The Tour de France has packed up for another year but, as always, its conclusion marks the beginning of cycling’s transfer tussles and contract clashes. With the rumour mill grinding, this regular column will try to sort the wheat from the chaff and work out who’ll be where next year. Continue reading
In advance of this Saturday’s start of the 2012 Vuelta a España, here’s the second part of VeloVoices’ overview of the 22 teams, their main protagonists and their eclectic mix of title sponsors! Only in cycling …
The final list of participants is subject to change in the last few days before the race, but these are accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing.
Sponsors: An Italian sheet steel manufacturer and a Ukrainian steel producer.
Overview: Il piccolo principe, Damiano Cunego, who finished sixth in the recent Giro d’Italia, will lead the team with a mixture of Eastern European and Italian support in the hopes that he will be able to improve on his best finish in this race – 16th in 2004. Cunego has typically used the race to find his form ahead of the World Championships but the Vuelta has recently been brought forward a week to encourage greater participation and completion. He’ll have the wonderfully named Colombian Winner Ancona for help on the steepest of climbs, but if Cunego falters, Lampre have enough Eastern European firepower to go for stage wins plus Morris Possoni can play his part in the sprints.
Sponsors: An Italian distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and an American bicycle manufacturer.
Overview: The team will be riding in support of Eros Capecchi – 21st in 2011 – who’s moving next season to Movistar with mountain-climbing goat Sylvester Szmyd. He too will have Colombian assistance in the mountains [must-have high mountain accessory – Ed] from Jose Sarmiento. Piste performer Elia Viviani will be looking to score points in the sprints and, with no news on a replacement sponsor, the rest of the lime-sherbet clad boys will be looking to animate the race, pad out their palmares and land a contract for next season.
Sponsors: The Belgian lottery and a Belgian window and door manufacturer.
Overview: Lotto-Belisol will be hoping Jurgen Van den Broeck, fourth-placed in the Tour, will be able to step onto the podium at the Vuelta. For the sprints – and breakaways – they’ve got Gianni Meersman who’ll be led out by Adam Hansen, sadly been shorn of his twitter best-buddy Greg Henderson. You just know that the Vuelta’s not going to be as amusing as the Tour. [Is that a challenge? – Ed].
Sponsor: A Spanish mobile telecoms operator.
Overview: Alejandro Valverde will be playing best supporting rider to leading man and defending champ, Juan Jose Cobo, who looked to be finding some vestige of form towards the end of the Tour. They too have Colombian assistance in the form of Route du Sud winner Nairo Quintano. Basque Jonathan Castroviejo will add extra firepower in the team time-trial, and in the run into the foothills, while Jose Joaquin Rojas will be looking to try on the sprints jersey for size. We’re not convinced that Cobo will be firing on all cylinders, and neither are team management, hence former Vuelta winner Valverde as plan B.
Sponsors: A Belgian pharmaceutical company and a Belgian laminate flooring manufacturer.
Overview: OPQS don’t appear to have a GC contender in their squad, so therefore we assume that they’re looking for stage wins with time-trial world champion Tony Martin and sprinter Gert Steegmans. It’ll be interesting to see how cyclo-cross god Zdenek Stybar fares in a three-week Tour with tons of high mountains. It looks as thought the team selection has been made on the basis of anyone who hasn’t yet ridden or completed a Grand Tour: not exactly a recipe for success, but maybe they feel they’ve already won enough this season.
Sponsors: A conglomerate that provide chemicals and explosives for the mining industry and a wealthy Australian businessman.
Overview: The Aussie team will continue to hunt stage wins and maybe even the points jersey with its sprint-heavy squad: Simon Clarke, Allan Davis, Julian Dean. Also expect the team to perform well in the opening time-trial with their three former-piste boys Wesley Sulzberger and brothers Cameron and Travis Meyer. Eritrean Daniel Teklehaymanot may look to get into the mountains jersey in the early days but we suspect their shirts will be seen prominently at the front of a charging peloton in the final kilometres on those six flat stages.
Sponsor: A Dutch bank.
Overview: Robert Gesink will lead a team loaded with talent hoping to redress the disasters that befell him and his teammates at the Tour. He’ll be supported by Laurens Ten Dam, Bauke Mollema, third-placed in Vuelta a Pais Vasco, and Juan Manuel Garate. Lars Boom, fresh from his Eneco tour win, and Matti Breschel will have an eye on those flat stages but will also be responsible for driving the peloton to the foothills. You sense that team management is losing patience with Gesink and there’s plenty of talent awaiting in the wings.
Sponsors: A US electronics retailer and a Japanese automotive company.
Overview: Potentially, another team looking for new contracts so expect riders like Tiago Machado, Markel Irizar and Maxime Monfort to toe the party line, whatever that is, while Linus Gerdemann goes on the attack. They’re unlikely to win the team competition, like they did in the Tours of France and Utah, but they should shine in the team time-trial. Their sprinter Daniele Bennati will be hoping for some victories and to figure in the race for the points jersey. We could be wrong but frankly the team selection doesn’t appear to have much rhyme or reason.
Sponsors: A Danish and a Russian bank.
Overview: The team will all be riding in support of their recently returned leader, Alberto Contador, who is surrounded by his faithful cohorts Benjamin Noval, Jesus Hernandez, Sergio Paulinho and Dani Navarro. It’s not the strongest of sides but the recent influx of Russian rubles will facilitate bolstering their effectiveness and, more importantly, their points for next season. It’s hard to know how Contador will perform after six months on the sidelines and we gained no clues from the recent Eneco Tour where he was content to remain safely in the bunch. However, at VeloVoices Towers, we wouldn’t bet against him taking his second Vuelta victory.
Sponsor: A satellite television broadcaster.
Overview: Sky will be fielding a stellar team in support of the runner-up from last year’s Vuelta and this year’s Tour, Chris Froome, a rider with a point to prove. Ever wanting to outdo other teams, Sky has not one, but two Colombians: Sergio Henao and Olympic silver medallist Rigoberto Uran to support Froome. Also in the squad are hardmen Ian Stannard and Juan Antonio Flecha and they come loaded with additional firepower in the mountains with Tasmanian Richie Porte. It’s going to be a fascinating contest.
Sponsors: A European organiser of luxury camping holidays and a Belgian farm supply company.
Overview: Vacansoleil’s Tour didn’t go according to plan in any way, shape or form. They’ll be looking to put matters right at the Vuelta, where once again they’ll be seeking exposure for their sponsors in the form of stage wins and breakaways. Invisible at the Tour, we’ll all be hoping that Johnny Hoogerland is back on form, while Thomas De Gendt will be looking for opportunities to repeat his Paris-Nice type escape to victory. Frankly, after their bad luck at the Tour, this Grand Tour can only get better.
Tomorrow we’ll preview the five key stages of this year’s race.
VeloVoices Vuelta a Espana previews
I’m following the progress of three stage racers in 2012: arguably the greatest of his generation, Alberto Contador – finally back racing after several months on the naughty step – Astana’s Alexandre Vinokourov – gilding his swansong season – and AG2R’s Nico Roche – looking forward to riding for Alberto next season at Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank. Two of my riders are in the points though sadly Alberto won’t be gathering any for a couple of years. Here’s a quick summary of what they’ve been up to in the past month or so.
Image courtesy of Saxo Bank
Results: Returned from suspension and currently racing at the Eneco Tour.
WorldTour ranking: Not ranked.
Alberto’s not been twiddling his thumbs while he’s been sitting on the sidelines. He’s continued with his heavy training schedule which has included reconnaissance rides of the major obstacles in the forthcoming Vuelta a Espana – one of his major goals – including stage 16’s queen stage in Asturias. The final climb, the Cuitu Negri [that looks seriously steep – Ed], had to be undertaken in a 4×4 as they were still relaying the road surface.
Ahead of the start of the Eneco Tour, Alberto gave a press conference where he firstly expressed his heartfelt gratitude to his supporters, family, friends and Saxo Bank, acknowledging their role in helping him cope with his ban and long battle against the doping charges.
Many thanks to all that have been there, supporting me to training each day!
— Alberto Contador (@albertocontador) August 5, 2012
He says these events have changed him and the way he sees the sport forever. He recognised that he’d been living inside a pressure cooker but felt that this experience can only make him mentally stronger in the future.
It is difficult to assess [the effect of the experience], but it is true that it in some ways takes away the perception that I had eight years ago. It also makes you grow up and see cycling as a part of your life, but not your whole life. I think it will help me in tough situations; it will be good in dealing with situations where there is a lot of pressure.
Those six months have been difficult and I’ll remember them forever. I did not want to be idle, I changed my training locations, there have been days of having more desire and others less, but I’m just as tired as another year at this time because I trained hard to be going well here.
I’m looking forward to competing because this is what I like to do. [My goals are] above all to enjoy the competition and pick up the pace after so many months, because training is never the same. I have desire to do well.
Alberto also spoke briefly of his support for out-of-competition doping controls and his desire to see changes made to modernise and eliminate shortcomings in the current system.
While the sprint-friendly Eneco Tour isn’t exactly suited to Alberto’s characteristics, he’s relishing the opportunity to be competitive once again ahead of the upcoming Vuelta a Espana where he’s planning on winning a second title. It’s four years since Contador has raced in his home Grand Tour and, having lost two of his titles – the 2010 Tour de France and 2011 Giro d’Italia – as part of his ban, will be keen to win on home soil.
Alberto’s also continued with his charitable works. His Contador Foundation will be one of the sponsors of the 2012 Kids Mountain Bike Race on 19th August in Las Navas del Marques, Avila. The foundation aims to use cycling as a way of promoting education and culture to Spanish youth.
Olympic champion! (image courtesy of Alex Vinokourov)
Results: 31st overall at Tour de France. Won gold medal at Olympic road race. 3rd at Critierium Castillon-la-Bataille.
WorldTour ranking: 159th, 4 points.
Alex decided not to take part in his national championships, instead conserving his energy for his final appearance at the Tour de France. While he would have been disappointed not to win a stage we saw Alex do what Alex does best: attack. He finished fourth on stage 16 from Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon after launching an early attack. The following day he attacked again, missed out on victory, but took the honours for the most aggressive rider. But finishing empty-handed on the Champs Élysées would have left Alex feeling decidedly frustrated.
His response was unexpected. While everyone was eagerly anticipating GB’s Mark Cavendish to lift gold in the Olympic road race, Alex kept himself in contention. He got into the expanded breakaway towards the end of the race, seized his chance on the run-in to the Mall and imperiously sprinted to victory.
It was a fairy-tale ending to bring down the curtain on his long and illustrious career. The Daily Mail, however, had never heard of him and dubbed him the “nobody from Kazakhstan”. [To be fair, the Daily Fail haven’t heard of a lot of things, including research, decency and a balanced view of the world – Ed.]
After the race, an elated Alex said he would retire after the Olympic time trial:
I just won an Olympic title. It was a dream, so I cannot be sad. This is the last important race of my career, but I might race some other races at the end of this season as an Olympic champion.
Despite saying he’d be taking a break, Alex has been doing the rounds of the post-Tour criterium circuit wearing an Astana jersey bearing the hallowed Olympic rings [er, I’m not sure that’s allowed – Ed]. In addition, I understand he’ll be taking part in the Clasica San Sebastian on 14th August, where he was runner-up in 2010, and he’s been promised the number one dossard. I assume by then Astana’s kit supplier will have come up with a suitably gilded jersey, nothing that contradicts either the IOC or UCI’s rules. Next season he’s likely to take up a post as one of Astana’s directeurs sportif.
In recognition of his imminent and final retirement, a number of Vino tributes have popped up on YouTube. It seems only fitting:
Image courtesy of AG2R La Mondiale
Results: 2nd in Irish national road race, 3rd in national time trial, 12th overall in Tour de France, 89th in Olympic road race.
WorldTour ranking: 75th, 36 points.
Nico Roche publicly stated he was aiming for a top ten finish at this year’s Tour de France. Things went his way in the first week where he managed to avoid all the spills and thrills to give one of his best performances in the first of two long time trials. As the Tour entered the Alps, Nico was looking to turn in good performances, particularly on the difficult stage to La Toussuire. Sadly, it wasn’t to be his day and he lost six minutes. After the race’s conclusion, having achieved his highest placing to date (12th), Roche admitted:
I’m a bit disappointed. In my mind I was thinking, “right, top ten is my thing this year.” I stayed in the top ten for a while but then I had that really bad day in La Toussuire where I lost six very precious minutes. I had a last chance to provide a great time trial on Saturday, and I did just a very average one. The guy behind me, Andreas Kloden, did an amazing ride and he overtook me, so I even lost one place. But at the same time there are no regrets. I did everything at 100 per cent and tried to attack. I progressed in my climbing as well, so I’m happy enough.
There were rumours circulating during the Tour as to Nico’s next team, rumours that were subsequently confirmed. He’ll join the Danish-registered Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank team next season and ride in support of triple Grand Tour winner Alberto Contador. Nico’s always ridden for French squads and has been with his current team AG2R La Mondiale since 2009.
I’ve had eight years in very similar teams, I think now it was time to move on and to see different things. There will be Alberto Contador and others, so it’s going to be a very high quality team and obviously I’m going to have to work harder again to make my spot there.
I’m putting away my major personal ambitions on the Tour and will focus on other races during the year where I should be able to have my chance and obviously if I have to ride for Contador during the Tour I will do it and hopefully help him win it.
Nico’s currently riding on the lucrative post-Tour criterium circuit but like his new future team leader, Alberto, will be lining up in Pamplona, Navarra on August 18th for the start of the Vuelta a Espana.
Previous update: June 21st, April 10th, February 22nd
Rider profiles: Alberto Contador, Alexandre Vinokourov, Nicolas Roche
Websites: Alberto Contador
Twitter: @albertocontador, @nicholasroche