He was really good on the stage 4 MTF in the Vuelta, but he crashed hard on stage 6.Riccitello is a big miss for the team.
i wonder what prevents him to become a more impacting rider.
he showed in last TDS , that he can have the ability, but then he switched off.
I think even repeating the podium of last year will be good going for Pau.
they should take at least riccitello to the TDF, then you know who is getting the last seat...3m44 down on the first MTF is pretty bad, but everybody has off days and he bounced back on the next stage to bridge to the break and contested for the stage win. Quite a few of the remaining stages could be for the break (profile + 5 man teams), so am I hoping the team really tries with everyone to get in there.
According to Benson, Marti has signed up to the main team for two years.
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View: https://x.com/IsraelPremTech/status/1935246062182449166
Important renewal. He said the other week that he doesn't like the pressure of being the designated sprinter/leader which is a shame as he has the skill set to be that in the right race, but he'll still have chances now and then.
Now we just need a top sprinter for him to lead out.
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In less good news (not surprising though as we saw his lack of strava activity) is Williams being out for a prolonged time. Knee.
View: https://x.com/IsraelPremTech/status/1934665874704580977
Woods got sick at Suisse as well which means he'll be going to the Tour with three (maybe 4 if he does the Nats?) completed race days in four months....
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Finally it wasn't a bad sprint yesterday in Belgium from a bit of a scratch train - Frigo, Tene, Kogut etc. They got a bit swamped at the end, but left Vernon in a decent position. Obviously no chance though against Merlier.
or Dawg?I think even before Riccitello's crash today, Bennett had been put in as Williams replacement (according to PCS anyway). Last couple of spots are probably between Louvel/Boivin/Neilands.
That might be one of the best team announcement posters I've seen.
last year IPT had their best GT team ever, formed around Ackerman in sprints and Gee for the gc.Not the greatest start at the Tour. It was good to get three guys in the front split on stage 1, but I don't know what Ackermann was thinking. If you want to try and go early, you go at ~300m not at ~550m. That's a gamble that's never going to come off.
Some encouraging signs from Lutsenko on stage 2.
Not sure what happened today. Just saw a brief clip of the last few hundred metres with Ackermann looking down at his legs again and losing places.
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Another rumour from Benson the other day. Ryan Mullen.
It doesn't do much for me. It's a type of rider that the team probably needs - the second to last lead out guy, but I know from reading other forums that the Redbull fans there find him rather limited (gets dropped going over a bridge type limited) and they won't miss him from a sporting perspective. So yeah I'd hope the team could do better.