UAE Tour 2021, February 21 - February 27

[Devil's Elbow]

That was the worst inclusion of the on-board camera yet.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Bennett is just on another level at the moment.

 

[Bonimenier]

Morkov is just too good at this leadout stuff. Another relatively easy one for Bennett.

 

[tobydawq]

Nice sprint. Dekker not as good when he hit the front. But impressive positioning. Viviani with his best sprint for Cofidis.

 

[Lequack]

Sam Bennet to win again tomorrow as well.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Morkov, wow

 

[Faserr]

Morkov should get rewarded half of the Quick-Step wins.

 

[Berflamand]

Morkov is just too good at this leadout stuff. Another relatively easy one for Bennett.

He's the best there is. Most of the rest of the sprinters were just fighting for the wheel of Bennett because they knew Morkov would deliver him once again to perfection.

 

[sir fly]

No question about the fastest man.
Positioning and technicalities sorted out the order behind.

 

[Netserk]

Nice sprint. Dekker not as good when he hit the front. But impressive positioning. Viviani with his best sprint for Cofidis.

He spent quite some energy moving up (from a bad position) before the sprint in a direct battle with Ewan.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

He spent quite some energy moving up (from a bad position) before the sprint in a direct battle with Ewan.

True but it’s fair to say that a somewhat flattering impression of his raw speed was given in the previous sprint because he was never in the wind and was sprinting in Bennett’s slipstream. Ewan was in the wind. Very impressive performances for a guy just stepping into the big leagues either way. He looks like he has a big future. It will be interesting to see him with a lead out.

 

[Lequack]

"Lush green spaces"

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

If Morkov and Bennett continue to work like that all year the fight for Bennett’s wheel is going to be absolute mayhem.

 

[Eeslliw]

Does anyone knows how much Morkov is paid? I am hoping at least half a mil.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Does anyone knows how much Morkov is paid? I am hoping at least half a mil.

I’m sure he is on very substantial money. If he wasn’t, he’d have been poached by another sprint team. The market value of the current number one leadout guy is always very high. The other teams aren’t stupid.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

In his own words he got a 50% increase in salary, when he extended his contract two years ago. He reportedly earned 200.000 Euros a year before that, so it should be around 300.000 now.

But he is definitely worth more at the moment, and with contract running out this year, he is probably going to get paid more for the next couple of years.

 

[Bonimenier]

In his own words he got a 50% increase in salary, when he extended his contract two years ago. He reportedly earned 200.000 Euros a year before that, so it should be around 300.000 now.

But he is definitely worth more at the moment, and with contract running out this year, he is probably going to get paid more for the next couple of years.

He is to become 36 soon, so he seems like a great target for ISN to throw a lot of money at for a 5 year contract.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

"Lush green spaces"

Apartments come with free houseplants

 

[Samu Cuenca]

He is to become 36 soon, so he seems like a great target for ISN to throw a lot of money at for a 5 year contract.

If they actually want Greipel to get at least one final victory, they should really put all their golden eggs in Mørkøv's basket.
If he can't help him win, it can't be done.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

In his own words he got a 50% increase in salary, when he extended his contract two years ago. He reportedly earned 200.000 Euros a year before that, so it should be around 300.000 now.

But he is definitely worth more at the moment, and with contract running out this year, he is probably going to get paid more for the next couple of years.

That‘s significantly less than I would have guessed. Say what you like about Lefevere, nobody in the sport drives a harder bargain or consistently gets more talent for his expenditure.

 

[Bonimenier]

That‘s significantly less than I would have guessed. Say what you like about Lefevere, nobody in the sport drives a harder bargain or consistently gets more talent for his expenditure.

I agree. Really interesting to see what he'll do upcoming off-season with barely any riders under contract for next year yet.

 

[BlueRoads]

I agree. Really interesting to see what he'll do upcoming off-season with barely any riders under contract for next year yet.

I suppose that's going to depend a lot on Evenepoel's development and how many eggs they are putting in that basket accordingly.

 

[Red Rick]

"Lush green spaces"

Looks like the biggest Jenga game I've ever seen.

 

[Sciatic]

If they actually want Greipel to get at least one final victory, they should really put all their golden eggs in Mørkøv's basket.
If he can't help him win, it can't be done.

Nah, the Gorilla is going to take Ronde this year

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I agree. Really interesting to see what he'll do upcoming off-season with barely any riders under contract for next year yet.

Yeah that’s going to be the greatest test of his wheeeler-dealering yet. A team with a big budget could just sign his whole lead sprint unit or his classics team as a bloc if they wanted to.

Blueroads is probably right that his approach will probably be decided to a large extent by just how big a guaranteed winner he thinks Evenepoel is at the time. I would really, really hate for them to become primarily a GC team though. The idea is repellent.