Professional Cycling For the Fans - Garmin-Barracuda at the Tour de France

Before the start of the Giro I read somewhere that Garmin's plan was to have Christian support Ryder in the Giro and reverse the roles in the Tour. The strategy has worked pretty well so far.

Does it continue to make sense? Ryder seems to be the stronger rider and he finished 38 minutes ahead of Christian in the Giro. On the other hand, Christian took some pulls, particularly on the last climb, then backed off once he was spent. Perhaps he was even saving some of his energy for the Tour. Still, I think Ryder has a better chance of winning the Tour than Christian. Lets rephrase that (I doubt that either will win the Tour): I think Ryder has a better chance for a high GC than Christian. Thoughts?

Common sense dictates you put everyone behind Ryder and target a podium place. CVV, great cyclist that he is, prolly isn't a podium contender at the age of 36.

CVV time passed already IMO. He was at his top a few years ago when he was up there climbing with the top guys. After that he got an accident I believe then he never got in the same shape ever again, sad because he was one of my favs riders.

The canadian is at his peak, the team have somebody to go for the GC now, that's good :)

This year's TdF is going to be weird because some favs dont look too good and probably we will see new faces in the podium. Personally the canadian is my pick to win the race, but Giro #2 and #3 look solid for the TdF, specially #3.

I read the same thing. I think if Hesjedel does ride the TdF he will be the captain- unless his recovery is crap. CVV is professional enough to do what is right for the team- although he may have been looking at this year as the last chance. All the TT's point to Hesjedel, as well- not that he's a powerhouse but at least he is fairly decent.

OT- I read the start list for the Dauphine (steephill.tv) and Purito was on it?? Tough guy if it's true.

Edit: Rodriguez is not riding the Dauphine.

Another option on GC would be Tom Danielson. He's had top 10s in Grand Tours and is coming off a 3rd place in the shorter ATOC.

CVV time passed already IMO. He was at his top a few years ago when he was up there climbing with the top guys. After that he got an accident I believe then he never got in the same shape ever again, sad because he was one of my favs riders.

The canadian is at his peak, the team have somebody to go for the GC now, that's good :)

This year's TdF is going to be weird because some favs dont look too good and probably we will see new faces in the podium. Personally the canadian is my pick to win the race, but Giro #2 and #3 look solid for the TdF, specially #3.

Ryder has a chance but I wouldn't make him favorite. Don't count Cadel out for one even though he's done nothing this year. Wiggo is in outstanding form and will have some real good climbers supporting him (double top ten by the Colombians in the Giro already). The Schelcks as usual will be thereabouts. Looks like a wide open race all round and there's a good chance someone will come out of left field and surprise us.

I would be shocked if Ryder could be competitive at the Tour after doing the Giro.

I'm sure he will be supporting CVV, and that is in my opinion the correct choice.

Christian will not be the protected rider for the Tour de France after doing the Giro, even if he was holding back. Plus, he is just not the same rider he used to be, and does not have a chance at a top 10 in the TdF anymore.

Danielson will be the GC captain for Garmin going into the TdF as he has been training and peaking for this race for months now. Ryder will give his best, and will be a "co-captain" going in, but if he hasn't recovered good (which is expected to be honest, the giro/tour is a tough combo, take note of Contador last year), he will just support Danielson and the rest of the team as best as he can.

Vaughters also said they are leaving the decision of doing the Tour up to Ryder. If he feels like he isn't resting enough in the next couple of weeks, he may not even start, and instead prep for the Olympics or Vuelta.

The tour is over a month away he should be able to recover by then. He has Danielson and CVV, thats as good as support as anyone Wiggins has, however with the amount of Time Trialing this year its advantage Evans and Wiggins, and maybe even Tejay for BMC if Evans falters.

As far as Wiggins chances are concerned I think they are too divided being they are trying to get all the worthless flat stages for Cavendish, and not properly working for Wiggins keeping him fresh

Christian will not be the protected rider for the Tour de France after doing the Giro, even if he was holding back. Plus, he is just not the same rider he used to be, and does not have a chance at a top 10 in the TdF anymore.

Danielson will be the GC captain for Garmin going into the TdF as he has been training and peaking for this race for months now. Ryder will give his best, and will be a "co-captain" going in, but if he hasn't recovered good (which is expected to be honest, the giro/tour is a tough combo, take note of Contador last year), he will just support Danielson and the rest of the team as best as he can.

Vaughters also said they are leaving the decision of doing the Tour up to Ryder. If he feels like he isn't resting enough in the next couple of weeks, he may not even start, and instead prep for the Olympics or Vuelta.

Ah you are right. Danielson is their top guy.

Another big scheduling consideration for garmin is that they will want to have a fresh & strong GC rider and team ready for the Colorado Pro challange starting 8/20 and which overlapps squarely with the Vuelta. Having two well rested squads ready for August will be a challange after TDF. Contador will also be very hungry for a win once he comes off the bench and will likely crush at the Vuelta so targeting GC win at Vuelta might be a longshot for garmin and most everyyone else. Seems like the CO race would suit Danielson well but that might be tough recovery for him to be fresh if he rides all of the TDF hard. In addition to Garmins previousl mention GC candidates, after Romandy it is probably also good idea to add Andrew Talanski to the list of strong garmin GC riders, particularly for a shorter stage race like CO.

The tour is over a month away he should be able to recover by then. He has Danielson and CVV, thats as good as support as anyone Wiggins has, however with the amount of Time Trialing this year its advantage Evans and Wiggins, and maybe even Tejay for BMC if Evans falters.

As far as Wiggins chances are concerned I think they are too divided being they are trying to get all the worthless flat stages for Cavendish, and not properly working for Wiggins keeping him fresh

If a month is plenty of time then why do we regularly see the Giro winner struggle in the Tour?

Another big scheduling consideration for garmin is that they will want to have a fresh & strong GC rider and team ready for the Colorado Pro challange starting 8/20....
And the Colorado Pro Challenge would take precedence over the Tour de France why, exactly....? :D

Anyway.

Seems to me the real issue is that few cyclists can truly recover enough, or peak twice in one season, to win two Grand Tours nowadays. 30 years ago, the top riders were expected to race a bunch of classics and 2 Grand Tours; now a TdF GC rider has to compete with a bunch of top-notch Tour specialists.

Hesjedal was also a surprise in the Giro; no one had their eye on him until it was too late. Few riders will make that mistake again.

It's also far from a given that RH is a superstar. It's a great accomplishment, but it takes more than winning one Giro by the skin of his teeth -- and nearly losing it because De Gent nabbed 4+ minutes on the queen stage -- to prove that RH could win the Giro and Tour in the same season.

A better, though more conservative, plan will be to push Farrar in the sprints, Danielson in GC as his last big stage race effort, and encourage RH to go after a stage or two in the TdF. Set RH up for next year.

If a month is plenty of time then why do we regularly see the Giro winner struggle in the Tour?

Quite right....a month is not plenty of time, this is well known. Very hard to peak twice in a season without a little something extra in the blood...

I can't see Ryder or Vande Velde getting the nod over Tommy D. He can usually follow anybody on any climb, and he's one of the better time-trialing climbers.

Hesjedal was also a surprise in the Giro; no one had their eye on him until it was too late. Few riders will make that mistake again.



Ryder was not that much of a surprise. He was listed as one of the favourites before the start of the Giro, though perhaps a step less than Basso, Scarponi and Kreuziger.

And the Colorado Pro Challenge would take precedence over the Tour de France why, exactly....? :D

Yeah, that was quite an interesting theory. I would expect Garmin to send Americans Danielson, Talansky, CVV, and Dave Z to Colorado no matter how fresh they are and just hope for the best. The Tour is the Tour- they'll send the strongest team they can no matter what.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hesjedal-heads-to-tour-de-france-with-another-win-on-his-mind

So Ryder will do the TDF and he wants to win. It will be interesting to see if he can pull it off.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hesjedal-heads-to-tour-de-france-with-another-win-on-his-mind

So Ryder will do the TDF and he wants to win. It will be interesting to see if he can pull it off.

Well, that's what CN seems to want us to believe, but Ryder's actual words are far more unassuming.

I still think there's zero chance of him entering the race in a leadership role, personally. I would like to be wrong though.

And the Colorado Pro Challenge would take precedence over the Tour de France why, exactly....? :D



I didnt imply that Garmin would or should write-off all hopes for sucess the TDF. I dont see that they have a super strong challenger for winning TDF GC, but they likely can repeat a GC top ten and chase stage wins & sprints.

Back this year longer, hardrer and steeper, winning the CO race is going to be a big deal. Garmin team is based out of CO, several of the racers live in CO (or closeby - SLC) so they have a strong fanbase and support in the region. CO is closest big geographical race to main sponsors HQ just over state border in Kansas. I would think that winning CO is likely a bigger strategic team objective for Garmin than anything outside of TDF and Giro this year. If they burn all thier matches in TDF, doubtfull that they can get a result any better than happened in California (2nd place GC) but if they target CO and save the legs of one of thier top contenders I think they have a very good shot at winning CO and it would be a very impressive result for the American fans. I suppose they might still opt to start thier best GC riders in TDF but the first of them to crash-out or get sick then can at least have the consolation of still being fresh for CO.

Have now read that Ryder will be the leader of Garmin at the Tour. The same article mentioned that no one has won the Giro and Tour in the same year since Marco Pantani in 1998.

CVV is only about two years older than TD and has placed MUCH higher in the GC at TDF.
While CVV has crashed at key moments over the past two years, TD has a nearly career-long
history of getting sick at key moments. CVV & RH should be co-leaders and TD a "super" domsetique