Euskaltel name Vuelta team
Euskaltel today revealed the nine-man roster for the Vuelta a España, commencing next week-end: Igor Antón, Beñat Intxausti, Egoi Martínez, Mikel Nieve, Gorka Verdugo, Amets Txurruka, Koldo Fernández, Pablo Urtasun and Juan José Oroz. I like it, it's a solid, well-rounded team. Igor and Beñat for GC and the mountains, Koldo and Pablo for the sprints, while the others will take turns in protecting the two GC candidates and getting in to breaks. Easy! Great to see Amets and JJ being selected after their enforced DNFs in the Tour. Not surprisingly, Gorka Gerrikagoitia will direct the team from the car.
12 comments:
i am very glad to see Txurruka in the Vuelta team and also to see he has a new contract with euskaltel. he had no luck this year (maybe when he fell at the Tour he wasn't concentrated during that flat stage and fell on the side of the road)
so let's hope for better times for him
If things go a bit his way, Anton can win the Vuelta. And it seems he has a good squad to support him.
Yeah, he might just win the whole thing, but it depends the state of form of the likes of Schleck senior, Menchov etc...
Anton is a better climber than Frank Schleck. Andy Schleck will not go for the GC and I expect Menchov will not be very motivated after a long Tour and after just signing with Geox.
It may happen. Uphill I think he can beat anyone, so things need to go his way in the other stages, then there's a chance.
Do not underestimate Frank Schleck, he seems to have taken several steps in the right direction! If he's in top form, I'm sure he will win it (if he can stay on his bike, that is).
No, Frank Schleck is simply not the best climber. Mosquera and Anton are better climbers when in good form.
Frank Schleck is overestimated, he never showed he could keep up with the likes of Contador and his little brother, only when they waited for him. Anton did.
What's more, on a good day Schleck is a good climber, but I've seen him often win one stage and then lose minutes in the next stage. He's very inconsistent.
And he doesn't have a time trial to make up for it too.
I can't really see the evidence that Mosquera and Anton should be "better climbers" than Fränk. As I see it, it will be an interesting and hopefully close fight between them. Mosquera btw should be one to look out for. What do you guys think about Mosquera and doping? Not that I have anything on him, but I'm always a tad suspicious to riders who ride for smaller Spanish/Italian team, and only seem interested in Spanish/Italian races...
Anyway, you say Fränk can't keep up with Contador & Andy in the mountains, but honestly, who can? Did you see the Tour? They're miles ahead of the rest. And sure, I know Igor beat Contador earlier in the year on a mountaintop finish, but he hasn't showed that he's on that level in the important races, yet...
And I'm predicting that he will gain time in the TT's as well, just you wait and see ;) Not Menshov of course, who is also an interesting contender, if he goes full out...
See 2008 Vuelta before Anton sadly crashed out. See this year in the hilly classics and Castilla y Leon (where Contador was not in his best form, but certainly in good form).
Mosquera and doping? Nah. It always showed in the Tour of Portugal, the most notorious race in Europe when you talk about doping, that he never could keep up with the front (although he used it as a prep race of course). He just rides for a small team because he can be the only team leader with the team riding only for him in the Vuelta, and he earns half a million for it.
Hilly classics are not the same, and Castilla y Leon, well it goes without saying that you can't compare climbing skills based on that race only. Igor certainly have impressed me this year, and as you say, he was very good in the Vuelta 08 before he crashed out. But to say he is a better climber than a guy who have won two major mountain stages in the Tour , finished in the top 5 in the biggest race, where "everyone" is in top form, based on a promising ride in 08 Vuelta and a great ride in a small stage race, that's just not enough. But let's just wait and see ;-)
He did win l'Alpe in 2006, but that was from a breakaway, just like Riblon won his stage this year. Classy, but no sign of a pure top climber. His stage win last year was given by Contador and Schleck.
And finishing top 5 in the 2009 Tour, well, that was the easiest Tour for years. Wiggins finished fourth and there's no way he is a better climber than Anton. The 2009 profile suited the non pure climbers.
But indeed, lets wait and see, that's the brilliance of sports, you never know anything for sure (other than Lance being a doper :P )
The question if Mosquera is doped is an interesting one. As far as I know, he's never been mentioned in any doping cases or things like that. But I admit I've always been a tad suspicious. You're on to something Bolsen about the old Spanish rider coming out of nowhere late in his career for a small team and competing with the very best only in Spanish races. But, as I said, I've got nothing on him...
Yeah, he's hard to place, doping wise. In similar cases it's often obvious, but not in this, cause there is as far as I know, no dirt on him. So I guess we should hope he's clean.
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