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Rider schedules and targets for 2023 (also rumours and opinions allowed)

Like in the last years the off season thread, where we can discuss the riders' targets and schedules for the next season.

It is also possible to discuss personal opinions or rumours in the thread. However, to avoid confusion, it would be helpful, that it´s possible to read from the post whether it is a confirmed schedule of the rider or the team or whether it is just a rumour or a personal opinion.

In my opinion, the news from UAE in the last few days has already been very interesting. It seems as if they have already allocated their GC leaders Pogacar -> Tour, Almeida -> Giro, Ayuso -> Vuelta relatively clearly for next year.

Otherwise, Thomas has already said that he could imagine riding the Giro instead of the Tour next year.

In my eyes the most interesting decicion will be, if Jumbo will send Roglic to the giro or as second leader to the tour next year. For Evenepoel I think it´s more or less clear, that he will do to the giro..
 
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Regarding UAE is going to be interesting if there will be a second GT for Almeida and Pogacar. Doing the Vuelta after the Giro would be the logical step for Almeida but if there is indeed a TTT in the Tour, the team is going to be tempted to send him to the Tour because there are not much better options for that kind of effort.

For Pogacar, it will be his fifth professional season so I expect many to hope that he finally rides the Vuelta after the Tour. However if Ayuso is indeed going to ride just the Vuelta and if Almeida also rides it there will not be much of a reason for Pogi to ride the Vuelta unless he fails to win anything major before it whether it is the Tour or a monument before it but even then he could always ride Lombardia again where he would be favourite although I don't think a win there would be enough to secure his place as the number 1 rider in the world.

As for MVDP, it seems that he will ride the classics (cobbled ones and I suppose Strade and MSR before them) and the Tour + World Championships.
 
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I personally would like to see Vlasov do Giro, Hindley/Higuita Tour, and Vuelta tbd for Bora. Based on the reports, little time trial kilometers look to be in the Tour de France, and the ones that are there appear to potentially be mountainous, so the weaker TTers should go there, while an all around rider like Vlasov could do very well at the Giro next year. This is all speculation of course.
 
I personally would like to see Vlasov do Giro, Hindley/Higuita Tour, and Vuelta tbd for Bora. Based on the reports, little time trial kilometers look to be in the Tour de France, and the ones that are there appear to potentially be mountainous, so the weaker TTers should go there, while an all around rider like Vlasov could do very well at the Giro next year. This is all speculation of course.

Vlasov is usually not a great flat ITTer. Not a high mountain tappone specialist, either.

The team may send him to the Giro but I doubt it will be a staggering success.
 
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Regarding UAE is going to be interesting if there will be a second GT for Almeida and Pogacar. Doing the Vuelta after the Giro would be the logical step for Almeida but if there is indeed a TTT in the Tour, the team is going to be tempted to send him to the Tour because there are not much better options for that kind of effort.

For Pogacar, it will be his fifth professional season so I expect many to hope that he finally rides the Vuelta after the Tour. However if Ayuso is indeed going to ride just the Vuelta and if Almeida also rides it there will not be much of a reason for Pogi to ride the Vuelta unless he fails to win anything major before it whether it is the Tour or a monument before it but even then he could always ride Lombardia again where he would be favourite although I don't think a win there would be enough to secure his place as the number 1 rider in the world.

As for MVDP, it seems that he will ride the classics (cobbled ones and I suppose Strade and MSR before them) and the Tour + World Championships.
UAE will definitely have some issues to satisfy all their leaders in the future. For next year the plan seems solid with Almeida to the giro, Pogacar to the tour and Ayuso to the vuelta.
Ayuso 3rd place with 19 years is a big statement. He has a long time contract until 2028 as well as Almeida until 2026 and Pogacar until 2027. Almeida has been signed with the words: "Almeida didn´t come to us to work for anyone". Whether it stays that way depends, of course, on his further development. Ayuso is a super talent and would of course like to achieve the biggest prices in cycling in the future. For 2023 it will still work I think. It could be in the end the same allocation of their leaders like this year. Perhaps a switch from Almeida from vuelta to tour support and perhaps Pogacar as an adition to the vuelta, but otherwise the same..
 
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Vlasov is usually not a great flat ITTer. Not a high mountain tappone specialist, either.

The team may send him to the Giro but I doubt it will be a staggering success.
Vlasov has been pretty good this year until the tour. He catched Covid just a week before the tour and then crashed hard in the first week. Therefore the 5th place as a result was still good, but his time difference to Vingegaard and Pogacar was pretty high with 15 minutes in the end.. GC wise Bora also have Hindley. Higuita in the end only delivered in week long races and one day races, but not in the grand tour. Buchmann´s days as GC leader are over I think.. Interesting will be if they let ride Uijtdebroeks his first grand tour in 2023.
 
Vlasov has been pretty good this year until the tour. He catched Covid just a week before the tour and then crashed hard in the first week. Therefore the 5th place as a result was still good, but his time difference to Vingegaard and Pogacar was pretty high with 15 minutes in the end.. GC wise Bora also have Hindley. Higuita in the end only delivered in week long races and one day races, but not in the grand tour. Buchmann´s days as GC leader are over I think.. Interesting will be if they let ride Uijtdebroeks his first grand tour in 2023.


Probably a tough decision after the Tour route is announced for the Bora Management and the riders. I guess an Hindley in form is the better climber, but Vlasov was quite good at the end of the Tour in the high mountain stages. Probably both have almost no chance to compete in the Tour for the podium and a significant better chance in the Giro. Both to the Giro could be also an option if Bennett + stage hunters are the plan for the Tour. But honestly: should that even be a consideration in his last contract year? the plan for Bora should be to put someone really talented like Kooij behind van Poppel and they probably would be a force in every sprint they compete in (that's if Bora is even interested in sprinting anymore.

There's at the moment no reporting in the German media, so my mock teams are just pure speculation:

Giro: Vlasov, Higuita + a trusted domestique squad (Aleotti, gamper, Zwiehoff, benedetti, maybe even Jungels)

Tour: Hindley, 2-3 german crowd pleasers (Politt, Schachmann, Buchmann, Kämna), Konrad + Sprint Train or just stage hunters (van Poppel, Haller, Jungels)

Vuelta: Maybe Cian first GT + GT leaders who can get in form or Bennet + Sprint train
 
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Probably a tough decision after the Tour route is announced for the Bora Management and the riders. I guess an Hindley in form is the better climber, but Vlasov was quite good at the end of the Tour in the high mountain stages. Probably both have almost no chance to compete in the Tour for the podium and a significant better chance in the Giro. Both to the Giro could be also an option if Bennett + stage hunters are the plan for the Tour. But honestly: should that even be a consideration in his last contract year? the plan for Bora should be to put someone really talented like Kooij behind van Poppel and they probably would be a force in every sprint they compete in (that's if Bora is even interested in sprinting anymore.

There's at the moment no reporting in the German media, so my mock teams are just pure speculation:

Giro: Vlasov, Higuita + a trusted domestique squad (Aleotti, gamper, Zwiehoff, benedetti, maybe even Jungels)

Tour: Hindley, 2-3 german crowd pleasers (Politt, Schachmann, Buchmann, Kämna), Konrad + Sprint Train or just stage hunters (van Poppel, Haller, Jungels)

Vuelta: Maybe Cian first GT + GT leaders who can get in form or Bennet + Sprint train
I think having to shove the Germans into the Tour each year just makes it harder for them to achieve any results which is counterproductive for the whole „Make the Germans interested in cycling“ thing. Then again, it would also help if they weren’t all constantly sick.
 
I would like to see Bora sending Vlasov, Uijtdebroeks and Kämna to the Giro. Kämna is an attacker and a good Time trialists. Vlasov is good in Time Trials as well. It might be a good chance to take a step for Kämna as a GC thread. And if it's not working he is still a good mountain domestique.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Jumbo sends Olav Koji and two out of Keldermann, Kruiswijk and Roglic to the Giro. I would be very surprised if Vingegaard rides the Giro, but it would suit him well. (at least he didn't fully close the door for it)
 
I would like to see Bora sending Vlasov, Uijtdebroeks and Kämna to the Giro. Kämna is an attacker and a good Time trialists. Vlasov is good in Time Trials as well. It might be a good chance to take a step for Kämna as a GC thread. And if it's not working he is still a good mountain domestique.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Jumbo sends Olav Koji and two out of Keldermann, Kruiswijk and Roglic to the Giro. I would be very surprised if Vingegaard rides the Giro, but it would suit him well. (at least he didn't fully close the door for it)


I agree with most points that were made in the posts above. Cian to the Giro won't be happening. I think it's planned to not ride a GT at all and if they do one then it's certainly La Vuelta. As LR mentioned on the Podcast...that giro would be child abuse for someone like Cian.

What to do with Kämna? Idk...would be nice if they wouldn't do so much to ruin his career. Starting the Tour last year was just stupid. After the end of last year I think GC Kämna and Schachmann are not possible in 2023. That leaves of course more room for other goals with kelderman and Großschartner out the door.

Based on the route rumours and without knowledge about health I would propose the following:

Giro: Vlasov as leader, Higuita as co-leader, Jungels in the kelderman role, Gamper, Zwiehoff, Aleotti, Haller, Konrad for mostly stages and satelitte duty.

Tour: Hindley for GC, Buchmann as domestique, Schachmann, Kämna, Politt all for stages, Bennett, van Poppel, Mullen (or maybe Schelling if he's any good again)

The other good GC Teams:

Jumbo:

Giro - give Koji a chance and maybe Foss/kelderman can try for a top 10
Tour - the whole bus Vinge, Roglic, van Aert, Kuss, NvH, Benoot... would be reasonable to just run this team back.

UAE:

Giro: Almeida seems like a lock, I can't see Ayuso there but maybe UAE will surprise me. Soler and A. Yates could be there.
Tour: Pogacar, Ayuso, Trentin, Wellens, Bjerg, McNulty, Novak, Majka would be my choice

Ineos:

Giro: Thomas with another podium if he can stay on the bike, Martinez, Arensman, Ganna, Plapp, Tulett to build the best supporting cast in the Giro
Tour: Pidcock, Bernal, Rodriguez, Sheffiueld, Turner, Sivakov

Other Contender:

Giro: Remco, Landa, Caruso, Carapaz, Carthy, Quintana, Vine (depending on team)
Tour: O'Connor, Gaudu, Bardet, Mas, Haig, Bilbao, S.Yates
 
I agree with most points that were made in the posts above. Cian to the Giro won't be happening. I think it's planned to not ride a GT at all and if they do one then it's certainly La Vuelta. As LR mentioned on the Podcast...that giro would be child abuse for someone like Cian.

What to do with Kämna? Idk...would be nice if they wouldn't do so much to ruin his career. Starting the Tour last year was just stupid. After the end of last year I think GC Kämna and Schachmann are not possible in 2023. That leaves of course more room for other goals with kelderman and Großschartner out the door.

Based on the route rumours and without knowledge about health I would propose the following:

Giro: Vlasov as leader, Higuita as co-leader, Jungels in the kelderman role, Gamper, Zwiehoff, Aleotti, Haller, Konrad for mostly stages and satelitte duty.

Tour: Hindley for GC, Buchmann as domestique, Schachmann, Kämna, Politt all for stages, Bennett, van Poppel, Mullen (or maybe Schelling if he's any good again)

The other good GC Teams:

Jumbo:

Giro - give Koji a chance and maybe Foss/kelderman can try for a top 10
Tour - the whole bus Vinge, Roglic, van Aert, Kuss, NvH, Benoot... would be reasonable to just run this team back.

UAE:

Giro: Almeida seems like a lock, I can't see Ayuso there but maybe UAE will surprise me. Soler and A. Yates could be there.
Tour: Pogacar, Ayuso, Trentin, Wellens, Bjerg, McNulty, Novak, Majka would be my choice

Ineos:

Giro: Thomas with another podium if he can stay on the bike, Martinez, Arensman, Ganna, Plapp, Tulett to build the best supporting cast in the Giro
Tour: Pidcock, Bernal, Rodriguez, Sheffiueld, Turner, Sivakov

Other Contender:

Giro: Remco, Landa, Caruso, Carapaz, Carthy, Quintana, Vine (depending on team)
Tour: O'Connor, Gaudu, Bardet, Mas, Haig, Bilbao, S.Yates
Nice detailed forecast. I also think, that Kooij definetly deserves a GT spot next year. Because Jumbo always focuses their tour squad for GC, the giro would be the obvious choice, but could still be a difficult issue, if Roglic will ride the giro for GC, but let´s see.
I think the tour will have less TT kilometers, so could be possible that more climbers without TT skills will prefer the tour rather then the giro this year. One obvious candidate for this is Carapaz. He explained his switch to EF with the opoortunity to lead the team for the tour GC, so I think he can be locked in for the tour. I think Ayuso will go for Vuelta GC, at least he said this. 2 GC will be two much for his age I think. I am also interested in Rodriguez GC plans for next year...
 
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