In:
Andrew Fenn (leadout)
Leopold König (stage races)
Wout Poels (classics, super domestique)
Lars Petter Nordhaug (classics)
Elia Viviani (sprinter)
Nicholas Roche (stage races, classics)
Out:
Joshua Edmonson (a rider)
Joe Dombromski (young climber)
Dario Cataldo (super domestique)
Gabriel Rasch (old domestique)
Edvald Boassen Hagen (next Eddy Merckx)
Davide Martinelli (young sprinter, TT)
Stars:
Chris Froome (grand tours)
Sebastian Henao (climber)
Leopold König (stage races)
Richie Porte (stage races, super domestique)
Nicholas Roche (classics, stage races)
Ian Stannard (cobbles, classics)
Ben Swift (climby sprinter)
Geraint Thomas (cobbles, classics)
Elia Viviani (sprinter)
Bradley Wiggins (cobbles)
Strengths:
Super strong in the grand tours, they got one of the best in Froome, and many others who are viable podium contenders supporting him.
Those guys (Porte, König, Roche, etc) will get their chances at other stages of the season, meaning that Sky should be competitive across the season.
Looks like they've recruited so they can do some sprinting, with Fenn looking like a good leadout man, with Viviani and Swift both very fast with some good performances last season.
Weaknesses:
They've been really quite poor in the classics in the past. Maybe Wiggo will give the cobbles a red hot go, and Stannard not being injured would help. Again they've recruited a bit (Roche, Poels) to address this deficiency.
Coming off a fairly poor season, where they found wins hard to come by, and then they didn't win a grand tour to make up for it. They have reduced their dependency on doing well in the Grand Tours problem a bit, but to be honest I don't see them racking up large numbers of wins, and their season will again hang on how they can perform in the 3-week races.
Andrew Fenn (leadout)
Leopold König (stage races)
Wout Poels (classics, super domestique)
Lars Petter Nordhaug (classics)
Elia Viviani (sprinter)
Nicholas Roche (stage races, classics)
Out:
Joshua Edmonson (a rider)
Joe Dombromski (young climber)
Dario Cataldo (super domestique)
Gabriel Rasch (old domestique)
Edvald Boassen Hagen (next Eddy Merckx)
Davide Martinelli (young sprinter, TT)
Stars:
Chris Froome (grand tours)
Sebastian Henao (climber)
Leopold König (stage races)
Richie Porte (stage races, super domestique)
Nicholas Roche (classics, stage races)
Ian Stannard (cobbles, classics)
Ben Swift (climby sprinter)
Geraint Thomas (cobbles, classics)
Elia Viviani (sprinter)
Bradley Wiggins (cobbles)
Strengths:
Super strong in the grand tours, they got one of the best in Froome, and many others who are viable podium contenders supporting him.
Those guys (Porte, König, Roche, etc) will get their chances at other stages of the season, meaning that Sky should be competitive across the season.
Looks like they've recruited so they can do some sprinting, with Fenn looking like a good leadout man, with Viviani and Swift both very fast with some good performances last season.
Weaknesses:
They've been really quite poor in the classics in the past. Maybe Wiggo will give the cobbles a red hot go, and Stannard not being injured would help. Again they've recruited a bit (Roche, Poels) to address this deficiency.
Coming off a fairly poor season, where they found wins hard to come by, and then they didn't win a grand tour to make up for it. They have reduced their dependency on doing well in the Grand Tours problem a bit, but to be honest I don't see them racking up large numbers of wins, and their season will again hang on how they can perform in the 3-week races.