Ineos are seriously taking the piss now. Their 2021 squad is like 3 WT teams rolled into one. Their budget is more than twice Jumbo's.
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The Sith still far outweigh the Jedi. We must bring balance to the force.
Good thing is that they don´t have a stand -out rider who is the best time trial rider of the GC riders.
For this reason they have to ride offensive to drop better time trial riders like Pogacar and Roglic.
It's true that their usual Tour tactic of smashing the time trial, drilling the flat and tempo-ing the climbs won't work with the likes of Bernal and Carapaz. While previously they set about crushing the tiny climbers they now have one as their leader.
I definitely think Ineos will continue to dominate GTs for the forseeable future but I find it hard to see Bernal beating the likes of Roglic, Pogacar and potentially Evenepoel in the Tour - especially as it seems TTs are coming back. If they want to win with a pure climber I actually think it would be best for them to go with a dual-leadership or potentially even a three amigos approach.
Unless Thomas comes back to top form or Hart does a Froome, Ineos will have to be clever if they want to win the Tour. Right now there are two guys head and shoulders above the rest and neither of them are on Ineos.
Dennis has been a really great domestiques on the two decisive days of this years giro. But I still don´t see him as a future Ineos GT captain.
Don´t see that. He will be 35 next year. Rather I would think that Ineos will send him to the giro instead of the tour..
2019 level in absolute terms will probably just get murdered. In relative terms it wasn't the hottest either.
Right now I don't really see why Thomas would be the best GC ITTer of the lot. He's not gonna lose lots but I also don't see him as the best climber of those GC ITTers.
I think any gains that he would make over Rog/Pog in the TTs would be wiped out even just through stage bonuses and attacks in the final km. A controlled race would suit Roglic just as well as Thomas and Roglic is definitely the stronger climber.
Roglic as a rider is not that far from Froome. Not that strong, punchier, but a strong time trialer, without being among the very best, a strong climber, without being the very best. His character is also very ambitious, very focused, at the same time controlled, guarded, friendly.
Sure, but it isn't like he went deep in that Giro. He finished 80th overall and the only stages he really went all out were the time trials. He then had a two month break from road competition to build up to the Olympics and prepare on the track. That's exactly the same as Wiggins had done with Team High Road back in 2008.
Sprinters who are relied on for results by their road team and do the endurance track events like the madison, scratch or points (maybe omnium nowadays) races might go a bit deeper in a GT to contest the sprints, but they are only ever riding as hard as they need to survive the time cut in the mountain stages a lot of the time regardless.
Rogla was a climber as soon as he set foot on the road. The discovery that he can TT came later, in his first year with a top level team after a few years with Adria Mobil. Thomas was a rouleur/classics man who had a good TT and was able to get over a few punchy climbs who has improved his TT significantly and learnt to climb with the best after having been a pro at the top level for almost a decade.
That would be similar for Ganna if he rode the tour as there would be plenty of days where he did not need to do a lot
What do you base Roglic definitely being a stronger climber on, just the 2020 season?
2020 season and 2019 season. Two years are a long time in cycling, and it certainly seems that since 2018 (the last time Thomas beat Roglic) Roglic has been improving while Thomas has been declining.
I think Roglic has a very solid case for being the best climber in the world while I think Thomas does not. Sure Thomas's absolute peak in 2018 was very strong but he's never shown it before or since.
To be fair to Thomas he arguably could have won in 2019 without Bernal and it's a bit harsh to make judgements on how he was this year after he crashed out in his main target. Admittedly he wasn't anywhere near Roglic in the prep races but wasn't terrible either and I honestly think if he could find his 19 form he could outclimb and TT Roglic
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