Background:
Andrew Talansky is a late addition to this list, following his excellent victory in the Criterium du Dauphine a couple of weeks ago. When the whole cycling world thought Alberto Contador would deliver the 1st blow in his pursuit of winning the yellow jersey ahead of Chris Froome, it was Talansky who managed to get himself in a breakaway and turn round a 39 second deficit to win the warm up to the Tour.
Talansky is another, who like Van Garderen, who’s career to date suggests he could be a Grand Tour winner of the future. Aged just 23, he registered his first Grand Tour top 10 with 7th place at the Vuelta and then back this up with top 10s at last years Tour and Paris-Nice.
Strengths:
As is often the case with the general classification contenders, Talansky is another who is at home going uphill.
However, it is the time trial where Talansky will really look to put time into his GC rivals. He may not be the quickest on the bike, finishing up in 46th at the World ITT last year, but amid the strain of a 3 week tour, you’d expect him to register consistently in the top 10, making him a threat to anyone.
Weaknesses:
Until his victory in Dauphine, Talansky
Andrew Talansky
DOB: 23/11/1988 (25 Years Old)
Nationality: American
Race History:
TdF - 1oth (2013)
Vuelta - 7th (2012)
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hadn’t been able to reproduce the form he showed in the build up to the Tour last year, when he managed to take a 2nd place behind Richie Porte at Paris-Nice and a 6th at the Criterium-International, yet this year he had just a mediocre 7th in the Volta a Catalunya… that is until he beat both Froome, Nibali and Contador in the Criterium du Dauphine a few weeks ago.