monosierra

Now that Wiggins has joined them, how do you rate their GT potenial? Plenty of top 10 contenders.

diphthong

the names that leap out to join wiggo are ebh, lovkvist and simon gerrans. to have a good shot at a podium
finish at a vuelta, giro or tdf, methinks team sky would need to have any 3 of the four present. absolutely
love ebh & lovkvist; like the splash they've made on the scene so far and their ceiling is sky-high. lovkvist
& ebh could use another season of gt's though for me to feel better about their chances to make a gt impact-
either as super-domestiques or for a high finish.

don't think they're quite up to radio shack's level yet and would rate them just behind liquigas. probably on a par
with saxo bank, columbia & garmin. will be very interesting to see how katusha handles having joaquin
rodriquez (from caisse) and kirchen (from columbia) to pair with vladimir karpets (perennial top 15 tdf
finisher). if everything gels right for katusha, they should have something to say about the podium
compositions in the gt's

exhumed

Love their team bike:

HigherGround

Much better looking than the Radio Shack travesties.

DMF 

Yumm! /me wants 'un.

adacas

it almost looks like a billboard for the new Tron movie! I seriously dig the bike

acorn_user

I'll admit to being surprised you think Radioshack and Liquigas are ahead of Saxo Bank in terms of GC riders. And Astana will probably show up with Contador. I'd be kind of surprised to see the shack win a GT next year.

diphthong

in terms of the op's premise of gt potential and top ten contenders-absolutely. saxo-bank, with jurgen van goolen's xfer out to omega pharma-lotto
looks to have only andy schleck as a top ten gt contender-okay, frank too. andy shreds but is unlikely to ride two gt's, much less 3. i just don't
see gt riders on saxo-bank's roster. the sorensen boys are a long drop-off. andy and frank seem to be a package deal. barring injury, one is
not likely to ride a gt without the other.

liquigas has kreuziger, nibali and pellizotti. basso, imo, is pretty much done as a gt podium threat. like frank schleck, basso's a top 10-20 guy now.
nibali & kreuziger are comers and pellizotti is one of the more aggressive riders in the peleton. i like their chances to be on a couple of gt podiums
in the next few years. whether or not liquigas can get place over contador or andy at the tdf is another question.

the gt riders on radioshack-save brajkovic-are older than dirt. however, that dirt rode pretty well in the giro & tdf last year. any team with the
collective experience and riding wisdom of zubeldia, armstrong, leipheimer, kloden and bruyneel must be reckoned with. their likelihood of winning
a gt may or may not have passed but their ability to affect the course of any 3-week race they enter hasn't. armstrong, levi & kloden all
proved last year they could finish in the top ten of a gt and all 3 will likely do so again this year. their best shot to win a gt this year?-the vuelta.
would like to see the reemergence of brajkovic as a gt contender though. might be unlikely till the old-timers finally retire. leipheimer usually
does well at the vuelta and there's less of a competitive gt field there vs the giro & tdf. given his ability to climb, tt and peak early & late in the
season, i'd say leipheimer still has a decent shot at the vuelta podium.

thomas p

Dont agree with the Basso comment,just came off a long lay off.I think he will be much better in 2010 much better.The rest of what you say is spot on

diphthong

i'd love to see basso return to his 2004 tour de france form. his 2006 giro form is...shall we say...one for the record
books and not attainable again. i see his role on liquigas as similar to armstrong's on astana this past tdf. wants to be
there. can still make a difference. another rider(s) (pellizotti, kreuziger, nibali) is slightly stronger than basso is. basso
starts well but by the third week (or earlier) is relegated (whether due to conditioning, physical limitations or
director sportif orders) to riding as a super domestique. he'll be either the last man to drop off during the steep
climbs or the first to go on the long breakaway. basso's time trialing & climbing abilities will keep him within a respectable
distance. not too close or too far from the podium-within 10-15 minutes of the eventual winner i'd say. for basso
to podium at a gt, everything would have to break right for him and break wrong for the other gt contenders on his
team (crash, illness, injury, non-negative drug test, rasmussen-style dq...) and some others on rival teams. too many
uncertainties=top ten-twenty finish. if all of the liquigas big boys absolutely buried themselves without question or any ambition
of their own for basso's sake in any gt, then maybe. i'm not holding my breath.

i wonder with basso, if his style would work for some of the punchier classics like l-b-l, flanders, san sebastian,
amstel and lombardia instead of the gt's? would be interested to see him at least attempt to win one or more of them.
basso still has enuff, imo, to win pretty much any of the one week tours. without any gt ambitions other than riding as a
supporting rider, he could go all out in the tour of california, paris-nice, switzerland, germany, romandie and win one or two.