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Even if they sign Vine they should still have 5 spots open for next season.Vine is really the kind of rider that I don't want to see riding for UAE. They still didn't seem to realise that what they need is more rouleurs not climbers.
Vine to UAE would be a terrible career move. I'd much rather see him stay at Alpecin and continue to build on what they have going with Stannard and Meurisse.Vine is really the kind of rider that I don't want to see riding for UAE. They still didn't seem to realise that what they need is more rouleurs not climbers.
It's fine, they'll just turn into trident-era Movistar where they lost all their ATVs and rouleurs to be able to pay Landa, and everybody enjoyed the chaos. UAE are just embracing that, that's all. They even signed Marc Soler to make sure of it.Vine is really the kind of rider that I don't want to see riding for UAE. They still didn't seem to realise that what they need is more rouleurs not climbers.
Maybe a bit off topic, but I'd take Formolo to the Tour as a domestique. He's friends with Pogacar and his biggest strength is his endurance, he can ride hard for an eternity while not having the highest w/kg on just 1 climb, that plays really well into Pogacar's strengths. Just look how good Formolo was as a superdom on that hilly Tirreno-Adriatico stage in 2021 or on the Le Grand Bornand stage.This is a very smart move by Matxin!
The Giro team this year was a joke in mountains. Now with the signing of Yates he probably push Benneth for the giro instead of the tour and then maybe + Vine. Would be strong! A quick guess on the mountains train in the giro line-up below.
Almeida
Vine
Bennett
Formolo
Großschartner
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Have they actually officially signed him?
Jay Vine needs money. UAE got moneyWhat's the logic of signing Jay Vine for UAE? Does UAE not have enough climbers? Does Vine time trial? Because that's what they need, not another climber.
You could've said something similar this season and UAE still ended up with Hirschi spending most of the Tour struggling to hang on to the back of the peloton. It's not the worst team around, but they're still kinda bringing a knife to a gun fight and depending heavily on Pogacar's ability to look after himself in the peloton. He's done so exceptionally up to this point, so inevitably it will go badly wrong sooner or later.Even if they sign Vine they should still have 5 spots open for next season.
Given that they already have a small group of pretty solid roleurs in Bjerg, Trentin, Laengen, Oliveira-bros and a bunch of better riders that could do great donkey work in McNulty, Soler, Hirschi, Wellens in tougher terrain I don’t think they are far away from being well covered in the GTs.
Of course it would be great to have a rider like Van Baarle but I don’t really think one can say that the (lack of) roleurs is the reason why Pogacar lost the Tour this year. The one stage he got exposed by Jumbo this year it was on Galibier. In this situation it’s not much help in a rider like Van Baarle, but Adam Yates could’ve made a massive difference there.
I honestly think a team of these 8 is more than good enough to support Pogacar in the Tour:
Pogacar
Yates
Majka
McNulty
Soler
Grosschartner/Hirschi/Wellens
Bjerg
Trentin/Oliviera/Laengen
This is even a team without Ayoso and Almeida and they could still bring in some decent riders for the open 5-6 spots.
The only question is the TTT, but I think this should be a pretty solid TTT team with Pogi, McNulty and Bjerg as the big engines. Wouldn’t surprise me if they limit the loss to a Jumbo super team to 1 - 1,5sec/km.
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Then of course UAE should’ve brought in some top rider for the cobble classics, but with the team they have they are really competitive in the GTs, basically every WT stage race and the hilly classics. They are also not too bad in sprints (especially in smaller races) with Ackermann, Hodeg and Gross (and Molano if they want to resign him).
Only in cobble classics it’s really thin with only Trentin as a competitive rider if we count on Pogi to not go for Ronde next season.
Well, Trentin got Covid the day before the Tour and after the first week Laengen followed the same way. Every team would struggle if the two designated donkeys get Covid.You could've said something similar this season and UAE still ended up with Hirschi spending most of the Tour struggling to hang on to the back of the peloton. It's not the worst team around, but they're still kinda bringing a knife to a gun fight and depending heavily on Pogacar's ability to look after himself in the peloton. He's done so exceptionally up to this point, so inevitably it will go badly wrong sooner or later.
Any team would struggle if that happened during the race, sure. A team in UAE's position should still have more suitable riders than Hirschi on standby for the biggest race of the year. Dennis not being in contention was hardly a problem for Jumbo, and Ineos have always had very good riders who can't get a spot in the team at big races.Well, Trentin got Covid the day before the Tour and after the first week Laengen followed the same way. Every team would struggle if the two designated donkeys get Covid.