Teams & Riders Everybody needs a little bit of Roglstomp in their lives

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So here is my question. Is it ideal for roglic if Jonas does start the tour?

Would it mean Pogacar would try get early time in case he fades in the third week and Jonas rides into form? Which if roglic can mostly follow gets him time on Jonas, and then in the back end he can follow Jonas as he tries to gain time on fatigued Pogacar, the net result being he can lose some time to both but come out on top overall?
I think Roglic's clearest path to victory is not some rider focusing on someone else, but simply being the strongest in a race where the best gc rider is coming back from injury and the second best gc rider messed up his prep due to doing the giro. And in that sense I really don't think an additional competitor helps him. I'd rather have to hope one of the two top dogs isn't in good shape than both of them.
 
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Why is he riding Dauphine instead of Suisse? Not only is Suisse the only major 1-week stage race he's missing on his palmares, he also has more chance of winning it, as well as stages compared to Dauphine. Would think it's great for morale.

Why does he have more chance in Suisse?

Dauphiné was always part of his season plans. He'll come down from altitude in Sierra Nevada, go to the Dauphiné & then fine tune his form right before the Tour.
 
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Yeah, considering most gc guys with focus on the Tour usually do the Dauphine, it's pretty save to say teams think it's the better prep race.

But it might also be to fan the discussions in the Remco vs. Roglic thread. Tricky to tell, which of the two it is.
 
The aim this year is to do a classical preparation for the Tour and traditionally Dauphiné filled that role. Ideally the winner of Dauphiné then goes to win the Tour. Still i feel that this all has to be adjusted a bit in regards to modern racing as cycling did change. Another interesting thing about Dauphiné and Rogla is he both abandoned and won it in the past years. So Dauphiné 2024 should be a nice indicator of the form build up and on how moody French roads might be in regards to Rogla this year. As there is a special love and hate relationship involved in between Rogla and French roads, signs, road furniture, hay bales. ..
 
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Why does he have more chance in Suisse?

Dauphiné was always part of his season plans. He'll come down from altitude in Sierra Nevada, go to the Dauphiné & then fine tune his form right before the Tour.
No Evenepoel, so one person less that is able to sprint uphill and follow him in the mountains. No Vingegaard, although doubt he will ride any race before the Tour after his fall.

It just made sense to me for morale and to win all those major stage races. But if it isn’t the right prep for the TDF, he shouldn’t do it.
 
No Evenepoel, so one person less that is able to sprint uphill and follow him in the mountains. No Vingegaard, although doubt he will ride any race before the Tour after his fall.

It just made sense to me for morale and to win all those major stage races. But if it isn’t the right prep for the TDF, he shouldn’t do it.

Tbh his season (& Bora adventure) has been stillborn of sorts up until now. I just want a good training camp in Spain & then finally a proper race without incidents, terrible weather or any problems.

It's going to be a busy summer & he'll end up facing top form riders anyway, so the Dauphiné is as good a place as any to get 2024 properly started.
 
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No Evenepoel, so one person less that is able to sprint uphill and follow him in the mountains. No Vingegaard, although doubt he will ride any race before the Tour after his fall.

It just made sense to me for morale and to win all those major stage races. But if it isn’t the right prep for the TDF, he shouldn’t do it.
Would be good for Remco with no Rogla at Dauphine.
 
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One of the main ideas likely was to measure against Jonas and Visma and obviously Remco. As for the ITT i wouldn't be all that sure Remco will take it. Rogla is capable of winning an ITT with such characteristics, on top of that profiles of some other stages look promising too. All in all a demanding pre-Tour stage race that is rather ideal to stress test yourself and the team. Does Rogla need to win it? In my opinion no, although i do believe he will go for the win. Regardless what will be the outcome i do expect for the bar to again be set higher, when it comes to this new chapter riding for Bora. First race more or less zero results, second race Rogla already achieved a characteristic ITT win, Dauphiné is perfect race to take it further. Main objective to stay healthy and said that it's time to win a stage race with Bora.
 
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