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Teams & Riders Matteo Jorgenson has now outclassed his peers from the Chambery-system

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42 minute video, what's the tldw?
He provides a recap of the Tour. I think he undersells his performance a bit. "It's not like 8th in GC is gonna change anything." But he's happy that he performed well deep into the third week of a grand tour and that he did good time trials. His CdA has improved a lot at Visma.

For the Olympic road race, he thinks the Belgian squad is the team to beat. But that it will be a really hard race to control. Matteo thinks a solo rider will win the race.
 
He provides a recap of the Tour. I think he undersells his performance a bit. "It's not like 8th in GC is gonna change anything." But he's happy that he performed well deep into the third week of a grand tour and that he did good time trials. His CdA has improved a lot at Visma.

For the Olympic road race, he thinks the Belgian squad is the team to beat. But that it will be a really hard race to control. Matteo thinks a solo rider will win the race.
He has to laugh when the guy from CM says Van der Poel is the overwhelming favorite for the OG RR, "you really think so?".

He picks Evenepoel to finish solo. The peloton only has 90 riders, of which roughly 30 are pack fodder, teams are small so the race will be difficult to control. That also means unlike at a big classic, monument or even WCC, that positioning is far less a factor. So riders that are good at positioning, lose that advantage. The city course starts a lot closer to the finish than in the '23 WCC, the peloton will be much smaller, teams weaker/smaller. On average riders will be riding in the wind a lot more/earlier (the peloton is much smaller and a lot of the riders aren't WT level and will drop early). There are no radios. All of that screams chaos and a long hard race.
 
Yes, I think the most likely outcome for the Olympic RR is Remco wins solo. He is going very well right now with a TdF podium and TT gold medal in his back pocket.

But Jorgenson was immense for Vingegaard at the Tour. Team strength is blunted in the Olympics so that also falls in Remco’s favour despite the depth of Belgium. Other teams won’t be able to counter Belgium.
 
Yes, I think the most likely outcome for the Olympic RR is Remco wins solo. He is going very well right now with a TdF podium and TT gold medal in his back pocket.

But Jorgenson was immense for Vingegaard at the Tour. Team strength is blunted in the Olympics so that also falls in Remco’s favour despite the depth of Belgium. Other teams won’t be able to counter Belgium.
Would be hilarious if Jorgenson beats Evenepoel again because he wasn’t considered a threat.
 
Matteo's preview of the Olympic road race, with Scottish cycling punter David Hunter (Cyclingmole):

View: https://youtu.be/2O_Plpsck5k?feature=shared


It made it all the way to Sporza:

Matteo's discussion with Mitch Docker is terrific. I learned a lot about differences in teams. He comes across as such a friendly, intelligent, humble guy.

View: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6YRwOlM1tZQLdlyl0h4sCg?si=oujJQvVJRu-ae_U2yg3fBA
 
He has to laugh when the guy from CM says Van der Poel is the overwhelming favorite for the OG RR, "you really think so?".

He picks Evenepoel to finish solo. The peloton only has 90 riders, of which roughly 30 are pack fodder, teams are small so the race will be difficult to control. That also means unlike at a big classic, monument or even WCC, that positioning is far less a factor. So riders that are good at positioning, lose that advantage. The city course starts a lot closer to the finish than in the '23 WCC, the peloton will be much smaller, teams weaker/smaller. On average riders will be riding in the wind a lot more/earlier (the peloton is much smaller and a lot of the riders aren't WT level and will drop early). There are no radios. All of that screams chaos and a long hard race.
All of that turned out to be true right up to the crash that had Remco on the front side of it. The way he nuked those climbs there was scant opportunity to catch, or catch breath.