Is UAE Over the Top?

[yaco]

Why are the Anto-Doping authorities busting a 60 year amateur athlete. What a waste of resources!

 

[ColonelKidneyBeans]

Nah, I get what they mean. It seems a bit weird that if UAE are running a team wide doping program that has evaded detection for years, it would somehow involve Marc Soler meeting a banned soigneur in a public place. It doesn't convince me that the team is clean, but it does make me doubt some of the conspiracy theories that I read online.

I don't believe UAE has a team wide (as in involving nearly every rider) doping program. Soler didn't have a huge jump in performance there. But i do absolutely think they are doing something fishy with multiple riders, 20 july 2022 was really eye opening on that.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Remco raced in Mallorca and Valencia to get some confidence. He was winning Mickey mouse races, the first real test he had this season, he was humiliated and he expected to win UAE Tour. In Catalunya, he will be better but he will also have better competition and in better shape compared to early February (e.g. Almeida). I constantly see posts about Remco still didn't go to altitude and will improve significantly and I just ask "Is everyone bar Remco peaking in February?" Of course not, and a lot of gc riders didn't also go to altitude (e.g. Del Toro, Almeida).

If you look at who he beat in those Mickey mouse races and how they are faring since then i think you're hitting down too hard on remco. Having said that, i fully expect UAE to dominate this season. Cause in the words of someone else, they found some magical gains beyond whatever training the others are getting.

 

[canina82]

If you look at who he beat in those Mickey mouse races and how they are faring since then i think you're hitting down too hard on remco. Having said that, i fully expect UAE to dominate this season. Cause in the words of someone else, they found some magical gains beyond whatever training the others are getting.

Almeida is not good in punchy hills, specially in his first race. That's it. The rest was just poor competition.

 

[Rob5091]

Less is more for UAE apparently. Don't forget the visits to the gym -
https://velo.outsideonline.com/road...nal-cyclists-riding-less-low-volume-training/

UAE Emirates-XRG riders are in the gym three times a week doing very specific exercises.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Almeida is not good in punchy hills, specially in his first race. That's it. The rest was just poor competition.

You say that but a guy like Rondel for instance have been showing good results.

 

[canina82]

You say that but a guy like Rondel for instance have been showing good results.

What impressive results did he accomplish? There is no shame in admitting Remco went to these races to get some confidence inside his new team. But we need also to be realistic and say he was beating 3rd/4th tier riders (except Almeida like I said but he isn't also known for being a good puncheur). In Catalunya, we will know for sure where he is compared to world class riders.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Morgado is a solid rider. scaroni had some nice results (admittedly not against the best comp), rondel has been riding well enough and is currently sitting 8th in Paris Nice. Tiberi has ridden well.

I'm not saying he won anything major or that he did not ride to have a good start to the season before facing the bigger guns. But you are also looking down to hard on the rest of the peloton.

Not cause the rest aren't riding for UAE and can't benefit that they are chop liver.
Whilst it's true that there is UAE and the rest of the peloton fighting with unequal weapons, that don't mean the rest of the peloton is bad.

 

[canina82]

Morgado is a solid rider. scaroni had some nice results (admittedly not against the best comp), rondel has been riding well enough and is currently sitting 8th in Paris Nice. Tiberi has ridden well.

I'm not saying he won anything major or that he did not ride to have a good start to the season before facing the bigger guns. But you are also looking down to hard on the rest of the peloton.

Not cause the rest aren't riding for UAE and can't benefit that they are chop liver.
Whilst it's true that there is UAE and the rest of the peloton fighting with unequal weapons, that don't mean the rest of the peloton is bad.

I know this is an unpopular opinion and many will have their ego hurt.
The Clinic is more and more a place not known for being a place to have deep conversations about doping and more about a psychology session where a bunch of people reunit to unleash their rage and anger because their favorite rider isn't winning (nowadays, it's very normal to see Remco fans here).

Regarding this thread, no, I don't think UAE is doing something way better than other teams (e.g. Visma, Lidl, Bora) and facts prove what I am saying.
There is only one thing UAE do better and this is due to his insane budget: Buying talent.
Let's take a look:
Pogacar - he has been there since 2019. Won Tour de l'Avenir before. No one thought he would be this good but he was talented.

Hirschi - they brought him after winning FW and almost won LBL too. Never lived to expectations (he regressed as a rider tbh)

Wellens - always had nice results in classics with Lotto (not a great team), won stages in GTs before UAE (he has 5, 1 was with UAE). What Wellens really improved in UAE was his climbing ability. But this is such a "cliché thing" with GC teams. He probably never really put an effort in improving in the mountains because he was in Lotto (a classics team). We have so many examples of powerhorses who left classics teams and improved their climbing ability. Politt, Campenaerts, WVA, Matteo Jorgenson, Benoot (a lot from Visma too). I could tell you a lot of riders from the past too.

Narvaez - they brought him after his performance in the 2024 GdI where he beat Pogacar. He is very talented, UAE almost didn't do anything different with him. Probably improved his ability in the high mountains because he was training for that before the Tour. But let's not pretend he was climbing 4 or 5 kms in the front while dropping everyone. No, he was sprinting (zone 6) at the bottom of Hautacam and Combloux where others couldn't sprint because they still had 6 or 12 kms to climb.

Soler - is he really way better than what we saw from him in Movistar? No.

Sivakov - the same. He was in fact considered a big talent but UAE didn't change anything (nothing extraordinary with his work in the Tour). He is on his way to Decathlon now.

Del Toro - He is a talented rider, even before joining UAE. Sometimes they (UAE) are right.

Ayuso - he didn't live to expectations (was a huge talent just like Del Toro). Someone really believe he is worse in Lidl? I don't.

Almeida - huge young talent, they brought him from Quickstep.

McNulty - another talent they brought

Vine -was already very good before joining UAE. It's not like he is doing something otherwordly.

Yates - talented climber since GreenEdge. He improved a lot in 2023 (where he came to UAE).

Do you want to know more riders they had?
Ganna
Philipsen


Do they have a significant better doping program than most teams? I think so. Do they have a significant better doping program than Visma, Lidl or Bora? No, they don't.
They just are deeply talented due to their big budget and good scouting. Now imagine them with Hirschi, Ganna and Philipsen on their team. They would win 120 races.

Why is UAE talked so much? Because of Pogacar. His level is otherworldly but those who are not his fans (you included) just come here regularly saying he is bad for the sport. This only happens because some other riders fans (mainly Remco, I could write here 4 or 5 of them) can't stand the fact Remco is nowhere near the level of Pogacar in any race (except TTs). Now add, another young talent (Del Toro) who is also threatening his dream of winning the TdF (ending their thought of Remco winning the Tour after Vingegaard and Pogacar's decline) and it's the perfect storm.
I don't give much time until those fans start to hate on Seixas.

 

[KoopaCycling]

I have to disagree. I see a clear gap. Wellens for instance has clearly improved and he is in the twilight of his career atm. their lesser guys are also competing with the stars of other teams. people like Vine, Mcnulty Berg, Politt, Soler are all suspect as well when looking at some of their performances.

I also think they have a better doping program ever since Pogacar soundly beat Vingegaard a couple of years back.
The jump was ludicrous, and if you look at the jump in wins by UAE the difference also becomes quite clear.
From a stable 30 wins per season they went to 48, 57, 81, 97, and whatever it will be this year.

I see riders like WVA unable to even compete regularly in his 'own races'. I see MVDP able to compete only in a few as well. I see almost no-one able to consistently compete against UAE on GC. It's only the lesser secondary goals for UAE that remain competitive atm.