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Clearly they listened to me about giving Sean Quinn some racing days and he then takes third place on the opening stage of the Dauphine. I should charge them for my services.
Still interesting that they don't seem to look for point scoring opportunities at all. Gippingen on Friday for example would be one, as the Tour de Suisse guys are likely to be around anyway, but instead they send their devo team (same as in Sibiu).
They could even line up two WT riders in the devo team and the points would still count for the main team btw, but so far they don't seem to plan to do that either.
They could even line up two WT riders in the devo team and the points would still count for the main team btw, but so far they don't seem to plan to do that either.
I don't think Vaughters planned fighting for points this year because EF didn't look to be in danger at all at the beginning of the year. Why he refuses to adapt is another question- maybe he is in denial over his team's capabilities, maybe he has a plan for the summer and the autumn or maybe he doesn't mind dropping to PCT. Time will tell.
In 2016 there was meant to be a relegation for the worst WT team too and while Cannondale looked to be in danger for the first half of the year, they finished the season 8th(!) in team rankings as they stormed through the 2nd half of the season with lots of solid results. Maybe that's the plan- at this pace everybody will be exhausted soon by riding a lot of races for results and maybe EF can start doing it with fresh riders later in the year and have an advantage when everybody else is tired. I don't know if it's a good plan or if it's a plan at all but looking at the past, it could be.
I do think people generally underestimate EF's capability to score a big amount of points in the 2nd half of the season. They were horrible last year too and then they turned it around from June onwards. Same with Israel btw. There's a lot of fuss about LTS making a comeback but people forget this was to be expected in May and June with a massive amount of Belgian one day races. I wouldn't be surprised if they're dead last on the ranking at the end of the season cause both EF, Israel and BEX have better riders for all those hilly onde day races at the end of the year. LTS is basically going to need a god tier Wellens and that's just not going to happen. Or De Lie needs to keep winning every sprint one day races and Ewan needs to turn up in some WT races.
My guess is that Vaughters will change their schedule after the Tour a little bit. A bit more one day races to ride with guys like Marijn van den Berg and Quinn for example. They can get a lot of top 5's and top 10's. Still don't understand why van den Berg signed with EF tho. Why would a sprinter/classic rider sign for a team that focusses mainly on stage races?
Perhaps to have a shot at becoming their main sprinter, while at more sprint-focused teams he would've experienced more competition. Should he prove himself to be more capable, there's no reason why EF wouldn't transform a bit to support him, they've done so in the past, or maybe then he could leave for another team and a bigger contract.
The main problem is that EF haven't made any sprinters work well for them since Farrar's early 2010's, so yeah, that was a risky decision for any aspiring sprinter. They've had plenty of success with classic riders, though.
Doesn't matter if you're a main sprinter if your team doesn't ride races where a young guy can sprint in.
Anyways he's riding the ZLM Tour with the national team which could give him some good chances at good results and maybe even some points for EF (All flat stages so could get a decent GC).
EF are riding a lot of races where a young guy can sprint, though not a lot of small races, but then it matters even more that you're the main sprinter, not less.
What I meant is that Van den Berg could easily win a leadership role at a GT or races like MSR if he's half decent, while at other teams he would often have big name sprinters to eclipse before he can lead big races.
If he was as good as De Lie this season, I could see him riding Tour de France with a free role already. Unfortunately, he's been nowhere near as good as De Lie this year, even though he was beating him regularly last year.
He will be 23 this month, other big sprinters were usually already winning GT stages at that age. One should not bemoan how Van den Berg can't rack up easy top10 in small races all the time because that wouldn't be a problem at all- he would get enough race days at a WT level to develop himself this year if he was as good as he sure hoped to be. He's not some 19 years old guy, he's too mature to only be looking at some 1.1 or 2.1 races- the bulk of his calendar as the main sprinter of the team should be WT races. The problem is that EF apparently can't train their sprinters at all and have been unable to do so for a decade, not that they don't ride many smaller races.
EF are riding a lot of races where a young guy can sprint, though not a lot of small races, but then it matters even more that you're the main sprinter, not less.
What I meant is that Van den Berg could easily win a leadership role at a GT or races like MSR if he's half decent, while at other teams he would often have big name sprinters to eclipse before he can lead big races.
If he was as good as De Lie this season, I could see him riding Tour de France with a free role already. Unfortunately, he's been nowhere near as good as De Lie this year, even though he was beating him regularly last year.
He will be 23 this month, other big sprinters were usually already winning GT stages at that age. One should not bemoan how Van den Berg can't rack up easy top10 in small races all the time because that wouldn't be a problem at all- he would get enough race days at a WT level to develop himself this year if he was as good as he sure hoped to be. He's too experienced to only be looking at some 1.1 or 2.1 races- the bulk of his calendar as the main sprinter of the team should be WT races. The problem is that EF apparently can't train their sprinters at all and have been unable to do so for a decade, not that they don't ride many smaller races.
Obviously you can't expect a neopro (doesn't matter that he's 23, he's a neopro) to be ready for those bigger races. EF simply doesn't ride the schedule that young sprinters need to develop and/or learn how to battle for the win. Van den Berg is pretty fast, not De Lie fast, but he survives semi hard races. He's ideal for a lot of those 1.1 races right now but EF doesn't ride them, so no, I don't think he made a good choice singing for EF.
Anyways, back to the relegation battle, EF seems to have woken up as they just added the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge to their schedule last minute. Israel and EF are going to battle it out for the points in that race.
I look at Van den Berg's calendar this year and I don't see what's wrong with it. He has enough races days and he's ridden races that suit his profile and were not too easy or too diffcult. The problem is that he didn't perform, not that he had no opportunities to perform.
There have also been plenty of neopros in the past who handled a WT focused calendar pretty well and they were often younger than Marijn. He's spent some 4 years riding a decent number of continental races with a decent opposition and last year he finished races like Brabantse Pijl and Algarve, which are as close to WT level as you can get outside of WT- he's more experienced than most neo-pros these days. He should be very ready to step up and ride plenty of WT races this year, but he's also ridden some smaller races where he had opportunities to sprint, like Classica Almeria, Cyrcuit Cycliste Sarthe or Tour of Norway. There is nothing wrong with his calendar, riding countless Belgian 1.1 races is not the only way a rider can develop.
I don't think he made a good choice either (the results don't lie) but I disagree on how much emphasis you put on which factor.
Couldn’t get anyone in the break today in the Dauphine. According to PCS they only start six riders in Suisse. Banking on scoring UCI points in big stage races may not have been their best bet.
Depending on summer and fall results, people are going to look back at EF leadership”s approach to this season as either a great example of patience and steady handed leadership, or as gross negligence.
Depending on summer and fall results, people are going to look back at EF leadership”s approach to this season as either a great example of patience and steady handed leadership, or as gross negligence.
They're going with a strong team to the Mont Ventoux challenge on Tuesday so they somewhat woke up and realized they need to get some points in smaller races.
Updated to 7.
- 81 URÁN Rigoberto
- 82 BISSEGGER Stefan*
- 83 BETTIOL Alberto
- 84 CARTHY Hugh
- 85 POWLESS Neilson
- 86 RUTSCH Jonas*
- 87 SCULLY Tom
Great to see Bissegger starting. I was worried he had fallen ill. Hopefully he can win the TT at suisse and then take yellow at the tour.
Shame their TT performance wasn't better. Without the TT Chaves would've been 4th, I think, and Guerreiro a couple of places higher, too. But the important thing is that the team has looked good for the first time in months with them and Sean Quinn.
Guerreiro is an interesting case. Prior to Giro 2021 I had seen him more as a versatile rider for hills and some mountain breakaways but also flatter terrain (he's had decent results in Plouay and Benelux Tour), someone like Marc Hirschi, but it looks like he's been training to turn into a proper climber recently, at least that's how he's performing.
Guerreiro is an interesting case. Prior to Giro 2021 I had seen him more as a versatile rider for hills and some mountain breakaways but also flatter terrain (he's had decent results in Plouay and Benelux Tour), someone like Marc Hirschi, but it looks like he's been training to turn into a proper climber recently, at least that's how he's performing.
I was thinking they could put in a sizeable gap to their rivals this and next week (the thing Vaughters was hoping for). Guerreiro and Chavez definitely did their part and I think they will get a good amount of points Tuesday on Mont Ventoux too, but the Suisse teams performance was pretty dissapointing today.
Maybe Bettiol reverse-jinxed them with his little... stunt yesterday.
Nice prediction!
Nice prediction!
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