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

[Filippo_3467]

I think developing the younger guys and supporting Remco with strong talent now can both be done. If Remco is targeting the Giro or Tour, you'd ideally have 3 climbing doms, 2 guys for the flat and 2 who can combine across both. You can probably run something like Remco, Landa, Van Wilder, new signing, Cattaneo, new signing, Lampaert and Asgreen I think.

You can probably do ok if Remco gets a GT without a Pog or Vingegaard but need strength around you if up against them.

That's why I don't understand the team argument for changing teams.

Let's say Patrick can deliver this squad for Remco:

Landa, van Wilder, Cattaneo, Alaphilippe (or new signing), Vervaeke, Asgreen, Lampaert

and Remco is not going to Jumbo/UAE...

will the other teams deliver better squads for him?

I think it's possible but highliy dependend on if there leaders take a step back for Remco:

Let's look at Ineos:

Kwiato and Castro some of the best domestiques you can get in their role, C. Swift and Turner can be great GT roleurs or you decide to have the experience of Puccio and Rowe in the Team. You also have Fraile or Navaez as versatile riders. But who is delivering the mountain support that landa and van Wilder can deliver for Remco? de Plus maybe as he could stay with Remco. Martinez is out the door. Arensman could be leader at the Giro/Vuelta or dom, but is he really better in this role then what QS can offer? Bernal big questionmark. Sivakov out. Pidcock wants to win MTB at the Olympics. For me that climbing squad is only competitive to Jumbo and UAE with Thomas being in top shape and domestique to Remco.

Same with Bora. Denz and gamper for roleurs are decent, but not better than Asgreen/lampaert. Kämna/Schachmann could be powerhouse support but never were pure domestiques. Jungels maybe Boras best trump card as domestique. Buchmann can be ok for the mountain but no match for Jumbo or UAE domestiques. So you have to convince Hindley to do the Landa role to come even close to what QS can offer as mountain support. Good luck!

Lidl-Trek. Let's say they convince Pedersen and Milan not to do the Tour or as pure domestiques. What can they offer? Decent roleur squad although not crazy good. Maybe if Pedersen and Simmons ride like laporte without any personal ambition then it could be crazy good. Beyond that Konrad probably comes in to be a domestique, Skjelmose could be a good domestique and Ciccone has to be the Kuss/Yates/Landa/Thomas/ Hindley role... that's really not much support there. I also think that trek doen't need to invest the Bag into a GC rider. They have Pedersen, Milan, Nys, ciccone, Skjelmose,Simmons and so on - they could be the best GT stage hunting team in 24.


I think I don't have to even start with Israel.


Hot take: Remco can have the best Tour team for 24 at Quick Step. It's not even close with all teams besides Ineos. But it' not likely that they have a team on the Jumbo/UAE level for the Tour 24 either.

 

[titan31]

I dunno, like I look at Ineos and even of guys they've under contract you can have Bernal, Plapp and Sheffield as mountain doms before you even go and use Arensman or Pidcock, and they've historically had a large budget anyway.

 

[Peter von]

Hot take: Remco can have the best Tour team for 24 at Quick Step. It's not even close with all teams besides Ineos. But it' not likely that they have a team on the Jumbo/UAE level for the Tour 24 either.

INEOS also have more experience in dealing with GC bids in GTs.

But aside from that, you are right.

Also I think QS is as good as any (non-Jumbo) team when it comes to protecting their leader on the flat stages. Which might be even more important than having the best mountain doms.

 

[laarsland]

People acting like sports directors and organizational know-how doesn’t play a part.

 

[RedheadDane]

Uno-X are bringing all the Norwegians home!

 

[Filippo_3467]

People acting like sports directors and organizational know-how doesn’t play a part.

Good point for Ineos. Not an advantage for the rest.

So to mee it seems more and more that Ineos should be the only real option if remco leaves and they are fighting right now for Rodriguez... doesn't seem to me like they expect a remco transfer

 

[staubsauger]

Ide Schelling to Astana as well.

Total surprise. But could end up as a quite fruitful transfer actually.

 

[Bolder]

Ide Schelling to Astana as well.

Total surprise. But could end up as a quite fruitful transfer actually.

Astana is not a good team for anyone not from Kazakhstan

 

[OlavEH]

Uno-X are bringing all the Norwegians home!

Great. The team for next year now seems really good. THJ, Leknessund and Cort as captains. Tiller, Hoelgaard, Hvideberg, Kristoff, Abrahamsen and talents like Fredheim offers good support and options for smaller one day races and stage races.

 

[Drew]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1689562429552726016

View: https://twitter.com/LidlTrek/status/1689562429552726016?t=nQtqip3ZMdSBoLNh_I8l4w&s=19

 

[Filippo_3467]

Ide Schelling to Astana as well.

Total surprise. But could end up as a quite fruitful transfer actually.

No surprise. This was often talked about as a "rumour" that isn't really a rumour. Astana has the weakest WT squad by a mile. Actually it's quite hard to be that bad if you have WT status. So that they bring in people that can score points from better teams (Schelling, kanter) isn't really that surprinsing. Schelling gets instant leadership chances at his favourite races and can rider for his own results pretty much the whole time.

I think there could have been the breaking point with Bora. He's a very attacking rider and quick in the sprint, but it's actually hard to get those opportunities for yourself if you have riders with similar profile but better results in the team.

Now I'm interested to see what will happen to the other Bora guys that are in a similar position (Aleotti and Wandahl). I think there the situation isn't as clear. It would be even quite bad for Bora if Aleotti leaves, but also understandable because at Teams like Astana or a good second division team like Lotto, Israel, Total, Tudor etc. he could get leadership for many races.

 

[staubsauger]

Astana is not a good team for anyone not from Kazakhstan

Jakob Fuglsang probably disagrees!

 

[Earns1985]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1689562429552726016

View: https://twitter.com/LidlTrek/status/1689562429552726016?t=nQtqip3ZMdSBoLNh_I8l4w&s=19

Ok anticipated, but still a huge loss for Ineos. If they now also loose Rodriguez...

 

[OlavEH]

Ok anticipated, but still a huge loss for Ineos

Only if TGH recovers fully from his injury. If he doesn't and had a really high wage demand, they have instead dodged a bullet.........

 

[Hell-G]

Giacomo Nizzolo to Q36.5​

Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team signs Giacomo Nizzolo - Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team

LATEST NEWS Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team signs two-year contract with Giacomo Nizzolo Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team is delighted to announce the signing of Italian Sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo for the upcoming 2024 season, on a two-year deal. 9 August 2023 The accomplished 34-year-old brings a remarkable...

www.q36-5procycling.com

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Uno-X, Q36.5 and Tudor all developing really nicely, would love to see the latter two make their GT debut ASAP. And yet some people remain convinced that the Italian and especially Spanish wildcard fodder teams are victims of the system and not their own incompetence...

 

[Ricco']

Uno-X, Q36.5 and Tudor all developing really nicely, would love to see the latter two make their GT debut ASAP. And yet some people remain convinced that the Italian and especially Spanish wildcard fodder teams are victims of the system and not their own incompetence...

I suppose they all have far more money than the italian and spanish proconti teams tho. Q36.5 is partly owned by a mining billionaire (and has the Nibali connection), Tudor is owned by the same foundation who owns Rolex (and has Cancellara as an important figure) and Uno-X is in essence oil money.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I suppose they all have far more money than the italian and spanish proconti teams tho. Q36.5 is partly owned by a mining billionaire (and has the Nibali connection), Tudor is owned by the same foundation who owns Rolex (and has Cancellara as an important figure) and Uno-X is in essence oil money.

Obviously you need some money to be able to compete in the biggest races. If you don't have the money and/or the competence to put a GT-worthy team together, you simply don't belong in a GT. If Intermarché and Alpecin can both take the step up in the past few years and Uno-X, Tudor and Q36 can all start down the same path, then you can at least have higher expectations from GT wildcard teams than nobody in the top-20 on GC combined with no stage top-5s. And that combination has not been a rare occurrence in recent years. I'm not asking for these teams to push towards the WT, I just want a basic level of competence that they have failed to exhibit far too often. Especially when there are increasingly many teams who do have that competence and thereby also increasingly many of them missing out.

 

[rodanafrenteguigs]

Quentin Pacher renews with Groupama

 

[Peter von]

Only if TGH recovers fully from his injury. If he doesn't and had a really high wage demand, they have instead dodged a bullet.........

True.
I also think it’s a symptom of INEOS being in this in between space.
They no longer have a gc leader on the highest level. So they are going through a number of hopefuls that aren’t quite cutting it and have to let them go to create room and budget for the next crop.
TGH has been a good rider for INEOS but they need to find a stronger group of leaders.

 

[OlavEH]

I also think it’s a symptom of INEOS being in this in between space.
They no longer have a gc leader on the highest level. So they are going through a number of hopefuls that aren’t quite cutting it and have to let them go to create room and budget for the next crop.
TGH has been a good rider for INEOS but they need to find a stronger group of leaders.

If it wasn't for the injury, I think Ineos should have gone to lenghts to keep him. Rather that than renewal with Thomas, etc. Given that Bernal is not a safe bet and Thomas soon is at the end of his career, a GC lineup of TGH, Pidcock, Arensman, Sheffield, Plapp, Tulett and De Plus is a minimum of one should expect from Ineos. But a that serious injury changes things.

 

[Netserk]

If a team can afford the risk of throwing money at him and get nothing in return, I think he is easily worth big money. He has won the Giro and showed this year that he can replicate that form (or at least indicated that quite strongly), so if he can overcome his injury, he can make a huge difference for a team. And since the top GT talent is off the market, he offers one of the few tickets in play.

 

[Rob5091]

So Hart is off to Trek, which leaves Ineos with ol' man G, Bernal & Pidcock. Thin pickings for all those millions.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Astana is not a good team for anyone not from Kazakhstan

I dunno, felt like Nibali did allright whilst riding for them.

 

[pastronef]

I suppose they all have far more money than the italian and spanish proconti teams tho. Q36.5 is partly owned by a mining billionaire (and has the Nibali connection), Tudor is owned by the same foundation who owns Rolex (and has Cancellara as an important figure) and Uno-X is in essence oil money.

"essence" in French is fuel