Columbia for Sivtsov!

by Chris... on May 4, 2009 4:58 PM EDT in News Comment 40 comments

From the team website:

As for the overall classification, Kanstantsin Sivtsov will be Columbia-Highroad’s main contender. “He finished seventeenth in last year’s Tour and he will have the team’s full support. As always with Columbia-Highroad, everybody has a chance,” continued Aldag. “At the same time, we’ll be looking to see what [former World Time trial Champion] Michael [Rogers] can do. I spoke to him just after Liege-Bastogne-Liege, he’s in good shape and he’s fully recovered from the fever that prevented him racing in Fleche and Liege. I know he’s been checking out some of the tougher stages and time trial stages in the Giro by himself, and I know he’s enthusiastic about this race.”

Cool! I'm not expecting him on the podium, but it's nice to see them mention Sivtsov first and Rogers just as someone who may or may not get involved, rather than say they're going to the race with the more senior Rogers as the captain, despite health issues and mixed history, along with Rogers' tendency to focus on the Tour. Sivtsov is 26 and has a solid (if maybe not spectacular) stage-racer's pedigree. Anyway, there's more about getting Cavendish a win, and looking for Edvald Boasson Hagen to get his first taste of the Big Turn. A question: have they stopped paying Tim de Waele's invoices? It's a tad embarassing to have their flash site showing 2008 photos of guys in the High Road kits, with no mention of "Columbia" on them. Maybe the idea was to use pictures from the 2008 Giro, but, you know, take care of the sponsors and all that.

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Obviously...

… Chris has abandoned all restraint now in terms of Giro coverage :) Still waiting on the official change of Cafe color scheme to notify me that May is here!

Respect the Shit List; it respects you.

by crashdan on May 4, 2009 5:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

me too

any second now…

CQRanking.com, you complete me.

by Chris... on May 4, 2009 5:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh this won't make Jens happy

just ignoring Lovkist like this, so he’s only the 3rd option for them?

In Chauncey we trust!

by Phil H. on May 4, 2009 5:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

AFAIK

The original plan was that Lövkvist would be Michael Rogers little helper.

Bork, bork, bork!

by TheFigurehead on May 4, 2009 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

might there be

a wee bit o’ sandbagging here?

CQRanking.com, you complete me.

by Chris... on May 4, 2009 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think it has to be sandbagging

I can’t imagine Rogers not being the #1 guy. I think Sivtsov/siutsou is a nice enough rider, but I just don’t see him as having a prayer in a Grand Tour, maybe more of a one-week stage racer. My gut is telling me Rogers is sandbagging big time because his team thinks he’s on the form of his life and can surprise the main GT teams. I can’t imagine that playing out, but I do think that is what the team is hoping for.

by PopUp Rolen on May 4, 2009 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lets just spell it Sweetsoff. Much easier to pronounce correctly.

or his pdc nick could be Sweets.

by ZoeRochelle on May 4, 2009 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah last year it went wrong on the first stage.

They lost any chance for the TT win when they wasted time sheparding a fading Sivtsov.

by mysterion on May 4, 2009 7:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I meant TTT of course

by mysterion on May 4, 2009 7:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

what's happen here!!

a Giro feveer!! so many posts today. :)

by semprenaroda on May 4, 2009 5:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Still waiting for the pink to show at the cafe....

And I have 4 more days of Giro hype to get through. Will my heart be able to take the excitement? I’m anticipating this more than the TdF this year. The tour just seems so…. Contadored.

by ZoeRochelle on May 4, 2009 5:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Did somebody say Contador?

wahahahahahahahahaha

In Chauncey we trust!

by Phil H. on May 4, 2009 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He does look good in pink.

by ZoeRochelle on May 4, 2009 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Talking about team leaders

apparently Mosquera is getting a final medical test tomorrow, if he is cleared to ride then he will indeed race the Giro, although I think it’s still a long shot he will be cleared.

In Chauncey we trust!

by Phil H. on May 4, 2009 10:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I sure hope he does!

by rbjhan on May 4, 2009 11:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Does anyone consider Scarponi

to be a threat in this race?

by saluki on May 5, 2009 1:05 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd be surprised if he is out of the Top 10

If he hasn’t peaked too early or if he doesn’t test positive.

by Jens on May 5, 2009 1:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

he or Simoni

but yeah Scarponi is more likely.

by semprenaroda on May 5, 2009 5:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agree. He's a top 10 guy

by ursula on May 5, 2009 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Colombia are making the Giro the GC-guys playground

My guess is that Rogers/Sivtsov/Lövkvist/Possoni and Pinotti will all be given a decent chance to ride their own chance here. The early climbing should sort out the hierarchy. Give the GC guys freedom and let the Cavendish victories come if they do.

With this roster they are saying pretty clearly that they aren’t the ones who are going to control the race to assure the sprint finishes. I think this an excellent strategy. Normally the presence of Cav lays the responsibility squarely on Columbia’s shoulders but in the Centenario, with few sprint-stages, there are going to be so many italians desperate for a win that they can’t even worry about towing Cav to the line.

In the Tour it will be all about Cav and the GC guys will have to fend for themselves with whatever help is left over.

by Jens on May 5, 2009 1:48 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Apparently Columbia are only shooting for a stage win and a few days in pink...

Cav will probably be the stage win but, and I know this might sound stupid to some and will get some flack, Petacchi has been looking quite dominate in the sprints so it might be a nice little battle…

Though I am not expecting anything GC wise…Sivtsov will do decently but I’m not expecting top 5. Pinotti will probably try to strike either the long TT or the Roma TT to try for a win but not much else.

I’d like to see some of the younger guys from Quick Step (Seeldrayers, Malacarne, Cataldo, etc.) suprise and get a day in pink…

by Vlaanderen90 on May 5, 2009 4:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You're right, Petacchi has been looking good

The problem is that we haven’t really seen Petacchi in any of the really big races for awhile, so we don’t know if he still really has it. I would guess that he probably takes a stage this year, hope so anyways.

If I just had one more gear, I...

by SpunOut on May 5, 2009 7:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He is likely to be the Sprint Jersy winner IMHO

Simply bewcause he’ll be the last sprinter standing as usual when we hit Rome. Cav is going home after a while and no Robbie or Brownie, who else would finish the race and have a real shot at the points needed to win the jersey?

Just spinning the pedals in the hills of Western Maryland

by natbla on May 5, 2009 8:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lot's of tricky finishes

could be guys like Diluca,Pippo, Voeckler, Davis , Visconti with a little more allround skills who get in the mix.

by Jens on May 5, 2009 9:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

Especially the way they calculate points in Giro.

by rbjhan on May 5, 2009 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rogers is over-rated

Management knows this and has to light a fire under his ass by pretending to back Sweets.
Both are prone to the late race crack, Sweets physically, Mick (or Dodger if you prefer) psychologically.
“form of his life”
Whatever.

by MavicMoto on May 5, 2009 9:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

a lesser case of bubble-boy, i.e.

Physiologically gifted, but lacking the killer instinct.

Which is why Lefevere dumped Rogers.

Riders like Contador, Happy Puppy, Nicole Cooke, Valverde, and Andy Schleck can be used (with varying adjustments necessary) to make a basic point:
The endurance and resistance necessary to win a 3 week GT might be products of training and development.

The killer instinct (distinguished from the tactical sense) necessary to stay motivated during training and to stay focused and aggressively relaxed during the race is rarely learned. And if it is, it’s rarely learned during one’s 20s.

This is bad news for Cadel.

by R Mc on May 5, 2009 9:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I dunno

I remember Rogers making a hell of an attack in the ’07 Tour and getting pasted into a guardrail by another rider. Linus ended up winning the stage, but Rogers was really trying to make an early statement among the GC men.

by Softie on May 5, 2009 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually Rogers made the attack on stage 8 and was virtual leader on the road but crashed with David Arroyo

Linus won the stage before. Rasmussen won stage 8. Rogers was one of the strongest racers then but after that crash I think it affected him psychologically.

by Vlaanderen90 on May 5, 2009 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

As a GT-rider, getting dumped by Lef says less about your qualities as a rider

than it says about Lefeveres capacity to nurture GT-talent.

by Jens on May 5, 2009 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The same could have been said about Giancarlo Ferreti and Fassa Bortolo...

both of them just want to have bona-fide winners

Fassa Bortolo used to be home to Sivtsov, Vicenzo Nibali, Kirchen, Bruseghin, and Basso. And those are just the G.C. guys.
Some D.S.es would rather win, and win often, than spend years nurturing some guy to 3rd place in the Giro.

by Vlaanderen90 on May 5, 2009 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

I was thinking of Lef AND Ferretti’s famous dissing of Basso as I typed that post.

But I’ll continue to insist that you simply don’t “nurture” a killer instinct. It has to be there somewhere.

Sure, it can be squelched to some degree, and a rider has to learn how to handle it, but my main point is that there are some supremely gifted . . . cough . . . Hincapie . . . cough . . . riders who lack it.

A Grand Tour can compare to a sword-fight or a bull-fight: a lot of it comes down to conserving the most energy possible so as to deliver a lethal blow with maximal impact and effect with the least possible exposure and effort (thanks Ernest . . .). That was the Armstrong secret: those guys went into each Tour knowing, to the kilometer, where the damage would be done, and their whole game involved saving Armstrong’s efforts for those kilometers and none other.

For that to work, your triggerman has to be ready to pull the trigger when the time comes. (A fact which is just as true of a classics rider as it is of a gc guy . . .): what Lef learned about Rogers is that Rogers shoots himself first by not being able to handle the pressure.

by R Mc on May 5, 2009 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs