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Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

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Good stage by Enric Sastre. I thought he would lose a lot more time yesterday, but recovered well on that occasion and did a great stage today. He probably would have won if not for Pogacar today. Overall, not the best race, but an extremely consistent rider that has the ability to win the Tour alá Sastre - but then again, so does a lot of riders.
 
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Good stage by Enric Sastre. I thought he would lose a lot more time yesterday, but recovered well on that occasion and did a great stage today. He probably would have won if not for Pogacar today. Overall, not the best race, but an extremely consistent rider that has the ability to win the Tour alá Sastre - but then again, so does a lot of riders.

That’s Enric Mancebo to you
 
Mas is fine, yes he's no Contador or Slovenian but if things go his way he could easily sneak a podium at some point, people frown upon 5-10th in Grand Tours too easily.

I also enjoy memeing Movistar but the plan to go with Mas and Lopez for GC overall was solid, just unlucky with Lopez being out of the picture right away. Their main problem is that they too often want to show off their ambition as a GC contender by doing weird train stuff or overall just playing Ineos lite. Bora are showing with Keldermann how its done, trust your GC leader to stay up there and fight on his own and focus the rest of the team on stage wins. Mas would be exactly where he is if he'd rode for Arkea. I mean he says on the netflix series that he feels "calmer" with Valverde being around him but is that really worth having guys around you till the bottom of the final climb where Ineos/JV/UAE inevitably up the pace and everyone around him gets dropped?

(To be fair, "going for stage wins" is also easier said than done, look at Astana this tour, absolute no show)
 
Mas is fine, yes he's no Contador or Slovenian but if things go his way he could easily sneak a podium at some point, people frown upon 5-10th in Grand Tours too easily.

I also enjoy memeing Movistar but the plan to go with Mas and Lopez for GC overall was solid, just unlucky with Lopez being out of the picture right away. Their main problem is that they too often want to show off their ambition as a GC contender by doing weird train stuff or overall just playing Ineos lite. Bora are showing with Keldermann how its done, trust your GC leader to stay up there and fight on his own and focus the rest of the team on stage wins. Mas would be exactly where he is if he'd rode for Arkea. I mean he says on the netflix series that he feels "calmer" with Valverde being around him but is that really worth having guys around you till the bottom of the final climb where Ineos/JV/UAE inevitably up the pace and everyone around him gets dropped?

(To be fair, "going for stage wins" is also easier said than done, look at Astana this tour, absolute no show)

To be fair to Mas with his comments about Valverde, Valverde can be a calming influence on his teammates simply by his presence due to his experience and knowledge. Remember Valverde has 9 GT GC podiums (yes mostly in la Vuelta) along with 20 GT GC top 10's, so his experience would be very valuable to a young GC rider who is learning.
 
Mas is a super dom riding as a leader.

They can give him another season and see if anything changes but they need to be planning what comes next if they want to contest GC
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So how come Juan Ayuso is going to UAE and not to Movistar?
Ayuso will be 23 when his contract expires.

The thing with Mas is that the team needs to take a more active training approach in the offseason and need to spend more time in the wind tunnel.

In his 2nd and 3rd GT with Quick Step, Mas finished in the Top 10 in both TTs. Since he’s gone to Movistar, he’s regressed a lot in the discipline. They’ve never been known for their TT prowess as a team since Indurain, but both Mas and Soler should have performed at a higher level than they have been.

Also, if he wants to fight for the yellow jersey or podium at the TDF, then he needs to be all in over the offseason.

I understand that being a Spanish leader of the premier Spanish team means that being ready for La Vuelta is arguably the biggest objective of the year, but Mas came into the year undercooked I presume so that he could reach his first peak at the TDF and then ride La Vuelta near top condition.

Mas is talented enough to contend at Le Tour. Obviously the emergence of a young super talent like Pogacar, and to a slightly lesser extent Bernal and now Vingegaard, makes that goal a lot more difficult. However if he wants a shot, he can’t come into the season with a low base where he isn’t competitive until the Tour and carry his form into La Vuelta. If he wants to podium at the TDF (much less win it) then he needs to start the season with a much higher base fitness. That doesn’t mean he has to win Andalucía, Cataluña, País Vasco, and podium at the Dauphine ala Contador, but he needs to be in good enough shape to win more than a stage in Valencia.

Instead two major goals, focus on being in top condition for the Tour if he wants to be on the podium (or win). If the goal is to win the Vuelta (which is an attainable goal), then ride the Giro for GC or go for stages at the TDF. Trying to win or podium both in the same year is just going to be to difficult with the level of Pogacar, Roglic, and Bernal, plus Carapaz.

If Hart could win a GT, I have no doubt that Mas can. He just has to focus on it. Mas was a stronger rider than both Hart and Sivakov as an u23 rider. And Carapaz was a GC outsider until he was 26 years old.

Mas still has time to improve, but the 23 yo generation seems to have completely surpassed the guys that are 25-28 years old, and it’s going to be much more difficult.
 
But a super dom finished 2nd in the Giro and another could do the same in the Tour.
Plenty of riders have transitioned to Super Dom with a better palmares than Mas. At the same age as Mas, Majka had 3 Tour stage wins, 2 polka dot jerseys, and a Vuelta podium.

Mas might be a good support rider in the Tour who gets his own opportunities at the Vuelta/Giro, but he does not look like the kind of rider you bank all your GC Grand Tour investment in. His other alternative, is to switch to classics/stage hunting a la Mollema.
 
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Plenty of riders have transitioned to Super Dom with a better palmares than Mas. At the same age as Mas, Majka had 3 Tour stage wins, 2 polka dot jerseys, and a Vuelta podium.

Mas might be a good support rider in the Tour who gets his own opportunities at the Vuelta/Giro, but he does not look like the kind of rider you bank all your GC Grand Tour investment in. His other alternative, is to switch to classics/stage hunting a la Mollema.

Mas is certainly not going to be a good one day racer, that would be by far the most unsuited career path.
 
It's funny how 26 years old guy, who has Vuelta podium plus 3 straight top 5 GT finishes is already downgraded to Super Dom. By this rate anyone bar Roglic, Pogacar, Bernal and maybe Carapaz should be domestique. Yes, he is not (yet) good enough to fight for an overall win, neither explosive enough to win stages but if stars align he can podium a GT, maybe even win one. Heck, Steven Kruijswijk nearly won a Giro and podiumed the Tour. Mas is not worse than him.
 
Who exactly at Movistar is a better GT GC rider than Mas currently? Mas is a capable GC rider and can podium if things go his way. He may even be able to win a Giro or Vuelta. I actually think his abilities are best suited to the Giro.
Your options for GC riders in reality at Mas, Lopez, and Valverde. Lopez hasn't proven he's better than Mas. Lopez is more likely to get a stage win, but he's inconsistent and struggles with TTs. Mas should be better with TTs than he is, can be consistent, but isn't going to get you many stage wins. Valverde is 41.
 
Mas rodé a decent if unspectacular TT today. My question is what has caused this regression. In 2018 and 2019 he was the top GC TTer in the Vuelta and was one of the best at the TDF in 2019. He also rode a strong TT in last years TDF (though it was a MTN finish). In the Vuelta last year and in both of the TTs at this year’s tour he has regressed. The Mas of 2018-19 was a better TT rider than Carapaz or Hugh Carthy. Now it’s become a weakness.

Movistar needs to focus on it more during the offseason.
 
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Who exactly at Movistar is a better GT GC rider than Mas currently? Mas is a capable GC rider and can podium if things go his way. He may even be able to win a Giro or Vuelta. I actually think his abilities are best suited to the Giro.
Your options for GC riders in reality at Mas, Lopez, and Valverde. Lopez hasn't proven he's better than Mas. Lopez is more likely to get a stage win, but he's inconsistent and struggles with TTs. Mas should be better with TTs than he is, can be consistent, but isn't going to get you many stage wins. Valverde is 41.

I think the point of discussion is not whether Mas should be their leader for GC, but if it is required to use the whole team for his support.
At this point, I give him no chance to win a GT (also not Giro or Vuelta), at the very best a podium is in reach. But then Movistar could also follow the Astana approach where Lutsenko tried to stay with the other leaders as long as possible, but the rest of the team basically tried to chase stage wins. The best results in this TdF have been achieved when Erviti and Valverde joined the breakaway.
 
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I think the point of discussion is not whether Mas should be their leader for GC, but if it is required to use the whole team for his support.
At this point, I give him no chance to win a GT (also not Giro or Vuelta), at the very best a podium is in reach. But then Movistar could also follow the Astana approach where Lutsenko tried to stay with the other leaders as long as possible, but the rest of the team basically tried to chase stage wins. The best results in this TdF have been achieved when Erviti and Valverde joined the breakaway.

I don't think this Movistar have good enough team to even chase stage wins while still having any form of GC aspiration. As soon as Soler and Lopez couldn't function, it all weighed on GC placing. There's no stage for this version of Valverde to chase, and looking at every stage winner at this Tour, they're all handily better than any Movistar chance, except probably with brilliantly planned tactics which...well, we're talking about Movistar here.
And this is the same team with the one that for many years were full of potential stage winners.
 
Who exactly at Movistar is a better GT GC rider than Mas currently? Mas is a capable GC rider and can podium if things go his way. He may even be able to win a Giro or Vuelta. I actually think his abilities are best suited to the Giro.
Your options for GC riders in reality at Mas, Lopez, and Valverde. Lopez hasn't proven he's better than Mas. Lopez is more likely to get a stage win, but he's inconsistent and struggles with TTs. Mas should be better with TTs than he is, can be consistent, but isn't going to get you many stage wins. Valverde is 41.
Mas won't win any GT, a podium maybe, when stars align . Lopez on the other hand is capable of winning, but he is much more inconsistent. Valverde is 41, he won't win or podium any GT anymore, but he will take a medal in a week.
 
Mas won't win any GT, a podium maybe, when stars align . Lopez on the other hand is capable of winning, but he is much more inconsistent. Valverde is 41, he won't win or podium any GT anymore, but he will take a medal in a week.

I find Lopez too inconsistent to win a GT. Well, I don't disagree that it's exceptionally unlikely Valverde can get a podium now at 41, even at his beloved Vuelta. Stage wins at la Vuelta may be another story and he should be capable of that. I'm really hoping for a medal next weekend.
 

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