2014 Team Preview – BMC Racing Team

The American based, and Swiss financed squad, are often considered to be cycling’s biggest budget super team, although precise figures are hard to find. The reality is that they are likely to have a comparable budget to that of Team Sky, and possibly one or two other teams. Both BMC and Sky have been able to field star studded teams in recent seasons; Sky have frequently deployed their talent as a focused unit in the service of the designated leader, which has reaped dividends for them. However BMC’s approach has tended to be more dysfunctional, with the whole being less than the sum of its parts. Maybe they’ve had too many similar riders, powerful all-rounders and engines, without enough specialists to bring in the results. Perhaps they were guilty of having too many options and not enough focus. There have been a number of good results and some great moments in the last three seasons. Cadel Evans won the Tour (2011), Philippe Gilbert won the road World Championship (2012), Tejay van Garderen won the White Jersey at the Tour de France (2012) and Taylor Phinney wore the Maglia Rosa (2012). However the team hasn’t lived up to its potential and the result of that has been a change in managerial direction for the new season. Allan Peiper takes over with the promise of clearly defined targets for each rider, more manageable race loads for the star riders, and choosing a single team leader for the Tour de France.

That team leader will be van Garderen, as the 25 year old American seeks to properly elevate his racing to a World Tour level. Last season was something of a disappointment for van Garderen, however he did manage to fulfil some of his ambitions when winning the Amgen Tour of California and the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado. It was a different story on European soil, where he started well by finishing 4th overall in Paris-Nice but it went downhill from there. The worst came at the Tour de France where van Garderen suffered from the heat early on; losing his strength and a tonne of time, there was no way back. He did recover some form in the final week, and came agonizingly close to a win on the double Alpe d’Huez stage, but finishing 45th overall will have hurt. van Garderen is a powerful climber rather than an explosive one, and he puts that power to good use as a time trialist. Cadel Evans won’t be returning to the Tour in 2014, instead he will be mounting an assault on the Giro, trying to outperform his surprising 3rd place finish from last season. Evans originally went to the Giro as a desperate gamble to build fitness for the Tour, but managed to find himself in the thick of things before fading in the second half of the race. So this year the Giro is actually the target, with his fitness and racing programs arranged accordingly. The team brings back some veteran support riders for those GC ambitions, with Steve Morabito, Amael Moinard, Stephen Cummings all capable climbers. While Dominik Nerz, Larry Warbasse and Yannick Eijssen are younger riders who have flashed their climbing talent, Nerz in particular looks ready to take the next step in 2014. However it was clear that BMC needed an influx of climbing talent, and the signing of Peter Velits, John Darwin Atapuma, Peter Stetina and Ben Hermans does just that. Velits is a solid stage race rider, and strong all-rounder, who has a 3rd place finish in the 2010 Vuelta to his credit. Atapuma has really impressed over the last two seasons with the Colombia team, his performance on the steep sections during the Tour de Pologne really stood out. He is the most gifted pure climber on the roster, and is already slated to ride the Tour in support of van Garderen. Stetina has shown up well on some mountain stages for the Garmin-Sharp team, and looked like he could do more if given the chance, and Hermans is more of a punchy rider.

Can they make the most of their stage winners?

Despite enduring a difficult year in the Rainbow Jersey, Philippe Gilbert is one of the most successful riders of the current decade. After sweeping the Ardennes Classics in 2011 and racking up the wins, he had a quieter 2012 before springing to life in the Vuelta and finishing the season as the World Champion. Gilbert will be shaking up his race schedule for 2014, trying to stay fresher and regain the explosive burst that made him so strong on the short, steep slopes of the Ardennes in 2011. BMC do have strong support riders who can help Gilbert, none more so than Marcus Burghardt who has a great engine. Greg Van Avermaet is a fine opportunistic stage winner, he has decent sprint speed, climbs well and is well suited to many of same the races Gilbert does well in. He had an excellent campaign on the cobbles in 2013, with 3rd in Gent-Wevelgem, 7th in Ronde van Vlaanderen and 4th in Paris-Roubaix. With Gilbert skipping the cobbles altogether this season, Van Avermaet can expect a large role in those races. Taylor Phinney is a powerhouse time trial specialist, and a developing classics rider. He has a decent turn of speed at the finish, but his fine stage win in Poland was all about the power to hold off the chasing pack. Thor Hushovd may have slowed a little but he remains the team’s best sprinter for now, though he is more of a strongman sprinter and all-round rider. Hushovd, another former World Champion, and definitely still a fan favourite, will have an eye on the Cobbled Classics alongside sprint success. Daniel Oss is a similar type of rider to Hushovd, though without ever reaching the same heights. More intriguing though is the signing of 20 year old Rick Zabel, son of Erik, and a promising young sprinter in his own right, one for the future. Alessandro Ballan has fought his way back from a horrible injury, but he now has to fight his way through the Mantova affair, if he is to contribute to the BMC season.

2014 outlook

BMC have invested heavily in the last few seasons and created a strong squad, now they want to see more prestigious results. Gilbert, Hushovd, Van Avermaet and Phinney look to be the most likely to deliver in 2014. Getting van Garderen back into the top 10 in the Tour de France, combined with success in the one-week stage races of the World Tour, are certainly attainable goals.

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2013 Vuelta a Espana: Notes From Stage Sixteen

Warren Barguil does it again, and this time it’s better

It was a fast and frenetic stage, lots of riders tried to get into the break, we had splits in the peloton and groups all over the road. However by the time the race was reaching the bottom of the final climb things had settled down. There was a lead group of of a little under 20 riders, a small chase group and a Euskaltel-Euskadi led peloton about 3:00 behind. A number of the breakaway riders were perfectly happy to sit in the group without working, so several riders decided that attacking was the smart move. After all there is no point dragging others to the finish, just so they can use their extra energy to win. Juan Manuel Garate (Belkin), Warren Barguil (Argos-Shimano) and Mikael Cherel (AG3R) went clear, but the move was ultimately closed down after work by Rigoberto Uran (Sky Procycling) and Dominik Nerz (BMC). On stage thirteen Barguil had been in a small group that was closed down by the rest of the break, as soon as the group was caught he jumped clear on his own and rode to victory. Well he repeated the trick here, as soon as the breakaway was all back together Warren Barguil attacked again, aided by inaction behind he was able to open up a 30 second gap on the lower slopes of the climb. Eventually Uran, Nerz and Bartosz Huzarski (NetApp-Endura) realized that their only chance of wining came from catching Barguil so they started to work, even so with 5km to go the gap was 38 seconds. With 1km to go Uran finally caught Barguil, who took the opportunity to sit on the Sky rider’s wheel, Uran wasn’t overly keen on this arrangement and tried to slow and force Barguil to pass him. However the sight of Nerz and Huzarski catching them spurred Uran into launching his sprint. Barguil was able to come out from behind him to pip Uran on the line, though he won by the smallest of margins. Barguil was forced to dig very deep to win that stage, it was a terrific performance, and beating Uran on a mountain finish is definitely a nice feather in his cap.

 

There is still life in the GC contest after all

A day after commenting that Nibali seemed to be comfortable and riding within himself, he goes and struggles on the final climb, losing a little time on all his rivals and looking vulnerable for the stages ahead. It was surprising, he has been slowly building form for the weeks ahead, but anyone can have a bad day. The conditions from the previous two stages were certainly enough to sap the energy from anyone, but with the improved weather and a rest day tomorrow, Nibali will hope to be back on form. If he isn’t then the GC race really does open up, it looks like the climb of L’Angliru on Saturday is going to be pivotal, which is the way it should be.

 

Looking ahead to Wednesday

Stage 17: Calahorra – Burgos
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On paper this looks like a sprint stage, true there are two classified climbs and a fair amount of the route is bumpy but the run in suits the sprinters teams. The question is, do we have any sprinters teams left? There are still sprinters of course but many of their teams have been drastically reduced in manpower. Michael Matthews and Leigh Howard (Orica GreenEDGE – 5 left), Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp – 5), Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-Quick Step – 4), Maximiliano Richeze (Lampre-Merida – 8), Grega Bole (Vacansoleil-DCM – 4), Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg and Nikias Arndt (Argos-Shimano – 8), Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto Belisol – 4), Robert Wagner and David Tanner (Belkin – 4), Edvald Boasson Hagen ( Sky Procycling – 8), Adrian Petit (Cofidis – 8). Garmin, OPQS, Orica, Lotto, Belkin and Vacansoleil simply do not have the manpower to close down a break and then work for the sprint at the end. Argos Shimano have been willing to work in this race but with two wins already they won’t want to carry the rest, Cofidis will be happy if Edet can keep the KoM Jersey and probably wouldn’t work for a sprint. Neither Lampre or Sky have been prepared to overly commit to work for a sprint finish, but both teams have a contender and a need for a stage win to get anything out of this race. If those two don’t take it up then I don’t see the break being controlled on this stage.

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2013 Vuelta a Espana: Notes From Stage Eight

NetApp-Endura dominate the stage

After several failed attempts a 14 man break was established, they weren’t given much leeway because NetApp-Endura’s Bartosz Huzarski was11th on the GC and only 45 seconds down. His breakaway companions convinced Huzarski to drop out, so that they might have a chance to establish a substantial lead and contest the stage win. It was a somewhat facile argument, Dominik Nerz was still in the break and at 2:57 down his presence ensured that the break wouldn’t be allowed to steal a large lead. In any case it wasn’t a GC team that took up the chase, instead it was NetApp-Endura who were determined to take something from the day. If they couldn’t be in the break then they would make sure it wasn’t going to get enough of a lead, opening the way for Leopold Konig to go for the stage win from the group of favorites, which he did with aplomb. With Igor Anton leading the race, Konig attacked and was followed by Ivan Basso, Daniel Moreno, Thibaut Pinot, Bart de Clercq and Nicholas Roche. Inside the final 1km Konig kicked again, passing Anton and going on to take the stage win, it was a magnificent result for the NetApp-Endura team, and a just reward for their efforts on the stage.

 

The GC starts to take shape as Nicholas Roche goes into Red

A combination of the time bonus for being 3rd on the stage, the gap between his group and the rest of the favorites and a possible chain issue for Vincenzo Nibali, resulted in Roche taking the race lead by 17 seconds. It’s another milestone for Roche and a reward for his current excellent form. If Nibali did have an issue with the chain it wouldn’t be the first time it has happened to him this season, he had a similar issue in the finale of a stage in the Giro. Certainly the riders who were able to attack near the summit are all in good form, Roche, Moreno, Konig, Basso, Pinot and De Clercq will take heart from today’s efforts. A number of riders also lost out today, coming under too much pressure on the final climb today where the pace was being set by RadioShack-Leopard, first with Fabian Cancellara, then Matthew Busche. Those who lost out included Roman Kreuziger, Bauke Mollema, Samuel Sanchez, Mikel Nieve and Tomasz Marczynski.

 

Looking ahead to stage nine

Stage 9: Antequera – Valdepeñas de Jaén 
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Stage nine is another leg sapping one, with lots of small climbs throughout the day and the hardest stuff saved for the final third of the race. The finish comes at Valdepenas de Jean, a short sharp 1km climb, akin to something from the Ardennes Classics and a potential stage for an in form Philippe Gilbert or Zdenek Stybar to go for. That final rise starts 15km after the riders cross the 2nd category Alto de los Failes, 6.2km at 5.8%, if the pace is high enough on the climb then it might be a very select group that goes on to contest for the stage win.

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2013 Vuelta a Espana: Notes From Stage Four

Daniel Moreno makes up for stage two

Moreno had been feeling good when he finished behind Nicholas Roche on stage two, he felt that Roche had timed his move better to win the stage. Roll forward two days and Moreno was the rider who timed the jump to perfection, kicking away inside the final 750m and establishing a winning gap with the help of an indecisive peloton behind. Eventually it was Fabian Cancellara who tried to follow with a number of riders chasing behind. Although they couldn’t catch Moreno, the fastest riders did manage to get close enough to his wheel that there was no time gap at the line, but it did split the peloton which would prove significant. It was a fine win for Moreno, somewhat reminiscent of the way he won La Fleche Wallonne, and good enough to put him in the Green Jersey tomorrow.

 

Chris Horner loses Red

Horner and his RadioShack team had looked good as they chased down and caught a break, after the race had crossed the Mirador de Ezara. They chased because Luis Leon Sanchez wasn’t very far down on the GC and was considered dangerous. Once they were on the final climb Horner was climbing behind Cancellara, at least he was until Cancellara was released to chase a stage win. After that either Horner relaxed too much and slipped back in the peloton, or he struggled with the speed of the finish. Either way he found himself on the wrong side of a time gap, caused by a split in the peloton between Bartosz Huzarski and Dominik Nerz. It only cost 6 seconds but it was enough to relinquish the Red Jersey, with Vincenzo Nibali once again in the lead. It was a rookie mistake from the veteran.

 

The climbing sprinters get a chance to show their form

Although Dani Moreno took the win, with Cancellara in second, we did get to see a skirmish between some of the fast men behind. Michael Matthews was able to take third, passing both Gianni Meersman and Edvald Boasson Hagen on his way. It may be fairly meaningless, given that the victory went elsewhere, but it shows the sort of shape Matthews is in, this was anything but an easy finish. Of the other fast finishers, Grega Bole and Anthony Roux finished with the same time as the leaders and Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg was just the other side of the split in the peloton. If the pace is very high tomorrow then those riders may be the main contenders for victory, though I suspect they will have competition.

 

Will tomorrow finally give us a proper sprint?

Stage 5: Sober – Lago de Sanabria

Stage four has the potential to be an energy sapping day with plenty of climbing. The terrain suits a breakaway but the finish will appeal to the teams that have brought sprinters. Those sprint teams will have to bear the burden of the chase, since Astana won’t commit to it unless the break contains a threatening rider. The terrain rises throughout the day, with plenty of bumps along the way, but only two classified climbs. They cross the second of those with 31km remaining, and while some riders may try and go clear, the climb isn’t likely to be tough enough to drop many riders. There are a couple of small bumps inside the final 15km and it also ramps up slightly from 3km to go, it isn’t steep and ends before the 1km to go mark, but it could encourage someone to try and jump clear. If the pace is super high tomorrow, then some of the sprinters may struggle to stay in the peloton. Still it should end in a sprint from a sizable peloton.

 

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2013 Vuelta a Espana Preview Six: The Young Riders

With injuries and tiredness taking their toll on team resources, a number of young riders are being given a chance in the Vuelta a Espana. The chance to experience riding in a Grand Tour or in some cases the opportunity to see what they can do as a more featured rider. Some of the riders highlighted in this preview are ones to watch for signs of their future potential, while others are candidates for a break out performance, something that shows they are ready for a much bigger role in 2014.

Before concluding my rider previews for the Vuelta I want to add a small disclaimer. The list isn’t intended to be totally comprehensive, I chose not to include every rider and that sometimes meant choosing one of a pair of similar riders from a team, based on form or history. I’m sure I’ve made a fair number of wrong choices when doing that but I set an arbitrary target of roughly five riders per team., and tried to stick to that.

 

Diego Ulissi – Lampre-Merida

Ulissi has shown he is a terrifically talented climber and a future GC contender. He could potentially ride for the GC here, testing whether he can hold up over three weeks, however he is riding with the Worlds in mind and will target stage wins instead. He impressed in Paris-Nice early in the season, finishing 7^th overall, with two 5^th place finishes and also showing he could time trial quite well. At the Tour de Pologne he was impressive winning the opening stage, a mountain top finish in the Dolomites. He will hope to repeat that feat in the Vuelta and is capable of doing so, particularly in the second half of the race.

 

Kenny Elissonde – FDJ

Elissonde has shown signs that he is settling at the professional level, now that he is near the end of his second season with FDJ. He was the best young rider, and 8^th overall, at the Tour of Oman, was consistently there or thereabouts in the Tour de Pologne, and 7^th overall and the best young rider in the recent Tour de l’Ain. This will be his Grand Tour debut and it’s too much to expect him to excel, still it will be worth watching how he copes with the grind of 21 stages and how competitive he is on these climbs. One for the future for sure.

 

Warren Barguil – Argos-Shimano

Warren Barguil is a gifted 21 year old French climber, it’s his first year as a professional cyclist and he is already the best GC threat for Argos-Shimano, though he is here for experience. After struggling initially he has started to settle in at this level, he finished 18^th overall in the Criterium Dauphine and 17^th in the Tour de Pologne. He was consistent in Poland, always finishing a little behind the top riders, always alongside other solid climbers. He showed stage winning talent in the mountains as a junior and the potential is certainly there for him to do that at this level in the future. Look for him to get a chance to attack in the mountains.

 

Michael Matthews – Orica-GreenEDGE

The 22 year old Australian sprinter comes into the Vuelta in terrific form, winning twice at the Tour of Utah and launching a terrific solo attack in the mountains to show how well he can climb. He is likely to support Howard in the bunch sprints but will be a good option himself, and should be a contender on the tougher sprint stages when Howard is more likely to be dropped.

 

Mikel Landa – Euskaltel-Euskadi

Landa is a highly regarded young Spanish climber. Having made his Grand Tour debut in last year’s Vuelta he returns with an expanded role in 2013, and should have the freedom to attack in the mountains. The 23 year old has hit some good form in the last month, finishing 6^th in the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian and 6^th overall in the Vuelta a Burgos.

 

Dominik Nerz – BMC

The 23 year old German climber has taken a small step forward in 2013, his first year with the BMC team. He has been more noticeable than before in the World Tour stage races, with his best performance coming in the recent Tour de Pologne, finishing 13^th overall and climbing quite well. I’d expect to see him attack on some of the mountain stages, he finished 3^rd on a stage of the 2011 Vuelta and has the potential to do better than that.

 

Nikias Arndt – Argos-Shimano

Nikias Arndt recorded his first stage win with Argos Shimano in the recent Arctic Tour of Norway, and was 3^rd the following day. Those results will give the 21 year old German a lot of confidence and mark the high point of his first year as a professional cyclist. He is a rider of considerable promise and should get the chance to show that promise in the bunch sprints, though it’s likely he will be the lead out man, rather than the sprinter for most of them.

 

Daniele Ratto – Cannondale

Ratto, 23, is a gifted opportunistic sprinter, who is at his best on the uphill sprints and tough finishes. Although he is yet to win in 2013, he has recorded five top 5 finishes in World Tour races, all in uphill sprints or from a select group after a hilly parcours. Most recently he impressed with another two top 5 finishes in the Vuelta a Burgos, a 2.HC event with a strong lineup, once again both were on uphill sprints.

 

Barry Markus – Vacansoleil-DCM

Another very promising young sprinter, the 22 year old Markus has yet to win as a professional. However he has had a string of podium and top five finishes, often amongst and ahead of world class sprinters, the wins will surely come. This is his first Grand Tour and he is here for the experience of competing in the bunch sprints, Grega Bole will be the teams sprinter on the tougher sprint stages.

 

Guillaume Boivin – Cannondale

Boivin should combine with Ratto, Haedo and Dall’Antonio to give the Cannondale team a strong presence in all the sprints. The young Canadian is in his first season at the World Tour level and will be making his Grand Tour debut. He has mostly served as a lead out man with Cannondale but should have his chance as a sprinter in this race, though it’s a role he will share with the others.

 

Adrien Petit – Cofidis

A 22 year old sprinter, Petit is a highly regarded talent but this race is likely a year too soon for him. He may not complete the race but he will benefit hugely from the experience of riding in a Grand Tour. He should share sprint duties with the much more experienced Stephane Poulhies.

 

David de la Cruz – NetApp-Endura

The young Spanish climber should be very active in the mountains. The German team has come to attack and get plenty of attention, so l expect to see a lot of De la Cruz and fellow climber Jose Mendes, as they try and go with breaks in the mountains.

 

Andy Fenn – Omega Pharma-Quick Step

The 23 year old Scottish sprinter is making his Grand Tour debut, and hunting for his first win of the season. It’s a big step up for him, but also a great learning experience and he will likely have the support of the team for the flat bunch sprints.

 

Tosh Van der Sande

Another young sprinter, he will likely be used in the sprint train supporting Gregory Henderson, but he might also be given a chance to sprint himself.

 

Sebastian Lander – BMC

Lander is a versatile young rider who is making his Grand Tour debut in his first year with BMC. He has some speed as a finisher and can handle the punchy climbs, he will be working for others here but one to watch for if he is given the chance to go in a break. It’s too early in his career to expect him to shine but we could see glimpses of his talent.

 

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Related articles

• 2013 Vuelta a Espana Preview Two: The Main Contenders (procyclingkev.wordpress.com)
• 2013 Vuelta a Espana Preview Three: The Chasing Pack (procyclingkev.wordpress.com)
• 2013 Vuelta a Espana Preview Four: The Stage Winners (procyclingkev.wordpress.com)