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Teams & Riders Brothers in (crank) arms - Yates Discussion Thread

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It was mainly his own words before the stage that suggested he wouldn't do great on gravel. He expressed his anxiety about the gravel and also said that GT is not a right place for a gravel sectors. Then you'd rather not expect a lot from him with that sort of attitude before even the stage started..
So in this context, his today's performance was quite surprising.
Also he has ridden Strade Bianche for the first time earlier in the season and didn't exactly shine there.
 
I can't see Yates challenging Bernal and Ineos from here based upon what we are seeing. Push him maybe but not seriously challenge. Passo Giau is 2,236 metres - Bernal's playground. I also predict Bernal will put time into Yates in the Milan TT.

Of course, this all depends upon his back holding up.
 
What I don't understand is how he can be in top form in Tour of the Alps, then suck two weeks later only to be back in world dominator form once again a week later. Form doesn't come and go that quickly. It just doesn't make any sense, unless he's been ill.
It's his DS so we don't necessarily have to believe him, but Copeland told RAI that Yates' numbers weren't bad in the first week. He believe the others improved a lot compared to how they performed in Tour of the Alps. He specifically mentioned Vlasov among the ones he thinks improved.

So I checked how the riders Yates beat at TotA fared in the first week:

Bilbao - a lot worse than Yates
Vlasov - a little better than Yates (but he was already the closest to Yates by the end of TotA)
Cepeda - a lot worse
Carthy - a little better (probably the rider who improved the most relatively to TotA)
Sivakov - we have no idea
Quintana - not here
Guerreiro - worse (and he's a aomestique here so hard to compare)
Bardet - worse
Schultz - worse (see Guerreiro)

So overall I don't think we have many reference points for Yates performance in week 1 compared to TotA. Copeland probably had Vlasov and Carthy in mind when talking about riders who improved. In reality they weren't much better than Yates (Vlasov was around 30 seconds ahead, Carthy 10 seconds). Perhaps we overstated Yates' problems in week 1 because we were expecting him to crush the opposition?
 
It's his DS so we don't necessarily have to believe him, but Copeland told RAI that Yates' numbers weren't bad in the first week. He believe the others improved a lot compared to how they performed in Tour of the Alps. He specifically mentioned Vlasov among the ones he thinks improved.

So I checked how the riders Yates beat at TotA fared in the first week:

Bilbao - a lot worse than Yates
Vlasov - a little better than Yates (but he was already the closest to Yates by the end of TotA)
Cepeda - a lot worse
Carthy - a little better (probably the rider who improved the most relatively to TotA)
Sivakov - we have no idea
Quintana - not here
Guerreiro - worse (and he's a aomestique here so hard to compare)
Bardet - worse
Schultz - worse (see Guerreiro)

So overall I don't think we have many reference points for Yates performance in week 1 compared to TotA. Copeland probably had Vlasov and Carthy in mind when talking about riders who improved. In reality they weren't much better than Yates (Vlasov was around 30 seconds ahead, Carthy 10 seconds). Perhaps we overstated Yates' problems in week 1 because we were expecting him to crush the opposition?
Basically we'd have expected him to be in the first group on stage 4 and 6, and probably be top 4 on stage 9 as well. And maybe it's a little based on us underestimating Bernal as well.

Also I think we were expecting an impending Yates implosion or something like that.
 
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Basically we'd have expected him to be in the first group on stage 4 and 6, and probably be top 4 on stage 9 as well. And maybe it's a little based on us underestimating Bernal as well.

Also I think we were expecting an impending Yates implosion or something like that.
He's probably the rider whose GT performance is the hardest to predict since I started following cycling. You have a low floor, an excitingly high ceiling and everything in between too.

Pre-2018 Yates was the kind of guy who's reasonably consistent, could finish every GT he enters in the top10 and sneak on the podium with the right circumstances (someone like Majka?). Then he dominates a GT for two weeks and drops an hour in the final 2 stages. Then he wins a GT in fairly convincing fashion (ok Vuelta, but still). Then he's back to his old top10 self you barely notice for 3 weeks. And now he flies under the radar for 10 stages and starts looking like a threat at the end of week 2. I mean WTF?
 
He's probably the rider whose GT performance is the hardest to predict since I started following cycling. You have a low floor, an excitingly high ceiling and everything in between too.

Pre-2018 Yates was the kind of guy who's reasonably consistent, could finish every GT he enters in the top10 and sneak on the podium with the right circumstances (someone like Majka?). Then he dominates a GT for two weeks and drops an hour in the final 2 stages. Then he wins a GT in fairly convincing fashion (ok Vuelta, but still). Then he's back to his old top10 self you barely notice for 3 weeks. And now he flies under the radar for 10 stages and starts looking like a threat at the end of week 2. I mean WTF?
Still think the sample size of him being unexpectedly nowhere was only N=1 with the 2019 Giro.
 

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