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Teams & Riders The Great Big Cycling Transfers and Rumours Thread

Page 40 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
btw - I'm really disappointed in the UAE so far tbh. They serious need to get a team to support Pogacar in the mountains. They have many young good riders but they really lack in Domestiques/Climbers. They got Majka and he'll of course be more helpful than Aru, but I don't see him being good enough to be there in the end on the last clim with Jumbo and Ineos. Pogacar can't win Tour de France without a team again. Jumbo will not make that mistake again + Ineos will be aggressive with Thomas, Benal and Cararpaz.


Hello, i have some moments talks with Peiper and yes you are right Majka is not enough. But for me Mader, Barta, Lutsenko, Sanchez, Lopez, Kwiatkowski, Hart can good options to. I know from a very good contact that Uae try to buy Hiquita and/or Bettiol his contract.

Tour next year for me:
Pogacar
Majka
Formolo
De La Cruz
Mcnulty
Bjerg ( climb very good in Giro)
Trentin
+1 new i am sure they will take 1 or 2 good climbers to.

But yes Uae was very late active on transfermarket.
 
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Kwiato to Wanty makes a lot of sense to me.
They've been primarily focused on one day races for a long time and they're stepping up to WT next year.
A big name for the WT Belgian classics is surely needed + going to the Tour with Kwiatkowski sounds a lot better than going with Pasqualon, Van Poppel and Meurisse (all very solid riders, but unlikely to win at WT level).
Exactly and he's still quite the popular guy in Belgium, after all he rode for QST as WC. People remember that. I lowkey expected them to sign Campenaerts and GVK still. Campenaerts because he would be a secondary big Belgian name (next to Bakelants) and GVK because of his past relation with Hiliarie. Surely a WT-squad from Belgium can't just only have Jan Bakelants as their biggest Belgian name?
 
Rumour circling back that both Aru and Pozzovivo both sign for Gazprom ?!?

Pozzovivo sounds pretty committed to NTT:

"It’s not 100 per cent but normally today or in the next day we’ll have confirmation that the team will be here next year,” Pozzovivo told Cyclingnews on Monday.

“We’re just waiting for the confirmation and if the team continues then I’ll stay. I think it will be WorldTour next year and I’m optimistic and confident in Douglas Ryder. He is doing the maximum and it’s not easy to find sponsors. I don’t know exactly who the sponsor will be."

 
Hello, i have some moments talks with Peiper and yes you are right Majka is not enough. But for me Mader, Barta, Lutsenko, Sanchez, Lopez, Kwiatkowski, Hart can good options to. I know from a very good contact that Uae try to buy Hiquita and/or Bettiol his contract.

Tour next year for me:
Pogacar
Majka
Formolo
De La Cruz
Mcnulty
Bjerg ( climb very good in Giro)
Trentin
+1 new i am sure they will take 1 or 2 good climbers to.

But yes Uae was very late active on transfermarket.

Not very sure about the team, honestly.

Polanc is Pogacar's most trusted teammate so i would pencil him in for Le Tour or whichever GT Pogacar does. Depending on the route (is there any TTT?) i would say Marcato is almost a lock as road captain if he is extending for another year.

On the other hand, my impression is Formolo tends to fade in 3 week racing and is not particularly eager to work as a domestique (or he is not very reliable). I guess the Italian will have a traditional Ardennes + Giro calendar, then focus on Vuelta and late autumn races (Worlds if suited to ardenners, Emillia, Lombardia)

So my two cents on UAE line up for 2021 TDF barring injuries: Pogacar, Majka, De la Cruz, Polanc, Trentin, Marcato. I would add another rider for the mountains and another one for the flat/medium mountains. Some of the riders you mention would be great additions for Pogi.
 
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Not very sure about the team, honestly.

Polanc is Pogacar's most trusted teammate so i would pencil him in for Le Tour or whichever GT Pogacar does. Depending on the route (is there any TTT?) i would say Marcato is almost a lock as road captain if he is extending for another year.

On the other hand, my impression is Formolo tends to fade in 3 week racing and is not particularly eager to work as a domestique (or he is not very reliable). I guess the Italian will have a traditional Ardennes + Giro calendar, then focus on Vuelta and late autumn races (Worlds if suited to ardenners, Emillia, Lombardia)

So my two cents on UAE line up for 2021 TDF barring injuries: Pogacar, Majka, De la Cruz, Polanc, Trentin, Marcato. I would add another rider for the mountains and another one for the flat/medium mountains. Some of the riders you mention would be great additions for Pogi.
I agree with you. Polanc was by far his best helper this season and he'd give everything and more for Tadej.
The team you mentioned isn't bad at all. With one strong addition it becomes a very respectable team. Not on TJV or Ineos level but on par with any other team commited to GC. Of course they need to be at their best or close. De La Cruz from the first half of the Tour (because of crash) won't be of any help at all.
 
I don't really understand. Why does UAE need improvements so desperately? Pogacar won the Tour practically without a team. It cost him in the crosswinds (but mostly because of an unfortunate mechanical just before, if I remember correctly). He still won very clearly against a JV team that I can't see getting much better. Ineos does not have a perfect rider for next year's Tour. And Uae as a team should be better next year with uncrashed riders and Majka. Sounds good enough for me, unless Evenepoel is evenepoeling le Tour. For JV it will be very hard to get rid of Pogacar, as Pogacar as a rider type is so similar to Roglic. Unless they play the multiple leader cards right. But then de la Cruz and Majka should be good enough as helpers.
 
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I don't really understand. Why does UAE need improvements so desperately? Pogacar won the Tour practically without a team. It cost him in the crosswinds (but mostly because of an unfortunate mechanical just before, if I remember correctly). He still won very clearly against a JV team that I can't see getting much better. Ineos does not have a perfect rider for next year's Tour. And Uae as a team should be better next year with uncrashed riders and Majka. Sounds good enough for me, unless Evenepoel is evenepoeling le Tour. For JV it will be very hard to get rid of Pogacar, as Pogacar as a rider type is so similar to Roglic. Unless they play the multiple leader cards right. But then de la Cruz and Majka should be good enough as helpers.
This year, nobody attacked him, next year that will be different.
 
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Strong rumours on Twitter about Tobias Bayer joining Alpecin-Fenix as a neo. Would be a nice addition.

Also pretty good job by Tirol again, sending two prospects into ProConti after this difficult season. Only Wildauer seems to be missing out sadly.
 
Strong rumours on Twitter about Tobias Bayer joining Alpecin-Fenix as a neo. Would be a nice addition.

Also pretty good job by Tirol again, sending two prospects into ProConti after this difficult season. Only Wildauer seems to be missing out sadly.

I think that's unofficially confirmed, it's been on Het Nieuwsblad already for some weeks.


The article also says they tried to sign Sam Oomen.
 
I count about 50-60 WT spots left according to PCS. Same sites has 107 riders left still without a contract. Thats a lot of un-employed people still left

Let's hope that a good chunk of those riders are guys who do indeed have contracts, but just haven't made it public yet.
That list is a nice way to get a general idea about who's still unemployed, though I'm not sure this is a necessary filter-option:


Have any of you ever found yourselves wondering about the contract-situation of penguins?
 
Let's hope that a good chunk of those riders are guys who do indeed have contracts, but just haven't made it public yet.
That list is a nice way to get a general idea about who's still unemployed, though I'm not sure this is a necessary filter-option:


Have any of you ever found yourselves wondering about the contract-situation of penguins?

Isn’t Antarctica owned by you lot anyway ? Or was it another white islands ?
 
Let's hope that a good chunk of those riders are guys who do indeed have contracts, but just haven't made it public yet.
That list is a nice way to get a general idea about who's still unemployed, though I'm not sure this is a necessary filter-option:


Have any of you ever found yourselves wondering about the contract-situation of penguins?

Some of those already did, like the Izagirre brothers who are staying 1 more year at Astana, Meintjes who is heading to Wanty, Dillier to Alpecin... Most of them have a guaranteed spot at WT despite not having officially announced their team yet.

It might be tough for riders like Kreuziger, Gasparotto and i'm assuming others like Bole, Cavendish, Ventoso are bound for retirement.
 

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