Teams & Riders The Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe team thread

[LongtimeLurker]

they should have made him a better offer, by the look of it. Lorang is not the kind of person you would want to go elsewhere.

Looks are not everything in performance....

 

[RedheadDane]

Red Bull is not a sponsor. They own the team outright

Bora has still been part of the name longer.

Also 'Bora' is four letters.
'Red Bull' is seven letters, + a space.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Considering Rogla and Lipo are second and third in GC respectively already after day 2 i don't see on why RBH thread should be the one full of complaints or to be compared to some other team with bad tactics. After all Lipo tried to follow Paul and couldn't. So beyond that they achieved maximum possible outcome today in terms of GC placement.

 

[RedheadDane]

Considering Rogla and Lipo are second and third in GC respectively already after day 2 i don't see on why RBH thread should be the one full of complaints or to be compared to some other team with bad tactics. After all Lipo tried to follow Paul and couldn't. So beyond that they achieved maximum possible outcome today in terms of GC placement.

I suppose you could even argue that their tactics were actually quite smart, since they were both basically claiming the other as captain as an excuse for not working in their groups. Quite different from those situations where you got two teammates both pulling in different groups.
But understandable that the other people in their groups got peeved.

 

[KoopaCycling]

I suppose you could even argue that their tactics were actually quite smart, since they were both basically claiming the other as captain as an excuse for not working in their groups. Quite different from those situations where you got two teammates both pulling in different groups.
But understandable that the other people in their groups got peeved.

who cares about the others, lord knows they intend to make use of red bull in those situations as well whilst saving their own legs. Too many people playing it cute in a chase these days. if others play cute, you should play cute. something remco hopefully one day learns.

 

[CyclistAbi]

I suppose you could even argue that their tactics were actually quite smart, since they were both basically claiming the other as captain as an excuse for not working in their groups. Quite different from those situations where you got two teammates both pulling in different groups.
But understandable that the other people in their groups got peeved.

Both just revenged Remco, as usually nobody wants to work with him. So in the end it's fair, balanced out in regards to the team.

 

[Statze2]

The cobbled classic season is over with a bang - what a race yesterday.

Last year the classics team was the weakest part of the Bora team. Lets see how this year played out.

ONH - 2nd place for Tim van Dijke and 7th for Jordie Meeus
KBK - 10th place for Jordi Meeus
Ename Samyn Classic - win for Jordi Meeus
Nokere - 2nd place for Jordie Meeus
GP Denain - 6th place for Marit
E3 - 8th place for Vermeersch
Gent Wevelgem - 36th Meeus
DdV - 5th Laurance Pithie
Ronde von Vlaanderen - 3rd for Remco Evenepoel, 10th Gianni Vermeersch (11th Tim van Dijke and 14th Laurance Pithie)
Scheldeprijs - 14th Jordi Meeus
Roubaix - 6th Mick van Dijke (12th Gianni Vermeersch)

(on top of that Strade Bianche 5th for Vermeersch, yes its not a cobbled classic but an important one day race in spring)
(Mailand San Remo 19th Pithie, same as Strade Bianche)

Overall a very good cobbled classics campaign of the Red Bull team. In the races Scheldeprijs and Gent Wevelgem they were super positioned. Meeus unlucky in Gent Wevelgem, if he wasn´t moved to the barriers (I saw it as normal race topic) then a top 3 would have been very likely. In Scheldeprijs Meeus was also super positioned but didn´t had the legs.

In many of the races Red Bull was the team with the most riders deep into the final and rode very active.

- Meeus was peaking a bit to early, he was super strong in the early spring classics but lacked a bit of form in the end.
- Pithie was always in the mix when it was selective but was quit unlucky. In the end I think he needs one or two years more of stamina, experience and the most he needs one or two wins in other races to build the confidence. He can win also bigger races, as he is good when it gets selective and can also manage to win a sprint out of a smaller group
- Meeus he can survive tougher races and still sprint, perfect for Gent Wevelgem, KBK and one or two other races. He did a good job, very solid
- The van Dijke brothers are both very good classic riders but they are lacking a bit the speed in the end to win out of a smaller group (maybe Tim could win this way). I have the feeling that they also need some successes to build confidence
- Gianni Vermeersch, Mr. consistency - he is racing so clever, always comes back and in the end his stamina is better than by many of his opponents. Very solid spring for him
- Marit and Drizners very good domestiques

Conclusions:
- very good team performance, but the last bit is missing. If Pithie and the van Dijkes make another step forward, then the next season could be even better

I think that the U23 winner of Roubaix Davide Donati will get a WT contract and start for the team next year. This will bring a rider with a kick in the end to the WT team that could be a valuable addition to the classics team. In my point of view no need for Arnaud de Lie, as I don´t have the feeling that he can perform better then the existing riders in the team. Renew the Meeus contract, promote Donati and let the van Dijkes and Pithie age another year and you can be in the mix again.

I´m interesed in the race program for the classics riders. Maybe Pithie, Meeus and one (or even boht) of the van Dijkes could manage to get the wins and the confidence in Dunkerque races and the tour de Wallonie. Add some of the Rookies (Pajur, Mouris, Schoonvelde, Putz, Fietzke or Clemmensen) and let two of the former mentioned riders fight for stage wins and a very good GC result.