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Interested to see Plapp's itinerary for Europe. Tirreno-Adriatico and either Catalunya or Itzulia would be my guess with a few Classics in there as well.
 

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Was sad yesterday for Harper, but amazing job by the both of them 💪 Hopefully big things to come this season
 
eth-dog said:
Interested to see Plapp's itinerary for Europe. Tirreno-Adriatico and either Catalunya or Itzulia would be my guess with a few Classics in there as well.
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He's down to do the UAE Tour - Would like him to do Saudi Tour, Coppa Bartoli and some Ardennes races.
 
nick23_ said:
What’s going on with Schmid? Any word on when he will start racing?
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Most likely he does the Belgian and Dutch classics with Romandie and Suisse thrown in as well.
 
Really disappointing season so far, was expecting more. Seems Ewan & Groenewegen are well past their best at this point. Hopefully can turn it around soon and get some strong reinforcements in for 2025.
 
Hasn't been a great start to the year but need to remember that we're not a great classics squad. The squad sent to the Giro isn't great. The sprint train is too disorganised, Caleb's best train really is O'Brien to Walscheid to Stewart in front.
 
eth-dog said:
Hasn't been a great start to the year but need to remember that we're not a great classics squad. The squad sent to the Giro isn't great. The sprint train is too disorganised, Caleb's best train really is O'Brien to Walscheid to Stewart in front.
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Agreed, hard to see any results coming from the Giro barring a breakaway stage for Plapp or Zana. What do we think the tour squad is gonna look like?
 
Just gonna point out that we have a mid tier UWT squad. Two sprinters in the 4-10 range world wide, one real classics threat in the twilight of his career and one good GC threat who's realistically in the second tier of GC hopes. Might be the best of them, but second tier.

De Marchi will be a chance in a couple of the hillier stages. Goal needs to be both Plapp and Zana top 20 with a stage win as well.
 

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Ewan asked for Mezgec at the Giro. The problem is Mezgec was not optimally prepared and Ewan is not fast enough. Hungary has not helped. Groenewegen who has been in decent form could not hold Stewart's wheel in stage one and then could not get over Cavendish in stage two. There is a chance that zana or Demarche or Plapp could win a stage at the Giro.

The likely team at TDF is Yates, Harper, Mezgec, Groenewegen, Scotson, Matthews, Durbridge and schmid,
 
With the news about Yates decision being made in next 2 weeks, who could be potential replacements if he does leave, O’Connor or potentially someone else?
 
nick23_ said:
With the news about Yates decision being made in next 2 weeks, who could be potential replacements if he does leave, O’Connor or potentially someone else?
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O'Connor maybe. Finn Fisher-Black if he wants clean air.
 
Would love to see it, but would probably need Ewan to decide his future very soon. Would be great getting Groves + O’Connor back or even FFB!
 
yaco55 said:
There is a chance that Groves could return if Ewan retires.
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I doubt he leaves if Philipsen decides to go to Bora. He'll be the main man there and get the Tour.

Phil Bauhaus, Jordi Meeus and Elia Viviani would be good targets.
 
Vader said:
Ewan's decision may be taken out of his hands, if he doesn't start performing pronto.
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He's contracted for next year. I think that if he wanted one more year they'd let him fwiw. As for the rest of the OOC crew:

Yates: I think he stays. The only other team that makes a little bit of sense for him is Ineos. Give him 2 or 3 years to transition to Zana and Plapp.
Mezgec: Will either sign or retire. Right now I think he'll sign.
Durbridge: I'd expect him to sign. Solid domestique and a decent ITT chance in weak fields.
De Marchi: Sign or retire. If he can nab a stage win this week (looking at 19) he'll retire.
Hamilton: Not sure. Think a change of scenery could be good for him. Maybe with Haig at Bahrain.
Harper: Sign for 3 years. Perfect mountain domestique in the GT's
Craddock: Probably 2 years. Solid all round worker.
AGJ: Honestly not sure. He seems to drop off very early in races now. Wouldn't be surprised either way.
Scotson: Sign. I'd almost say he's the best flatland domestique we have now. Plus had a very good 7th in TDH.
Péna: Sign him. Unlikely to pan out as a GC rider but he's entertaining and can win stages.
Maas: Should be a standard 2 year signing.
Quick: I'm a fan. Will be a good lead out rider. Still learning but has everything you want for that, but not sure if it goes through.
Porter: I'd re-sign but we have a lot of his type.

So in summary:

Should sign: Yates, Mezgec, Durbridge, Harper, Craddock, Scotson, Péna, Maas
50/50: Grondahl Jansen, Quick, Porter
More likely to go: De Marchi, Hamilton, Ewan
 
eth-dog said:
He's contracted for next year. I think that if he wanted one more year they'd let him fwiw. As for the rest of the OOC crew:

Yates: I think he stays. The only other team that makes a little bit of sense for him is Ineos. Give him 2 or 3 years to transition to Zana and Plapp.
Mezgec: Will either sign or retire. Right now I think he'll sign.
Durbridge: I'd expect him to sign. Solid domestique and a decent ITT chance in weak fields.
De Marchi: Sign or retire. If he can nab a stage win this week (looking at 19) he'll retire.
Hamilton: Not sure. Think a change of scenery could be good for him. Maybe with Haig at Bahrain.
Harper: Sign for 3 years. Perfect mountain domestique in the GT's
Craddock: Probably 2 years. Solid all round worker.
AGJ: Honestly not sure. He seems to drop off very early in races now. Wouldn't be surprised either way.
Scotson: Sign. I'd almost say he's the best flatland domestique we have now. Plus had a very good 7th in TDH.
Péna: Sign him. Unlikely to pan out as a GC rider but he's entertaining and can win stages.
Maas: Should be a standard 2 year signing.
Quick: I'm a fan. Will be a good lead out rider. Still learning but has everything you want for that, but not sure if it goes through.
Porter: I'd re-sign but we have a lot of his type.

So in summary:

Should sign: Yates, Mezgec, Durbridge, Harper, Craddock, Scotson, Péna, Maas
50/50: Grondahl Jansen, Quick, Porter
More likely to go: De Marchi, Hamilton, Ewan
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Really good insight, agree with almost all of that. Harper absolute must re signing as mountain domestique. Any chance of a decent classics rider coming in? Huge gap area in the current team
 
Vader said:
Wow... they really screwed the pooch there. He's completely cooked.
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I don't think they had a choice. They bought out his contract. He was contracted until end of next year. I understand why they did it, they might have thought a return home would help freshen his mind up a bit.

Ironically this is the best I've seen him climb too.
nick23_ said:
Really good insight, agree with almost all of that. Harper absolute must re signing as mountain domestique. Any chance of a decent classics rider coming in? Huge gap area in the current team
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Alaphilippe is available if Yates leaves. Schmid is a good classics rider. Hirschi is likely to leave but I'm not sure where.
 
The rumour mill begins!
 

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