Roku said:
I think that's a bit unfair on your side. For sure Sagan brings in some of his entourage (his brother and Baska) but, apart from those two riders, there is no other rider weaker than Pfingsten under contract for 2019 (you could argue about Koenig illness, for sure, but every other rider in Bora's 2019 roster is better than Pfingsten).
He might be a nice guy, and has stepped up his game since he was brought in, but with the general roster downsize it is only natural he is not given a contract extension. By the way, Gatto is so much better than Pfingsten.
I don't mind Juraj. He does the job in the Classics. As long as he stays out of the GTs, his presence in the team is not a problem at all, he has fully deserved his spot by now by proving himself to the team.
Like more or less everyone in the team (only Pelucchi and Saramotins deserve not to get a contract extension)
Benedetti, Schillinger and Schwarzmann are all weaker than Pfingsten for example. But still, all do the job and they do it well. As long there is no one WAY better than them, it's just unfair to kick them out (and even in this case, it's the role of a good management not to forget what the riders have brought to the team and to find a solution...).
Pfingsten has had an impressive season in its role. He had an amazing Giro as teammate for example. Without him and Selig, both Bennett and Ackermann wouldn't have won half their victories this season, that should'nt been forgotten. It's honestly hard to find a teammate that has been as useful as Pfingsten this season (Burghardt and Selig have been, but otherwise a lot of better riders haven't really more useful than Pfingsten has been).
I consider first that loyalty to the team should always be rewarded. I also consider it's important to value teammates and not just the supposed big names.
Which explains why to me it's just a shame to see a Pfingsten forced out to give a spot to a guy like Gatto. While Pfingsten has proven himself the whole season and has been instrumental in the successes of the team, you have a Gatto which looked more like in semi-retirement than anything else this season. The prime years of Gatto are past now. If not for Sagan, I would be curious to know which team could have been interested by a guy like him :lol:
So, nowadays, it's just not serious to say "Gatto is better than Pfingsten", he is not anymore. And anyways, since my original point was about the usefulness as a teammate, I would be curious to know about Gatto could pretend to be more useful than Pfingsten. But yeah :lol:
Drucker on the contrary is a convincing addition to the team, Gatto is not. So, sending a loyal and efficient rider to retirement just to welcome a friend of the big star (it's what it is; because Gatto brings 0 added value) is not my cup of tea and it'll never be. I guess it's a matter of values
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