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Competition Profile: CREDIT AGRICOLE 2008




Description
Written by Wicky (2008-04-11 10:54)
Translated by Lord Blackadder (2008-04-11 10:54)

Yes, Credit Agricole also took part in the search on the Eastern-European talent market and they returned with a true gem, Ignatas Konovalovas. The time trial specialist with climbing abilities already showed a bit of his potential in the Tour of California. Add to that the earlier signings Renshaw, Rolland, Pauriol and Bonnet, and the green-whites have quite a good group of riders. The strong man in the team is of course still Thor Hushovd, who got two new supporting team mates in Jeremy Hunt (Unibet.com) and Gabriel Rasch (Team Maxbo Bianchi).


With Berthou, and mostly Gerrans, Roger Legeay added two more riders to the squad who should be able to show themselves on the French roads. Opposed to these new signings, there is the loss of some experienced team mates. Francesco Bellotti went to Barloworld. The Italian rider used to be very promising in the Giro, but hasn’t shown any signs of form for the last two years. Kaggestad, another fallen talent, even went back to the amateurs.


And what to say about Saul Raisin. You cannot compare his situation with the previous mentioned riders of course, but officially the American has retired from racing. With Charteau (Caisse d’Epargne), Edaleine (AG2R La Mondiale), Laurent (Slipstream), Poilvet (Bretagne-Armor Lux) and mostly Julian Dean (Slipstream) the team has lost a lot of experience.


In general, the team has been build around the extraordinary powers of Thor Hushovd. The Norwegian, who never started the season in better shape, will be able to rely on his team mates no doubt, but they’re hardly ever capable to get an above average result. Hinault, Botcharov, Bodrogi, Furlan and Halgand should be appreciated and wouldn’t look bad in any team. But where foreign teams are capable to compete in any sort of race, the French will have to hope for an occasional victory. And that’s not just the fault of the “cyclisme à deux vitesses”. The French talents, a minority in recent history, had a hard time to reach the top. But in the last few years, the French educational structure is slowly starting to pay off. This year however, it seems too early to rely on that, so again it will have to be the strong Norwegian who gets the results.


In
Eric Berthou (Caisse d'Epargne), Simon Gerrans (AG2R Prévoyance), Jeremy Hunt (Unibet.com), Maxime Méderel (Auber 93), Gabriel Rasch (Team Maxbo Bianchi), Ignatas Konovalovas, Julien Simon (neo)


Out
Francesco Bellotti (Barloworld), Anthony Charteau (Caisse d'Epargne), Christophe Laurent, Julian Dean (Slipstream), Christophe Edaleine (AG2R La Mondiale), Benoît Poilvet (Bretagne-Armor Lux), Mads Kaggestad, Saul Raisin (retired)

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