one last ride for Euskaltel before they'll need to be top40 and top30 to get a wild card in 2025-2026?
I think you mean the first ride in a long sequence
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one last ride for Euskaltel before they'll need to be top40 and top30 to get a wild card in 2025-2026?
I think you mean the first ride in a long sequence
I fully understand loving a team just because it exists, mainly because it WAS the old Euskaltel-Euskadi of Mayo, Laiseka, Zubeldia, Samu Sanchez, Etxebarria etc.
it changed a lot and Euskaltel is just the shadow of that team, while its fans are still there. it is very hard though, they, for now, are one of the weakest conti teams, so there's a lot of hard road to get where they need to be for the 2025 and 2026 wild cards
Don't forget this wonderful gem from the TV program Strip-tease, who followed Brioches La Boulangère (during the Voeckler-mania) and RAGT.Dude, Calzati had 2 top 15s in mass sprints!!! (14th & 15th).
Otherwise they actually had a rider in the top 50 on some of the harder stages and their best GC rider managed to get a top 75.
The only good thing was that they managed to get with 8 out of 9 rider to Paris.
so what's the situation for 2025? which pro-conti teams are in the top 30 at the end of 2024? (to get the 2025 invitations)
It's top 40 (top 30 next year), so no problem for any team that would maybe get invited somewhere. Corratec is out of it, but it's not like they would be getting a Giro WC anymore. Euskatel is also not that safe (37 right now), but they also won't get a WC for Vuelta anyways (it's Burgos and Caja next year)
are we sure Kern won't get a wild card after the wild Vuelta they had? also (Clinic-related) Caja-Maynar investigation still not closed
ps. I think Euskaltel's owners and managers have let go any will and hope. they'll keep going with a very weak pro-conti team in 2025, and if things keep going this way, who knows if they just go down to continental, like Arabay/Nicemetropole/Efapel and ride the national calendar and some others invitations in Europe
Well obviously the clinic thing could always change thing, but there are deals made about this. And yes I expect Euskatel to go down the conti road pretty soon as they will never make the top 30 next year and thus no Vuelta (which basically seems the only reason why they're ProConti anyways).
As a Conti team they would miss out on Itulzia, I guess that race is also a big motivation for them to stay as PCT if it possible?And yes I expect Euskatel to go down the conti road pretty soon as they will never make the top 30 next year and thus no Vuelta (which basically seems the only reason why they're ProConti anyways).
I was too young to remember in 2004 but in my memories the worst I remember is the 2011 Saur-Sojasun team.Jean Delatour with most of the best riders from 2003 gone though.
R.A.G.T. in 2004 scored about 30% of Jean Delatour 2003 points (the points system stayed roughly the same).
It's probably not unreasonable to say that R.A.G.T. were the worst team invited to the Tour in the last 25 years at least.
let's say Arkea will go Pro-conti from 2026, and if they won't be the 2 top teams with guaranteed wild cards, ASO will have to pick either them or Total for the Tour wild cards. I feel 2026 will be hard for some teams