Teams & Riders EF Pro Cycling

[Anderis]

I admit, I could be wrong about Valgren. I thought I saw only rutsch and Cort with Uran late today.

I could be wrong too. I assumed it was Valgren because he finished the stage on a reasonably high position but I was never able to identify the riders with any kind of certainty.

However, as far as supporting a leader, i don’t see that he is willing to do much.

As I said- he did a lot for Carthy during the last Giro so I'm not sure where you get this assumption from.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Southam: We're not waving the white flag and riding for second in the Tour de France

'Uran is in a good position among those top five' says EF-Education Nippo directeur sportif

www.cyclingnews.com

 

[Anderis]

The guy who got dropped first from a 25-men breakaway on flat terrain now sits 20th in GC.

The guy who is 82 kg heavy has finished 2nd consecutive high mountain stage in top40.

Uran 2nd overall.

I've realised that almost all EF riders tend to finish reasonably high on all recent stages. They seem to be well prepared as a team, apart from slight underperformance from Powless and Higuita.

 

[Anderis]

I'm somewhat happy that Konrad beat Higuita to the line today, otherwise I wouldn't be able to stop regretting the fact that nobody chased after Mollema.

Unfortunately, it looks like the current streak of 5 consecutive GTs with a stage win is going to end for EF here. Not sure where they could win a stage now. They fought really hard to put someone in the break today.

 

[triley36]

Disappointing stage today for EF. The profile
suited Valgren, Higuita and Cort well. Couldn’t even make the break. Looks like their only realistic chance for a stage win remaining is the TT if Bissegger isn’t too tired and has recovered from his crash.

 

[BlueRoads]

Disappointing stage today for EF. The profile
suited Valgren, Higuita and Cort well. Couldn’t even make the break. Looks like their only realistic chance for a stage win remaining is the TT if Bissegger isn’t too tired and has recovered from his crash.

If they can keep that second place it should be a good tour for them nonetheless.

 

[triley36]

If they can keep that second place it should be a good tour for them nonetheless.

I agree. Just think that if on form, they have a good team of stage hunters. Was optimistic that they could get one sometime over the course of three weeks. But yes, a podium in the overall still makes it a successful tour.

 

[Anderis]

This Tour de France has been a bittersweet experience.

It was nice to see Uran involved in the fight for podium. 2 months ago I would call any person predicting that overly optimistic. It was nice to see EF riders being visible in the breaks and it was nice to see that Uran had one of the best support teams of any GC riders in this race. All in all, the team rode on a higher level than I would have expected after last year's budget cuts and poor performances in the spring. The sole fact that one of the lowest budget WT teams had numbers in any terrain and looked like one of the strongest support teams in the biggest race of the season without even bringing here all of their best riders (Carthy and Bettiol missing) is impressive enough.

They're leaving the race pretty empty-handed, though. No stage wins. The streak of 5 consecutive GTs with a stage win ends here most likely. Uran the only GC rider to blow up so badly in the 3rd week and barely hanging onto top10 overall instead of fighting for podium or at least top5 if you were cautiously pessimistc a few days ago. They even blew up their chance to win the team classification. They're 40 minutes behind Bahrain but they lost 45 minutes to Bahrain on stage 8 alone. It was one stage they didn't perfom as a team for unexplained reasons. Lost the chance to win a consolation prize because of it.

Good to see the team being well prepared for TdF but they need to rebuild after last year's transfer losses and hire a big talent or two if they want to stay relevant after Uran's decline. You can't really do too much with the riders they already have.

 

[Escarabajo]

The good thing is that finally Higuita is on track for a good Vuelta. He got better with the miles. He had a good third week.

 

[Anderis]

The good thing is that finally Higuita is on track for a good Vuelta. He got better with the miles. He had a good third week.

Do you have info that he is going to ride the Vuelta or you just assume?

 

[Bolder]

I was surprised to see Uran disintegrate in the Pyrénées. This has been a weird Tour--outside of Pogacar's dominant performance and MvdP's first week nothing has really gone as I expected.

 

[Escarabajo]

Do you have info that he is going to ride the Vuelta or you just assume?

I am just assuming.

 

[Anderis]

I am just assuming.

He's still young so I'm not sure if they'll put him through the Tour-Olympics-Vuelta combo.

 

[Potomac]

They've got to find a stronger GC contender.

 

[Pinot's goat]

They've got to find a stronger GC contender.

They have Carthy who showed at Vuelta last year he is probably stronger. He struggled a lot with the weather changes at the Giro but he has a strong climbing level and capable of a good ITT.

 

[JosefK]

They have Carthy who showed at Vuelta last year he is probably stronger. He struggled a lot with the weather changes at the Giro but he has a strong climbing level and capable of a good ITT.

Uran has been a very strong GC guy, but time seems to have caught up with him. No shame, there.

 

[yaco]

Chaves will be joining the team - Though as a stage hunter.

 

[Oldermanish]

He's still young so I'm not sure if they'll put him through the Tour-Olympics-Vuelta combo.

May as well since he won't be on the team next year. When will EF keep some of the talent? It's tough to watch.

 

[Anderis]

When will EF keep some of the talent? It's tough to watch.

They always keep some. They still have their last monument winner on the team. And their last GT podium finisher too. They both signed new contracts this year and will stay with the team until 2023. If they contracts aren't sold to another team before they run out, like the one of Martinez, that is.

But yeah, they'll always keep losing biggish names faster than acquiring them if they continue having one of the lowest budgets in WT. Even more so if the situation keeps getting unstable like in 2017 or 2020. I wonder what are the reasons for Vaughters being unable to secure higher sponsorship deals for so many years, a lot of the time in the past his team offered a very good return for money.

 

[Anderis]

Higuita now added to the provisional startlist of Bretagne Classic so it looks like doing the Vuelta was not in the plans for him.

 

[Bolder]

They always keep some. They still have their last monument winner on the team. And their last GT podium finisher too. They both signed new contracts this year and will stay with the team until 2023. If they contracts aren't sold to another team before they run out, like the one of Martinez, that is.

But yeah, they'll always keep losing biggish names faster than acquiring them if they continue having one of the lowest budgets in WT. Even more so if the situation keeps getting unstable like in 2017 or 2020. I wonder what are the reasons for Vaughters being unable to secure higher sponsorship deals for so many years, a lot of the time in the past his team offered a very good return for money.

I always thought the problem was being a US team. There are few, maybe zero, nonendemic US companies willing to bet tens of millions of dollars annually on pro cycling, even during the LA years . An endemic American company like Trek or Specialized can't bring that kind of money to the table. I also think he actually doesn't want to get involved with a petro kingdom like the Emirates

 

[Escarabajo]

I would not believe the Procycling stats start list since these were sent a while back as placeholders.

Having said that, with Higuita going to a different team, EF might not be as interested to take him to La Vuelta. But I believe he leaves in good terms so who knows.

It is not surprise to anyone that their riders keep leaving. Especially the South Americans that are so dependent on the money. I don't blame them. But I like what JV is doing in finding new talent and motivating old talent. I think that Chaves going to EF is a very good match. He is very talented, probably more than what he is showing, but he has been having problems with health in the past few years. If Chaves can put it together he can be a lot better than what he is showing right now.

 

[Escarabajo]

Uran has been a very strong GC guy, but time seems to have caught up with him. No shame, there.

You are right. It is incredible to see what Uran has done in the past years taking into account the crashes and health issues. But age is catching up with him.

 

[Anderis]

I think that Chaves going to EF is a very good match. He is very talented, probably more than what he is showing, but he has been having problems with health in the past few years. If Chaves can put it together he can be a lot better than what he is showing right now.

I'm not super optimistic about Chaves. EF have never had much success with riders who were brought from other teams after they were more than 30 years old.

 

[yaco]

I'm not super optimistic about Chaves. EF have never had much success with riders who were brought from other teams after they were more than 30 years old.

I am confident Chaves will win one or two WT races in 2022, especially in a GT - He's happy in himself and his weight is in check - He needs to be used as a stage hunter in GT's BUT not at the TDF - He's stage hunted in the last 2 TDF's and has made one break in 42 stages - He's unsuited to the TDF parcours where there are long stretches before the climbing starts - He goes much better in the more rolling routes of the Giro and the Vuelta - Surprisingly, Bike Exchange never offered him a contract with the team focusing on developing their current roster.