It really makes you wonder. He would have to be pretty ineffective... But most of the Sunweb riders in general seem to be in pretty good shape this spring on- and offline.
Also, I've been thinking about the geographical distribution of the well placed riders. I don't know where Roche is at the moment. But it looks like the Australian and US-riders are pretty good at this digital racing. Is it because there is some technical advantage of not being in Europe? Is Dennis an Outlier? Or are their handling skills simply really not suited for European roads?
(I hope the season resumes before these questions are fully answered...)
Roche has always put out massive power to weight ..He is a big rider for a climber ..about 70kg...does really well against smaller lads but not a natural climber
.Roche is in very good shape at present .Started the season with great form as did not race last autumn ...usually races late in year so never any good in spring but last year was recovering from crash at the Vuelta so finished season early
Second he i s living alone so has nothing to do but train and has used the trainer alot over the last few weeks so has an advantage
Sunweb riders all started the season in very good form this year as had a good winter ..unfortunately forthemc they could not use it . Shows with these e-races
Roche has I would say under achieved in racing for many reasons ...an all rounder so hard to beat the best at any one discipline , Has had personal distractions or problems so never quite on top form ..But when on top form has been good .Targeted GC when not a natural climber and maybe would have been better to target one day or TT..not to mention issues with weight either too thin in order to climb to get out the power or too heavy to win on the climbs
As for racing craft I think he has it but there have been times when he has messed up maybe becasue he wanted it so much and made mistakes ....also success breeds success but mistakes also breed further mistakes. Early confidence is important in any sport. Also when roche should have been at his best he was competing against dopers over 10 years ago
Like all sport wining is a complicated thing
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