Uijtdebroeks is not an option at all for the Tour.Like I wrote before, Gamper is a lock.
Hindley loves him as his bodyguard.
With Higuita not in shape, I wonder if they think about bringing Uijtdebroeks.
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Uijtdebroeks is not an option at all for the Tour.Like I wrote before, Gamper is a lock.
Hindley loves him as his bodyguard.
With Higuita not in shape, I wonder if they think about bringing Uijtdebroeks.
Or whoever wins the German NC for them...The last spot will be filled with a climber type rider.
Options are in my eyes Higuita, Zwiehoff, Konrad and perhaps Schachmann. So Gamper not in the team..
Perhaps just out of consideration for the German public broadcasters, so that they have at least a small reason to show the raceBennett missing is fair I think, he hasn't really performed despite having the best lead out in the world tour. Giving Meeus the change to show something is reasonable.
What worries me is that there hasn't been clear communication that Buchmann will be purely a domestique so I reckon he's allowed to ride on his own for like 12th place in GC which is hilarious.
Nothing against Meeus, but has he ever raced with Van Poppel as his leadout man before? Because testing that set-up in a race for the first time at the Tour would be a bit of a strange move. Results wise he probably deserves to be there over Bennett, but I have to think that more potential stagehunters who can also support Hindley (like Schachmann, who looked good in TdS) would actually have a better chance of winnning a stage and be better at supporting Hindley.Bennett missing is fair I think, he hasn't really performed despite having the best lead out in the world tour. Giving Meeus the change to show something is reasonable.
What worries me is that there hasn't been clear communication that Buchmann will be purely a domestique so I reckon he's allowed to ride on his own for like 12th place in GC which is hilarious.
Zwihoff is decent but hasn't been on a training camp since JanuaryNothing against Meeus, but has he ever raced with Van Poppel as his leadout man before? Because testing that set-up in a race for the first time at the Tour would be a bit of a strange move. Results wise he probably deserves to be there over Bennett, but I have to think that more potential stagehunters who can also support Hindley (like Schachmann, who looked good in TdS) would actually have a better chance of winnning a stage and be better at supporting Hindley.
Kämna is probably cooked after the Giro, but I bet Hindley would like to have him there for the high mountains. Higuita has been a total enigma since Itzulia, otherwise he'd be a lock and the team would look much stronger.
Konrad did Catalunya, Tota, LBL, Frankfurt and the Giro while being in the breakaway a lot during the 2nd half of the race, so he's probably a bit overraced/not ready for the Giro-Tour double. I also rate him higher in the medium mountains and on hilly terrain than in the high mountains (he has always been a "Valverde at home" type of rider).
Edit: I'd leave the final spot for Zwiehoff or Schachmann and maybe I'd replace Haller with Gamper, if Hindley trusts him more and really wants to have him there (but Haller + Politt is a really solid duo for hectic flat stages).
Don't think the training camp think matter if he is in decent form (Tour of Slovenia would suggest that).Zwihoff is decent but hasn't been on a training camp since January
Kamna should be kept away from stress of le tour given his temperament, after doing a big Giro
Konrad is not the best for col dela loze type climbs as you say
Higuita is bad and is another poor man's valverde
Fabbro just probably isn't good enough.
I would sign Superman last minute on a 6 month contract and fly him straight after vuelta Colombia to europe
Can we please stop with that stupid *** about Buchmann. i think most people here understand dynamics in cycling and rider management. Outside of the decision of the team in the Giro 22 to don't sacrifice Buchmann's Top 10 to keep Kelderman longer out of the wind in the third week. That was a bad look but if Hindley hasn't won you could also question how Kämna was going for his own chances all the time and in important stages dropped like a stone without doing anything. The hero pull on fedaia just makes people forget the rest of the race. Outside of that Giro Buchmann was a absolutely loyal domestique or workhorse since his bad luck started in 2020. He's pulling in early break control in Eschborn-Frankfurt or Deutschland Tour. He was part of the teams that created those sprint chances for Sagan and dropped all the sprinters. He even pulled for Sagan when his GC chances in the Giro 21 were still intact. He stayed with kelderman in the third week in the Alps 21 when his form was getting better and better.Bennett missing is fair I think, he hasn't really performed despite having the best lead out in the world tour. Giving Meeus the change to show something is reasonable.
What worries me is that there hasn't been clear communication that Buchmann will be purely a domestique so I reckon he's allowed to ride on his own for like 12th place in GC which is hilarious.
I really don't see how this is supposed to be the case. Bennett is the much better climber than Meeus, and has shown that he is willing to work for the team in the past - just recently in Hungary, for example.Meeus is the better allround rider who can also go in the breaks or help Hindley.
I really don't see how this is supposed to be the case. Bennett is the much better climber than Meeus, and has shown that he is willing to work for the team in the past - just recently in Hungary, for example.
His sprints have mainly been disappointing this year, of course, but as mentioned before, Bennett's preperation was fully focused on the Tour, and after the Dauphiné (according to Meeus) Bora even sent him on a sprint training camp together with van Poppel and Mullen - which is also why the nomination came totally unexpected for Meeus.
So the way this has been handled by the team looks actually really bad. And now they end up with a sprint team that hasn't even trained together much, let alone raced.
I disagree with the last sentence. They had everything going for them in this smaller stage races and of course with Hindley in the Giro but beyond that the performance of the classic squad and the sprinters were poor. Of course it looks now way worse if you look at the wins but I think they are not that far off in their performance level. Vlasov had an easy win in Romandie last year but look at the startlist and the level of competition this year. Same for Catalunya where Higuita got also a bit lucky last year. In the end they got a guy or two in the Top 10 in every WT stage race but for Paris-Nice. Vlasov got unlucky with covid so his season and prepared plan lead to nothing. But Cian and Hindley look good. If Hindley makes it to 3rd or 4th place in the Tour then that would be in line with what the team achieved also last year. So stage racing is still fine although the results weren't as good as last year but I don't see a systematic problem there.Denk also promised TdF for Ackermann in 2021 and didn't take him.
And then to think what a wonderfull job they did sheduling 3 top sprinters in 2019.
Also in general what a letdown of a season. Up until June last year it looked like the team had really taken the next step and become a topteam with Aldag but now they're further away from that than 4 years ago.