Red Rick
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Thanks!
Very true though I feel like he could have repeated it but didn’t want the style of racing and lifestyle/diet required to stay at GC climbing weight with his natural frame.
Red Rick
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Feel like it's a recurring thing those types of riders have poor recovery. Not so sure that the huge engine/great recovery narrative is that true per se.
Because he never wanted to do it again. Not due to a lack of abilities.
That had nothing to do with it in this case. They knew he was a great ITT'er and he also showed on numerous occasions that he could climb very well. So putting one and one together, they decided to try and race for a GC in the TDF the next year. But then he decided to get married during the TDF and wouldn't want to change those plans. So the plans were changed to racing for GC during the Vuelta, and he would would be peaking towards it, losing weight etc. But first he would ride the Giro, as a sort of test case. To see how he would manage, how to ride attentively at the front the entire race, stuff he had never done before. As extra experience to take with him when he would ride the Vuelta later that year.
He was never "given" a headstart in the Giro, in fact he lost 2 minutes on a MTF due to a flat tyre in the final 2k. The Stelvio stage, he attacked, and all of the other GC guys were too scared to go after him with the ITT coming up the next day.
After the Giro, he said he never wanted to ride for GC again because he absolutely hated not being able to do what he wanted. The Vuelta plan was shelved and he continued pirating stages.
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Hopefully, as you likely know, in Catalunya, if they don't end up cancelling that as well. That's an extra reason why i would have sent him to PN.Great analysis Logic...but when is Remco racing again?
EDIT: by the way, he's cancelled his recon of the Giro ITT this week due to Corona in Italy.
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Thanks Logic. I always thought it should be spelled
CATALUÑA. My mother's side of the family are all from Spain and that's how we used to write it. sorry about the font size. I must have clicked on something
CATALUÑA. My mother's side of the family are all from Spain and that's how we used to write it. sorry about the font size. I must have clicked on something
if the giro is cancelled, would he have to wait until the Vuelta to ride a GT then?
As I said before, if Evenepoel is riding at his current level, JAs ambitions need to be secondary. Not sure this tour route is best for Evenepoel though
I think it's harder than that. JA was a hero last year in the Tour and had one of the best seasons in recent memory. I think that would be a difficult scenario to manage, and as much as I like Evenepoel, I'm not sure I'd be telling JA he's not the leader for a race he wants to lead. The youngster will get his chances in the years ahead.
Come on man, you don't send a 20 year old GT rookie to a stacked TDF with the ambition to compete for the overall and certainly not at the expense of a rider who's proven so much. TDF was never an option for him anyway, since his biggest focus this year was the Olympics, and that's a problem with TDF ending only a week sooner.
QS were always going to focus on their classics riders for PN. After all the classics are in their DNA.
Under normal circumstances of course but surely you can understand the arguments against that. Remco was working towards riding this week. Paris Nice was going ahead, and you can't predict what will happen in 3 weeks, especially with Corona making its way across Spain now. They will look like asses should Catalunya and Pais Vasco both get cancelled. Remco is also riding 3 Ardennes classics. Remco has overtaken Alaphilippe as posterboy, it would be foolish to jeopardize his schedule and waste publicity when he can't perform. Paris Nice was allowing an extra rider for each team. There were plenty of reasons to take him.
Red Rick
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I think one of the big reasons for success is simply they don't waste most of their budget on GC riders and domestiques that don't win GTs.
Instead they flood classics with crazy strong teams, which are races where numbers have huge advantage.
Also, they usually have the deepest squad in sprinters, so they will always win a looot of bunch sprints, especially in lesser races.
For DQS, interesting times are ahead as they don't really have the main favorites for cobbled classics now and they might just have the biggest pot of gold at the end of a rainbow in terms of GC talent.
Instead they flood classics with crazy strong teams, which are races where numbers have huge advantage.
Also, they usually have the deepest squad in sprinters, so they will always win a looot of bunch sprints, especially in lesser races.
For DQS, interesting times are ahead as they don't really have the main favorites for cobbled classics now and they might just have the biggest pot of gold at the end of a rainbow in terms of GC talent.
You haven’t changed. You complained about Remo being a domestic in his first ever race the Tour of St Louis in 2019. His major goals are in Mid April and May While the classics team focus in late March and early April. So what if Catalunya and Pais Vasco are cancelled. All riders will be in the same boat.
True, but I was mostly alluding to how good they are at people management. Everybody there is willing to give 100% for the team because the riders know they will get something in return sooner or later. And you don't create that kind of atmosphere by making it a one-man army obviously.
The other piece here is that Alaphillipe is a French hero and Paris-Nice is a French race. Internal team dynamics are a big part I'd think, but that fact also can't be ignored.
That and he's really good. And entertaining.
That and he's really good. And entertaining.
I haven't changed, thanks. Why the f* would i want or need to change, lol. And if you want to present yourself as a critical follower of what i say or write, i expect you to actually try and read and understand what i'm actually saying. If that's too much to ask, then i'll kindly ask you not to pull *** out of your ass or pull statements completely out of their context and claim it's something i said or intended. The point i made in 2019 San Juan wasn't that he shouldn't be a domestic. The point was that he was 3rd in GC, only a few seconds behind Alaphilippe, that he was in the counterattack on someone threatening both his and Alaphilippe's GC. Had he been allowed to bridge, there were two possible scenario's. Anacona doesn't want to ride with the 3rd guy in GC in his wheel, who has an excuse not to ride since he has to wait for his leader. The threat thus being eliminated. Or Anacona doesn't care and just drags Evenepoel along and chances are Evenepoel becomes the new leader. As such, yes, i am convinced that from a tactical aspect as well as a psychological one (for a guy who's riding his first race) it was by far the better call to make, than calling him back, hence actively forfaiting his own GC, to work for Alaphilippe, hoping to close in on Anacona. They chose to put all their eggs in one basket, and they lost big time. They actually chose the most non-QuickStep scenario possible. Now, if they thought he wouldn't have been able to follow Anacona anyway, then you can also ask yourself what the point would have been in calling him back and work for Alaphilippe. If he wasn't going to be able to follow Anacona, he wasn't going to be able to drag Alaphilippe to Anacona either. So yes, i'm convinced they made the wrong call. But it had nothing to do with him not having to do dom duties.
This also has nothing to do with what has happened now. But i'm sure you're scoring some points with the less attentive readers here.
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No matter how you spin it or whether you write a dissertation you clearly stated that a neopro in his first race should not support a well credentialed team leader. This has been a constant theme that Remco comes before the team. Your whinging about Remco not riding PN is nonsense. All teams are cutting their cloth to suit in these trying circumstances. Obviously QS being a Classics team will give priority to these riders for upcoming targets. Remco loses nothing seeing that 80% of the peloton are not currently racing. Imagine if you and Koronin were in the same room.
Riiiiight, you were thàt guy. I remember. There's only one guy here doing the spinning, and it ain't me. What i said was that he should never have been put in that position to begin with. Where he was the only rider in the team that could help Alaphilippe in the MTF stage, as an 18 year old rookie. Thàt's what i said. And i clarified that numerous times in light of tactical decisions, regarding GC and his youth jersey.
yaco said:Logic-is-your-friend said:yaco said:
lol, maybe try reading more than one post/discussion, where i said calling him back to pull, hence endanger his youth jersey and forfaiting his podium spot, was a stupid move by Quickstep, before making claims about "my posts". (I specifically said "regarding his performance, and this had nothing to do with his performance, but with team orders/strategy).
But thanks for the feedback.
Jungle Cycle said:
I'll try to find a balance.
Yes - Criticising QS' tactics because they correctly supported an in-form leader to win GC which is more important than a youth jersey is showing logic.
Indeed. Unfortunately, just one you don't seem to be able to grasp. Let me help you with that.
Hypothesis 1: Calling Evenepoel back to do the work alone will bring Alaphilippe back to Anacona (and Conti), or close enough to bridge/keep the overall. But in this case, assuming Evenepoel is this strong, Evenepoel's chances of closing in on Anacona, are even greater if he can share the work in the chasing group, which was give or take already 10 seconds ahead of the peloton and closer to Anacona. In this case Evenepoel never endangers his jersey, never forfaits his GC, and if indeed he is as good as QuickStep is betting on, he can become the new leader, he's ahead of Anacona in GC. He's only 22 seconds behind Alaphilippe at this moment. In the peloton, there may be other teams that have to take responsibility and do the work for Alaphilippe anyway since Alaphilippe has Evenepoel up ahead. If Alaphilippe is as "in-form" as you claim, he could also bridge the gap to Evenepoels groep and drop 90% of the peloton.
Hypothesis 2: Evenepoel is not strong enough to close the gap or make a noticable dent in the lead Anacona has taken. In this case, calling him back to pull for Alaphilippe is basically useless. You only endanger his own youth jersey and classification. Alaphilppe stands to gain nothing.
So given the fact that Evenepoel is only 22s behind Alaphilippe, you have to make a decision. Either Evenepoel is strong enough, or he's not. If he's strong enough, just let him ride with the lead he already has, making other teams in the Alaphilippe group having to do the work. Making him possibly gain the most (doing no work and letting other teams bridge), or if not, having Evenepoel up front to take over. Or Evenepoel is not strong enough, calling him back gains you nothing, you only lose everything. What do you do? What do you think is more logical?
yaco said:
This is not the issue. He was only 22 seconds behind his "leader", he was defending his own classification. He was virtually on the podium (due to Gaviria being thrown overboard), in his first pro race, he was gone in the break... and then they tell him to drop back to pull for Alaphillipe, because they were one or two guys short. Maybe Alaphilippe should have ridden for him and they'd still be in the lead :lol:
They're lucky Evenepoel didn't just let it slide after he did his job, or they'd also have lost that classification.
I am not spinning. Trying to have you understand there are 30 riders in a team, not just one rider. And classics have always been more important than a GT for QS.
That's because they never have had a GT leader.
When Astana wasn't paying the riders in 2009 and Contador could have broke free, QS was one of the teams. They were willing to become a GT GC team overnight to get him. Were going to allow him to bring 5 of his own riders with him
That's not what this is about. He simply wants to make it seem as saying that QS calling Evenepoel back in SJ2019 was a stupid move for numerous reasons (as explained in my earlier posts on this page and quotes from 2019) is simply because i supposedly (according to him) believe Evenepoel should have been treated like royalty in his first race and not having had to do any work for his leader, which of course is not what i said, as explained dozens of times then and now. He was spinning what i said back then, and he's now spinning what i've said about riding Paris Nice based on his misinterpretation of what i said last year. And when i explain, again, what i said, he says i'm spinning it. loooooooooooool
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