Originally Posted by
sincos
I'll go with Almeida to take the next step, despite the shortage of TT km. He should be on the steep part of the improvement curve, and he'll have full team backing this time.
There are several storylines I'm curious about.
EF. Do or die after a horrendous Spring, and the Giro has the most points available for a stage race team like this (unless something bad happens to Pog and Rog). Not seeing Carthy to win it all, or even to make the podium, but top 10 should be doable. Stage win for Powless.
Intermarche: Hirt for top 10, not expecting Girmay to go the full distance but a stage win or podium would be great.
Astana: Haven't been able to find their way out of a paper bag, though that's not on the riders. One last hurrah and top 10 for Nibali.
DH-Androni: Curious about this Tesfatsion guy. Did well in Coppi&Bartali and was quite respectable in Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour of the Alps, now he gets thrown in the deep end.
Lotto: If Intermarche have been punching well above their weight, Lotto have been punching well below. Can somebody, anybody, get this squad back on track?
Alpecin-Fenix: can MVdP finish the race? That's an unrelenting last week for a big guy like him.
like almeida's podium chances.
ef's carthy could podium or finish top ten or have a stage win or two...didn't see powless listed among the starters but perhaps my speed-reading failed me.
good call on hirt. def possible.
astana has historically brought a stronger team...not seeing it this year.
thinking lotto might surprise with a multiple stage winner or super-dark horse gc contender.
mvdp...thinking he doesn't get past stage eight. we'll see. it would be nice to see him finish the race but not seeing that as any kind of priority for him/the team.