Broom Wagon

Cleaning up after the week's events...

Draft Recap Edition

The second annual draft is complete and the season is upon us. Before we get into our Tour Down Under preview we first need to analyze the draft.  We won’t really know who did the best until the end of the season, but we do know we won’t be discussing it at Pepitos.  $19 dollars a pitcher?!  It is with a sad heart that Team Wiskota announces that it will henceforth be severing ties with Pepitos.  In other news, Team Wiskota is pleased to announce “Pancho Villa” as their new official provider of bubbling cauldrons of mexi meat.  Let’s get to the draft…

For the second year in a row Gregario Forza drew the number one pick.  Although it didn’t really result in the first overall pick, it did result in Forza snagging BoHaug.  Gilbert, Nibali and Boassen Hagen, this may be the strongest top three in the league.  These guys race all year and that means points.  Will Gilbert bounce back this season? Yes. Will Nibali win a grand tour? No. Will BoHaug pull a BoDogg move? Probably.  With extended team rosters this year it’s going to take more than three riders to win this.  The middle part of Forza’s draft was less than spectacular.  A few reaches and a few riders with huge bust potential. No real steals.  A few highlights include: Rui Costa, who although taken a bit high, is a solid pick up; Juan Antonio Flecha, who looks to benefit from his new role as team leader; and Bauke “Bartokomis” Mollema, who just seems to finish high in everything. The last part of Gregario’s draft has some potential.  Lieuwe Westra is itching for a one week race with a long TT and “Peanut Butter” Jelle Vanendert has a lot of upside.  Gregario may have had the best value picks for team and country, Italy should finish in the top three and Astana is a sneaky pick that may just pay off.

Best Rider: Nibali        Best Value: Astana      Biggest Reach: Rogers                        X Factor: Costa

Team Wiskota is happy to welcome Team Fujarky p/b Steven the Neo Pro to the peloton.  Although that name might need a little work.  Steven lucked out in the draw and managed to take Contador with the first overall pick.  With a possible Giro/Tour double on the horizon this could be the pick of the draft.  In Contador, Evans and Hesjedal, Steven has the winners of 9 grand tours.  He should have those races covered.  Evans will come back strong this year and Hesjedal should also score a lot of GC points.  The middle part of Steven’s draft is solid.  Danny boy Martin is always working for those potatoes and Greipel the Gorilla wins sprints all year long.  Steven’s last three picks may have the best value potential at those slots. All three are GC guys and I expect one or two to place in the top 10 of a grand tour.  We might as well give Steven 200 points now because Spain looks poised to dominate another season, as for Garmin-Sharp, well I spose it could happen.  Steven will be struggling in the classics but look for him to dominate in the grand tours.

Best Rider: Contador  Best Value: D.Martin        Biggest Reach: Evans       XFactor: Henao

Team Dirty Sanchez’s p/b Taco may have lost out on the Contador sweepstakes but the one two punch of Sammy Sanchez and Alejandro Valverde may be the stronger picks. Mike’s selection of the Green Bullet made the Commish green with envy.  Ballaverde should score all year.   The selection of Moreno Moser was a big surprise, however his team is relying on him for GC wins this year.  The middle portion of Taco’s draft is full of stage winners.  The other half of the Dirty Sanchez’s, LL Sanch may parlay his sneaky breakaway skills into a one week stage race win.  Degenkolb and Thor will battle for single day race wins as well as stage wins.  The last part of the draft has a few interesting picks namely; Fararr and Rolland.  The former could return to form and score 150 points, the later may be the early season dark horse for the Tour.  QuickStep should score even more points this year with the addition of Cavendish, look for them to finish top three.  Taco’s team is well rounded and should be represented in all the major races. 

Best Rider: Valverde   Best Value: Thor         Biggest Reach: Moser            XFactor: Rolland

Team Volpe probably had the hardest decision to make when it came to his “keepers”.   Can Boonen repeat his cobbled performance from a year ago?  Maybe.  However, it will be Volpe’s other “keeper” who has the best chance to stop him from doing so.  Once again Volpe looks to lock up all cobbled races and with the latter round addition of Phinney he may just do that.  Last year Patrick picked with his heart this year he got a little more cunning.  Andy Schleck and Mark Cavendish may draw Volpe a lot of points, but it will definitely draw the ire of the Commish.  Look forward to a year of lambasting courtesy of the Commish.  Basso is an old man, but certainly worth a late round pick. Top 10 Giro no problem.  It will be interesting to see what Roche is allowed to target for himself. Can he win a week long race or will he just be busy riding for Steven’s top pick?  The later part of Volpe’s draft has me scratching my head.  Although not technically bad picks, they don’t really seem to be good picks either. Perhaps a few points along the way.  Another strong lineup at team and country for Volpe, they should both be in the mix for the top spots.  Patrick’s team is classics heavy and that’s the way he likes it and come the Tour he will have two of the race’s biggest stars.

Best Rider: Cancellera                        Best Value: Schleck     Biggest Reach: Uran   XFactor: Phinney

Bill has graduated from Neo Pro status to become Maillot Jaune Guillame.  His team is still very strong with a top end that can compete with anybody.  If Wiggo and Froome can learn to divvy up the grand tours then there will be points galore.  Tony Martin should have a huge year as long as he does not get run over by a truck again.  The middle part of Bill’s draft has some real potential.  Gerrans was a point machine last year and somehow never ended up on anybody’s roster.  Terpstra is a strong man on a team that nourishes strong men, he should get his.  Kreuziger and Scarponi are question marks with huge upsides, I mean grand tour podium potential.  The last part of Bill’s draft did not inspire me save one rider; Igor Anton.  He has been known to score in classics and grand tours if he puts that together in one season he could be a steal.  BMC is a solid team pick.  I am glad to hear that Bill likes his new team name because with the selection of Great Britain to go along with Wiggins, Froome and Porte Bill’s team name was almost Team Downton Abbey.

Best Rider: Wiggins    Best Value: Anton       Biggest Reach: Goss    XFactor: Scarponi

Team Wiskota Dynamic will leave his draft for Gregario to critique.  But just let me say, for drawing the last pick I still think I did pretty well.  Also, Degenkolb was supposed to drop into a later round where I would snatch him up. I have no chunky Germans or sneaky Russians, what’s up with that?

Let me know what you think.

Tour Down Under Preview/Update to come soon.