Yes, but he could always try to achieve a top5 or a podium. Being in the team of Pogacar the possibilities are much lower for that.
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Yes, but he could always try to achieve a top5 or a podium. Being in the team of Pogacar the possibilities are much lower for that.
Honestly, doesn't seem like such a bad deal. I mean, Pog already has a super team around him and it doesn't seem like it will need Almeida., that is whty they hired Soler . And it is not like Pog will ride every race either.
Let's see:
A Team:
Pog
Soler
Majka
Formolo
Polanc
Bjerg
Stake Laengen
B Team:
Almeida, Hirschi, Mcnulty (?)
Costa
Conti
Ulissi
Covi
Oliveira Brothers
And they still have plenty options.
There will always be some overlap in races, particularly the classics. But in stage races and GTs, as long as Almeida doesn't mind not being at the Tour, they should be fine. Could be troublessome in a couple year when Ayuso develops, but let's wait and see.
Let's see:
A Team:
Pog
Soler
Majka
Formolo
Polanc
Bjerg
Stake Laengen
B Team:
Almeida, Hirschi, Mcnulty (?)
Costa
Conti
Ulissi
Covi
Oliveira Brothers
And they still have plenty options.
There will always be some overlap in races, particularly the classics. But in stage races and GTs, as long as Almeida doesn't mind not being at the Tour, they should be fine. Could be troublessome in a couple year when Ayuso develops, but let's wait and see.
He looked like a top rider initially, the only one able to attack Bernal in Avenir and seventh in Abu Dhabi as a neo where he should have probably won Tour of Croatia. Never reached the same condition after that but still usually lurking around 15th place in the stage races he's doing, like Tour de Suisse this year.
A lot of things can happen. What if almeida develops so much that he gets better than pogacar? We don't know already the full potential of almeida. The full potential of ayuso and almeida is unknow right now. Maybe they can be better in the future than pogacar....or not, let's see.
And they can go with 2 leaders to the grand tours, like a lot of teams do now.
One thing is sure, physically speaking, ayuso and almeida should have a great engine, because there were several teams interested in them. Almeida had 8 teams interested.
I think emirates is the best option to develop almeida. They have a better staff for that, san millan is a highly regarded medic/sports physiologist.
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Lefevere won't ruin his classics team, or sprinters, until Remco proves he can indeed win a GT
They still top the team rankings for the year as of now on PCS. Thats says a lot about how good the team is. That they should change anything like some are suggesting to sign more support for Remco right now, which would probably affect other areas of their team, is kind of mind blowing.
The next three teams on the ranking is probably not that hard to guess either, but DQS still being able to be ahead in terms of wins and above them on the ranking is kind of incredible. That is with an injured and out of form Remco for most of the year.
In fact, I wondered if that was one of the reasons (though a bad one) they agreed or suggested to push Remco back so soon for the Giro. Even though they already made a big investment in him, before they built a significant portion of their team around him (changing their team identity) they wanted see him in action. I know that doesn’t really make sense, but it!s what some NFL teams now do with high-priced rookie quarterbacks. Even if they have a veteran starter who is playing okay they will have the rookie take over as starter, so they can see whether he really “has it”, and then build the required pieces around him (see Miami Dolphins this past year).
Well, they can't just buy themselves a Pogacar, that's sure. (Well, maybe with Sagan plus entourage off they could).
No, but the thing is I thought they were going all in for the Tour, which makes sense, because they have German sponsors and all Germans care about is the Tour - well, maybe, after Corona, they will also care about mountainbike and guys like Pidcock and van der Poel... but well, I would have thought they were going for a Tour podium. And then you cannot just assemble guys like Hindley and Higuita and Palzer and hope.
Instead you should, in my opinion, actually look for young extremely talented guys, other Uijtdebroeks, in case Cian doesn't work out, or maybe slightly older, 19, 20, 21. They do have some money released and they have good structures, good equipment, a financially stable situation - they are not Ineos or UAE, but they have some factors to speak for them. Also I would look out for a really good, experienced road captain and good work horses for different kind of situations - at least one other time trialist in addition to Politt, a great descender... such guys. Guys that can be so important as helpers. Instead they now seem to have a bunch of guys who all have more or less the same profile, well, two profiles: pure climbers, and climbers who are also very decent time trialists. Many of them really, really good - but none extremely good. Also most of them are the same age, 24-28, a really good age for a cyclist, but I would prefer a bigger variety with guys who are exciting because you don't know their ceiling, yet, and one or two GT riders of 32+ who have really seen it all.
But maybe they think with Pogacar, Roglic and Ineos a podium is luck anyway, so why not gamble instead of putting a clear team together?? Or try to fight on all fronts, collect points, and seriously go for GC in two years when you have developed your riders (Outofthepants) further...?
They certainly know more about it than I do. I'm just trying to understand.
All of what you are saying makes sense, but I think most of it comes down to similar personnel issues.
They got GC 5th in the Tour this year, but to go all in on Tour GC, to really contest at the sharp end in a way that requires full team support, you need reason to believe that you have a leader who won’t be more than ten minutes behind Pogacar. Their signings this year make it more or less clear that they don’t think they have such a leader. They have presumably guaranteed a Tour ride with support to Bennett. meanwhile they add more guys who they hope can develop into that kind of leader. Let them ride for GC, maybe one of them finds something extra. And at the same time they can lead a load of other races and give the team some GC interest season long.
Similarly, everyone is looking for the 19 year old wonderkids now. Bora are only really more likely than anyone else to manage to pick up the next gem if he happens to be German or Austrian.
I do see what you mean about them having a lot of similar riders though. Their cobbled classics team is looking pretty thin…
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Well, they can't just buy themselves a Pogacar, that's sure. (Well, maybe with Sagan plus entourage off they could
Maybe Tilen would like to become a pro again...
Yes. Cofidis surely likes what they're seeing here. Top 3 yesterday was a bit to close for their liking though.
(I clearly had too many threads opened at once)
If this 7 million for Almeida number is real & isn't a joke, it would be quite an "interesting" lurch into the sort of financial doping seen football after certain oil states acquired certain football clubs. Most private investors in cycling can't compete with those numbers.
On the plus side, teams will take great pleasure in beating these guys.
Cannondale paid their all 30 riders together $6 million in 2017. They still managed a TdF podium, a PR podium and 2 GT stage wins that year. I imagine the numbers aren't vaslty different for EF in 2021. Imagine UAE paying a single rider who has scored 0 podiums in big races so far more than that. Completely insane if true.
7 million a year? No way. I would believe 7 million for the 5 years, that seems more likely.
Color me crazy, but I have not yet see anything the indicates anything like certainty that Remco is a future GT winner. OK, fire away!
I was wrong. This is the article: https://www.ojogo.pt/modalidades/ci...e-anuncio-de-almeida-para-breve-14005332.html
It says UAE offered a contract of 3 years/7M total. 2.3M/year liquid.
Still... a lot. Doesn't Roglic (also van Aert) earn something slightly under 2?
He said basically today to "abola" that he is gonna win between 2 and 3 millions per year. And he said that other teams offered more money than emirates team. With that amount of money, they really believe that almeida has a lot of potential, a great engine, and that certainly he can win grand tours in the future. He is gonna win to much to just be the superdomestique of pogacar.
Yes, but Jumbo usually pays well below market rate, I think.
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