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As long as Pogi only does one GT a year, I think it makes good sense for him to target and be the sole captain at Liège and Lombardia (if he is in shape and fresh enough). Of course, both route and race situation can allow (but doesn't always) for Formolo and Hirschi to attack in the finale (before RaF), but neither have shown that they are as likely winners as Pogi (while at UAE). Amstel and Flèche are different in this regard, especially Amstel.
Not Almeida. Almeida will most likely need to focuss on helping Tadej and will get GT chances in later years.
Formolo has a free role in Lombardia for sure, in LBL he could go and take his own chance too, but yeah with Tadej riding…
Hirschi had a bit of a mwah season. He started the season late to injury and with the injury in the Tour he could not show himself there either.
I think the thing with UAE is that Pogacar is a racer that does not only focuss on the tour. He likes to race and win more. And that makes the opportunities for “super domestiques” slim. Even when Tadej himself would like to put himself to work for his teammates like in Basque Country, he is still better than them.
He could go for Giro and then help Pogacar in the Tour. Or he could only go for the Giro. Would Almeida sign if he wasn't promised a chance to lead a GT team?
Fair enough, this year I was just bothered a bit by the fact that Formolo was just a domestique for Pogi in Strade Bianche, after finishing 2nd last year. Last year they also had him skip Lombardia to have him ride the Dauphine with Pogi right after his Strade Bianche performance. Yes, he got that stage win from a long range attack, but never getting a chance to ride for yourself is not ideal, even if your team captain is a friend of yours.
Uh, what? The guy who was the strongest rider at the end of the Giro cannot be the leader in that race for a team that don't have any other good options but do have the two-time Tour winner who has been perfectly capable of winning the race without a domestique de luxe?
He'll have to work for Pog sometimes, that's sure, but he will have his own chances, that's also sure.
Look at Carapaz, he was a helper in Movi, had his chance and took it, went to Ineos, again as a helper to Bernal, Thomas and co, took his chances again, grabbed two GT podiums, and now he's even freaking Olympic champion. I guess he won't be a helper anytime soon...
So I guess Almeida will create his own destiny...
Look at Carapaz, he was a helper in Movi, had his chance and took it, went to Ineos, again as a helper to Bernal, Thomas and co, took his chances again, grabbed two GT podiums, and now he's even freaking Olympic champion. I guess he won't be a helper anytime soon...
So I guess Almeida will create his own destiny...
Uhm, I think you're getting carried away by your love for Tadej here, that would be a crazy situation, why would Almeida do that??
If UAE didn't offer him the most money, they must have offered him really good opportunities, and that should mean the Giro at least in the next year. I'm sure he did not choose a team where he can learn the next two years when he's already ready. Who knows what will have happened in two years? Maybe he will have had a bad injury, maybe others will be ahead of him who aren't on our radar yet... No, Almeida seems very ambitious, as seen in this year's Giro, no way he plans to purely be a domestique for Pogacar in the next year.
Absolute nonsense… it’s obvious that Almeida will be UAE leader in every single race that Pogacar doesn’t participate. And Almeida won’t be domestique for Pogacar in any 1 week or GT races for sure. Almeida made that very clear before chosing his next team. UAE didn’t payed so much money to sign a domestique.
He wil probably be promised the chance to lead the team in a few years, but first priority to grow and help Tadej.
Almeida is too young and inexperienced to go all out in the giro and then basically again in the tour to help Tadej. Not next year.
that is why he has the long contract.
Almeida not being a domestique ever not in any race for Tadej? Now that is nonsense.
Almeida might have expressed different wishes before signing and I am sure he will get his chances, but we all know who has got UAE’s priority…And then Ayuso will come too,
Ackermann also wanted a team where he could go and make the tour team….that seems very unlikely at UAE. Expressing wishes and reality are sometimes differet.
But all my Tadej love aside, Almeida definetely will get his chances, I just not think he will get it next giro.
He is a great rider with a great future. But the giro/tour double is hard, ambitious or not.
The long contract might also be the reason why the anual salary is smaller than the other offers he allegedly received.
I don't think he's too young to do two GTs next year already, but it remains to be seen if those will be the Giro and the Tour or the Giro and the Vuelta. They might also decide that it's better to have him go to the Tour in peak condition, and then give the Giro leadership to McNulty instead. Having both him and Almeida in the Tour can be better than only having Pog, cause there's no way of knowing hows trong he will be next year compared to the competition, or if he'll be the one who gets a string of bad luck.
As long as Pog keep targeting/winning the Tour. It makes sense for him to race in the spring and target LBL for example. Have a rest/training period after that. Build-up towards the Tour. It takes a lot to win and it is a lot that comes with that in the aftermath after a win. Many wants to get a hold of you.
If he wants to target the Giro he has to take it easy in the beginning of the season and Vuelta might still be too much after the Tour if it has been tough. It takes its toll physically and mentally. He is still a young guy and if managed right will hopefully race for many years.
Honestly it is no rush for him to target 2 GTs in a year any time soon. If he himself does not desire too and he keeps delivering in what he races, and he likes to race. If he and the team wants to go for 2 GTs, then by all means go for it. They know best about how he feels. He is certainly good enough to pull it off. That will probably mean him not racing a lot of other races though, with longer training blocks instead, and he might not like to do that right now.
Maybe if he has a bad Tour. Crashes out early or something like that. He does not win and it motivates him to give it another go at the Vuelta, that would make all the sense in the world. Thats how I see it, with going for a second GT. But if he keeps wining the Tour and if he has been racing early in the year through the spring and been successful. It might be asking for too much going for the Vuelta.
When you have a rider like Pog who likes to race many different races and that can win both GTs and one-day races. He should be racing both. He should probably target T-A or P-N, LBL, Tour, Worlds and Lombardia for as long as he can imo and nothing out of the ordinary happens along the way.
Sure riders like Formolo is good, but he is not a winner. He has 4 wins to his name and he is turning 29 next year. He is good enough to win but it has to be that day when everything falls into place for him. Like we usually see when some solid riders finally get that big win of their career, deservedly so. I think he has to be happy being at a good team. Get the chance at some one-day race here and there, most likely for him at some Italian races, and maybe get a stage-win somewhere during the year but in the majority of his racing days be in a domestic role. Same with Soler at this point. Majka too right now. McNulty is someone I and Im sure others are waiting on, but he right now seems to lack something still. That little bit of extra. I can see someone trying to sign him when his contract runs out.
Hirschi still has age on his side to be a dual-threat with Pog at LBL and Lombardia for example. Fleche as probably his best chance on the calendar and other hillier one-day races.
They also have Ulissi and I like the look of Covi. He should surely get a renewal or is he rumored anywhere?
Damn, long post...
If he wants to target the Giro he has to take it easy in the beginning of the season and Vuelta might still be too much after the Tour if it has been tough. It takes its toll physically and mentally. He is still a young guy and if managed right will hopefully race for many years.
Honestly it is no rush for him to target 2 GTs in a year any time soon. If he himself does not desire too and he keeps delivering in what he races, and he likes to race. If he and the team wants to go for 2 GTs, then by all means go for it. They know best about how he feels. He is certainly good enough to pull it off. That will probably mean him not racing a lot of other races though, with longer training blocks instead, and he might not like to do that right now.
Maybe if he has a bad Tour. Crashes out early or something like that. He does not win and it motivates him to give it another go at the Vuelta, that would make all the sense in the world. Thats how I see it, with going for a second GT. But if he keeps wining the Tour and if he has been racing early in the year through the spring and been successful. It might be asking for too much going for the Vuelta.
When you have a rider like Pog who likes to race many different races and that can win both GTs and one-day races. He should be racing both. He should probably target T-A or P-N, LBL, Tour, Worlds and Lombardia for as long as he can imo and nothing out of the ordinary happens along the way.
Sure riders like Formolo is good, but he is not a winner. He has 4 wins to his name and he is turning 29 next year. He is good enough to win but it has to be that day when everything falls into place for him. Like we usually see when some solid riders finally get that big win of their career, deservedly so. I think he has to be happy being at a good team. Get the chance at some one-day race here and there, most likely for him at some Italian races, and maybe get a stage-win somewhere during the year but in the majority of his racing days be in a domestic role. Same with Soler at this point. Majka too right now. McNulty is someone I and Im sure others are waiting on, but he right now seems to lack something still. That little bit of extra. I can see someone trying to sign him when his contract runs out.
Hirschi still has age on his side to be a dual-threat with Pog at LBL and Lombardia for example. Fleche as probably his best chance on the calendar and other hillier one-day races.
They also have Ulissi and I like the look of Covi. He should surely get a renewal or is he rumored anywhere?
Damn, long post...
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he def wont be solely a domestique! I just think they will want to use Almeida def next tour against Ineos/jumbo with Roglic-Vingegaard. That is the main plan I think, but many more races for him to lead the team.
but asking Almeida to go for a giro win and then get ready to be on his highest level at the tour is very hard for any rider. He is so young and has he even done 2 GT’s in one season?
Covi will renew for 2 year. Uae have still Fisher Black. He is a rider with a lot of potential to. And Ardila he had it difficult but in Burgos he make little steps. So much GC riders or upcoming talents.
I don't know what the exact plan is, honestly I don't fully get this transfer yet and will have to wait and see how they play it, I suppose.
I'm just sure that Almeida will want leadership next year already. Since the Giro usually has more time trialing than the Vuelta and is also more of a prime target because the Vuelta can be a kind of safety net, but if you target it especially it can happen you never even get there because your season goes somewhere else in the meantime, I think for someone like Almeida who has ridden two very strong GTs already the Giro would be preferred over the Vuelta.
Now, indeed it would be quite hard for him to do both Giro and Tour in top form. Hence, I can only conclude that he won't be a (major) domestique for Pogacar in the Tour.
I can see him be a domestique for Pogacar in other, week-long races.
But in the end, this is all talk about plans for what happens in the next year. Until then so much can happen and maybe one of them gets sick or injured and they will have to adjust their plans anyway. Maybe Almeida will be so strong that they go to the Tour with two leaders, or maybe he will have a weak season and have to help Pogacar in the Tour after all.
Or maybe the Tour will have a long team time trial, then they should definitely both go there!
He wouldn't. It's great for Pog to have such a strong teammate but OTOH Joao will probably try to peak for a different GT from Pog's goal (so not sure how often they will ride together).
Yeah, that's what I think also. I think Almeida will continue to focus on the Giro.
that’s not what i said. I said that Almeida won’t de Pogacar domestique in a GT (tour, Vuelta, giro)
Pretty sure that besides some classics and maybe UAE tour they won’t meet to much in races. Almeida Will have his own domestiques for the Giro, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
I'd say Giro for Almeida, Tour for Pogacar, Vuelta for both of them, perhaps Pogacar as leader and Almeida being a protected rider.
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