Teams & Riders The Great Big Cycling Transfers, Extensions, and Rumours Thread

[Zinoviev Letter]

Martinez has a well documented history of underperforming around May because of allergies, so I doubt he'll be on the Giro team.

Just like his near namesake

 

[Anderis]

They even bought out Martínez' contract then, woah. Once again a scary haul for them.

Though EF's finances might look pretty bleak too, considering that Woods also exits when he actually had a contract with them for 2021.

That's an excellent development.

All EF need to do right know is to find a way how to get HIguita and Bettiol out of contracts early too and they're ready to go in 2021!

 

[Anderis]

Just like his near namesake

I told you Martinez is the new Martin.

 

[Big Doopie]

i am actually not sure what Ineos is gaining here.

don't get me wrong -- all very strong riders.

but the sky/ineos train tactic only works if you have THE strongest. otherwise someone like pog can just ride behind the ineos train and benefit from it, just like he did jumbo.

the reason jumbo's mimicking of ineos mountain train did not work, was that rog -- though super strong -- was not able to then take it to the necessary conclusion by dropping everyone once the train was done -- as Froome did, as Thomas did and even Bernal did.

martinez, yates and a year older porte are not going to make it any easier now for bernal.

he still has to be better than pog (and anyone else for that matter).

only one i am interested about is pidcock, tho i wish he had gone to another team...

 

[SafeBet]

i am actually not sure what Ineos is gaining here.

don't get me wrong -- all very strong riders.

but the sky/ineos train tactic only works if you have THE strongest. otherwise someone like pog can just ride behind the ineos train and benefit from it, just like he did jumbo.

the reason jumbo's mimicking of ineos mountain train did not work, was that rog -- though super strong -- was not able to then take it to the necessary conclusion by dropping everyone once the train was done -- as Froome did, as Thomas did and even Bernal did.

martinez, yates and a year older porte are not going to make it any easier now for bernal.

he still has to be better than pog (and anyone else for that matter).

only one i am interested about is pidcock, tho i wish he had gone to another team...

They're gaining a sh*tload of riders who can win WT one week stage races for starters, and possibly their biggest star for the next decade.

 

[BeagleOfToledo]

Love these guys

INEOS Sign Lionel Messi

Having narrowly missed out on landing former New England quarterback Tom Brady, Ineos Grenadiers have saved face by signing the Barcelona and Argentina talisman for four years, starting in 2021. By…

gruppettogazette.com

 

[JosephK]

Get ready for some Grenadier trains next year.

Edit: Pogi will be happy. He can just latch onto whichever team's train is chugging and take the hilltop wins for himself.

 

[Leinster]

i am actually not sure what Ineos is gaining here.

don't get me wrong -- all very strong riders.

but the sky/ineos train tactic only works if you have THE strongest. otherwise someone like pog can just ride behind the ineos train and benefit from it, just like he did jumbo.

the reason jumbo's mimicking of ineos mountain train did not work, was that rog -- though super strong -- was not able to then take it to the necessary conclusion by dropping everyone once the train was done -- as Froome did, as Thomas did and even Bernal did.

martinez, yates and a year older porte are not going to make it any easier now for bernal.

he still has to be better than pog (and anyone else for that matter).

only one i am interested about is pidcock, tho i wish he had gone to another team...

And the lesson there is that they're going to have to do something a bit more creative than the train. Porte is a good train driver (and is also about the same height as Bernal; handy for bike swaps), but Martinez showed at the Dauphine and in his Tour stage win that he's a good rider to send up the road; strong in the climbs, but also well able to tow a group along in valleys and on false flats.

Question is are they signing dePlus as a leader, or as the new Poels?

 

[postmanhat]

i am actually not sure what Ineos is gaining here.

don't get me wrong -- all very strong riders.

but the sky/ineos train tactic only works if you have THE strongest. otherwise someone like pog can just ride behind the ineos train and benefit from it, just like he did jumbo.

the reason jumbo's mimicking of ineos mountain train did not work, was that rog -- though super strong -- was not able to then take it to the necessary conclusion by dropping everyone once the train was done -- as Froome did, as Thomas did and even Bernal did.

martinez, yates and a year older porte are not going to make it any easier now for bernal.

he still has to be better than pog (and anyone else for that matter).

only one i am interested about is pidcock, tho i wish he had gone to another team...

There isn't really much anyone's going to be able to do about Pogacar and Evenepoel next year, no matter what tactics they use (maybe Simon Yates). In Pidcock, Ineos have a rider that at least looks likely to challenge in 2022. Which is more than nearly every other team can say at the moment.

The other four signings are all handy for stage races/the train and/or one-day races. I'd say this one of the best set of signings Ineos have made?

 

[Earns1985]

And the lesson there is that they're going to have to do something a bit more creative than the train. Porte is a good train driver (and is also about the same height as Bernal; handy for bike swaps), but Martinez showed at the Dauphine and in his Tour stage win that he's a good rider to send up the road; strong in the climbs, but also well able to tow a group along in valleys and on false flats.

Question is are they signing dePlus as a leader, or as the new Poels?

True..
I always like to play my cycling manager with several strong riders, which are a bit weaker then the strongest in the field. If you want to win with these, then you have to use really creative tactics. At least in my cycling manager it works and I can beat the stronger guys.. So at least in theory Ineos will have a chance against Pogacar and Evenepoel...

 

[JosephK]

Pidcock looks very interesting as another one of the outstanding young guys with steep upside. No surprise Ineos got him. The other signees are great, too. Clearly, they don't intend to stand by and watch while Pogi goes Merckx on everyone.

 

[BlueRoads]

Love these guys

INEOS Sign Lionel Messi

Having narrowly missed out on landing former New England quarterback Tom Brady, Ineos Grenadiers have saved face by signing the Barcelona and Argentina talisman for four years, starting in 2021. By…

gruppettogazette.com

Now I have to become an Ineos fan?

Martínez is a great signing as well, and not just for one-week races, I think. He could become an option for the Giro, for instance. He's 24, he has taken a constant development so far, he won the Dauphiné (although with riders dropping out, but there was quite some quality left), he's a very decent, although not stunning time trialer. His Tour this year was a bit shaken by his early crashes. I think he's in fact a bit prone to crashing, maybe he can do some cross in the winter to improve his bike handling? Does not seem to be the best in positioning, either, a bit unattentive sometimes? But maybe he can work on that.

 

[Earns1985]

There isn't really much anyone's going to be able to do about Pogacar and Evenepoel next year, no matter what tactics they use (maybe Simon Yates). In Pidcock, Ineos have a rider that at least looks likely to challenge in 2022. Which is more than nearly every other team can say at the moment.

The other four signings are all handy for stage races/the train and/or one-day races. I'd say this one of the best set of signings Ineos have made?

C´mon Bernal had back problems this year. One can´t just write him off because of one bad GT in the corona year..

 

[titan31]

I think with a team at the Tour of

Bernal, Carapaz,Porte, Kwia, Rowe, Yates, Sivakov and Martinez you could potentially go feck the train and just have sit behind the likely Jumbo one and send guys off the front and make Jumbo chase harder.

It's going to be very difficult for anyone to put a train together to out-train the Jumbo lads so best hope is have a team of guys so strong they're not going to drop easy in climbs (all being healthy and in form of course) that you keep them close in GC so that you can have 2/3 of them start attacking to make things hard and hope Bernal can then capitalise.

 

[Koronin]

I didn't see this anywhere, so forgive me if it's already been posted.

Ruben Fernandez is going to Cofidis next season.

 

[Leinster]

There isn't really much anyone's going to be able to do about Pogacar and Evenepoel next year, no matter what tactics they use (maybe Simon Yates). In Pidcock, Ineos have a rider that at least looks likely to challenge in 2022. Which is more than nearly every other team can say at the moment.

The other four signings are all handy for stage races/the train and/or one-day races. I'd say this one of the best set of signings Ineos have made?

A year ago, we would've said the same about Bernal, Carapaz and Evenepoel, and a year before that about British riders and Evenepoel, and a year before that about Dumoulin and Evenepoel, and a year before that about Quintana and Evenepoel, and I'm not sure what Remco was doing the year before that but we were pretty sure he was going to dominate something, and Froomey fits in there somewhere.

 

[postmanhat]

C´mon Bernal had back problems this year. One can´t just write him off because of one bad GT in the corona year..

True, true. I might be being a bit harsh on him, and I really hope he can challenge. But what Pogacar did in The Tour was exceptional. And we already know Evenepoel is from another planet.

 

[Earns1985]

I think with a team at the Tour of

Bernal, Carapaz,Porte, Kwia, Rowe, Yates, Sivakov and Martinez you could potentially go feck the train and just have sit behind the likely Jumbo one and send guys off the front and make Jumbo chase harder.

It's going to be very difficult for anyone to put a train together to out-train the Jumbo lads so best hope is have a team of guys so strong they're not going to drop easy in climbs (all being healthy and in form of course) that you keep them close in GC so that you can have 2/3 of them start attacking to make things hard and hope Bernal can then capitalise.

Well in my opinion it would be pretty stupid if Jumbo ride in the same way next year like this year. Of course it will depend a lot of the route, but it would make much more sense to use their horsepower in the mountains for tactical advantages then just work in the end for Pogacar with a train.

 

[postmanhat]

A year ago, we would've said the same about Bernal, Carapaz and Evenepoel, and a year before that about British riders and Evenepoel, and a year before that about Dumoulin and Evenepoel, and a year before that about Quintana and Evenepoel, and I'm not sure what Remco was doing the year before that but we were pretty sure he was going to dominate something, and Froomey fits in there somewhere.

Er, I never thought that about Bernal, and definitely not Carapaz. I'd be surprised if many did ?

Who do you realistically think is going to be anywhere near them next year? Maybe Simon Yates for me

 

[titan31]

Well in my opinion it would be pretty stupid if Jumbo ride in the same way next year like this year. Of course it will depend a lot of the route, but it would make much more sense to use their horsepower in the mountains for tactical advantages then just work in the end for Pogacar with a train.

I dunno. Add Kruijswijk back into that team instead of Jansen and maybe they'd have been able to win. They're also adding Oomen.

Imo, Roglic wins if Jumbo are more aggressive and pay attention to Pogacar earlier instead of Roglic wanting to climb with his friend. Or if they use Dumoulin better to keep him in GC hopes and force others to work more.

Even if they don't change, that team with Kruijswijk there, and it Bennett doesn't get hurt earlier causes pain for every team in the race. I mean Van Aert is the 6th worst climber when they're all fit in that team.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

A year ago, we would've said the same about Bernal, Carapaz and Evenepoel, and a year before that about British riders and Evenepoel, and a year before that about Dumoulin and Evenepoel, and a year before that about Quintana and Evenepoel, and I'm not sure what Remco was doing the year before that but we were pretty sure he was going to dominate something, and Froomey fits in there somewhere.

And let's not forget that until last Saturday, Roglic was the virtual winner of both the 2019 Giro and 2020 Tour.

 

[Koronin]

I dunno. Add Kruijswijk back into that team instead of Jansen and maybe they'd have been able to win. They're also adding Oomen.

Imo, Roglic wins if Jumbo are more aggressive and pay attention to Pogacar earlier instead of Roglic wanting to climb with his friend. Or if they use Dumoulin better to keep him in GC hopes and force others to work more.

Even if they don't change, that team with Kruijswijk there, and it Bennett doesn't get hurt earlier causes pain for every team in the race. I mean Van Aert is the 6th worst climber when they're all fit in that team.

They also should have remembered what Pogacar did on stage 20 of the 2019 Vuelta.

 

[Leinster]

I dunno. Add Kruijswijk back into that team instead of Jansen and maybe they'd have been able to win. They're also adding Oomen.

Imo, Roglic wins if Jumbo are more aggressive and pay attention to Pogacar earlier instead of Roglic wanting to climb with his friend. Or if they use Dumoulin better to keep him in GC hopes and force others to work more.

Even if they don't change, that team with Kruijswijk there, and it Bennett doesn't get hurt earlier causes pain for every team in the race. I mean Van Aert is the 6th worst climber when they're all fit in that team.

Add Kruiswijk to that train and they still wouldn’t have dropped Pogacar. They needed to do something creative to drop the kid and make him put his face in the wind. Other than on the Loze, with Kuss, they never did.

 

[Rackham]

Well in my opinion it would be pretty stupid if Jumbo ride in the same way next year like this year. Of course it will depend a lot of the route, but it would make much more sense to use their horsepower in the mountains for tactical advantages then just work in the end for Pogacar with a train.

It's probably easier said than done but IMO in order to beat someone like Pogacar all the rival teams need to leave the control of the race in his hands, i.e. his team specifically, and not ride tempo in the cols. Of course that can create chaos & someone else (another rival) can attack early & get time on everyone, but when UAE are not as strong, they'll have a hard time controlling the race as Sky/Ineos/Jumbo did. That's the only way.

I'm also curious to see whether Roglic arrives in better condition next year because I don't discount the possibility that crash in the Dauphiné played a role in diminishing some of his explosive "punch" & acceleration on the climbs in the Tour. As an observer, I believe he was stronger in last year's Vuelta.

 

[tobydawq]

With the exceptions of Spaniards. They do have a rule on the team that over half the roster must be comprised of Spaniards. Otherwise, it does seem they have a goal to have riders from a variety of other countries.

Just you wait. In eight years' time their mission will have been completed and Valverde will be the only Spaniard left on the team.