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

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That one went over my head.

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I don't get this problem with the Vlasov attack at the Vuelta at all. They had Denz und could put UAE and Co. a bit under pressure. Why shouldn't they do this? If this attack really upset Uijtebroeks a lot you can't really race with him in normal racing situations. Perhaps he wants a 100% leader role for himself.
 
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Rumour is Vlasov wanted badly to finish ahead of Cian in Vuelta. Not sure how much is truth, I saw him working for Cian in a couple of stages.

Anyways I think Vlasov should focus mainly on Ardennes and hilly one day races, as well as one week races. For GTs he could be a good stagehunter - He suffers on multi-mountain stages which are the key to make a podium.

Surely he will be a perennial (low) Top-10 finisher in every GT due to his high consistency, really good all-rounder skills and his ability to pace himself (a smaller version of Almeida, he drops early but is able to pace really well)... but anything north from a 5th/6th place should only be possible on extremely decimated fields (a la Giro 2020)
 
Cian Uijtdebroeks is literally not even an adult yet (yes that's hyperbole, but not too far off either).

The point is pro cycling will have gone completely insane if 20 year old riders now have GT demands in terms of leadership, season planning & hierarchy, so I don't believe that's the case here. It can't be.

Also the rumor which sends him to FDJ wouldn't solve anything either because if Uijtdebroeks has a problem with Vlasov (or Rog's arrival), wait until he meets the great & magnificent TdF leader on the FDJ team i.e. David Gaudu!

Aka the man who needs 7 riders as his personal escort to secure his yearly top ten in GC. Just ask Arnaud Démare how much he enjoyed his time at FDJ in recent years.
 
I don't get this problem with the Vlasov attack at the Vuelta at all. They had Denz und could put UAE and Co. a bit under pressure. Why shouldn't they do this? If this attack really upset Uijtebroeks a lot you can't really race with him in normal racing situations. Perhaps he wants a 100% leader role for himself.

If the team had decided to ride for Uijtdebroeks, then I can understand why he wasn't happy about it. Vlasov was only realistically going to overtake Uijtdebroeks if the move had worked out. If there had been a stage win up for grabs, then it would have been different. That said, Uijtdebroeks couldn't really expect Vlasov's help when the GC looked like it did.
 
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Cian Uijtdebroeks is literally not even an adult yet (yes that's hyperbole, but not too far off either).

The point is pro cycling will have gone completely insane if 20 year old riders now have GT demands in terms of leadership, season planning & hierarchy, so I don't believe that's the case here. It can't be.

Also the rumor which sends him to FDJ wouldn't solve anything either because if Uijtdebroeks has a problem with Vlasov (or Rog's arrival), wait until he meets the great & magnificent TdF leader on the FDJ team i.e. David Gaudu!

Aka the man who needs 7 riders as his personal escort to secure his yearly top ten in GC. Just ask Arnaud Démare how much he enjoyed his time at FDJ in recent years.

It would still be much easier for him to get GT leadership opportunities at FDJ. Whether the team will be all-in for Gaudu in the Tour in the future is also not at all guaranteed after he failed this year.
 
Maybe Cian doesn't want to dom for Roglic for the next couple of years.

Vlasov is a good rider but his limitations are apparent by now. Don't see why a dispute between the two of them would leave CU the odd man out.

Edit: apparently CU's contract runs through end of 2024, so maybe this is a bit of gamesmanship by someone in his camp.
 
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If the team had decided to ride for Uijtdebroeks, then I can understand why he wasn't happy about it. Vlasov was only realistically going to overtake Uijtdebroeks if the move had worked out. If there had been a stage win up for grabs, then it would have been different. That said, Uijtdebroeks couldn't really expect Vlasov's help when the GC looked like it did.
At the moment of the attack I thought that he wanted a gap on Almeida before the climb, because Almeida was climbing better. I think Denz came up with the idea because he had something left in the tank. In the end it was just a bit racing but nothing important. Who cares in the end.
 
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I side with Uijtdebroeks here. He's been constantly Bora's best general classification rider at the 2023 Vuelta a Espana. Most notably in the Pyrenees when he stayed with the big cannons.

Vlasov is a mediocre gc rider and clearly struggled to be ahead of his young companion.

Uijtdebroeks is known to have problems on descends which so far seems to be his achilles tendon. However his weakness was embarrassed by his own teammate and team attacking him.

Which resulted in a hierarchy that doesn't represent the curse of the race at all. Legitimately he's angry and disappointed about that. Asking himself for his chances and position within Bora, especially in reference to the arrival of Roglic at the squad.

Whether Uijtdebroeks should leave the team like a miffed liverwurst is another question.
 
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Having watched Uijtdebroeks in his interviews I can't imagine him ever being angry. He seemed more surprised about Vlasov attacking him, as in "what's this guy doing". I also think Marc Lamberts joining the team is partly because of Uijtdebroeks.

On the other hand, what will riding on the front for Roglic teach him that he doesn't already know.
 
IMHO that's the main point. If Uijtdebroeks ends up as domestique for Roglic, while Vlasov gets Giro d'Italia leadership due to the hierarchy implemented by the attack I understand why Uijtdebroeks is angry.

In that case there's an open spot at Francaise des Jeux for Giro d'Italia and/or Vuelta a Espana leadership. Especially since Uijtdebroeks was superior to Martinez in Spain.

Keep in mind that Francaise des Jeux also trained Pinot in descending. So that might be tempting.
 
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