Tamouridis teams up
According to numerous websites and sources, among them El Diario Vasco, 32-year-old Greek Ioannis Tamouridis is one of the two riders that will be presented by Galdeano and co. tomorrow.
Seven riders, Jure Kocja, Robert Vrecer, André Schulze, Steffen Radochla, Alexandre Serebryakov, Ricardo Mestre and Juan José Lobato, were unveiled on Friday, and another two are set to be unveiled tomorrow. It's a badly-kept secret that Pole Marek Rutkiewicz is one of them, and it now appears that we know who the other one is as well.
Tamouridis, representing home team SP Tableware, is a six-time national time trial champ and three-time road race champ, and has 16 wins to his name. A sextet of those came this season, though they were all distinctively low-profile (three stages of the Romanian Cycling Tour, the Circuit d'Alger, Tour of Szekerland and the time trial crown). Though I'll refrain from trying to calculate his Rider Value points, I think somewhere in the 30s or 40s shouldn't be too far off.
As for other "signings", Euskaltel management are allegedly contemplating hiring swimming and triathlon coach Iñigo Mujika, writes El Diario Vasco. Mujika, who's got a PhD in Muscular Exercise Biology, would work with the riders' physical preparations as well as with material and clothing.
In further staff-related news, team doctor Raquel Ortolano has left for Astana, and Guillermo Cuesta will not stay on. In comes Eduardo González Salvador to join Sergio Quílez.
Photo: Wikipedia
5 comments:
Just doing some calculations.
Euskaltel with all the new riders:
Sanchez 259
Vrecer 67
Schulze 54
Nieve 47
Anton 33
Tamouridis 32
Kocjan 31
Serebryakov 29
Rutkiewicz 28
Mestre 23
J.Izagirre 19
Lobato 10
Teampoints (for team classifications etc.) 30
Total: 662 RV points
The big competitor for Euskaltel and the World Tour is Argos.
Degenkolb 227
Kittel 222
R.Janse van Rensburg 64
Mezgec 32
Arndt 16
Barguil 15
Dumoulin 10
Veelers 7
Gretsch 6
Doi 4
Sinkeldam 3
Geschke 2
Team points 19
Total: 627 RV points
maybe Argos also gets minus 30 points for not having enough riders who scored WT points in 2012.
So I hope Argos is not going to get someone like Di Luca or Rebellin who have a lot of points. They must finish outside the top 15 to keep a chance for Euskaltel and the WT.
But can have Euskaltel have 29 riders? (the rule is 28 riders and 2 neo pros)
Awesome, Chris, thanks!
I've been thinking about the same thing, and Aberasturi doesn't really qualify as a neo...
By the way, do you know if the points Serebryakov is picking up right now in Hainan count, or is it too late?
The points at Hainan don't count for this coming up year...Hainan started the 2012-2013 calendar for the Asian Tour so those points won't be available til the end of that season.
And you are right Magnus, Aberasturi doesn't qualify as a neo-pro. The oldest you can be at the start of your first neo season is 22 but you carry that status for 2 years regardless so you could be 23 when you ended it. Katusha had the rules bent in 2011 when they had 30 guys for only 1 neo-pro so we shall see what happens with regards to that.
Thanks Magnus...
Just read this:
the neo-rule is adjusted from January 1st 2013 onwards... You can be a neo untill 26 years old.
Still hoping Argos is not in the top 15 so both Argos and Euskaltel comes for the licence commission... and then Euskaltel needs to win it (because 3 Dutch teams is to much!)
btw i'm not Chris Kuntz ;-).
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