- Apr 30, 2011
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i dont think landa was a waste of money by qs
i also dont think redbull wasted their money on quality helpers
i also dont think redbull wasted their money on quality helpers
- Jul 8, 2017
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He isn't now. Can you say for sure he won't be in 2 years? Seixas will be just 22.
He looks like the next rider to win 3-4 Tours (let's face it, there's always such), so though the risk is big, again what do you suggest they do?
Wait untill he eventually proves he IS that guy?
I think there are risks you have to take if you aim to be "top 3 in the WT by 2028" and betting on Seixas is one of them.
- Feb 20, 2012
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Well you invest big time when it happens.
You also need the right profile of riders, the quality you really need isn't easily available and if you start just buying superdomstiques randomly you just clutter your team..
- Jul 8, 2017
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But the riders you would get, which I agree aren't found so easily, would be useful even if your star rider is not performing up to the expectations.
The top notch climbing domestiques can get results on their own or at least stage hunt. The flat and rolling terrain helpers can be used in classics, help your sprinter and/or stage hunt themselves (depending on the rider's profile).
So your money won't exactly go to waste unless suddenly al of the riders you took underperform.
- Sep 17, 2020
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UAE want Paul Sexias... (+ they already signed his little brother)
View: https://x.com/bvdecape/status/2030346080563368092
View: https://x.com/bvdecape/status/2030346080563368092
- Nov 12, 2024
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*** UAE. Seriously, they can't just horde all the elite talent in cycling just for themselves
Just looked and very slim pickings in terms of riders that are available and capable of doing a good enough job that don’t already have leadership roles they wouldn’t want to sacrifice.
Best I can see is Eulalio from Bahrain and Braz Afonso from Groupama.
Maybe Sivakov would take a pay cut for more leadership chances and then work for Seixas in the tier 1 races.
Hard not think they got id badly wrong not offering Armirail tempting enough deal to stay.
- Jul 8, 2017
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Looking at his performance so far, he already IS a big thing.
Even if he doesn't improve anymore, he is a damn good rider.
- Jul 8, 2017
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In hindsight Decathlon should have put all their eggs into the extend Seixas until 2030 basket before thinking about signing guys like Kooij.
Benoot adds value for Seixas as well so is a good enough signing, but Kooij and his sprint train add no value and are even this year already a liability towards Seixas his ambitions in the Tour.
Benoot adds value for Seixas as well so is a good enough signing, but Kooij and his sprint train add no value and are even this year already a liability towards Seixas his ambitions in the Tour.
- Apr 30, 2011
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i cannot imagine that they only promised kooij a single shot at the tour , so when the ambition is to be a top team it was a plainly bad match
but they can get lucky this year if he gets fully ready for the tour and merliers knee still bothers him . then he would be the top sprinter after lidls mistake of not taking milan to the tour
but they can get lucky this year if he gets fully ready for the tour and merliers knee still bothers him . then he would be the top sprinter after lidls mistake of not taking milan to the tour
- Jul 15, 2021
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This. It's not like they won't have a GC contestant in the future even if Seixas doesn't turn out to be all he's made up to be. They're a rich team now, so of course they'll buy another GC star. They need domestiques no matter what.
- Sep 26, 2020
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Saadé, a man with Lebanese roots, probably isn't related to Sade, a woman with Nigerian heritage.
He could be related to Eric Saade, though. Seixas certainly has become popular these days, that's for sure.
It is bit of a similar case as Remco first seasons at Soudal.
Where Soudal had a lot of classics riders and a sprint-oriented team. Big earners at the time like Ala, Asgreen and Jakobsen among others.
It took a couple of seasons to shift that, which is likely similar here.
Then they gotta transition into riding like a GC team. Controlling the peloton and whatnot. Dictate the race. It takes some time to get there. While competing with the likes of UAE, Visma, Ineos, Redbull, Lidl... and so on. Having one of the strongest riders helps paper over some cracks.
Question is if Seixas will be onboard and sees Decathlon as his home for a long time. That he will be patient on that journey with the team or if he will take his services to one of the bigger/greater teams instead. Interesting time ahead.
Ayuso left UAE, so they probably have room for him.
Pog and Almeida will both be 30 in a couple of years.
So building the future around both Seixas and Del Toro, doesnt sound like the most stupid idea from their perspective if they can pull it off.
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- Sep 20, 2017
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Don't say that's it's impossible. Because I know that it's possible.
Yeah I agree, with two big differences
1. Soudal already had most of their big names in board when Evenepoel joined the squad while Decathlon purchased a lot of names during Seixas his first year with the team.
2. Soudal had the issue of not having a big budget and i think even a decreasing budget (definitely compared to the average WT budget), while Decathlon had a very big budget to spend.
In this case I think they have kind of misjudged how fast Seixas would develop into a World Class rider. Which is not surprising of course.
On 1: They had big names as I alluded to and said... but none really suited to support Remco when it comes to stage-racing and GC. They were signed as they transitioned to dilude their classics core and sprinting-train to sign more support for Remco. And did nothing to their classics core for a few seasons, which ultimately fell apart.
On 2: Yes, they had some budget constraints and had to wait for contracts like... Asgreen, Ala and Jakobsen to run out. I said that. Decathlon seems to be in a better financial state... so maybe that is the only difference. But that money has also been spent to some extent on Kooij, Benoot and Riccitello. And a bigger budget is probably needed to just secure Seixas for the future, before you think about signing more support and also having to wait somewhat on other riders contracts running out. It is a project.
- Sep 17, 2020
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Ah yeah I am not disagreeing with you. Just mentioning that in my opinion there are two differences between the Soudal and Decathlon situation. Because Soudal already had some expensive riders on board and had to wait for those contracts to end before they could decide to reallocate their budget.
Decathlon had a choice last years and in hindsight they choose wrong. Kooij is expensive and arguably shouldnt even ride the Tour this year or with way less help than was originally intended.
- Nov 12, 2024
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Nobody is saying it's stupid on their part. But it would be like have prime MJ, Shaq and Kobe then signing an 18 year old LeBron.
It benefits nobody apart from UAE.
Ayuso leaving has left them some space to seek new opportunities.
Is it any different then Redbull having Remco, Lipowitz and Roglic currently? Pellizzarri looking good.
Ineos just got Onley + Vaquelin on top of their other options at GC.
Lidl has Ayuso, Gee and Skjelmose.
Visma got Piganzoli.
All the big teams are taking the best riders from the smaller teams.
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