- Jul 7, 2013
- 8,033
- 14,878
- 23,180
- Jun 7, 2011
- 20,975
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It took them 3 seasons to build a classics team around Van Aert while he had already shown his potential riding for VWC in WT races.
Even after Van Aert won WT sprints, he still had to cope on his own in most sprints he contested.
Groenewegen left because he knew he wouldn't get into the TDF squad anymore and would never get full team support anymore.
The team is focussed on Roglic (mainly) and Van Aert now, and given their history and evolution i would say it is only normal for them to only support a non-proven sprinter marginally in a WT race. If Kooij wants better support ASAP he should also swap teams. I think maybe DSM would be a good fit considering they still keep pulling the Cees Bol card, and i think Kooij is a multitude more talented.
Him being the only sprinter without team support is simply not true. Who expended most energy in the run-up is impossible to say. Staying at the front the entire time also burns matches. For instance Bauhaus got slapped left to right in the final few kms, and had to work to maintain his position on his own.
- Sep 20, 2017
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Not sure if I'd advise anyone to go to DSM right now. Assuming he could get out of his contract at the end of the year (he's signed until 2023), Wanty would probably be a better option, Kristoff has a good train there but is on a one-year contract and isn't getting any faster. If he's fine with playing second fiddle for two years while he continues to develop, Alpecin will have a spot open with Merlier set to leave, as will Quickstep assuming Cavendish goes (and they don't sign Merlier instead). Any other option seems more out there at the moment to me.
- Mar 4, 2022
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Ganna and Swift appearing at the front of the peloton with Viviani about half a mile futher back.
- Aug 29, 2009
- 7,866
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his leadout man is back home in Belgium waiting for his baby to come, and Selig is injured. Also a tailwind sprint like today isn't quite perfect for Ewan anyway. I wouldn't read too much into it
- Jan 3, 2019
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Was gonna respond something similar. De Buyst is ofc a class act when it comes to leadouts.
- May 10, 2015
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De Buyst is a good last man, but De Buyst alone for Ewan in the last 3k would've been pretty embarassing too for a team that focusses on winning sprints with Ewan so much. Merlier doesn't have Rickaert here and was still in a good position, QS doesn't have Morkov here but were still able to put their sprinter in an ideal position.
Selig got hit hard with Covid recently so I'll give him a pass, but the performances from Schwarzmann and Kluge were really bad. Kluge simply doesn't have the balls (and maybe also the legs) anymore to do his thing in messy sprints and Schwarzmann, well.. I have no idea what he's doing at LTS.
Ewan has been the or atleast one of the fastest sprinters in the world for a few years now and hasn't dominated sprints in a stage race once. Simply because his leadout isn't at the level he is. And it's getting annoying. He performs best when there has already been some sprints in a stage race cause sprints often get less messy the further we get into the race.
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- Nov 16, 2013
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- Mar 17, 2012
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Unfortunately, it seems this ship has sailed looong time ago. Even if in top shape, there are far too many new kids on the block, and they don't even hesitate to use some "stinky" methods throughout the stage.
- Nov 16, 2013
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I know
Some of his victories from his early years look absolutely insane, like this one. But the puncheur field was generally terrible compared to today.
- Sep 14, 2020
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- Sep 4, 2017
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For a couple of hundred metres it looked like he saw he had a big gap and was tempted to try and solo it but thought better of it and saved his legs for a better time.
- Mar 19, 2009
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- Mar 13, 2009
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fyi
merlier seems unlikely, he'll likely leave the team after this year
- Apr 10, 2019
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So him to the Giro and the Vuelta? La Gazzetta recently reported that Van der Poel could ride the Giro to ride himself into decent shape, but no idea if that's just wishful thinking on their part...
- Apr 3, 2016
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- Jun 7, 2011
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- Jun 7, 2011
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I've made it clear i'm no fan of DSM but in this case i'm just seeing a team that continuously has been backing a bargain-bin sprinter for the past 3 seasons with a big sprint train. DSM does have a few riders that could control a race and they could keep Bol as a leadout. Point is, it's a Dutch team, which might be important for someone Kooij's age, he would get a lot of support and a lot of opportunities since there is basically no decent other sprinter at the team. So in case Olav is a boy with a high ''cooperation'' factor, it could be a very good fit.
- Aug 18, 2010
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- Jun 7, 2011
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Pogacar to bring the peloton back on his own in order to take 3 boni seconds. Watch and learn.
Bonimenier
BANNED
- Apr 1, 2019
- 4,291
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- 16,180
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