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.
