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I do think this confirms the problem with riders who move straight from the juniors to the WT (which many people predicted around the time he turned pro already). Was obvious that Lührs wasn't ready for that level yet and it's hard to develop when you're constantly having to strain to keep up. Now, he will likely be cast aside from the sport altogether at an age where he could still have been a U23 next season.
It's hard to say that everyone should go through the U23s when the likes of Evenepoel and Tarling exist. However, in my view, there are still things you can do to lower the risk of cases like Lührs:
- WT teams should not be allowed to sign riders directly from the juniors if they don't have a U23 setup in which said rider can do part of his races (at least initially), or, if necessary, drop down to entirely
- Junior riders who are signed directly to the WT should be guaranteed a contract for the duration of their (nominal) U23 period (also means teams need to think harder about whether they want to have someone make that jump immediately)
I think the team managers are facing a big problem: Some riders are certainly on the long list - injuries may now add riders who were not planned - but may be strong or have legitimate interest.
It's likely that Jordi was guaranteed the Vuelta. With a strong team for the overall ranking, you might want to change that. But you also have to think about the satisfaction of all the riders.
I think that the following drivers were originally considered or are now under discussion due to changes:
Adria (home tour and deserved a start after a strong year)
Aleotti (Good Giro, maybe the plan was to give him a bit more freedom and keep testing)
Hajek (Perhaps a little early, but a GT in the legs often helps young riders get ahead)
Higuita (Always a candidate when in good shape)
Hindley (Helper at the Tour, not ridden much - perhaps with his own ambitions?)
Lipowitz (Bad luck at the Giro, he has a secure starting position)
Martinez (Strong Giro, was Tour candidate - no Vuelta would surprise)
Maciejuk (I was at an altitude training camp. Surprised me, not such a good year, but you need a rider for the flat)
Meeus (Last year Tour (with stage win), good spring. No GT would be hard to explain to him)
Palzer (Red Bull athlet...)
Roglic (In the last years always a 2nd good GT (think without a crash at the TDF he would not have been provided to give his teammates a chance)
Vlasov (if he is fit certainly an option, originally maybe even as GT captain)
Wandahl (Apparently they're also planning to use him in 2025 - so they'll have to give him a GT for once)
Zwiehoff (Not a good year, but valuable for GTs in recent years=
I think the team will consist of:
Martinez, Roglic, Adria, Lipowitz, Meeus, Hindley or Vlasov, Maciejuk, Zwiehoff
I think I would do one more rider for the flat like Koch instead of Adria or Zwiehoff.
All in all it would be a super strong team…maybe the strongest at the Vuelta.
Offtopic: really happy for the team that Meeus won the stage today in Belgium
Na afwezigheid in Tour ook geen Vuelta voor Jordi Meeus: "Maar niet eerlijk om ploeg schuld te geven"
Jordi Meeus zegevierde maandag in de Tour de Wallonie. De Belgische renner zette de massasprint naar zijn hand na een chaotische eindfase. Voor Meeus is het zijn tweede zege van het seizoen. “Ik was graag bij de Tour geweest”, vertelde hij na afloop aan DirectVelo. “Het was een nerveuze dag. Er...
According to this, no Meeus but Roga
I think it doesn't make that much sense to bring a sprinter anyways in this race. There are little to none pure sprinter stages (wuhu!) Don't really understand why he didn't race in the Giro.
Because his focus was on the classics… Welsford was planned for Giro but them was not in shape
Well alright, that makes sense then. What doesn't make sense is bringing him for this race though when you are obviously gonna get a pretty good shot at the overall without the mutants, a much better shot than you had in the Tour anyways.
Realistically this team still has long way to go, before being considered one of the best teams out there. Somehow i am sure that they will grow with each race, upcoming Vuelta being a good opportunity to show such progress being made.
TBF, he was supposed to ride the Giro last year, but then he broke his femur.
How I see the GC field:
Level 1: Visma; UAE
Clear cut
Level 2: INEOS; Red Bull; Soudal (I think Red Bull have the better riders, but the others have a better infrastructure etc. How long it takes to catch up…I don’t know, but I think it helps to have Red Bull with its knowledge as an owner and not a random sponsor)
Level 3: Lidl; EF; Bahrain; Decathlon
Level 4: Movistar; Jayco; etc
Problem is they are going backwards since 2019 with the brief exception of the first half of the year in 2022 when they were a really good GC team for a brief period. The question is now what is the identity of the team and where else other then the Tour do they want to be successful. At the moment they are pretty average at everything: no good classic squad, No Top 5 sprinter, Roglic isn't going to get on a level to compete with Jonas and Pogi anymore in July...never. Martinez second at the Giro is a big success for the Bora-Hansgrohe team but it was really such a different level to Pogi that Red Bull with the aspiration to be the best team in the world can't be happy with it.
I was a fan of what Denk was doing since the early NetApp days and is contribution to german cycling is quit big. He also did a pretty unthinkable thing in bringing in two german companies to associate themselves to cycling fully in a time where all big german companies didn't want to invest. This is also pretty remarkable as almost all big international players are sponsored one way or the other billionaires pretty much directly or from oil money. I think the team will be unrecognizable next year and I don't have high hopes that they will succeed without Red Bull bringing the bag to sign someone like Jonas, Remco or Pogi in 25. Also the german/austrian roots of the team will be cleary ended with all the exits. I really hop that another team could step into that role. Maybe LIDL will do it one way or the other.
I don't think the team is 100% right at the moment. The “Band of Brothers” has perhaps been lost somewhat - the transition to the GC team was not easy, although it got off to a great start with the Giro 2022. The whole team rode strongly there too - as a unit. Back then there was Sagan, everyone could hide behind him and many got their chance. Now there are more riders who have ambitions, but also riders who have hardly any chances and have to fill out the team more (not that they are bad, but they don't get a chance).
Now everyone should give their all for Roglic. That works with teams like UAE, if there is a leader where everyone sees that it is worth supporting him 100%. That has to happen for the first time at Red Bull. That very good riders say, hey, I can make top 5 if everything goes great, but not win. I am now becoming a good helper. That is difficult. Presumably not everything went perfectly from the team management either.
Just look at the issues surrounding Ackermann, Benett, Buchmann and probably also Kämna - not everything went ideally.
Together with Red Bull, a new start can be made for 2025. There will also be some changes in the team with the riders - and certainly also in the structures. And the objectives will be broadened and the classics will be addressed more again. This will provide more opportunities for different drivers, who may then give even more than helpers elsewhere. And perhaps there will also be a greater sense of achievement, which also helps a team. Now you're betting everything on the TDF, it goes wrong and you're left looking stupid. That might have less of an impact in the future.
What I find very unfortunate, however, is that for some reason they don't manage to keep the good German riders. You are a German team. Of course the focus is global, but this aspect is still a shame.
Really good overview and good summary.
If everything we hear is true, there should be a maximum of 1-2 places left. They are a German team and have an Austrian main sponsor. They want to be an international team, but they seem to be losing a lot of German and Austrian riders. Therefore, I could imagine that at least one German-speaking rider could be brought in - and that can only be a rider with potential. Or you could get these riders for the U23 team, and then you could also let some of them ride in the A-team.
I can't assess Marco Schrettl. But he certainly fits the profile and still rides for the former partner team.
luis-joe was lüred by the world tour but knocked out in the first round
Depending on how you define it, the names that have already been mentioned here in the forum already include some riders who have a lot of potential and have already shown strong races this year. Of course, these are not serial winners or riders from the top leagues at the moment, but some have at least shown that they can become one. And there are hardly any riders from the top leagues on the market.
Martinez is a DNS in the Olympic ITT as he didn't get his passport back on time after applying for a visa in Canada - which could mean no Vuelta for him, I guess. I doubt anyone really plans to do both, Vuelta and GPCQM, at least.
www.antena2.com
Daniel Felipe Martínez no correrá la contrarreloj de los Juegos Olímpicos
El ciclista colombiano sería baja de última hora por temas administrativos.
www.antena2.com
Finn Fisher-Black verhuist van UAE Emirates naar Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
Finn Fisher-Black vertrekt bij UAE Emirates, de ploeg van Tour de France-winnaar Tadej Pogačar. De 22-jarige Nieuw-Zeelander rijdt sinds 14 juli 2021 voor de ploeg uit het Midden-Oosten, nadat hij zijn eerste anderhalf jaar als belofte afwerkte voor Jumbo-Visma Development. Vanaf 2025 komt...
Some input on Red Bulls transfers. Nothing really new but still interesting.
PCS states that Red Bull had 29 rider this year.
We know 8 rider who will leave the team. Makes 21 signed riders for me. Means 9 potential slots and we know about 7 new riders.
So I expect 2 more signings
Giulio Pellizzari moves to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
Giulio Pellizzari moves to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
www.redbullborahansgrohe.com
Great signing! I am really looking forward to follow his development.Giulio Pellizzari moves to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
Giulio Pellizzari moves to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
www.redbullborahansgrohe.com
It’s a 3 year deal according to his agency
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