UAE Tour 2023, February 20-26 (women's race February 9-12)

[Devil's Elbow]

Now that is revolutionary. Where do I sign?

With Velon for the Hammer Challenge.

 

[Wvv]

Why not give it to both of them.

 

[search]

not that it makes a difference, but if Pidcock loses a pointless 5th place, Bennett should get relegated as well for that sprint, btw

 

[Netserk]

Bilbao and Plapp were 5 and 16 seconds down respectively on Jebel Hafeet last year and Evenepoel is better than both if in form. Would take bad climbing by all three and/or a stratospheric Yates, IMO.

He has won with more than a minute down to Pogi in 2nd before. With Vine, the launch will be crazy, and then it'll be mano a mano. Not that he's likely to win by a huge gap, but it's not unheard of.

 

[Samamba]

Well this is going to be hard for Ewan. He needed this win. Starting this sprint first was important with the last 200m going slightly downhill.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

is that the 900 win for QST? ?

 

[frisenfruitig]

Merlier won. Pretty ridiculous Ewan acted as if he was sure he won

 

[Didinho]

is that the 900 win for QST? ?

Mauri's win was 900. Vernon has 2 after that and now Merlier.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Merlier won. Pretty ridiculous Ewan acted as if he was sure he won

Considering that Merlier seemed to think Ewan had won too, not that ridiculous...

 

[Samamba]

Considering that Merlier seemed to think Ewan had won too, not that ridiculous...

The upcoming man always thinks he wins, and the other one thinks he loses. It's normal.

 

[frisenfruitig]

Considering that Merlier seemed to think Ewan had won too, not that ridiculous...

Merlier went with it because Ewan acted like he obiously won

 

[Volderke]

I fear Remco will lead the sprint, but Merlier won't win it.

happy to have been proven wrong.

I thought Ewan would be the favourite. For a moment I believed in Merlier with Van Lerberghe's very good lead-out, but with Ewan in the slipstream I thought it was over.
Still, Merlier resisted very well and both his and Ewan's jump were very good.

 

[Newcomer]

Mauri's win was 900. Vernon has 2 after that and now Merlier.

Vernon's two wins count only for the Devo team no?

 

[yaco]

That front group split faster than a flash of lightning - It was surprising that UAE with 5 riders could not quickly bring back the leading group of 13 - Ewan threw the bike one pedal stroke too soon. Plapp is super impressive - The power he displayed to get onto the split was awesome.

 

[Offline]

Embarrassing day of Team UAE. Can't believe how you can have 3 GC riders and not manage to keep a single rider outside troubles. Say it before, UAE should stop buying rider and instead buy mangement and directors.
They are by end of the day just Lampre Merida with money. They are 100 years behind from teams like Jumbo and QS and Ineos.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Ewan should get the win because he celebrated. Merlier gave up mentally and wasn't prepared to argue that he won.

Very happy for Pello

Also I used to critices remco a lot but it's remarkable how quickly he developed as a racer mentally. Descending, crosswinds riding, positioning, tactics.

 

[Samamba]

Vernon's two wins count only for the Devo team no?

Technically yes, just like a WC win technically doesn't count for the team.

 

[yaco]

Technically yes, just like a WC win technically doesn't count for the team.

Vernon gets the UCI points and takes the place of a rider on the development team.

 

[frisenfruitig]

Embarrassing day of Team UAE. Can't believe how you can have 3 GC riders and not manage to keep a single rider outside troubles. Say it before, UAE should stop buying rider and instead buy mangement and directors.
They are by end of the day just Lampre Merida with money. They are 100 years behind from teams like Jumbo and QS and Ineos.

Yep. Initially got dropped when the Evenepoel group got away, then when they made it back they managed to get dropped again and still lost a minute. Impressive

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Embarrassing day of Team UAE. Can't believe how you can have 3 GC riders and not manage to keep a single rider outside troubles. Say it before, UAE should stop buying rider and instead buy mangement and directors.
They are by end of the day just Lampre Merida with money. They are 100 years behind from teams like Jumbo and QS and Ineos.

To be fair to UAE, none of Yates, Vine and McNulty are known for their great positioning or echelon skills, to say the least. When Vine is struggling to hold on to the last echelon, there isn’t much that better management can do. They still did poorly today though.

 

[Ricco']

Vernon gets the UCI points and takes the place of a rider on the development team.

It's just to even things out to when Warlop took the place of a rider on the World Tour team.

 

[Samamba]

Vernon gets the UCI points and takes the place of a rider on the development team.

Yes the UCI points count for the team he's contracted to, the wins count for the teams he's riding for in the specific race.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Embarrassing day of Team UAE. Can't believe how you can have 3 GC riders and not manage to keep a single rider outside troubles. Say it before, UAE should stop buying rider and instead buy mangement and directors.
They are by end of the day just Lampre Merida with money. They are 100 years behind from teams like Jumbo and QS and Ineos.

Their problem isn't that they are buying riders, it's that they are buying the wrong ones. More and more climbers instead of rouleurs and guys for the cobbled classics, aka what they are actually lacking. Pogi also wanting to ride the cobbled classics as a team leader is probably also not doing them any favours in that regard, if one would get big money and the chance to ride for himself in the cobbled classic UAE would be a great team to sign for.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Their problem isn't that they are buying riders, it's that they are buying the wrong ones. More and more climbers instead of rouleurs and guys for the cobbled classics, aka what they are actually lacking. Pogi also wanting to ride the cobbled classics as a team leader is probably also not doing them any favours in that regard, if one would get big money and the chance to ride for himself in the cobbled classic UAE would be a great team to sign for.

Almeida has regressed as a TT'er since joining. He was also a good rouleur, but seems to have lost some of that as well. With guys like Bjerg, Laengen there, they should definitely have been able to get their GC riders in the first group. I don't think it's down to (dis)ability, just being tactically inept, clueless. Or indifference, i don't know.

 

[Big Doopie]

Almeida has regressed as a TT'er since joining. He was also a good rouleur, but seems to have lost some of that as well. With guys like Bjerg, Laengen there, they should definitely have been able to get their GC riders in the first group. I don't think it's down to (dis)ability, just being tactically inept, clueless. Or indifference, i don't know.

some of that may be the bike particularly in terms of TT.

it might be scary to have Pog on a specialized or pinarello.