Which rider best excites you for 2014?

BERTIE

Nacer Bouhanni, Arnaud Demare, Kenny Elissonde, Thibaut Pinot & Geoffrey Soupe.

Quintana, Betancourt

Interesting names MC, I can see a pattern there.

With Pinot, I think for those of us who took notice of his performance in the 2012 Tour edition, especially when he won the mountainous although relatively short stage 8 into Porrentruy, we expected more to come soon; although he hasn't really validated that potential with any real measure, since. It would be very exciting to see him perform well, and with added experience and less public expectation, I'd buy a ticket to see him next year.

It is worth noting though, and I confirm some comments on this forum (HB?) about his GT credentials being suspect -- that he needs to do something -- with either characteristic, style, or technique -- to become a legitimate GT GC contender.

Cheers,
SP

I like this kind of discussion.

I'm a big Carlos Betancur AG2R fan after his performances in Pais Vasco and the latter 2 of the Ardennes Classics this year. And of course his Giro battle for white with Rafal Majka. It's unlikely that he'll make a GC threat in a Grand Tour in the near future given how poor his is on the flatter time trials but if he's a little smarter when he times his attacks he can definitely win stages in them and maybe win one of the Ardennes races next year.

Another obvious (?) one that I'm really looking forward to seeing next year is Zdenek Stybar at OPQS. He was desperately unlucky in Roubaix this year when getting stopped by a fan with a camera when in the final selection with Cancellara and Vanmarcke about 15km from the finish. I'd like to see him do well in one of the cobbled classics early next year.

Next year might be a little early to expect much from Bob Jungels at Trek but he's someone that caught my eye this year and I'll be following him closely. Only 21 now so not expecting too much, but he can climb a bit and looks pretty good at the ITTs. Could be a GT winner some day. Even though I have good time for Andy I think Jungels might be the next Luxembourger GT winner, Andy is gone at the game imo.

Rohan Dennis at Garmin is a fairly intriguing Aussie prospect too. I'd be interested to hear your opinion SP.

Another guy I'll be following with interest is Luka Mezgec at Argos. It's hard to see where he'll get his opportunities in that team as a sprinter with him being around the same age as both Degenkolb and Kittel and with all 3 of them there next year.

Less obvious guys who've impressed me somewhat this year are Tanel Kangert and Fabio Aru at Astana and Moreno Moser at Cannondale. Not sure if either of the Astana guys will really get a big shot outside the domestique role but I'd like to see them given a proper chance in some of the early stage races. Moser you could argue only won Strade Bianchi because everyone was marking Sagan, but he got in the break and finished 3rd on the double ascent of Alpe d'Huez so he can climb some too. At 22 there could be a decent race in him next year but I'm not really sure what sort of parcours he'll excel at yet.

That'll do me for now!

What a refreshingly nice thread .

Hi guys &
hey TJ;

Interesting thoughts mate, thanks for sharing them with the forum. I think it's wise to take some time during the post-season to study and research a lot of these riders being mentioned, and see how they might find opportunities for themselves next year in terms of what circumstances are required to achieve winning results, fitness levels, and injury concerns. Personally, I know I got really excited by some young riders during the season, when clearly a more thorough and less emotional study of their chances in races might have proved more profitable, or more accurately, less unnecessary losing of stakes.

I'll be interested to see each of those riders you've listed, since you've put them into context, and that's what's needed to set a narrative of inquiry, I think.

Rohan Dennis, for instance, is yet another promising rider which Australia's cycling program seems to develop from an endless supply of talent. It really is quite amazing how we are constantly bringing such great talent onto the world stage. I sometimes look at a team with a Japanese rider, and am astounded that a team would choose a Japanese rider to have on their team when they can most probably get an Australian. Please don't take this as being racist, it's not and I'm not, it's just a matter of proven results. The way Kenyans develop good long-distance runners -- there's something in the water?

Anyway, in Rohan's case I think the big disadvantage for him was joining Garmin Sharp this year. Yes, they are a developmental team -- as has been noted on this forum before -- but Rohan might have waited an extra year to gain a contract with Orica-Greenedge since there is some movement there for next year, which I believe would have served him much better in the long term. Rohan is yet another promising young Australian talent, yes, but he is another such rider from an endurance track background, and that's very important. It's important because that seems to be the strongest pathway -- now and in the past -- for developing elite riders in Australia. I'll explain...

It's not surprising to see Roahn perform so well in the ITT since he has that endurance track background. I think, him finishing just outside the Top 10 in the Worlds is very exciting and clearly he enjoys this discipline. However, at the Worlds he had the brilliant instruction of Australian men's road coach, former top WT rider and national selector, Bradley McGee. So, if Australia is developing these riders from the track, I think there should be a clearer pathway for them to stay in an Australian outfit, since it's the Australian coaches which know best how to develop riders once in the pro ranks. The Yanks have a completely different culture of cycling, and whilst Garmin have developmental initiatives, they don't understand the Australian mentality in tapping into the promise, capabilities, or characteristics of an Australian youngster.

I mean, let's look at the Tour of Alberta and we discover Rohan's best GC result for the year. A plus. It's clear he has the talent to develop as not just an ITT rider but also a GC rider, but it's the bloody Tour of Alberta. What's up with that!? The President of the team was born in Canada, so of course they are going to have a presence in Canada, but there are only two races in Canada worthy of WT team participation, and they're both classics. And naturally I understand the argument that a second or third-tier race can boost a young rider's confidence and so forth, but I would question if a young rider would learn as much as when riding in a top-tier race? I mean, from my perspective, Rohan has learnt what was there to learn in such races when he was riding for the Team Jayco - AIS (CT) continental team. Riding four tours in North America is just not, in my opinion, the best way to develop a young Australian rider from an endurance track background. And I'm not saying I know what's best, I don't coach cyclists and never have. However, former Australian cyclists are presently some of the best coaches going around, and it is they whom would know what's best for Rohan, not some Yank. I am therefore not confident that we will discover -- anytime soon -- the exciting promise some of us may have already witnessed in his ITT performance in Florence, in WT races next year. But I suspect we'll have fun and enjoyment in watching to find out.

Cheers,
SP

Maybe more of an obvious pick but I was really impressed with Warren Barguil in the Vuleta. Especially outfoxing Uran on Stage 16 after a solo breakaway

I was going to leave this until next years teams were clear. I'm not sure Saxo will even make the start next year, so there might be a fire sale of decent riders with only a few spots to fill.

Enough of that though and I'm looking predominately at young talent for next year. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Yates twins can do at OGE, although they have made some remarks that they didn't want to ride for SKY because "We didn't want to ride on the front of the peloton". Not sure if Weening and Goss are going to be running bottles for them. There's massive potential there and at least one of them could become one of the worlds best in time. I'm not sure if they are looking for development and the pro tour and having to work for your team leaders might have come to soon for them. A bit of the slap around the head and they should be fine for the coming season.

Another talented youngster coming into the pro ranks is Lawson Craddock who is joining Argos? from Bontrager. I'm not sure a sprinters team is ideal for him but that didn't stop Barguil from making his name this year. It finally seems like Argos? have decided to pick up young GT riders to go with the sprinting success. It's a big jump from US conti to pro tour and it'll be interesting to see how he adapts to life in the pro peleton.

I'll bracket the next two together as I'm not sure if there is genuine talent or the signings are a sop to family members on their respective teams. Dayer Quintana and Sebastien Henao will be riding for Movistar and SKY respectively, not too much information about them before they make their debuts but that was the same for Nairo and Sergio. Will leave this open as a possibility.

Caleb Ewan has also signed for OGE on some sort of deal that he'll ride occasional races in 2014 and go full time in 2015. If the hype about this lad is true we may well be looking at the new Cavendish. I'd put a marker on that as every U23 sprinter that dominates is touted as the new Cavendish. Time will tell, but he looks extremely promising.



Apart from the youngsters, I want to see what Poels and Uran can do at OPQS, will they ride the tour? If you add Kwiatowski into the mix, how many climbers will they be able to fit into a team structured around Cav? It'll be interesting to see and I really hope Poels can get over the last few years and turn into the European J-Rod. The brief glimpses we've seen of him before that horrific injury suggests that it's possible.

Nieve and Deignan at SKY are also riders that interest me. We know Nieve can climb and on his day match the top riders in the high mountains, what will the coaching and targeted training at SKY turn him into? Will he be a domestique working for Porte, Froome and Henao or will he be leading the team at the Vuelta? Deignan is in a similar situation as in we've never seen the best of him as his opportunities at the top have been limited, will he be able to ride with the best in the mountains? I think he can possibly become a super domestique in the same style as Szmyd or Niemiec.

Igor Anton also hasn't found a deal for next season at the time I'm writing this. As with all former Euskatel riders if they can find a team that is serious and bring out the natural talents they may be a force to be reckoned with. Unless there's a deal for Anton that has been under wraps I'm not really sure where I can see him ending up this late. Maybe Europcar? Would that upset Rolland and Voeckler?

No doubt I've forgotten someone.

Rasmussen

Anton at Movistar will be my outsider of the year. He'll have signed for pennies and will be used as a domestique for most races but he'll be eager to prove himself and unless his 2010 form was due to Contador like substances(likely) he could be all over the Vuelta.

What happens at Movistar will be very interesting. That is a seriously strong team behind Valverde and Quintana.
Who'll play the Costa role?
I'm guessing that it'll be Ion Izagirre and that Anton will just be a dom but who knows?

This was a good thread, it should be moved to the new forum.