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Teams & Riders Everybody needs a little bit of Roglstomp in their lives

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So, just to look at some numbers. Dumoulins most impressive GT (in my oppinion) was the Tour last year. He did win the Giro in 2017, but there he was impressive in the ITTs and then dropped time on a lot of uphill sections (with the exception of Oropa of course). But in the Tour 2018 he was good in the TTs, the mountains and consistent. And Roglič was there as well, first time really going for GC.

In the end, Tom finished 1:31 seconds ahead of Primož. Roglič lost most of the time in the time trials (yes, funny enough). He lost 1:04 seconds to Sunweb in the TTT. Then he was 1:12 behind Tom in the ITT. Big effort on the previous day, a stone in the elbow and equipment that he himself criticised as outdated all contributed to that loss. So 2:16 lost in the TTs. Which at least this year would not be the case. Tom lost the most on that unfortunate stage up to Mur de Bretagne, again mostly not through his own fault. He lost 50 seconds to Roglič, plus the 20 seconds time penalty for drafting. That totals up to 1:10. All the other stages were a "fair" contest.

In the end if we take all those anomalies out of the picture they would finish within 15 seconds of each other. And that is not nearly enough to say one rider is much superior to the other. That is why I think they should go to the Tour as co-leaders with best support possible. They could help eachother on the climbs. Tom seems a bit better on long regular climbs around 6% (La Rosiere in 2018 or the climb on stage 16 of La Vuelta this year), while Rogla is better at irregular, steeper climbs up to 10km of lenght. That could change of course, since sometimes Dumo did his best performances on super steep climbs (Cumbre del Sol) or Roglič on longer consistent climbs (Pyrenees in the Tour 2018, queen stage of Romandie 2018). So in the end it comes down to the current form and who will be able to respond to Ineos or Pinot's attacks better next year. If they ride a smart race they could even both finish on the podium.
 
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The answer is we don't really know because we've not seen them go head to head in a GT with both riders in peak form.
Except TDF 2018, but there Roglic was more inexperienced.

And this year Dumoulin was injured, so there's no way of knowing what his true form would've been over let's say the entire Giro. Sure Roglic started strong there, but we know how he ended.

Hopefully we'll know next year. Right now it's very dangerous to say Roglic is better or Dumoulin is better. There is no valid comparison.
 
Well, Jumbo has really stepped up to provide strong support for its GC riders, with guys like de Plus, Kuss, Bennett, Tolhoek, Gesink, and others in development (e.g., Powless), along with strong men like Tony Martin, van Emden, van Aert, et al. So it's a good environment for Primoz. Looks like he is not afraid of having Dumoulin taking some of the spotlight. Together, they make Jumbo even stronger.
 
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So they must have promised him the Tour leadership or no? Especially now with Dumoulin it will be a bit crowded GC wise. The worst for a rider must be their own teammate beating them in a co-leader type position, I think it must be worse than losing out to your rivals. Like Froome losing out to Geraint or later Geraint losing out to Bernal etc. Apparently Sky/Ineos does this intentionally though, that's what Wiggins said, to keep their leaders sort of on the edge. Wiggins also said the strategy seems to work for the team, but he said he wasn't a fan of it.

Nice little video they made though.
 
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Like you seriously think Roglic wouldn't get a fair chance with Dumoulin at Jumbo?

I think he will, especially now that he extended. I'm just saying they might start to copy the Ineos two strong leaders strategy for the Tour only, instead of maybe spreding them each to a different race. I think that's a better strategy, since Jumbo definitely won't make Roglic or Dumoulin work for each other.
 
Like you seriously think Roglic wouldn't get a fair chance with Dumoulin at Jumbo?

Well TJV had specifically said they were getting Dumoulin to win le Tour. So than means Primoz can at Best be a co-leader there. I think the Tour route is generally better for Primoz than the Giro. Of course next years routes need to be unveiled.

As far a a contract until 2023 TJV bought out Dumoulin's contract. So a contract is only a contract until it isn't.

It's very true that TJV is building themselves to be a Force in the GTs. I just hope Primoz gets the support he needs and deserves at every race including le Tour.

I sure don't want to see him at UAE! TJV should get Pogacar instead as long as he is willing to wait a couple of years to be a top dog :).
 
I think a sensible approach to beat Ineos in the Tour will be having two top riders as leaders. There's a very good chance they bring Froome, Thomas and one between Bernal/Carapaz to the Tour next year. Assuming they are all in top shape, I don't think one leader is enough to counter so much firepower, unless you have somebody like prime Contador. Better stack your team, bring all of your top riders and go full royal rumble.
 
Primoz needs to win this race and have a reasonable start to next year. Speculation at this point is just that....how would Jumbo commit solely to a single rider when we've seen what a season of crashes can do.
As for Pogacar; it's early to promote him to GT contender.

Last time I checked this forum is 60% speculation :). Plus a 20 year old looking at a podium will some day be a GT contender barring injury or a poor team!
 
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I think a sensible approach to beat Ineos in the Tour will be having two top riders as leaders. There's a very good chance they bring Froome, Thomas and one between Bernal/Carapaz to the Tour next year. Assuming they are all in top shape, I don't think one leader is enough to counter so much firepower, unless you have somebody like prime Contador. Better stack your team, bring all of your top riders and go full royal rumble.

True there a very few Contadors in the history of cycling. He is an outlier.
 
I think a sensible approach to beat Ineos in the Tour will be having two top riders as leaders. There's a very good chance they bring Froome, Thomas and one between Bernal/Carapaz to the Tour next year. Assuming they are all in top shape, I don't think one leader is enough to counter so much firepower, unless you have somebody like prime Contador. Better stack your team, bring all of your top riders and go full royal rumble.

From a team standpoint it might makes sense yes, like Wiggins said it's a sound strategy keeping you leaders on edge ie. knowing they're replaceable in a sense. But both Roglic and Dumoulin have individual ambitions as well. Let's have a fictional scenario with them being in the same position as Bernal and Geraint this year, which from a tram standpoint is ideal. If one attacks to create a gap it's bad teamwork to try to follow and drag everyone along, so in that situation you can't really follow your personal ambitions, you have to be a teammate. So in a sense it's much more difficult to beat an in-form teammate than a rival from a different team.
 
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From a team standpoint it might makes sense yes, like Wiggins said it's a sound strategy keeping you leaders on edge ie. knowing they're replaceable in a sense. But both Roglic and Dumoulin have individual ambitions as well. Let's have a fictional scenario with them being in the same position as Bernal and Geraint this year, which from a tram standpoint is ideal. If one attacks to create a gap it's bad teamwork to try to follow and drag everyone along, so in that situation you can't really follow your personal ambitions, you have to be a teammate. So in a sense it's much more difficult to beat an in-form teammate than a rival from a different team.


This! You can't be a good teammate and a rival at the same time.
 
The answer is we don't really know because we've not seen them go head to head in a GT with both riders in peak form.
Except TDF 2018, but there Roglic was more inexperienced.

And this year Dumoulin was injured, so there's no way of knowing what his true form would've been over let's say the entire Giro. Sure Roglic started strong there, but we know how he ended.

Hopefully we'll know next year. Right now it's very dangerous to say Roglic is better or Dumoulin is better. There is no valid comparison.
in 2018 tour Roglic went in as a support for Steven, also we should exclude TTTs when comparing riders;
also why the hell are we only looking at GTs, Tom did beat Rogla in WC TT but lost every one week race they entered together
 
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On stage 17 Roglič did manage to keep the advantage, could have ended up badly. Getting caught in the crosswinds, that is likely something Roglič won't try to repeat in the future. What a fast paced race this was. Not sure what to expect from Quintana, likely Valverde is still the main competitor, for the overall win. Quintana again is somebody all will need to keep an eye on, luckily not only Roglič.

P.S. As for the Dumoulin discussions. If Roglič (TJV) wants to win the Tour, likes of Dumoulin will for sure be needed. Otherwise teams like INEOS will take the win. And i doubt Roglič won't go after the GC in any GT he participates in the foreseeable future. That is what he is here to do.
 

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