Skip to main content

2015 SEASON - GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Jakob Fuglsang 
Astana Pro Team
No wins from him since 2012 (apart from a TTT at the 2013 Vuelta)

Mark Cavendish
Etixx-Quick Step
All in perspective given his status as one of the fastest sprinters in history. Lots of wins but only one in the World Tour at the Tour. Outpaced by several sprinters when it mattered, this has been his worst season to date, although other riders would give their right hand to have his 2015 results. Contract not renewed

Michal Kwiatkowski
Etixx-Quick Step
Often in the thick of it, he won the Amstel Gold Race but nowhere near his previous season. The rainbow jersey's curse strikes again

Rigoberto Uran
Etixx-Quick Step
The Colombian was outperformed in the Grand Tours and was never a real threat all year. His form was coming on just before the Worlds, too late

Heinrich Haussler
IAM Cycling
Winning the National championship was a good start but since then Heinrich has all but disappeared from the top tier

Roberto Ferrari
Lampre Merida
Nothing since 2012, the step up hasn't happened

Filippo Pozzato
Lampre Merida
His lack of wins is in sharp contrast with his enormous support he gets from the fans. He might not find a World Tour contract for 2016

Nairo Quintana
Movistar
Tirreno Adriatico, then 2nd at the Tour with a couple of impressive stages, but all too late. However, he looked all year as though his top end was lacking in power when it counted

Ryder Hesjedal
Cannondale-Garmin
For a Grand Tour winner, Ryder has not followed on his 2012 form. Although aggressive on some stages, he hasn't managed a win since Vuelta 2014

Dan Martin
Cannondale-Garmin
A year to forget for the Irish champion. His talent was lost in the Cannondale merger. No results in 2015

Moreno Moser
Cannondale-Garmin
The Italian rider clearly has talent and he's developing into a strong time triallist. He needs focus and attention and a stricter team in terms of management/coaching

Andrew Talansky
Cannondale-Garmin
Like many from that team, he disappeared after promising so much in 2014

Marcel Kittel
Giant-Alpecin
Illness perhaps, problems in the head more probable. He struggled to finish races, let alone winning them. Not the Kittel who outsprinted Cav in Paris. A change of team will hopefully give him a clean slate

Ben Swift
Team Sky
As a designated sprinter in one of the top teams, Swift has not shown the potential his management seem to believe in

Julian Arredondo
Trek Factory Racing
He was meant to be the next Colombian sensation but often fails to make a mark for himself

Bauke Mollema
Trek Factory Racing
Perhaps his ambitions for Grand Tour podium are too much. He would be a great lieutenant for a proper GT contender









OUTSIDE WORLD TOUR:

Bardiani team
After being protagonists in most races last year with growing talent, this year they has been very subdued grabbing only one stage at the Giro but also having a spat with MPCC over the participation of a rider with high cortisol levels prior to the Giro

Theo Bos, Tyler Farrar, Matthew Goss, failed to convert any effort in results all from an otherwise impeccable MTN-Qhubeka


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REACH OUT, TALK TO PEOPLE

I wanted to share what we did at the weekend in the hope to inspire other people to try what my partner and I ended up doing. A few days ago we were walking the dogs late in the afternoon and on the way back, in this big field, we noticed an elderly woman walking slowly leaning on her stick. We asked if she was ok as she seemed tentative and a little confused. The very first thing she said, almost without realising that's what she was going to say was: "You are the first people I've spoken to all day". Neither of us expected that so we stayed with her, chatting away for about 40 minutes. We ended up walking her back to her house, exchange numbers and invite her for a Sunday roast. She was going to be 89 a few days later and it seemed a nice thing to do. She was really touched as she didn't have it in her to cook a roast for herself (and she admitted she hated cooking).
Post a Comment
Read more

A (VERY) SHORT GUIDE TO WOMEN'S CYCLING

Women cycling has grown in popularity exponentially in the last few years. There is still a long long way to go to reach equality in terms of wages, recognition and exposure in comparison to the men's: wages are way too low, with some riders getting pittance, others paying for equipment, only the very top getting a reasonable (but risible in comparison to the men's) pay packet; most organisers set a huge disparity in terms of podium money between men and women; all the races are kept shorter than the men's for absolutely no reason; even ASO (Tour de France) supremo Prudhomme has stated that a Women Tour is "impossible" to organise; misogyny is still rife and too few men's top teams sponsor a women's team counterpart. The more we follow and the more we support, especially in social media and by tuning in when the rare race is televised, the quicker we can close the gap. My favourite races last year were La Course by Le Tour de France and the World Ch
Post a Comment
Read more

AN OLYMPIC EFFORT

When the Olympic cycling road race and TT race routes were announced I was extremely excited. I live bang in the middle of both. One of the most important races in cycling was going to be ridden near my house. Television screens would be filled with images of roads I'm familiar with, the pros will be riding my commute to work AND some of my cycling club runs' routes (Kingston Wheelers).
4 comments
Read more