25th Feb 2017 - Countdown

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Soldato
Joined
24 Apr 2013
Posts
3,067
Everyone else is counting down to the 25th December like idiots. The real 25th that MENLY MEN are counting down to is the 25th of February.

85 days from now is the proper beginning of the 2017 racing season.
OMLOOP :cool:

I read this nonsense - Here - yesterday. So to pass some time and make it the tail end of February that much quicker, I thought we could all pick our best/hardest classics team and then argue about who's is the best (aka, I will tell all of you why mines is better).

Your team has to contain 8 riders and they have to be racing next season. So that rules out Spartacus (which sucks!) for example.

Go!
 
Peter Sagan:
One man team. Up there at basically every classic in 2016. First man on everyone's team for 2017 obviously. Could basically ride 250km on the front, himself, and not be caught. Would make him shave his legs prior to racing though, I don't give a **** what colours are around his jersey his legs should be beautiful.

Tom Boonen:
Belgian bad ass. He IS Classics season. With Spartacus away, he is the main man with the experience and palmares to back it up. Eats cobbles for brunch. Which is a lie, because hard men don't eat "brunch" FFS.

Greg Van Avermaet:
Super strong, always in the mix. Finally released pressure by winning a classic last year. Will kill it in breaks with Sagan, inevitably finishing second as usual. Is Belgian.

Jasper Stuyven:
My young breakthrough rider. His family owns a chocolate shop, so he would keep everyone happy with free chocolate. Oh, also hard as nails. Solo breakaway 100km from finish? Doomed? Most would be but not this kid. He's made of special stuff. Is also Belgian.

Ian Stannard:
One of only two men in this world who can overpower the ponce levels of Rapha gear. He will be in Castelli next year so will be even harder. In 2014 he single handily presented 3 Etixx riders their arses on plates in a 4 man break to the line at Omloop.

Michal Kwiatkowski:
He is the most feminine rider on my team looks wise bu this guy is tough. Ex world champ of course, but he's a master on the cobbles and he is not affraid of laying down serious watts and giving it a go solo. Great tactician and for his mental Poggio attack and ludicrous descent last year, deserves a spot.

Tony Martin:
King of the watts. He can hang on the front and lead a group for 2 hours with a smile on his face. He enjoys suffering. On the team because he is arguably the best TT'er of recent times but is super expendable into a headwind and could act as a super strong lead out for my lone sprinter dude.

Alexander Kristoff:
I had to pick a sprinter of sorts for the team in case it does get to that sort of situation which we don't really want to see in the classics. But, if I had to pick one, it would be the grittiest of sprinters who I would argue is the strongest all rounder as well as having a killer sprint. Had a poor 2016 but he will come stronger for 2017 I bet you on this. He is Norwegian, cold/snow/rain is basically summer for him and he isn't affraid to get stuck in about even without a handed-on-a-plate perfect leadout.
 
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Matty Hayman beating none other than BOONEN in the velodrome at PR last year? A perfect example of why cycling is awesome. Dude had no right in the world to do such a thing, but it was downright awesome.

I would actually sub out Kwiat for Tiesj Benoot. Stuyven and Benoot young gun wonder duo. Wow.

I would take Dan Martin for the Ardennes over Valverde any day. Dan Martin is one of the most gutsy riders in the peloton. Valverde is a douche.
Alaphillipe is a hell of a shout too, him and Martin to have an intensified inner team battle in 2017 would be superb.
 
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Roady said:
Never liked Dan Martin, not sure why, not just because most of the time he's got a face on him like a village idiot (and wonky teeth). Also not just because he looks like a horse.
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You just don't like him because he betrayed your country :p
 
Bear said:
Straight from the horses mouth http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/thomas-i-pushed-my-weight-loss-too-far-ahead-of-the-tour-de-france/
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Sky need to find a solid place for him. I don't think he is a 2nd/3rd option GC rider. He is a man for the classics and week long SR where he could properly dominate. Sky have the resources/money/talent to focus on other things other than the tour which they have got more than properly sussed at this point.

If he wants to go down the route of GT GC rider I think he needs to move team....
 
Bear said:
He needs to move if he wants to be a GC rider for the tour or Vuelta for sure but Sky should be able to accommodate him being leader in the Giro, assuming Froome keeps going for the tour and Vuelta again. Admittedly the best riders will always ride for Froome but Sky has enough depth to put out a very strong team for the Giro.

Landa hasn't done anything for Sky yet to guarantee the leaders spot at least until he shows some form to be able to win something.
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I still think in terms of the Giro that Landa would be their pick for GC.
 
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