Kirby calling Geraint Thomas 'G' makes me want to be sick.