Scanlon in Le Tour

The Long Fellow

Hey everyone,
What are Mark Scanlon's chances of making ag2r's Tour de France squad this year, i know it was probably the right decision not to enter him last year, but it was so great to see an irishman involved the previous year, and he did justify himself the year he raced, he got away in a group in the first few days and set up nazon for the stage win in the first week.
I hope he gets in, his form has been good this season

Ger

smithslist

his form is good so far this season, so it looks good...he was out for a bit during the classics with a tooth problem, but for the tour he should be in good condition...would like to see p.Deignan also in the tour, think he would make a good tour rider than Scanlon, but Scanlon has a better chance of winning a stage, as he is a more attacking minded reider......he is the Irish version of Belgiums Tafi!!!!!

Ive seen Scanlon during some of the classic races, and he looked very comfortable,

Pherekydes

smithslist wrote:

...he is the Irish version of Belgiums Tafi!

Alessio - Bianchi

Andrea TAFI ITA

smithslist

Long live Tafi.....the LEGEND!!!!!! The last of the great Italian classic riders.......

janullrich

I hope that there is a Irish rider there. Scanlon looks the best bet this year. We have to wait and see if his team get a wild card first. They are not one of the top 20 teams so they will have to wait.

cerebus

janullrich wrote:

I hope that there is a Irish rider there. Scanlon looks the best bet this year. We have to wait and see if his team get a wild card first. They are not one of the top 20 teams so they will have to wait.

Are you sure?

I thought Ag2R got the ProTour spot that was opened up when Fassa Bortolo folded?

Which would mean they automatically get entry to this year's TdF...

smithslist

I think they are auto selected for the TDF, and if there not there in anyway b\c they hav had a good season so far and also they are french.......yeah Scanlon looks d best choice, just hope Duignan makes it also, he mite be included as he wil b back 2 full fitness by then......dissapointed thou duignan aint in the Giro, Giro wuld suit him better.........

da_deadman

Yeah I hope Scanlon is there. I'd love to see him make a big impression on a big race now. I mean, it's nearly 8 years since his junior world title, I'd love to see him get a few big results this season. If he could ride the Tour and build up some form for races like the ENECO Tour (in Holland & Belgium) and the Tour of Poland. I think he could do well in those type of races.

Is Deignan definitely out of the Giro squad? I thought he was supposed to ride that one this year. That would be good for him becuase it's a very tough route but Ag2r won't be going for G.C. so there would be less pressure on him, unlike the Tour and Vuelta where Paco Mancebo should be a real contender for the podium in both races.

smithslist

its official Duignan is in the GIRO...this year, its time to get Europsort.....bring it on.....

da_deadman

Courtesy of cyclingnews.com:

AG2R to Giro d'Italia
Participating at the Italian Grand Tour for the very first time, French ProTeam AG2R has announced its Giro d'Italia roster. From May 6-28, the following riders will represent their team colours on the roads in Belgium and Italy: Sylvain Calzati, Inigo Chaurreau, Philip Deignan, Renaud Dion, Hubert Dupont, John Gadret, Yuriy Krivtsov, Carl Naibo and Tomas Vaitkus


Yay! Go on Philip. A stage win on top of Plan de Corones...;)

Seriously though, I hope he gets through it because it is one tough route, especially the final week

da_deadman

woops, didn't mean to post that twice here... damn computer

cgf

AG2R are in the TdF 06

http://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/presentation/us/actualites.html

iregk

First time poster on the cycling forum (only spotted it now!). Great to see ag2r in le tour. I'm also hopeful that Scanlon will feature in it aswell. I was quite impressed with him 2 years back.

da_deadman

Yes Ag2R are in theTour de France as they are in the ProTour this season. However, I would now say it is unlikely that Scanlon will be in the Tour this year.

Deignan has had to pull out of the Giro because of some infection so Scanlon has been drafted in to the team to replace him. Which is a pity, it would have been good for Philip to get his Major Tour debut, but maybe he will make it onto the Tour team instead.

The Long Fellow

Scanlon said he only expects to last maybe 8 days cause he doesn't feel he's 100%.
If he's does well but pulls up early i think he'll have a better chance of making le tour than if he does all three weeks cause he'll take a while to recover from a full 3 weeks in italy through the mountains and might no tget a place in le tour