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Teams & Riders Team Visma - Lease a Bike

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Leave TTTs to one days and Hammer Series where they rightfully belong
They dont though, its not some totally new concept and goes a long way back (how long I cant remember and I cant really bother to look it up). I always loved to watch these long TTTs in the 00's and still do.. ONCE, CSC, Telekom and US Postal. That was dope. Recently, they are not quite as interesting since they generally are very short, which I do understand since it obviously has the potential to kill off a race. But seriously, give me one medium length TTT over a classic transition stage towards the Alps any day of the week (who is won by a sprinter we forget the name off the day after - well, I do). The opening 10 km TTT Im not that fond off though - they are pretty meaningless to me. Also, as was pointed out earlier, these teams are super professional and rarely tend to just completely throw their races - the timelosses and rather marginal, especially for the bigger teams, so it cant really hurt that much and it IS a great spectacle to watch. 2-3 hours of great action compared to your average sprinter stage.
 
“Good managers learn everyday and I learnt a lot from this case,” he added.

“Every athlete is different and if you want the best from their potential then you need to look at each rider differently. That’s the core of how we work, we make the athlete the centre of everything. If you have a situation where the athlete doesn’t believe in what they’re doing, then the outcome won't be success, it will be frustration.

"We’ve learned that and Tom is proof that we create independent athletes who make their own choices. If they’re young you need to let them own their own development. And with Tom we let him take a step back and explore his programme. That’s why it’s really his success, this silver medal. We’ve been behind him but Tom really took things in his own hands and it’s a big compliment for him.”
Maybe DSM could learn from this as well lol
 
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Looks decent but not Ineos level. And possibly highly variable depending on how good Kuss is?

I don't think there's many stages where strenght in numbers ends up super critical, unless Roglic finds himself in a position where he needs to attack himself and make the race hard.

If Roglic is at his best, it's just very hard for me to see him lose.
 
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Looks decent but not Ineos level. And possibly highly variable depending on how good Kuss is?

Sure, for example I expect Roglic could be isolated at the end of some climbs (I also expect Oomen to be better than Kruijswijk), but I'd call that team "homogenous" IMO. Everyone will know what they've got to do & the leadership question isn't even a question, unlike over at Ineos where there's really 3 guys on paper who can expect to have a shot at winning the overall.

I also note the return of Addy Engels as sporting director (no Frans Maassen this year). That brings back memories (some good, some sh*tty).
 
Sure, for example I expect Roglic could be isolated at the end of some climbs (I also expect Oomen to be better than Kruijswijk), but I'd call that team "homogenous" IMO. Everyone will know what they've got to do & the leadership question isn't even a question, unlike over at Ineos where there's really 3 guys on paper who can expect to have a shot at winning the overall.

I also note the return of Addy Engels as sporting director (no Frans Maassen this year). That brings back memories (some good, some sh*tty).
Don't think Ineos will have 3 leaders for very long. If they have 3 leaders they'll have a hard time drilling the climbs unless someone else does it.

Picon Blanco on stage 3 should basically already show where everyone stands. From that point the MTFs aren't actually that hard until Lagos de Covadonga. Apart from Ballesteros there's no real climbs to go long range and tricky either IMO.
 
Not the strongest team but not that bad either. I expect to see some good cycling not only regarding some team domination. Individual quality should play a bigger role on this race.

P.S. Too bad Pogačar decided against participating. Then Vuelta would likely easily take the GT crown this year.
 
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I would say Kruijswijk is more reliable and consistent. Maybe he also adds more to the team with his experience and is better in a domestic role, compared to Bennett.

That Bennett is leaving could be a deciding factor, of course, but on the other hand he won Gran Piemonte last year and came second in Lombardia. Maybe he rather ride for himself in the Italian races, than as a domestic all in for Roglic, so perhaps we dont have to feel too bad for him.
 
I guess they just still rate Kruijswijk higher no matter what. It's not like Bennett had a great Giro either.
probably in part due to weather... but he helped Foss secure a top-10.

If Kruijswijk had the same legs he probably wouldn't have pulled much. And yes, he's overpaid because he's a Dutch rider on a Dutch team. Heard on Sporza that he's on a big contract. JV probably effed up when they renewed.

Bennett will probably be the last one of Pogacar's doms to drop in the 2022 Tour. I'm calling it now ;-/

I would say Kruijswijk is more reliable and consistent. Maybe he also adds more to the team with his experience and is better in a domestic role, compared to Bennett.

That Bennett is leaving could be a deciding factor, of course, but on the other hand he won Gran Piemonte last year and came second in Lombardia. Maybe he rather ride for himself in the Italian races, than as a domestic all in for Roglic, so perhaps we dont have to feel too bad for him.
Up until now Bennett has been way better in a support role, IMO, even if they both like to race for themselves.
 

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