Teams & Riders Team Visma - Lease a Bike

[bajbar]

Martin and Gesink are not a problem. Tony does his work on the flat and he is still very good at it. Though he has been VERY crash prone lately. Gesink just isn't the guy for the high mountains any more. He is there more as a road captain. WvA and Roglič have been good so far this year and if Wout can recover well from his surgery he is basically worth three riders - a sprinter, a flat domestique and a mountain goat. Teunissen, I am not sure about him. He has been very unlucky and has barely raced anything in the last two years. But the team strenght will be mostly dependant on how Jonas, Steven and Sepp will be climbing. Last year they had Kuss, who was a top 5 climber, Dumoulin in the top 10 in that list and Bennet sort of top 15. So Kruijswijk and Vingegaard will have to be a top 10 and 15 climbers. And only time will tell if that is achievable.

It must be said that the team has peaked for the period aroud the Tour amazingly well for the past two seasons. In 2019 they had probably the best climbing team with Kruiswijk, De Plus and Bennet. And the WvA, Groenewegen, Teunissen flatland machine. Plus they dominated the TTT. Last year we all know how good they were. This season so far only three riders in the team won anything (not counting the NC win by Bennet). The rest of them were less stellar.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Blue tyres? I thought they were only for a turbotrainer.

 

[RedheadDane]

Blue tyres? I thought they were only for a turbotrainer.

It's advertising for a Dutch bike share programme.

 

[johnymax]

Today in CdD both Kuss and Kruijswijk looked good imo. Gesink was also only a minute and a half behind the winner, which is good for him. Like posters before me have said, he is not a rider for high mountains anymore, but more of a road captain nowadays and can do the work on hilly stages or early on the long climbs.

Vingegaard is still inconsistent, but imo he'll be alright. He was very inconsistent in the UAE tour for example, where he did a strong ITT, then was bad on the next day on the climb and then he was strong again in the next MTF where he won. After that race we know how good he's been. I expect him to have a better showing in one of the next two stages in Dauphine.

Also I think Jumbo doesn't need all the riders to be consistently performing at an exceptional level throughout the three weeks of the Tour. They need Roglič to be consistent of course and hopefully one between Kuss, Kruijswijk, Vingegaard and Van Aert to be up there and be a GC threat, let's say at least for the first two weeks. The others can alternate in having good days in the mountains.

And don't forget from the team they keep saying how they won't use the train approach as much as last year and how they'll ride differently this time. It sounds good on paper, but I'm curious to see how is that going to look on the road.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

It's advertising for a Dutch bike share programme.

New tire they are testing ahead of the Tour.

So do we know which?

Later edit: Thank you RHD, promotional deal with Swapfiets it is. Which makes one wonder what @Broccolidwarf was at with his answer: passing off a guess as an assertion of fact, or deliberately misleading someone who asked a reasonable question?

 

[Rackham]

And don't forget from the team they keep saying how they won't use the train approach as much as last year and how they'll ride differently this time. It sounds good on paper, but I'm curious to see how is that going to look on the road.

I imagine it'll be very similar to how they rode the Vuelta, i.e. Roglic sitting on the wheel of his closest rival in the favorites group on the climbs with Sepp Kuss buzzing around chasing down other rivals, until the final showdown between Roglic & (I'll presume in the Tour) Pogacar.

They only rode tempo with a train on a couple of stages (Angliru was one of them). Elsewhere they let others do the work. And there will be no shortage of top GC teams ready to pull in the Tour, namely Ineos (because Thomas needs his train to do well on the climbs anyway).

Roglic said last year after the Tour defeat Jumbo should ride more "instinctively", and that's pretty much what he has done since (with success as well).

 

[IndianCyclist]

SK is not going to be leader. Kuss will be a good domestique but not a leader. That leaves only Roglic as sole leader.

 

[Rackham]

SK is not going to be leader. Kuss will be a good domestique but not a leader. That leaves only Roglic as sole leader.

I think everyone knew this already. I'm sure SK knew as well (he did well as a dom in Paris-Nice tbh).

It's just the Jumbo bosses like to pretend they're Ineos & have multiple GC options (they even wanted Kuss to fill that role in the Vuelta last year). We all know it'll come down to a shootout between Primoz, Pogacar & Ineos.

Jumbo are also nowhere near as impressive in terms of collective strength going into the Tour this year (certainly compared to last year's display on the Dauphiné), so I expect an ironic sort of reversal whereby last year the team was super strong whilst Primoz wasn't strong enough, whereas this year Primoz will be stronger whilst his team will be weaker.

That's my prediction in any case. I still think Roglic can win the Tour even with this current Jumbo team.

 

[johnymax]

Jumbo are also nowhere near as impressive in terms of collective strength going into the Tour this year (certainly compared to last year's display on the Dauphiné), so I expect an ironic sort of reversal whereby last year the team was super strong whilst Primoz wasn't strong enough, whereas this year Primoz will be stronger whilst his team will be weaker.

Maybe they don't look as impressive as last year, but still. They clearly lack leaders and structure. You add Roglič and a strong van Aert to this team and suddenly it doesn't look that bad.

 

[Rackham]

Maybe they don't look as impressive as last year, but still. They clearly lack leaders and structure. You add Roglič and a strong van Aert to this team and suddenly it doesn't look that bad.

Sure it's a strong team & it's enough for a GC win in the Tour. Those two you mention are among the top 5 riders in the world & Roglic in particular is joint favorite for the Tour.

But, a lot of the narrative after last year was about how strong the team was whilst Roglic couldn't finish the job. I think this year we'll see a far less dominant Jumbo but a far more proactive & aggressive Roglic who'll use his teammates sparingly (as he did in the Vuelta).

 

[Bonimenier]

SK is not going to be leader. Kuss will be a good domestique but not a leader. That leaves only Roglic as sole leader.

That will change after Van Aert wins the first 7 stages.

But yes, Roglic should obviously be the sole leader.

 

[Lequack]

 

[Sciatic]

???

 

[Barnacle Bill]

The three lions? Hmmm.

 

[Lequack]

???

Which Team Jumbo-Visma riders would you select for your football team?

Euro 2020 has started! Which Team Jumbo-Visma riders would you select for your football team? Vote for your favourite keeper, defender, midfielder and…

www.teamjumbovisma.com

 

[ciranda]

Kruiswijk as goalkeeper, he can cover the upper half of the goal just by standing there. His only weakness is shots close to the ground.

 

[CyclistAbi]

If they prepare well and give their best there is no better team out there ATM.

 

[Earns1985]

Van Aert couldn´t train during the last weeks, so there´s a big question about his tour form. Bad news for Roglic..

Van Aert nach Blinddarmentzündung noch nicht zurück in Top-Form | radsport-news.com

www.radsport-news.com

 

[CyclistAbi]

There will always be some issues involved. Once one decides to do a GT. Hopefully van Aert will be in good shape. If not some other scenario will just have to do. True, JV doesn't have a direct replacement, for the role van Aert plays. But the whole situation would highly likely still be manageable.

Harder, but still manageable.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

So do we know which?

Later edit: Thank you RHD, promotional deal with Swapfiets it is. Which makes one wonder what @Broccolidwarf was at with his answer: passing off a guess as an assertion of fact, or deliberately misleading someone who asked a reasonable question?

DUDE - you really have it in for me, don't you?

FYI, I was basing my assertion off, that it was what Chris Anker said in his commentary of the race.

Feel free to contact him, and tell him he was " passing off a guess as an assertion of fact, or deliberately misleading someone who asked a reasonable question".

This is his twitter handle: @chris_anker

Have fun with that

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Vingegaard is still inconsistent, but imo he'll be alright. He was very inconsistent in the UAE tour for example, where he did a strong ITT, then was bad on the next day on the climb and then he was strong again in the next MTF where he won. After that race we know how good he's been. I expect him to have a better showing in one of the next two stages in Dauphine.

The lack of consistency is the great worry with him.

Even in week long races, he seems to have massive off days.

He's young and there is still time to gain that consistency (which often comes with age), but as of right now, it's a definite worry in terms of his long term GC prospects.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Van Aert couldn´t train during the last weeks, so there´s a big question about his tour form. Bad news for Roglic..

Van Aert nach Blinddarmentzündung noch nicht zurück in Top-Form | radsport-news.com

www.radsport-news.com

That is a way bigger concern than Kuss and Kru not being the best in a prep race, the first is better as a climbing domestique than as a protected rider, while the later has always been more of a gt rider. Wout being in bad shape would be bad news, Gesink is clearly getting worse and Vingegaard is inconsistent (I'd say he's similar to McNulty on the UAE side in that regard), so that could be an actual problem for them.

 

[Lequack]

TDF team

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

DUDE - you really have it in for me, don't you?

FYI, I was basing my assertion off, that it was what Chris Anker said in his commentary of the race.

Feel free to contact him, and tell him he was " passing off a guess as an assertion of fact, or deliberately misleading someone who asked a reasonable question".

This is his twitter handle: @chris_anker

Have fun with that

I have tweeted similar messages to commentators whom I have heard spout blatant errors, but it doesn't seem reasonable to do so on hearsay.

That was written long before my recent difference of opinion with you. However, what I think you mean to say is "Sorry I was mistaken: I should have attributed the remarks to CAS in commentary".
Perhaps you should ask yourself whether there is something in your posting style that makes people think that you are likely to be making unfounded opinionated assertions.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

I have tweeted similar messages to commentators whom I have heard spout blatant errors, but it doesn't seem reasonable to do so on hearsay.

That was written long before my recent difference of opinion with you. However, what I think you mean to say is "Sorry I was mistaken: I should have attributed the remarks to CAS in commentary".
Perhaps you should ask yourself whether there is something in your posting style that makes people think that you are likely to be making unfounded opinionated assertions.

My good man.

You are taking yourself, and this forum, entirely too seriously.

That you think you are owed an apology, for me relaying what a commentator (and former WT rider) says on a broadcast, is laughable.

I suggest you stop commenting on my posts, since apparently they have a tendency to upset you. - You might even avail yourself of the excellent blocking function, that this forum has.

Have a nice day