Intermarché - Circus - Wanty

[Red Rick]

Talk about washed up dudes randomly starting to fly

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Talk about washed up dudes randomly starting to fly

Last year Pozzovivo did his best Giro ( and season) in 5 years. Kristoff was flying all season again. Meintjes got suddenly good after doing nothing for 4 years. Jan Hirt did by far his best GC performance. Lorenzo Rota scored double the points he did any other season before. Quentin Hermans got 2nd at Liege.

This is not new and it's weird they don't habe a thread here before now

 

[Netserk]

The only way is up, up, up!

At this point, it's more eyebrow-raising to see teams that have not yet moved into the fast lane.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Last year Pozzovivo did his best Giro ( and season) in 5 years. Kristoff was flying all season again. Meintjes got suddenly good after doing nothing for 4 years. Jan Hirt did by far his best GC performance. Lorenzo Rota scored double the points he did any other season before. Quentin Hermans got 2nd at Liege.

This is not new and it's weird they don't habe a thread here before now

Yeah, they were already turning blood into wine last year. Aike Visbeek is doing a great job.

But we'll see in the bigger races if they can keep it up.

 

[Aimar16]

Last year Pozzovivo did his best Giro ( and season) in 5 years. Kristoff was flying all season again. Meintjes got suddenly good after doing nothing for 4 years. Jan Hirt did by far his best GC performance. Lorenzo Rota scored double the points he did any other season before. Quentin Hermans got 2nd at Liege.

This is not new and it's weird they don't habe a thread here before now

You left someone out

 

[Red Rick]

You left someone out

I mean I hear Girmay also didn't see it coming.

 

[Aimar16]

I mean I hear Girmay also didn't see it coming.

He still has one healthy eye left tho

 

[MADRAZO]

Its at least interesting to compare Intermarche in 2022 and so far now 2023 with Bahrain 2021 that everyone found highly suspicious. The improvements and odd comebacks of the riders have been almost in the same league. And if Meintjes and Hirt were comparable to Caruso, Haig or Padun for instance, then Girmays levelchange was also in the Colbrelli league despite his young age.

I dont want to conclude anything, but to be fair it should definetly get the same sort of raised eyebrows as Bahrain did.

 

[BR2]

You left someone out

At least Girmay wasn't an aging rider on his way down before.

 

[zlev11]

wonder who their doctor is, he must be really good

 

[SafeBet]

Team name says it all. It's a circus. Enjoy the freak show.

 

[pastronef]

Team name says it all. It's a circus. Enjoy the freak show.

freak show?
ok, they won 4 of the 5 Mallorca races
the won Valenciana with a late and smart attack

I'll call it a freak show when they beat Jumbo and UAE in their main races.
I mean, freak show ffs.

 

[SafeBet]

It's the one area of the forum where we can exaggerate our takes a bit. Of course they're not as ridiculous as Jumbo or prime Quickstep / Sky. Chill.

 

[Netserk]

Can't wait to see this by Wanty:

 

[search]

wonder who their doctor is, he must be really good

not the same one as last year anymore, at least. Joost de Maeseneer (formerly CSC and Astana) moved on to Israel this year and was replaced by Ortwin Schäfer (formerly Trek & Israel)

 

[Mayomaniac]

not the same one as last year anymore, at least. Joost de Maeseneer (formerly CSC and Astana) moved on to Israel this year and was replaced by Ortwin Schäfer (formerly Trek & Israel)

So you're telling me that Anglo-retirement home nation will be doing a lot better this season?

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Most people who play the CQ game will be well aware of the Wanty Factor

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

it sure is a circus at intermache wanty... they even pulled Rui Costa from the dead to winning

 

[PhiLiz]

Rui Costa recovering his long lost form is quite funny. Winning in Mallorca, why not? But he hasn't shown the form to do what he did at Comunitat Valenciana for quite a while. His good performance today at Malhão is also something he hasn't done for a while against strong competition. The rest of the team is arguably even more hilarious which should say it all.

At least I hope your WC from 2013 keeps it up. The meltdown will be hilarious.

 

[Black Betsy]

Team name says it all. It's a circus. Enjoy the freak show.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SspVjDjrGoA&ab_channel=WillHard84

 

[Mayomaniac]

Rui Costa recovering his long lost form is quite funny. Winning in Mallorca, why not? But he hasn't shown the form to do what he did at Comunitat Valenciana for quite a while. His good performance today at Malhão is also something he hasn't done for a while against strong competition. The rest of the team is arguably even more hilarious which should say it all.

At least I hope your WC from 2013 keeps it up. The meltdown will be hilarious.

For what it's worth he also started the last season with gc podiums in Oman and the Saudi Tour. If one wants to play devil's advocate you can argue that he has more chances to ride for himself at Wanty and is probably on a smaller contract with win bonuses, so pretty much the opposite of what was going on with him at UAE during the last few years (overpayed with very few chances to ride for himself). The Valenciana gc win was also a classic opportunistic Rui Costa win, not destroying the other gc riders with pure strength on a hard mtf.

But yeah, in the context of the whole team performing at that kind of level it does raise some questions.

 

[PhiLiz]

For what it's worth he also started the last season with gc podiums in Oman and the Saudi Tour. If one wants to play devil's advocate you can argue that he has more chances to ride for himself at Wanty and is probably on a smaller contract with win bonuses, so pretty much the opposite of what was going on with him at UAE during the last few years (overpayed with very few chances to ride for himself). The Valenciana gc win was also a classic opportunistic Rui Costa win, not destroying the other gc riders with pure strength on a hard mtf.

But yeah, in the context of the whole team performing at that kind of level it does raise some questions.

There's only one problem with that defense: last year in the Saudi he was third behind Van Gils, Buitrago and ahead of Tim Declercq, Danny van Poppel and Daniel Oss. Aside from Buitrago, who's pretty good in the kind of hills the Saudi Tour has to offer, it's not a great field and even as washed up as he look, he'd be up there most of the time. Oman had a better field and it was a tougher route but he was behind Hirt (who was starting his wonder season) and Masnada. Basically beat Gesbert and Charmig for the podium spot. Again, hardly big names.

At Comunitat Valencia he was with the best in the hardest mountain passes, staying up there with the likes of TGH, Bilbao, Vlasov, Landa and Carlos Rodriguez. I'll be very charitable and say that we may be looking at radically different stages of form and grant you the last stage was indeed very suited for his opportunistic race tactics (and I always love the backlash coming from the haters everytime he pulls it off) but it's still a kind of field where he hasn't been able to shine at a GC for several years even in races where he was supposed to be the leader.

All of this in the context of a team that clearly has leaped in performance over the last year really raises some eyebrows.

 

[yaco]

There's only one problem with that defense: last year in the Saudi he was third behind Van Gils, Buitrago and ahead of Tim Declercq, Danny van Poppel and Daniel Oss. Aside from Buitrago, who's pretty good in the kind of hills the Saudi Tour has to offer, it's not a great field and even as washed up as he look, he'd be up there most of the time. Oman had a better field and it was a tougher route but he was behind Hirt (who was starting his wonder season) and Masnada. Basically beat Gesbert and Charmig for the podium spot. Again, hardly big names.

At Comunitat Valencia he was with the best in the hardest mountain passes, staying up there with the likes of TGH, Bilbao, Vlasov, Landa and Carlos Rodriguez. I'll be very charitable and say that we may be looking at radically different stages of form and grant you the last stage was indeed very suited for his opportunistic race tactics (and I always love the backlash coming from the haters everytime he pulls it off) but it's still a kind of field where he hasn't been able to shine at a GC for several years even in races where he was supposed to be the leader.

All of this in the context of a team that clearly has leaped in performance over the last year really raises some eyebrows.

Do you realise that Costa was about the 6th to 8th best rider in Valenciana - He got dropped on the final climb and was lucky to rejoin on the descent.

 

[PhiLiz]

Do you realise that Costa was about the 6th to 8th best rider in Valenciana - He got dropped on the final climb and was lucky to rejoin on the descent.

Yes and even that is a step above what he has been doing lately. It's not "luck", it's a matter of having enough strength to remain within touching distance something he hasn't been able to to for a while. And he caught up with the lead group quite fast too, so he was never too far behind. I never suggested he was the best of the GC guys but I can see significant and odd improvements even if a rider doesn't destroy the field... Particularly if that comes at age 36.

It's certainly not as eyebrow raising as Hirt having a career season at age 31, but in the context of this team is, at least, suspicious.

 

[pastronef]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1626897624438644737

View: https://twitter.com/Cyclingnewsfeed/status/1626897624438644737