I wonder if this language barrier would have seemed so important to him if he had been free from his health issues and competitive in races? Probably not.
Anyway onto the Giro and possible team selections!
Using common sense provisos of form/illness/the course etc.
Guaranteed picks?
Hermans, Plaza, Sbaragli (and SHE?)
It's tempting to say all four who have dropped down from WT will have been given the nod before signing, but for me Enger will have to show some early season form first.
The rest?
Boivin, Van Winden, Jensen (and Earle?)
Jensen offers something a bit different either from a break or a punchy finish.
If SHE isn't firing on all cylinders, I think they'll go with Sbaragli as the sprinter and Earle or Avila or Neilands could be the beneficiaries.
Simplifying your discussion to the choice between the two Norwegians, who have similar strenghts at first glance: good finish, particularily if it
skoles slopes (damn autocorrect on ipad...) uphill. Decent at climbing, not the first sprinters to drop.
However, they are very different as August Jensen is Mr Reliable, one of the riders with most top 10 placings last year. Sondre Holst Enger is perhaps the opposite: no-one doubts his potential, but he’s been described as “cube shaped bouncing ball”: He can bounce very high, but no-one knows which direction he’ll go. (Quoting former team Norway coach Kristiansen.) The academy should look for what was right at IAM. He may be a winner.
I think I would put Jensen in more one-day races and shorter stage races. Sondre has the GT experience after all.
