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Teams & Riders The Great Big Cycling Transfers and Rumours Thread

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Although a Belgian at Sky/Ineos /Grenadier sounds like something interesting, I don't really get why De Plus wants to be 'one of many' in the climbing train.
Tbh he probably would never become a GC-leader for Jumbo either with Roglic, Kruijswijk and Dumoulin there. The money will definitely be a lot better. I guess he'll be one of the leaders for the Ardennes classics on Ineos.
 
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Although a Belgian at Sky/Ineos /Grenadier sounds like something interesting, I don't really get why De Plus wants to be 'one of many' in the climbing train.
Froome is gone, Thomas won't last much longer. That's two of their three top dogs that are or will be leaving soon. Bernal is hors catégorie, but after that? Carapaz? Sivakov? Hart? Dunbar? Sosa isn't GC material. If they sprinkle some of that Sky stardust on him, he could soon be co-leader in a GT. I think he has at least as much chance at Ineos to ride as a leader than at Jumbo Visma. And he'll get paid more.
 
Something odd seems to be going on behind the scenes at Sunweb. When they kicked Barguil out their Vuelta team in 2017 after riding for himself it seemed like a sensible decision in the long term. But since then they've had a continuous problem with keeping their GC riders.

Unless they're trying to get their team average age down to like 22.
 
Something odd seems to be going on behind the scenes at Sunweb. When they kicked Barguil out their Vuelta team in 2017 after riding for himself it seemed like a sensible decision in the long term. But since then they've had a continuous problem with keeping their GC riders.

Unless they're trying to get their team average age down to like 22.
They have a lot of young talent for GC coming up, but i guess they should wait at least 2 years or more before those guys reach the level of putting themselves in the picture in GT's.
 
Something odd seems to be going on behind the scenes at Sunweb. When they kicked Barguil out their Vuelta team in 2017 after riding for himself it seemed like a sensible decision in the long term. But since then they've had a continuous problem with keeping their GC riders.

Unless they're trying to get their team average age down to like 22.

So, we should be worried for Roche then? At 35 he's basically ancient.
 
Something odd seems to be going on behind the scenes at Sunweb. When they kicked Barguil out their Vuelta team in 2017 after riding for himself it seemed like a sensible decision in the long term. But since then they've had a continuous problem with keeping their GC riders.

Unless they're trying to get their team average age down to like 22.

My thoughts are that Sunweb may be scaling back their financial commitment as title sponsor due to big losses as a travel company during Covid 19 and they just don't have the future budget to race for victories all season.
 
My thoughts are that Sunweb may be scaling back their financial commitment as title sponsor due to big losses as a travel company during Covid 19 and they just don't have the future budget to race for victories all season.

I doubt that. At least not significantly. They made several signings over the last weeks (in both, mens and womens squad) with quite long term deals.
Bardet + Cherel will also not come cheap if they sign those two.

I'm actually interested in how long Kemna and Spekenbrink want to continue their way of doing things and running the team if they lose key riders, like every year. They already had to majorly focus on young riders and the development of talents. But if now also homegrown talents like Oomen leave it is not a good sign for the future. The market for Juniors will also be more heavily contested now that Jumbo has their Devo squad, meaning Sunweb Devo now has at least two big competitors for Dutch/German and other prospects in Jumbo and SEG. It is not a good look for them if they want to attract riders/talents while constantly having to explain why they lost rider x or y.
And its not only riders, there has been quite a loss of staff too over the last years. To Jumbo Visma and elsewhere.

It will be important for Sunweb over the next two or three years to prove that they can at least hold on to their biggest talents, which they have many of, rather than losing them after developing them. It will definitely help that a good portion of them is coming through the development team and know the structure and team for years. But if they keep losing important riders and staff left and right, even homegrown talents, they should really start to think about their way of operating.
 
I doubt that. At least not significantly. They made several signings over the last weeks (in both, mens and womens squad) with quite long term deals.
Bardet + Cherel will also not come cheap if they sign those two.

I'm actually interested in how long Kemna and Spekenbrink want to continue their way of doing things and running the team if they lose key riders, like every year. They already had to majorly focus on young riders and the development of talents. But if now also homegrown talents like Oomen leave it is not a good sign for the future. The market for Juniors will also be more heavily contested now that Jumbo has their Devo squad, meaning Sunweb Devo now has at least two big competitors for Dutch/German and other prospects in Jumbo and SEG. It is not a good look for them if they want to attract riders/talents while constantly having to explain why they lost rider x or y.
And its not only riders, there has been quite a loss of staff too over the last years. To Jumbo Visma and elsewhere.

It will be important for Sunweb over the next two or three years to prove that they can at least hold on to their biggest talents, which they have many of, rather than losing them after developing them. It will definitely help that a good portion of them is coming through the development team and know the structure and team for years. But if they keep losing important riders and staff left and right, even homegrown talents, they should really start to think about their way of operating.

What is it that they are doing? They are strict, they are unflexible, is it that? (They are officially avoiding to get into the clinic.)
And why would a rider like Bardet join them?

Are they so bad at dealing with people on a personal level?
 
What is it that they are doing? They are strict, they are unflexible, is it that? (They are officially avoiding to get into the clinic.)
And why would a rider like Bardet join them?

Are they so bad at dealing with people on a personal level?

I don't know details but yes, they are said to be working very strictly and controlled concerning training programs, communication and interaction with riders etc. and are strongly insisting on the idea they have. Riders who don't align with that idea will not get along with the team. Which obviously doesn't suit every rider (Theuns for example). Fröhlinger said in a podcast that this caused several riders who didn't suit the system to go elsewhere after having clashed with the team idea/persons in charge.

Kemna is also said to be a difficult character to work with at times.

And oviously Dumoulin for example was fed up with their transfer policy of signing lots of young guys instead of reliable domestiques who could help him immediately. Even letting lose key domestiques like Geschke or Ten Dam. And it seems that now, after Dumoulin, both his friends Kelderman and Oomen will also leave and in that joining sports director Aike Visbeek, now at SEG team, who was instrumental for Dumoulin at his Giro victory and Henrik Werner, Dumoulins coach, who was snagged up by Bora.
 
This applies across purposes as well. The women's team is well known for running a tightly-drilled organisation and very controlling. If you thrive in that kind of environment it's a great, supportive team to be in. It worked beautifully for getting the most out of Coryn Rivera when she came over to Europe, as she's developed into a much more rounded rider than anybody could have predicted, and it's been great for development with riders like Labous and Lippert too. But if you're already established dealing with a different kind of environment, it can be a major failing and the relationship can go sour very quickly, and it seems that a lot of the experienced names or at least those who have got to know their level and what works for them before joining the team that come in have short tenures - and they've lost van Dijk and Brand in the last two off-seasons too. Janneke Ensing is the biggest case in point - she went from being the big money acquisition of the year in December to transferring off the team by the start of May.
 
A very controlled and structured approach isn't bad, as long as it isn't one size fits all and they take their time to give each rider his individual training program and try to find out what works best with him (adding more volume vs more intensitydurning his training, number of race days he needs to be sharp before a main goal).
If it's just them being control freaks then yeah, but you'd need a few examples and real evidence to formulate a valid opinion.
 
I suspect it depends. Ineos/British cycling in general is very strict on how they deal with riders. Sounds like Sunweb may be in that mold. It works for some riders it doesn't work for other. Movistar is the exact opposite side of the way they do things by leaving training fully up to each of the riders with no real training camps and only getting involved with training if a rider asks for help. The other teams are somewhere in between. The idea of individualized training programs for each rider is likely the best approach.
 
They have a lot of young talent for GC coming up, but i guess they should wait at least 2 years or more before those guys reach the level of putting themselves in the picture in GT's.
Do they? Hirschi and Van Wilder haven't had a chance to even ride a GT yet, while Hindley looks more like a mountain domestique.

You look at that roster and there's really only one rider who can take a win at a good level WT race - Matthews. They really need to sign someone else who can win or their sponsors might start getting itchy feet.
 
Do they? Hirschi and Van Wilder haven't had a chance to even ride a GT yet, while Hindley looks more like a mountain domestique.

You look at that roster and there's really only one rider who can take a win at a good level WT race - Matthews. They really need to sign someone else who can win or their sponsors might start getting itchy feet.

Also Tiesj Benoot and Søren Kragh. The latter seemed to finally have put things together over the winter and was third in Omloop and won the TT in Paris-Nice where he finished 10th GC after having sat up on the penultimate stage.

Benoot also rode quite brilliantly in Paris-Nice and they looked set to have a really, really good trio for the classics.
 
Do they? Hirschi and Van Wilder haven't had a chance to even ride a GT yet, while Hindley looks more like a mountain domestique.

You look at that roster and there's really only one rider who can take a win at a good level WT race - Matthews. They really need to sign someone else who can win or their sponsors might start getting itchy feet.
Van Wilder, Leknessund, Arensman and Brenner are the guys i was thinking about. There is also Donovan. In Hirschi, i mainly see a guy that could do well in 1 week stageraces and classics, much like Benoot.
Leknessund is 21, Arensman turns 21 later this year, Van Wilder just turned 20. Brenner is a bit too young, though he's said to be the biggest talent. I'm also not claiming they will all turn into GT winners or competitors, but in 2 to 3 years, we could be seeing some of these guys doing some nice things in GT's, yes. When these guys turn 22 - 24, they will very likely be among the best in their age bracket. Looking at what guys like Sivakov, Oomen or Kämna have been doing at that age, yes i think something like that is also possible for those guys.
 
Do they? Hirschi and Van Wilder haven't had a chance to even ride a GT yet, while Hindley looks more like a mountain domestique.

You look at that roster and there's really only one rider who can take a win at a good level WT race - Matthews. They really need to sign someone else who can win or their sponsors might start getting itchy feet.

I assumed they would go after Jack Haig - Top 4 placings in his last four stage races when leader and will lead for the first time at the Vuelta or Giro - He's developing nicely and they have a strong Australian contingent in the team.
 
Van Wilder, Leknessund, Arensman and Brenner are the guys i was thinking about. There is also Donovan. In Hirschi, i mainly see a guy that could do well in 1 week stageraces and classics, much like Benoot.
Leknessund is 21, Arensman turns 21 later this year, Van Wilder just turned 20. Brenner is a bit too young, though he's said to be the biggest talent. I'm also not claiming they will all turn into GT winners or competitors, but in 2 to 3 years, we could be seeing some of these guys doing some nice things in GT's, yes. When these guys turn 22 - 24, they will very likely be among the best in their age bracket. Looking at what guys like Sivakov, Oomen or Kämna have been doing at that age, yes i think something like that is also possible for those guys.
Don't forget my boy Gall (almost a local guy) who turned pro with them this year.;)
His performance in the u23 ranks was a bit below the expectations last year, but his 2018 season was really good.
 

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