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Tour de France 2016 teams preview (Part 3)

Can Nairo Quintana bounce back at the Tour de France? (Katie Chan, Wikimedia Commons)
Roar Guru
1st July, 2016
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The third installment of our Tour de France teams preview features Australia’s WorldTour team (featuring a new name).

Movistar
The Spanish outfit are similar to their line-up from last year’s race, with a plethora of quality climbing domestiques racing in support of leaders Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana.

Their aim is to ultimately defeat the might of Sky and help Quintana win the Tour.

Second in both 2013 and 2015, Quintana comes into the Tour in the same way he did last season, with a lot of training at altitude back in Colombia, and by racing the Route de Sud in the middle of June. He is light-on in terms of race days, which showed last year, with him being the strongest rider in the back end of the race.

He will need to limit his losses on Stages 7, 8 and 9 in the Pyrenees, so he can use the fact that he is underdone to his advantage later in the race.

Quintana has been in great form this season to date, winning the Tour of Romandie and Volta a Catalunya, while taking third at the Tour of the Basque Country.

Valverde will be his wingman in the high mountains, a place where he did struggle at times in the Giro d’Italia, where he ended up finishing third overall. A key difference between the high mountains at the Giro compared to the Tour, is that the Giro’s highest point was over 2700 metres in altitude, compared to a breathable 2240 metres up the finishing climb of Stage 9 in Andorra.

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Support from domestiques will be invaluable, with the talented Izagirre brothers starting alongside new recruit this season Daniel Moreno, who formerly supported Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez at Katusha.

Movistar are always proactive in getting riders in the break, something which hurt the organisation of Sky last year at the back end of the Tour. Remember back to the penultimate stage of last year, where Winner Anacona was superb in supporting Quintana up Alpe d’Huez.

Full squad: Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde, Imanol Erviti, Gorka Izagirre, Winner Anacona, Daniel Moreno, Ion Izagirre, Nelson Oliveira and Jesus Herrada.

Objectives
Valverde could target stage wins, especially on Stage 7 and 8, which finish with a descent into the finish after steep mountain ranges preceding. The main goal though is the win for Nairo Quintana overall.

Orica-BikeExchange (Orica-GreenEDGE)
If you are not already aware, the team formerly known as Orica-GreenEDGE have had a name change, as Bike Exchange have come on as a title sponsor of the team, to the delight of owner Gerry Ryan.

GreenEDGE have not won a stage at the Tour for two years, although they have had great success at both the Giro and Vuelta a Espana during that time. This year they have a squad with the ability to win on the difficult finishes, and in the mountains, meaning plenty of chances to take stages.

Adam Yates will be the main outlet for stage wins in the high mountains, as he returns for his second attempt at the Tour. The pre-Tour team announcement stated, “Adam will be our guy for the mountains. There is no pressure to compete for the overall, that’s not our objective. He is only 23 and this is a vital part of Adam’s progression. He is versatile and can go head to head with the best of the climbers and this experience will be important for him.”

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Yates will ride for GC until the first mountain stages in the Pyrenees. If he does well, he will continue, however, if he is on a bad day in one of those stages, he will lose a mountain of time so he can jump in the breaks later in the race.

Yates will be supported in the mountains by Ruben Plaza, coming off a successful Giro d’Italia, where he rode in support of Esteban Chaves. After a stage win last year, he would like to have his own opportunities as well.

The biggest talking point of the team is the battle between leaders Michael Matthews and Simon Gerrans. As an Australian cycling fan, it is frustrating watching them almost ride against each other at times; for example, at Amstel Gold this year, and at the World Champs last year.

We will get an early indication of how the team harmony is on Stage 2, which could suit either rider.

Daryl Impey will be the main helper for either on the lumpy sprint finishes, while Michael Albasini could also throw his hand up on some of the steep finales, having shown his class in taking second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège early in the year.

Full squad: Michael Albasini, Luke Durbridge, Simon Gerrans, Matthew Hayman, Darryl Impey, Chris Juul-Jensen, Michael Matthews, Ruben Plaza and Adam Yates.

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Objectives
I will let team owner Gerry Ryan answer this one. From an interview with AFR, Gerry stated, “We’re aiming to win a stage or two and we’ve identified several we think we are a chance at. But I think we will be in a position to have a real crack at winning [the overall race] in 2017 and 2018.”

Cannondale
A team set on stage wins from the break.

Pierre Rolland will line-up in his first Tour in the Cannondale jersey, after spending the majority of his career at Europcar. Rolland has performed fairly under par so far this season, with his only top-ten performance in a stage race being at the Criterium du Dauphine.

Having finished inside the top ten at the Tour in the past, and fourth at the Giro in 2014, he could well go for a solid GC place, however, I think stage wins and the King of the Mountains jersey will be a good challenge for him. To ride GC, he would need more help in the mountains than just Lawson Craddock, who is the only other real climber on the team.

Rolland has won two stages at the Tour in the past, including the epic Alpe d’Huez stage in 2011.

In the tough finishes, both Tom Jelte Slaghter and Ramunas Navarduskas could go for the stage wins, however there would be better riders around them. A breakaway is their only hope in gaining stage wins in this race.

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Both riders have had difficult seasons, with no real results to speak of, expect for Navarduskas taking the Lithuanian road race on the weekend. He also rode the Giro with only a top ten on Stage 17 a noteworthy result.

Full squad: Matti Breschel, Lawson Craddock, Alex Howes, Kritijan Koren, Sebastian Langeveld, Ramunas Navarduskas, Pierre Rolland, Tom Jelte-Slaghter and Dylan Van Baarle.

Objectives
Polka-dot jersey for Rolland, and a stage win from anybody would be a great Tour for a team that rarely hits its mark.

Giant Alpecin
Warren Barguill headlines a strong squad looking for success across the board. With options on GC, in the time trials, punchy stages and the sprints, Giant will be a busy team throughout the race.

Young Frenchman Barguill will be one of the favourites for the young rider’s jersey, and has had a solid season to date, with a promising showing at the Tour de Suisse, where he finished third. This backs up after a strong classics season, where he finished inside the top ten at the Fleche Wallonne and Liege.

He goes into the race with only 25 race days so far this season, meaning he will be extremely fresh. After finishing in 14th place at the Tour last year, a top ten is not out of the question.

He will be supported in the mountains by former Laurens ten Dam.

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After a horror first quarter of the season, where he was hit by a car in a serious training accident, John Degenkolb will be eager to find form. His only two stage races, the Tour of California and the Criterium du Dauphine, showed a few signs of him getting back to full fitness, but don’t put too much expectation on his performances.

Tom Dumoulin will be looking to dominate the time trial on Stage 13, as he prepares for his next objective this season: the Olympic Games time trial in early August. Whether he will finish the Tour is a big question, however don’t expect him to be climbing as well as he did at last year’s Vuelta, where he finished in fifth place.

Simon Geschke won Stage 17 to Pra Loup last year, expect him to be on the attack on the medium mountains days looking to double his Tour stage win tally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl1OFxpv3S0

Full squad: Warren Barguill, Laurens Ten Dam, John Degenkolb, Simon Geschke, Roy Curvers, Tom Dumoulin, Georg Priedler, Ramon Sinkeldam and Albert Timmer.

Objectives
Young riders jersey for Barguill and a stage win from any rider.

Katusha
Katusha have multiple options for success in this race, with Alexander Kristoff in the sprints, and Joaquim Rodriguez, Illnur Zakarin and Jurgen Van den Broeck on the climbs.

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Eight stage wins so far this year for Kristoff, however none at WorldTour level, a theme that we saw last year. He is such a strong classicis rider, but does not have the top-end speed of Kittel or Griepel, or at least has not shown it in sprints against them.

He comes to the Tour with an experienced lead-out train that he has worked with well in the past, with both Marco Haller and Jacopo Guarnieri being instrumental in most of his wins this season.

Kristoff finished second, behind Edvald Boasson Hagen, at the Norweigan National Championships on the weekend.

Illnur Zakarin was in a great position inside the top five at the Giro, but a terrible crash on Stage 19 ruled him out of the race. The disappointment of crashing out of the Giro though has allowed him to be on the start line for the Tour. It remains to be seen where his form is at, having not raced since his crash.

Rodriguez comes to the Tour to prepare himself for the Vuelta, as he successfully did last year. He took two stages at the Tour last year, one at the Mur de Huy on Stage 3, and up the Plateau de Beile on Stage 12, however he then finished second at the Vuelta on GC.

His only credible performance this year was a fifth at the Tour of the Basque Country.

The experienced Van den Broeck has joined the team this season, and will look to get into breakaways in the high mountains looking for glory.

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Full squad: Joaquim Rodriguez, Alexander Kristoff, Michael Morkov, Marco Haller, Alberto Losada, Angel Vicioso, Jurgen Van den Broeck, Jacopo Guarnieri and Illnur Zakarin.

Objectives
Stage wins for any of their riders. Rodriguez could potentially go for the King of the Mountains jersey, which would be great preparation for the Vuelta in late August, and potentially the Olympics if he is selected.

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