Arkea with the weird splitting of words. Or, just one word, in four lines...
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The Colombian peloton seems to be in a real mess at the moment. Down to just 15 confirmed WT riders for 2023. Not a single new first year pro at either a WT or PT level team next season seems particularly worrying. Quintana still without a team despite claiming otherwise. Superman Lopez sacked by Astana which is about as bad as it gets. Bernal (and Hodeg) trying to return from terrible injuries. The Tour of Colombia getting cancelled. Higuita and Martinez are both very good but even they failed in their biggest goals this year. At least there is Gianni Savio’s Conti team but it’s pretty grim overall.
Not just that, but big names being poached out of the domestic péloton by neighbours. José Tito Hernández moving to an Ecuadorian team while defending Vuelta a Colombia champion was pretty shocking, while Robinson Chalapud made the same transfer last season. I think they have been somewhat the victims of the recent fad for big teams racing to pick up next-big-things meaning a good few people are promoted to the highest level too soon and get Remmert Wielingaed. Someone like Daniel Arroyave is out of contract after a year and a half of somewhat inconsequential time on the WT, but he's only 22. Andrés Camilo Ardila is joining Burgos-BH at 23 which would seem fairly standard progress, except he's been at a WT team for three years. Daniel Méndez has been at Kern Pharma for three seasons, but he's come up with the team and is only 22. There's a good few riders out there who would previously have been serving apprenticeships on smaller teams who are being signed up to big teams super early in the hope of unearthing the next Egan Bernal. I mean, guys like Sosa only just turned 25, but have been around the European pro péloton long enough that we feel we've got a handle on his level, and there's nothing new to learn.
Simultaneously there are other factors that have hurt the Colombian influence in the sport. The coming of competition from their neighbours for spots - it isn't that long ago that Ecuador was a complete unknown in the sport, but since Richard Carapaz we've seen a stream of talents and teams now hunt out those riders too. That allied with scandals repeatedly rocking Colombian domestic cycling and the loss of many of the Asia Tour type races that would prove a lucrative option for earning for veteran riders on the domestic scene, leaving smaller races at home open for younger riders to contest, has meant that what few talents that remain over there past their youth days have less to play for unless they are an outlier or a quirky, unusual backstory like Yesid Pira.
Wouldnt Cees Bol be a pretty smart pick-up by JV?
They have 29 riders listed on their roster, so they probably have a spot left.
They have 29 riders listed on their roster, so they probably have a spot left.
He can't demand a high wage after the season he's had, so it probably wouldn't be a big risk for the team. But I'm not sure it would be a wise choice for him, if he has other options.
He would be on a great team and probably get a chance here and there in some semi-classics. Smaller one-day races and so on.
He would have the best chance to make results, while doing work for teammates in some cases as well.
I dont think anyone would sign him as their top sprinter or that he would have a good chance to sprint for himself at another team, with less resources.
A move to JV might revive his career, than continuing to decline at a lower-level team.
Well, only if one of their other riders leaves the team. They're on 30 for next year already.
They can always demote one of their riders to the development team.
David van der Poel for example is on the first team but only did in 2022 the Tour of Poland in races that he couldn't have done as being part of the Devo team.
I guess Laurance was only hired for the Devo team because of the team being already full and because they don't need him for the classics team next year. I expect him to be a regular part of the first team for .Pro and .1 racea and to be promoted for the 2nd part of the season to do some WT races, as he has already the level for that.
He's the one! It was actually reported a while back that he's retiring, because of back problems. Though, only after the CX, and I don't know how much road racing he'll do.
I think they'll booth down Gaze and the older VDP. They mainly focus on off-road races anyway.
From what I understand, D. VDP is retiring completely. Or maybe it's that he's retiring from CX because that's worse for his back, but road racing is okay-ish...
We've had that discussion before, you read an English translation while in the original VDP only said that he was thinking about retiring. Anyways, he still has a contract for next year.
Actually, I read a Danish translation, reporting an interview he made with RIDE Magazine. Though, I can't seem to find the original article from that magazine...
Just noticed that Jason Osborne is not on the WT team, someone who I was expecting who could step up after very decent showings in the .PRO races he did this year. I would rate him higher than Sam Gaze, for example.
Interestingly, the devo team with Laurance, Osborne, Kielich, Dehairs and Uhlig has some riders who would have the chance to score decent points in many ProSeries teams. With also Jente Michels and Ryan Cortjens, who despite being cross focused riders, have some interesting results in hilly and mountainous races in the junior ranks, who I'm curious to see how they develop in the road.
Interestingly, the devo team with Laurance, Osborne, Kielich, Dehairs and Uhlig has some riders who would have the chance to score decent points in many ProSeries teams. With also Jente Michels and Ryan Cortjens, who despite being cross focused riders, have some interesting results in hilly and mountainous races in the junior ranks, who I'm curious to see how they develop in the road.
Osborne is with Alpecin-Deceunick next year. I think he hasn't signed with the WT Team, because it is full... The developement Team is getting really strong. They are probably planing with the developement riders in a lot of Pro races.
Gazzetta reports that Cavendish and Bol have signed with Astana.
If true, let's see which one of the Kazakhs will be promoted to leader of the Development Team.
If true, let's see which one of the Kazakhs will be promoted to leader of the Development Team.
Oh god, that would be the one thing that would make me finally dislike Astana. Imagine signing a sprinter who will be 38 in May and has only had good results in the last few years at Quickstep (when it comes to sprinters and classics guys their staff is able to revive even the dead ones) after just loosing your Nr. 1 gc rider, while Nairo is still on the market. Mindblowing.
On another note, 25 year old Luca Vergallito won the Zwift academy on the male side and now signed with the Alpecin developmental team. Former Triathlete who became a road cyclist in the junior ranks and quit after 2 years in the u23 ranks to focus on getting a degree at a university. I guess his numbers are really good, otherwise he wouldn't have come on on top and gotten a contract.
Yeah, Cav and Bol to Astana makes sense. Cav is still Cav, and Bol mustn‘t be written off (he still has great potential, I‘d say).
MAL and Nairo Quintana probably will name their new teams until circa end of February or March, at the latest. Might be no problem, since they will anyways continue training and preparing as if they‘d already have a team for 2023. (Much easier for them than for example for Vermote, van Keirsbulck and Simon Clarke, in recent times. These guys were without contract and had rather small hope of finding top contracts again, but continued preparing seriously, and got rewarded)…
MAL and Nairo Quintana probably will name their new teams until circa end of February or March, at the latest. Might be no problem, since they will anyways continue training and preparing as if they‘d already have a team for 2023. (Much easier for them than for example for Vermote, van Keirsbulck and Simon Clarke, in recent times. These guys were without contract and had rather small hope of finding top contracts again, but continued preparing seriously, and got rewarded)…
MAL will probably get a new 4-year deal, but I doubt we will know about it soon.
I'm trying to think of a weirder transfer than Cav to Astana but I can't think of one. It was one of that rider-team mix that I thought made little sense beforehand.
I'm trying to think of a weirder transfer than Cav to Astana but I can't think of one. It was one of that rider-team mix that I thought made little sense beforehand.
Kevin Hulsmans to Vini-Zabu
Halvorsen to Sky
Rolland to EF
Zeits to BEX
Roelandts to Movistar
Ludo Dierckxens to Lampre
Horner to Lampre
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