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Fantasy Cycling

Off season.

by Dr Winston
Thu, Oct 31, 2019 12:00
6

Thought i’d open an off season thread for anybody wanting general cycling chat and news...or anything else for that matter.

Great to see Cavendish going toe to toe with Viviani in London and coming out on top....just needs to sort out doing it at the end of a 150km stage now and he may be back on course for a comeback. Either way it was great to see the fans 100% behind him. 

Also.

Sam Bennett looks like he could be on the move finally. Quick step in the frame for him this morning...that would be a great move and the right team for him.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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6 comments

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Dr Winston | 4 years ago
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Just wanted to wish the mods and fellow Roadcc fantasy players a Merry Christmas and a Happy new year.

Looking forward to the new season...a lot. 

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Sniffer | 5 years ago
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Tanfield finding a home after Katusha is a positive.  Whether AG2R is a perfect fit or not at least he has a chance to show himself in 2020.

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MinardiM189 | 5 years ago
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Riders out of contract list from PCS https://www.procyclingstats.com/teams/no-team-next-year

Some surprising names on there.

Sam Bennett still not signed because of contract dispute with Bora.

Daryl Impey, I'm surprised that he hasn't been signed up yet. He would be a great fit for Dimension Data as he will almost certainly pick up quite a few WT points.

Rohan Dennis, rumoured to be joining Sky. I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole, he was in a strop all season after losing his Australia ITT title to Durbridge, blaming the loss on his equipment. If you look at his times over the last 4 years there isn't much difference at all - 51:23, 51:14, 50:59, 51:13 most other riders had similar times to previous years in 2019 too, except Durbridge who made a huge improvement to 51:01, nearly 1 minute better than previous years. Dennis wouldn't have won on his old BMC, Durbridge was simply better on the day.

Peter Vakoc, again I'm surprised he hasn't been signed yet. He looked as though he was back to his old self this season.

Enrico Battaglin. Surely one of the Italian teams will pick him up, he is still capable of producing top results his main problem at Katusha was that he was used to protect Zakarin.

Eduard Prades. Had a really good 2018 but wasn't given a chanceat Movistar.

Riding for Katusha in 2019 looks as though it could be a career ending move for quite a few riders.

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Sniffer replied to MinardiM189 | 5 years ago
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MinardiM189 wrote:

Riders out of contract list from PCS https://www.procyclingstats.com/teams/no-team-next-year

Some surprising names on there.

Sam Bennett still not signed because of contract dispute with Bora.

Daryl Impey, I'm surprised that he hasn't been signed up yet. He would be a great fit for Dimension Data as he will almost certainly pick up quite a few WT points.

Rohan Dennis, rumoured to be joining Sky. I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole, he was in a strop all season after losing his Australia ITT title to Durbridge, blaming the loss on his equipment. If you look at his times over the last 4 years there isn't much difference at all - 51:23, 51:14, 50:59, 51:13 most other riders had similar times to previous years in 2019 too, except Durbridge who made a huge improvement to 51:01, nearly 1 minute better than previous years. Dennis wouldn't have won on his old BMC, Durbridge was simply better on the day.

Peter Vakoc, again I'm surprised he hasn't been signed yet. He looked as though he was back to his old self this season.

Enrico Battaglin. Surely one of the Italian teams will pick him up, he is still capable of producing top results his main problem at Katusha was that he was used to protect Zakarin.

Eduard Prades. Had a really good 2018 but wasn't given a chanceat Movistar.

Riding for Katusha in 2019 looks as though it could be a career ending move for quite a few riders.

An excellent link, thanks.

Bennett and Archbold to DQS still looks like it will happen.

Politt must be OK with his Classics potiential.  Talking with ICA or somebody else?

I think Dennis will be a success at INEOS.  He does seem to be a 'difficult' character, but then so was Wiggins at times.  If he really needs things to be just so to perform, is there a better team than INEOS to have things just so?  They just need to be very clear with each other at the beginning about what the schedule and epectations of each other next year are.   I see Dennis putting away his GT GC aspirations for a bit and focussing on Olympic TT success.  If that means winning a few TT stages for INEOS and doing a bit of riding on the fron for thers while he focuses on the Olympics it should work.

Katusha had such a bad year in 2019, it is hard to make a compelling case for any of the riders except Politt, especially as Zakarin has found a home.  No results and no benefit of incumbency makes it a tough gig.

The sport is tough, with most contracts at best 2 years long there is not much to fall back on when times are difficult

 

Avatar
Dr Winston | 5 years ago
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Cavendish was an odd one. Absolutely showed he still has the speed on the track...maybe his problem is that his sprint can be ridden out if him at the end of a stage.

I thought California was poor last year. The deciding stages were pretty good but some of it was just endless wide open miles of dreary peleton riding...or maybe I just picked the wrong bits to watch. The climbing was good.

The grand tours are shaping up nicely and looking like each one will be very distinct. I like that. The Vuelta is rumoured to be having a tough uphill TT  in it isn’t it?...that would be good....

Trentin is another odd one. Very consistent this year...and I agree...GVA  is the headline act and that won’t change.

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MinardiM189 | 5 years ago
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It sounds like Bora are being complete *$!%s with Sam Bennett, insisting he is still under contract with them, incredible that any dispute hasn't been sorted out by this stage of the year.

I'm not at all convinced that Cavendish will do much, when he did manage to finish in the bunch last season it looked as though he had lost determination to battle for position, I think Greipel had the same problem, no longer prepared to take the risks necessary to compete in a bunch sprint.

No more Tour of California, to be honest I won't miss it, although last year's race was quite entertaining. No more Tour of Turkey, I definitely won't miss that.

Interesting to see who does the Giro, lots of ITT miles will put some riders off and attract others, particulalry as TdF is all mountains. I can't see Bernal doing the Giro, he is Ineos's best chance at the TdF, Thomas and Carapaz for me.

How will Trentin gets along with CCC. Personally I think it was a bad move, GVA only ever rides for himself and he will expect Trentin to play 2nd fiddle. Gilbert disappeared when he was at BMC with GVA, I suspect Trentin will do the same at CCC.

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