Will Three Go Into One?

Movistar will line up with Alejandro Valverde, Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa as leaders at the Tour de France. Is this a strategic masterstroke or madness, wonders Peter Cossins.

Going back through previous incarnations as Caisse d’Epargne, Illes Baleares, Banesto and Reynolds, the Movistar team has established a reputation as one of the most successful Grand Tour teams of all time, but one that has placed an emphasis on being conservative. It has played to its strengths rather than taking risks.

Consequently, the Spanish team’s announcement that it will start the Tour de France with three leaders backed up by just five domestiques was not only unexpected, but outright shocking.

By selecting Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde and recent recruit Mikel Landa in the same line-up in a bid to send Sky’s Tour de France steamroller off course, Movistar have opted for a rarely used strategy. Teams often include a sprinter alongside one or even two GC specialists, but seldom a trio in that latter category. So how will they accommodate the objectives and egos of their three leaders? What kind of strain will it put on the support riders? And, most importantly, is it likely to work?

At the Tour warm-up of the Critérium du Dauphiné, rival directeur sportifs were unanimous in saying that they wouldn’t select a three-pronged attack.

“It’s hard to see how it’s going to work. I hope they’ve got a master plan ready to manage that,” said Sky’s Servais Knaven, who was one of several directeurs who questioned the strategy given this season’s reduction in the size of teams from nine riders to eight.