Caisse d'Epargne Loaded for TdU
by Chris Fontecchio on Dec 26, 2009 4:57 PM EST
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Eusebio Unzue will be loaded for victory when the Black and Reds show up in Australia at the Tour Down Under next month. The Caisse d'Epargne squad will feature World #1 Alejandro Valverde, Tour-dude-in-waiting Luis Leon Sanchez, and all-round stage racer Jose Ivan Gutierrez. OK, in all likelihood they're there for some training in the sun, but they could be interesting to watch. Gutierrez won't stand out without a time trial, so whatever. LuLu, however, is the 2005 winner and has a couple other top-ten finishes. Not a race for him? Maybe, but cyclists are like sharks: once they get a taste of blood, they don't forget it.
Valverde, meanwhile, will be the star attraction. Will he wind up his sprint for the crowd? We shall see, but stages 3 and 5 both feature climbs which could force a late selection and reduce the size of the sprinting field -- usually gold for Valverde. One odd note: the Murcian star has almost never raced outside Europe. He popped by Cancun last October for a crit. He contested the Hamilton worlds and of course the Beijing Olympics. Way back in his pre-Kelme days he raced in Turkey. And that is it. A bit weird, but there you go.
Photo by Jasper Juinen, Getty Images Sport
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"Tour-dude-in waiting"
waiting for what exactly? I don’t see Lulu ever doing any more than what he is aiming for now, which is stage hunting. He is quite far away from being a serious GC contender at a GT if that’s what you mean.
March 14, 2010: The great one returns!
OK
Says you. But the dude just turned 26. He’s 18th in the world. Not too shabby.
"The only pain I got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is." Edvald Boasson Hagen
by Chris Fontecchio on Dec 26, 2009 5:42 PM EST up reply actions
Adding, Tribe style...
Can you see me in the Giro?
Yes we can!
"The only pain I got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is." Edvald Boasson Hagen
by Chris Fontecchio on Dec 26, 2009 5:47 PM EST up reply actions
He's 18th in the world because of stage wins and small tour wins
that’s his style, he is not the next great Spanish climber.
March 14, 2010: The great one returns!
Lulu has potential
Not to be a great climber like his mate ‘Bert, but to be at least a major force in week-long stage races, perhaps even Suisse and the Dauphine in a year’s time.
by Douglas Ansel on Dec 26, 2009 11:26 PM EST up reply actions
Right
Indurain won his first TdF aged 27. Not a super climber too. And managed by the same guy who is managing Lulu now. Just saying…
Football is a game, cycling a sport.
Indeed
I’m not calling the next Giro for him, but I don’t think we can dismiss him so easily either. When Menchov was 26 he was still futzing around at Illes Balears.
"The only pain I got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is." Edvald Boasson Hagen
by Chris Fontecchio on Dec 27, 2009 11:32 AM EST up reply actions
Wahooo 19 days and counting til i'm there, riding the same roads....
"the rest was over 30. And that doesn't mean old and useless, but experienced and with the stamina"
Jens! Voigt, Crit Intl Interview, 2009
Althought Valverde does have a meeting 12/13 Jan though!
"the rest was over 30. And that doesn't mean old and useless, but experienced and with the stamina"
Jens! Voigt, Crit Intl Interview, 2009
Which makes us bloody lucky...
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
The concept of Italy
successfully invading another country is very funny. I suppose they’d knock off San Marino, but they might struggle to invade the Vatican; the troops might change sides and there are the Swiss Guards to contend with.
where are you getting valverde being no 1? according to uci, it's (1) conta, (2) av, (3) samu
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
source: http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MTU2MzU&LangId=1
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
He probably got it from CQranking...They have Valv as number 1
by Vlaanderen90 on Dec 26, 2009 7:13 PM EST up reply actions
bingo
"The only pain I got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is." Edvald Boasson Hagen
by Chris Fontecchio on Dec 26, 2009 11:23 PM EST up reply actions
Rui Costa like last year
don’t have any big Tour in his schedule! But he is prepared if the team need him.
He will do the same of last year in the first part of the season:
Challenge de Maiorca, Volta ao Algarve,Tirreno-Adriatico, Milão-Sanremo, Volta a Flandres, Paris-Roubaix, Quatro Dias de Dunquerque
RC was surprisingly good at PR last year
I was watching the film last week….RC was toward the back of the lead pack going into Sector 14 when he brought himself (and Wiggins) down. Basically ended his race.
Fiquei sorpreso que ele tinha capacidade para concorrer la. Pensava que ele era mais baixinho…homen paras as montanhas.
And how do you say “cobbles” in Portuguses? Pedras arredondadas? Or “rouleur”? I was trying to explain PR to someone the other day but didn’t have all the vocabulary…
by Mr 60 Percent on Dec 28, 2009 8:10 AM EST up reply actions
we call
“pavé” like french, or “empedrado”. “Empredado” is the portuguese term, i think. He probably doesn’t have the experience for that classics. In Portugal there is some roads like that, especially inside the citys. But there isn’t any race with cobbles.
by semprenaroda on Dec 28, 2009 1:12 PM EST up reply actions
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