Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

[carton]

I think in general Unzue is making the right call in that Movistar needs a rebuild. And evidently, they can't do an Ineos-like rebuild on the fly. I mean, they already lost their three top GC-men, they have a limited budget, and the most precocious talents (Bernal, Sivakov, Evenepoel, Pogacar) have already found a WT home. So nice and easy does it for them. They have to hope that Mas's 2019 was just a blip and focus on building the team up again for Grand Tours, which is where they have always excelled. This is a very hard call to make when you just won the Giro, and why Inzue is still in the game after almost four decades.

On Acquadro, it seems like a weird power trip for an agent to go on, and the whole Sosa deal was very shady. But then again I don't know what happened between Unzue and Acquadro, or Unzue and ... (Indurain, Olano, Quintana, Landa, Carapaz, J ...) So I also think that Unzue has to look within himself a bit more as to why his relationships with his team leaders seem to keep breaking down. But then again the fact that he still seems to have given Quintana team leadership for the Vuelta even though he's leaving is another example of why he's such a good DS despite all the crap he gets.

Edited as per Blanco's correction. Thanks, Blanco! BTW how does that even happen...smdh.

 

[Blanco]

I think in general Inzue is making the right call in that Movistar needs a rebuild. And evidently, they can't do an Ineos-like rebuild on the fly. I mean, they already lost their three top GC-men, they have a limited budget, and the most precocious talents (Bernal, Sivakov, Evenepoel, Pogacar) have already found a WT home. So nice and easy does it for them. They have to hope that Mas's 2019 was just a blip and focus on building the team up again for Grand Tours, which is where they have always excelled. This is a very hard call to make when you just won the Giro, and why Inzue is still in the game after almost four decades.

On Acquadro, it seems like a weird power trip for an agent to go on, and the whole Sosa deal was very shady. But then again I don't know what happened between Inzue and Acquadro, or Inzue and ... (Indurain, Olano, Quintana, Landa, Carapaz, J ...) So I also think that Inzue has to look within himself a bit more as to why his relationships with his team leaders seem to keep breaking down. But then again the fact that he still seems to have given Quintana team leadership for the Vuelta even though he's leaving is another example of why he's such a good DS despite all the crap he gets.

Unzue...

 

[Escarabajo]

I'm not sure if movistar will survive to valverde's retirement

They would hire him as a coach!

 

[Nirvana]

I'm not sure if movistar will survive to valverde's retirement

My fear is more Telefonica wanting to pull the plug, this spring they extended the sponsorship only for two years and at a reported lower amount of money compared to the current deal and that despite they stopped to sponsor the MotoGP team that was a way bigger cost than the cycling one. And nowadays looks very hard to replace a sponsor that leaves to carry on.

 

[Noddy97]

WHAT A JOKE! All riding for their own ambitions

 

[luckyboy]

That was ridiculous, yeah.

 

[tobydawq]

Why is it that everybody thinks it's better to have one rider just to tanking everything? Valverde attacked behind Quintana yes, but he sure as hell didn't make either Roglic or López get closer.

And of course Valverde wants to keep close in the GC as well.

 

[del1962]

Soler still not happy when he crossed line

 

[Blanco]

So, is the call for Soler to stop been right or wrong?
Given the result I would say wrong...

 

[roundabout]

They have 2 stage wins and 2 major GC rivals were behind Quintana so I don't get what the whole show was

 

[Noddy97]

If roglic had an accident with a moto, we can assume quintana attacked valverde in the gravel section?

 

[Valv.Piti]

They have 2 stage wins and 2 major GC rivals were behind Quintana so I don't get what the whole show was

Exactly.

Ineos doing the same is just smart tactics, even though Thomas' attack on Galibier was extremely counterproductive to Bernal, while Valverde's attack wasn't to Quintana. Stop acting like Valverde attacking somehow is helping Lopez and Roglic in this situation. Lopez was on the ropes and Roglic wasn't even in the group! I mean, seriously, have you ridden your bike on a mountain before? Y'all seem a bit dumb actually.

Soler however, I understand his frustrations, but it was the right call in the moment. I think Pogacar would have killed him off anyways.

 

[Koronin]

IMO when they asked Soler to come back was wrong. If they were going to ask him to come back to help it needed to have been before the final 3KM. Once they got to the final 3KM he should have been left alone as it wasn't going to do any good and IMO it didn't do any good. Plus now you have another rider who isn't going to be happy on that team bus.
As for Valverde, it's been said from the start he's there to race for himself. So he's more than free by the team to attack and try to get time on Lopez and Roglic. Also once Roglic caught him they shared the work and I think Roglic actually did more work than Valverde, whom you could see what at his limit by the time they got to the finish. However, I'm encouraged with how Valverde rode today.

 

[movingtarget]

Weird even by Movistar's standards. Oddly they did everything right in the Giro except for not giving Roglic the knock out punch in the final week which should have put Landa on the podium. Maybe the Giro without Valverde and Quintana was more straightforward...............

 

[ice&fire]

So, is the call for Soler to stop been right or wrong?
Given the result I would say wrong...

Yes. Having Soler alone leading the race when Roglic was with Kuss and MAL with Fuglsang was wrong. Soler should have been asked to stop earlier.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Yes. Having Soler alone leading the race when Roglic was with Kuss and MAL with Fuglsang was wrong. Soler should have been asked to stop earlier.

Agreed, Soler should basically never have been in this position. But apart from his antics today, who can really put a finger on the performance? Lopez and Rogla seem slightly stronger overall, but still they gained a decent amount of time and got the jersey. They have won 2 stages as well....

I just dont get it. Especially commentators who actually get paid seem completely and utterly clueless and is just closing their eyes and running with this MOVISTAR IS ILLOYAL, WHAT A CRAP TEAM-narrative no matter what. Even when they bossed the Giro, apparently it was more due to sheer luck and anything they did. I dno man. Maybe I shouldn't read forums, twitter and watch the race on mute.

 

[Escarabajo]

Weird even by Movistar's standards. Oddly they did everything right in the Giro except for not giving Roglic the knock out punch in the final week which should have put Landa on the podium. Maybe the Giro without Valverde and Quintana was more straightforward...............

I think they benefited from Carapaz flying under the radar. Impossible to do that with Valverde or Quintana.

 

[Blanco]

IMO when they asked Soler to come back was wrong. If they were going to ask him to come back to help it needed to have been before the final 3KM. Once they got to the final 3KM he should have been left alone as it wasn't going to do any good and IMO it didn't do any good. Plus now you have another rider who isn't going to be happy on that team bus.
As for Valverde, it's been said from the start he's there to race for himself. So he's more than free by the team to attack and try to get time on Lopez and Roglic. Also once Roglic caught him they shared the work and I think Roglic actually did more work than Valverde, whom you could see what at his limit by the time they got to the finish. However, I'm encouraged with how Valverde rode today.

Valverde didn't worked at all, nor he should've

 

[Blanco]

They rode really good, up until that Soler call. That staff ruined things.

 

[Escarabajo]

I don't think Valverde did anything wrong. Both Valverde and Quintana were working together to get a gap on Roglic. Which finally happened. IMHO.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I don't think Valverde did anything wrong. Both Valverde and Quintana were working together to get a gap on Roglic. Which finally happened. IMHO.

Exactly. How some retards have managed to distort reality and create this extremely annoying narrative and is shouting that on repeat no matter what basically is just laughable. Dont listen to those people. Their logic basically is: See a couple of Movistar riders in the front --> typing and yelling stupid things like they actively is riding against each other.

 

[Red Rick]

Soler waiting made sense. Valverde attacking after Quintana was already gone is kinda questionable imo. Really depended on what you prioritise in that situation, and if you want to maximise gains on Roglic either of them going solo is kinda weird unless Quintana was clearly better, in which case why is Valverde still attacking Lopez anyway if he's really on the limit.

Anyway, today it was a very minor thing. Valverde starting the hostilities on Javalambre when Quintana was bad is a different story though.

 

[movingtarget]

I think they benefited from Carapaz flying under the radar. Impossible to do that with Valverde or Quintana.

Well Carapaz finished fourth in the Giro the year before and was a podium possibility in my eyes. The team seemed to unite behind Carapaz quite easily. Maybe less ego involved.

 

[DFA123]

So, is the call for Soler to stop been right or wrong?
Given the result I would say wrong...

Right call. They are in the red jersey. Quintana and Pogacar would have caught Soler before the line anyway.

 

[SHAD0W93]

You can't question Quintana attacking Valverde either. He is a worse TT and the more time he has on Roglic the better for the team going into the ITT.