Pogacar Takes Care of Business in UAE’s Home Race

For the past week, the eyes of the cycling world were turned to the desert sands of the Middle East. For the World Tour weeklong UAE Tour was taking place. We were treated to crosswinds on Stage 1. A Time Trial on Stage 2. A proper summit finish on Stage 3. A traditional sprint on Stage 4. Another summit finish on Stage 5. And two more sprints on Stages 6 and 7. Perhaps it is because we have been deprived of early season racing, but I must say this was excellent viewing all week: in fact the best UAE Tour to date. Certainly, the race beat last year’s edition that was halted midrace as multiple riders tested positive for the Coronavirus, yes it was this time last year when the world began shutting down in earnest. It seems the organizers of the UAE Tour wanted to prove this year that Coronavirus is a thing of the past by putting on a clean edition of this race. Unfortunately, they did not quite achieve that. Hours after Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) sprinted to an electric victory in the crosswinds on Stage 1, he and his team’s joy was cut short when one of their staff members tested positive for COVID and the team was unfortunately booted from the race—forced to pack their bags after just one day and with the stage winner and thus race leader to boot. It was unfortunate, but such is life during a pandemic. But beyond the Alpecin incident, I must applaud the organizers that the race went off without a hitch, and was actually a great spectacle. The sprints were good as usual—how could they not be with Quickstep’s Sam Bennett and Lotto’s Caleb Ewan splitting the opportunities two to one while Bora’s Ackermann, Cofidis’ Viviani, Qhubeka’s Nizzolo, Bahrain’s Bauhaus, and Jumbo’s newfound David Dekker were all in the mix behind—but finally a Middle Eastern race had a proper General Classification (GC) battle. This is what held back the separate Dubai and Abu Dhabi Tours, one year Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quickstep) won the Dubai GC which should indicate how few meters—centimeters even—of climbing there were back then. But this year, we had a proper battle. To be fair, it was actually only a rematch from last year; but last year a dark Corona cloud hung over the race and the world, and the race was ingloriously cut short. This year was the full proper show, and it was a refreshing start to the World Tour.

It shall surprise no one to learn that the UAE Team always wish to do well at the UAE races, for they do indeed act like the “Home Team.” Thus it was a no-brainer, the announcement months ago really did not even need to be made: the defending Tour de France Champion Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates would be making his season debut at the UAE Tour. Was any real pressure being put on Pogacar’s shoulders? Would he be able to deliver for his home team? Last year he was bested by Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers), would he have better fortune this year?

Yes, he would. Before Stage 1 was even complete, the GC was already down to just a three-horse race. The only GC favorites to make the front echelon in the Crosswinds were Pogacar, Adam Yates, and Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quickstep). On Stage 1, four-time Tour champion Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation), Italian living-legend Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), Spanish living-legend Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), American climber Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), and Dutchman Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) were already all out of contention—and quite frankly a number of these men seemed totally fine about that come the end of stage one. The Time Trial was a relatively dull affair, though it has quickly become a great joy to watch the Time Trial Champion of the World Filipo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) dominate these races against the clock while wearing the Rainbow Jersey. On that Time Trial, Pog finished in the Top Five and took the Leader’s Jersey, he finished 5 seconds better that Almeida and some 35 seconds ahead of Yates. And thus the biggest showdown came on Stage 3 as the peloton would race to the top of Jebel Hafeet—thus far, the toughest climb the UAE Tour has ever raced up. It was a hard day that threatened crosswinds for its entirety until they got to the base of the 10k climb that finished off the stage. The Grenadiers took control of the front—thus far this season they have not “raced like Brazil” for those keeping track—and they did their usual sorts of damage including putting old team leader Chris Froome to the sword before halfway up the climb. And as the Ineos Grenadiers swung off the front one by one, finally their new import and race leader and defending champion Adam Yates went on the attack. Instantly only two could keep up with Yates, the rest fell out of contention: Pogacar and Jumbo’s Sepp Kuss who climbs like an angel. Yates did all the work, and it was a proper show of force when his high pace cracked Kuss who often seems the best climber in every race he does. And Pogacar actually showed Yates some healthy respect by refusing to pull through for even a single turn: Yates was the man down on GC, they were distancing Almeida which was in both their interests, and if Pogacar took over perhaps Yates would put in an attack that could gap him. Thus it came down to the finish. Surely with training camps and such Pogacar must have reconned and knew this climb inside-out: on the only dip in the road in the last kilometer he put in one blistering and surging attack and sprinted all the way to the finish line from there. Yates barely got back into his slipstream, but he did not enough to come around him and take the victory. Pogacar took his first win of the season. And on Stage 5 to Jebel Jais, he proved the best GC man again. The Jebel Jais is a 20-kilometer climb, but it never gets terribly steep—it is more of a long wearing down grind. But even the mighty Grenadiers had a tough time shelling out the big numbers. Though Jumbo’s Jonas Vingegaard clipped off the front in the last mile to take the stage victory at the top of the climb, behind it really did look like a reduced-bunch sprint and it was Pogacar who showed the fastest pair of wheels in front of Adam Yates once again. And two days later, having gotten through any entanglements on the sprints, Pogacar completed the mission and took victory in his team’s home race.

Thus like Top Ganna in the Time Trials, Tadej Pogacar lays out the GC measuring-rod for the season. With his Tour victory heard ‘round the world last year and his strong performance out of the gates here in February in the UAE, Pogacar surely announces himself as the man to beat this year. What do the GC grey-hairs: the Nibalis and the Froomes have to say about that? More rust do they have to kick off if they are even to hold a candle to this young superstar at some point this season.  Pogacar’s calendar looks to contain a traditional-and-yet-not-boring run up to defend his Tour title: Strade Bianche next weekend, a pair of weeklong World Tour stage races, Fleche and Liege, the Dauphine, and then the Tour itself in July. Pogacar showed this week to easily have the best combination of the time-trialing and climbing at the race. He kept up with Yates’ high pace in the mountains having already put the needed time into him on the TT. Thus he needed not even reveal if that was on the limit climbing, but we can now keep in mind over a flat 13km Time Trial he only lost 24 seconds to Top Ganna. Yes, with this performance Pogacar sets the tone and says the road to Tour victory must go through him before it makes its way to Paris.

Perhaps all my words have sounded too routine and normal today, this probably is the case. But in recent years, it is unregular to be able to say routine complements about GC affairs in Middle Eastern races, this is a pleasant first or second for me. Yes, despite the decimation of the early season racing UAE Tour was the one we all knew would pull through, and just because of the fact it did: perhaps I look more favorably on something that was actually average and in the past always below average. But after a year of a worldwide pandemic, perhaps average is not simply good, but great. If the whole rest of the season is average, I highly doubt I will be complaining.  

Musing on Opening Weekend (WRITTEN)

At last! It is the Opening Weekend not only for Belgium, but really the whole cycling world. In Belgium, last weekend the long winter of cyclocross officially wrapped up with the final races, and now the Road Season can immediately begin. This last weekend of February is called Opening Weekend for the Belgians, because by law they are not allowed to hold a Road Race before Omloop Het Nieuwsbald—after this weekend, any sort of racing from tiny village kermesses to prestigious Monuments will take place on their soil on more days than not until the Fall comes once more. But it is also the Opening Weekend for the rest of the cycling world, because now the season really starts. We have had many races already in the Southern Hemisphere, Middle East, and the tolerable parts of the Mediterranean: riders have gotten their seasons started right, some Australians and South Americans and Spaniards have already dazzled the home crowds, and many have gotten back into the swing of racing. Now it is time for the Classics men to come out to play, because on this Opening of Weekends is when the Spring Classics—the first massive objectives of the season—begin.

For the true fans: ideally this weekend always has some brutally harsh weather—no matter how sadistic that sounds, it is the truth. There is something special about cozying up near a fire in a blanket on a Saturday afternoon to watch the Finale of Omloop. For Americans like myself sometimes I am tempted to just place the laptop near my bedside the night before, and come morning I simply log onto the stream and begin watching Live without even getting out of bed. This idea is not appealing for all the races on the calendar: certainly not in the Grand Tours, nor even in many of the other Spring Classics. But for this Weekend, this Opening Weekend, the elements should be an essential element in the viewing. It should look so cold and rainy out on those wet Belgian roads and cobbles that for this weekend at least we do not wish to be in the race or even on the roadside—curled up under the covers is the ideal place to be watching while these tougher hardmen make their Classics debut for the season. Yes, though Opening Weekend means Road Racing is back in Belgium, winter should not go down without a fight. Yes, yes, let the Winter Warlocks give us and the racers a great shock to the system: remind or teach the riders how to properly layer for a race, let only the toughest men be in for a shout to win, heighten the stakes of the racing with the bad weather so that it will be a memorable victory with hundreds of war stories to tell afterwards.

But enough of sadistic musings on biblical weather, let us properly lay out the weekend itself. On the last Saturday of February takes place the Belgian Cobbled Classic Omloop Het Nieuwsbald, on the Sunday its twin Cobbled Classic Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne (KBK). In recent decades, the races have markedly grown in prestige though both have been around since the end of World War II. One reason for this increase in status must be the expansion of the early season calendar in January and February. With all the warm weather racing and training in the Southern Hemisphere these Spring Classics riders are now already pinging on good form for this Opening Weekend. And why shouldn’t they be? It takes a special breed of rider to win a Cobbled Classic, and there are only eight real traditional Cobbled Classics of high prestige, thus only eight real opportunities to win. So if two of the eight are on this weekend, surely a large percentage of the riders want to make the most of the double-chance, and the rest here to race want to re-find their special Cobbled Classics legs for the later objectives. Another reason I speculate for the growth in prestige of this Weekend is that Omloop Het Nieuwsbald is the Cobbled Classic that is most akin to the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders, itself.

Yes, there are the eight Cobbled Classics that all the World Tour teams attend: Omloop Het Nieuwsbald, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, E3, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Ronde Van Vlaanderen (“Tour of Flanders”), Scheldprijs, and Paris-Roubaix. The two biggest are of course the Ronde (Flanders) and Roubaix for these two are Monuments—the highest class a one-day race can be; the others are all Classics—the class below the monuments. What makes a Classic a Classic is an imprecise science and deserves a whole piece of its own; the races themselves have evolved over the years, but surely at this point all of these are proper Classics. Roubaix is its own special wild beast, and in recent years I am not sure how much of a factor the cobbles have been in Scheldprijs, for that race is always won by a pure sprinter; but those two aside, the rest of these races are similar.

They are raced in generally the same area of Belgium—Flanders more specifically—and they reuse many of the same famous roads and climbs in the area—the Oude Kwaremont, the Taaienberg, the Koppenberg, and the Paterberg among others. Perhaps if you have a studly knowledge of European geography and little knowledge of bike racing, you believe you know Flanders to be a flat area. Flanders comprises the top half of the country of Belgium, and it is true that Flanders is much flatter than Wallonia—Belgium’s Southern half—where the Ardennes Classics take place. But if you say Flanders is pancake flat, that is a misstep and reveals you have never watched a Flandrien Cobbled Classic. Sure, it is difficult to find many hills longer than 1 kilometer in length, and the heightens they reach are peanuts compared to the mountain passes of Colombia, but despite their short length Flanders has some very steep climbs. When I say steep, O! I speak leg-breaking and energy sapping climbs over 10% in gradient with difficult max gradients well over 15% and even 20%…and the worst part: these climbs are on cobbles. Cobbles so bouncy and slick on many of them, even on the 20% sections, you must ride seated in order to have enough traction for your back wheel not to slide out. These cobbled sections—and many of the Flemish lanes—are all notoriously narrow, and thus positioning is all important: You must be at the front. You must not be caught behind a less competent rider who cannot ride the steepest and most difficult parts. It is not uncommon for many pro-riders to lose all momentum from the difficulty or just because too many riders are bunched up in front of them, and thus they put one foot down or even crash. Yes, many of these climbs are so steep that if you lose momentum or stop, there’s no starting up again until you walk to the top. So in addition to the climbs being brutal themselves, the kilometers leading up to the climbs themselves are ferocious fighting affairs as all the teams want to get their top riders to the front for the most famous climbs. To be in a good position throughout the race does not mean you will have success, but surely it is a prerequisite for any success at all. On these famous climbs—occasionally you shall hear them referred to as “bergs”—the cream of the crop rises to the top and groups of leaders and chasers form. A group of fifteen riders, containing two or three of the race favorites, find separation on one of the climbs early in the race, because one of the riders in the 16th or 20th position crashes on the climb, this causes the rest of the peloton to halt and maneuver around the fallen rider; all of a sudden that group of fifteen has a minute gap, and the peloton spends the rest of the race chasing them down. Yes, these cobbled races often produce the most dynamic racing of the year: it is a true test of strategy amidst unprecedented levels of uncontrollable adversity. And then in the Finales of these Classics, after the pelotons and chasing groups have been whittled down to just the top men, these great ones go head-to-head: testing and attacking each other on these most famous bergs of Flanders, proving who is not only the strongest rider but also who has the best combination of strength and cunning. Yes, these are the races we look forward to most in the Spring: they are chaos on wheels, and yet every time someone must rise above to win.

Thus Omloop Het Nieuwsbald is a big objective for it is sometimes even considered a “mini-Tour of Flanders.” The real Tour of Flanders, the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, is 250 km—one of the features that usually separates a Monument from the Classics is its length—whereas Omloop is only about 200 km. But where the steep little bergs and cobbles come, it is more intense here at Omloop than at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne the next day. At KBK, the biggest climbs and cobbles come midrace and there is a flat finale—thus, potentially, the sprinters have a shot. This is not the case at Omloop Het Nieuwsbald or the Tour of Flanders, these races are too hard for a sprinter to win. Over the course of the race, the field gets so whittled down, you must be one of the strongest men over the steep climbs to have a shot. Yes, some of the men who are best at this actually can turn out to be fine sprinters, and most have some sort of element of speed, but they truly are their own special kind of rider to be able to fly up steep little cobbled climbs like these—and yet also endure all the grueling and harrowing challenges across the whole route. To win a race like Omloop, you need to have great endurance, Beowulfian power, tactical prowess, superb bike-handling skills, and speed in case the race ends in a three or four man-sprint. Yes, perhaps the Crosswinds do not often ravage Omloop Het Nieuwsbald, that is traditionally the job of the harsh cold weather and the many climbs themselves. In recent years, Omloop has even taken-over the Old traditional Flanders Finale hitting the riders with last tests up Muur van Geraardsbergen and the final-stinging Bosberg after that. Yes, the Muur van Geraardsbergen is the most famous of Flanders climbs, it is the one that goes up to that iconic Chapel—perhaps you know it as the Kapelmuur. And yes, it was such a controversial decision when the Tour of Flanders decided to remove it from the Finale of its route, but now it has a new home at the mini-Tour of Flanders, Omloop Het Nieuwsbald. Yes, to win at Omloop surely means you are on flying form, and your season is already made…the only question or danger that arises: are you flying high too early? Never have Omloop Het Nieuwsbald and the Tour of Flanders both been won by the same rider in the same season. Though these races are only six weeks apart, traditional wisdom says that is too long to hold a peak of highest form. Thus some of the highest favorites for the Monuments of Flanders and Roubaix skip this Opening Weekend to keep their proverbial powder dry. But luckily others do not and Omloop always proves to be a good race and has a worthy champion, whoever wins Omloop will be in the discussion of favorites for the rest of the Cobbled Classics.

Meanwhile, the next day is Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. No, nowadays it does not quite live up to its name: though it usually starts and finishes around Kuurne, it will at best only make it to the outskirts of Brussels midway through the race. But it is of little matter, what matters is what Cobbled Climbs it too shall hit. The answer is not as many as Omloop Het Nieuwsbald. Historically this race could often end in a bunch sprint of 100 riders won by a pure sprinter who had the endurance or strong team support to make it over the cobbles and climbs, and then mop up any strong Classics men in the breakaways. Perhaps that reality of this race can make it seem or feel a bit “flat”—pun intended—compared to the “mini-Tour of Flanders” the day before at Omloop. Yes, in some years this is the case and that is the way it goes; but that does not mean it is bad viewing nor the end of the world, and with developments to the early season calendar this is becoming the reality less and less often. In recent years, the Middle Eastern races are attracting the strongest lineups of pure sprinters at this time of year. Why would the pure sprinters want to go to KBK to get their teeth kicked in over some of the cobbled climbs while freezing their fingers into black-frostbitten oblivion, when there are warm flat desert races in the Middle East begging to be won by them? Yes, it is an easy choice for the top sprinters to forgo their lesser chance of winning KBK for ample opportunities of sprint after sprint in the Middle East. Thus with the absence of most of the headline sprinters, very few teams try to hold the race together for the sprint. And, yes luckily, if few teams actively try to hold this race together it will not be held together over a challenging course like this. Yes, in recent years, this race has often come down to a sprint of less than ten men, even in recent years multiple solo escapists have found success holding off a reduced peloton behind. Do not be angry with me if the race does end in a bunch sprint, but with the headline sprinters in the Middle East and still the respectably difficult route of Cobbles and Climbs: there is a good shot it will not all come back together in the finale.

And thus Opening Weekend has been described. Hopefully you now better understand what is coming up, what you might be getting yourself into. All that is left now is to place our bets—make our picks of doom sure to go wrong—and then finally and of course watch the races themselves. And yes, yes, remember for this weekend at least we all root for bad weather for that really is an essential in a proper Belgian Opening Weekend.

Part of a Podcast Previewing and Predicting this year’s 2021 edition. Check out Cycling Odysseys wherever you get your podcasts.

Team Preview 2021: EF Education-Nippo WRITTEN

And thus only one big plunge is left. Yes, yes, into the team that was last to reveal their new season’s jersey. Two years ago, they were the last hold outs to reveal as well, the designs were kept under wraps until the eve of the Tour Down Under itself…and that kit and jersey delivered: that tye-dye pink and purple was instantly iconic, awesome, and completely original. But alas! This year the last jersey reveal has come up flat: just a standard light pink, surely to be confusing at the Giro, with negligible small custom designs throughout. O! EF, two years ago you won the “Kit Reveal” season by a wide margin with your tye-dye, but alas now you have reverted back to the pack with this year’s kit. But on to important matters, let us inspect the line up.

A difficult choice, but this year I give pride of place to Hugh Carthy fresh off his podium finish at the Vuelta a Espana. Not only did he finish third at the Vuelta, he won on the mighty Angliru, the climb a vast majority say is the hardest climb in all of cycling. Yes, Hugh’s Vuelta was sensational, and it came off the back of some hard racing: the Dauphine, the Tour, Worlds, and Fleche Wallonne. What mighty strength is needed for such a stunning ending performance, or perhaps Hugh should do more racing into shape this year! Yes, it seems all sorts of momentum is with this 26 year-old, and it seems he shall be returning to the Tour: surely with a high GC placing on his mind. Perhaps he is in good hands, learning wisdom from the Colombian Mick Jagger: Rigoberto Uran, twice runner-up at the Giro, once runner-up at the Tour. Surely, Rigo has a good pedigree in the Grand Tours, even before Nairo Quintana he was one of the Colombians igniting and setting up this new generation of climbing talent. But at 34-years-old, is he over the hill? Surely in 2015 and 2016, we thought he already was…and then he silenced the doubters in 2017 when he finished second at the Tour. Whether he is in the twilight of his career remains to be seen, but if his Grand Tour leadership days are over: may he prove a great asset for Hugh Carthy and the younger South American talents.

Alas! Dani Martinez has jumped ship and joined the Ineos Grenadiers, but behind are still Sergio Higuita and Jonathan Caicedo. Higuita on his best days can be as sensational as Superman Lopez in the mountains, but he has also proven a talent for riding in the crosswinds and also sprinting among the climbers. Last year this talented 23-year-old Colombian won the Tour Colombia outright, it was an impressive accomplishment, but alas! at the Tour de France he crashed out and that about ended his season. This year shall surely be a crucial stepping-stone year for the man, last year was cut too short when he would have shown so much progess: this year he must not stall out! Meanwhile, Ecuadorian Jonathan Caicedo took a surprise Giro stage win last year on Mt Etna, and almost even grabbed the leader’s Pink Jersey to boot! Surely, with Martinez gone, management shall be eyeing Caicedo to step into the void. But Caicedo was not the only EF Giro stage winner that more is expected of now. The Portuguese rider, Ruben Guerreiro also took that stunning victory on Stage 9 to Roccaraso, and the Blue King of the Mountains Jersey as well; at only 26-years-old he is another to watch. Another up-and-comer climber surely is the American Neilson Powless who has rode well in many Grand Tour breakaways.

I do believe this year too is the best EF’s Classics squad has ever looked. Two years ago Alberto Bettiol stunned the cycling world when he unexpectedly won the Tour of Flanders. He has re-shown glimpses of the good form since then, but perhaps in 2021 with this strong lineup great victories will blossom for him once again. Jens Keukeleire and Magnus Cort and Sebastian Langeveld return once again: all handy in the Classics or any sort of lumpy stage, but they add another new great weapon. Michael Valgren has joined the team, his seasons at NTT were disappointing, but the going theory or rumor it was due to overtraining. O! May he return to his former glory where he won Omloop and Amstel in the same season! Yes, yes, those were his best days, and at only 29 years-old it is not too late to rekindle them.

There are many new faces this year who I do not yet know. There are many old faces as well, hallmarks of my cycling viewing: Americans Tejay Van Garderen, Alex Howes, Lawson Craddock, and Australian Lachlan Morton. But there is one rider on the team who I value higher than most, for he also operates in the same realm as myself. Mitch Docker has one of the best cycling podcasts out there in addition to being one of the best domestiques in the world. I would love to see him take many victories, but more so this season I would like to see him make his Tour de France debut. At 34-years-old, he is a veteran, he is a Road Captain, he is a man that can greatly aid the team this Tour with its balanced and traditional looking route. Yes, thanks to his podcast, Mitch has become one of my most favorite riders, and I would love to see him succeed even more than he has before he calls it a career.

And with that—highlighting one of my favorite riders, I think we can simply call this a wrap on the World Tour team previews. The labors have been long and hard, and alas! people have been shafted and shortchanged. But as I write these last previews, the “Official, Official” start of the season is upon us, and I suffer personally with Coronavirus. So excuse any mistakes or mentions I have missed, I am deeply sorry to any I have forgotten to mention: O! May you make me rue the day that I did!

Team Preview 2021: Qhubeka Assos WRITTEN

It was somber viewing last year seeing the headlines that the heartwarming African team would probably be going under after a third or fourth title sponsor pulled out in the past handful of years. We had seen many teams search for lifeboat sponsors in the past with mixed results: some have survived, some have limped on, some have gone under, and very few have thrived the next year. But could this team perhaps thrive? At the 11th hour, their team principal Doug Ryder secured title sponsorship with the faithful Qhubeka charity who provide bicycles for African children, and Assos the Swiss cycling clothing company. By the time the announcements were made of the team’s future stability last year’s roster had already been severely gutted—to even try to name all who left would be too much and concerns us no longer. The African identity has alas been dissipated and now it is surely an international crew of riders, but all under and love the mission of the team. Perhaps they can forge a new identity together. That classic identity all the smaller teams long for: a winning culture made up of men that punch above their weight because their whole becomes greater than all their parts put together.

One man they luckily kept from last year is the Italian Giacomo Nizzolo, the current Champion of all Europe. The blue stripes and gold stars surely give his jersey more color than the only black and white jerseys of hands the others are wearing. Nizzolo is already off the mark as well, he won the Almeria one-day race. Every win, especially early, will surely help this team build confidence and momentum. Surely the one that shall need the most confidence and momentum rebuilt shall be their new headline GC import: Fabio Aru. All the way back in 2015 he won the Vuelta a Espana and we thought he would surely be Italy’s next perennial Grand Tour star. But alas! His years at UAE were disastrous, and there is no way to sugarcoat that reality. It does not seem Fabio and the team departed on good terms either, but now that era is over. Now he can start on rebuilding his career and love for cycling again with this new team. Over the winter he went back his old Italian Cyclocross stomping grounds, hopping in many races for the fun and training it provides. Shall Fabio be able to resurrect his career with this team? I will be honest, I was never much of a fan, but who does not love a good story of redemption? And I must say, after sure horrible pressure and hype at UAE and having nothing to show for it, truly I would be happy to see Fabio succeed…especially on this team.

To aid Aru and Nizzolo, or on their own best days win themselves, the team has quite an eclectic crew of talent. Hour Recorder Holder Victor Campenaerts is one of the few men to remain from last year, along with the beloved small in stature Italian Domenico Pozzovivo. Australian Simon Clarke has been recruited, and he is a rider I particularly love: surely he the ideal model of a Road Captain, O! very few are wiser bike racers than he! Though I have heard little of Sergio Henao for a few years, since his departure from Team Sky, I’ve always thought him a quality talent. Max Walscheid, Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg, Sander Armee, Bert-Jan Lindeman, Rob Power, Lasse Norman Hansen, Michael Gogl, Harry Tanfield, and Lukasz Wisniowski all seem quality signings in my eyes too. Yes, the charity background and perpetual underdog feel to this team makes me excited about them once again: O! Surely they will make it work! Surely, they will have success. We can only hope, but surely all of us, every one, shall hope.

Team Preview 2021: Intermarche – Wanty – Gobert Materiaux WRITTEN

And now we come to the newest team to the World Tour. Now, I know I must know some of the names on this team…and yet, off the top of my head I cannot name one. But now I look over the list and I see some particular names I do indeed know. And yet I say from the outset: this shall be one of the shorter previews. Intermarche team, do not be mad at me for saying such things, make me rue the day I accidently slighted your team. Your jersey is loud and colorful and unusual, surely when your riders do well in the future it shall not happen under my nose.

The top man of the team in my eyes must be Louis Meintjes, the South African, twice 8th at the Tour and another top ten at the Vuelta as well. At 28, he is in his peak years. Intermarche, let us see what you can get out of him. Too often, too often he has flow under the radar: putting in many quality efforts at the Grand Tours and in stage races, but never seeming to ever throw up his arms in victory. Like Socrates Martin at Cofidis, surely victory on a big stage should be Meintjes’ goal.

Then let us see, surely I recognize the Van Poppel brothers, may each rack up a handful of sprint victories this season. Rein Taaramae and Maurits Lammertink are familiar names. Jan Bakelants is the one that took that Corsica stage at the 2013 Tour and moved into the maillot jaune. Jan Hirt I remember from some devastatingly good days in the mountains at the Giro from a few years back. Pasqualon, Vliegen, Eiking, and Minali are all names I definitely have heard in the mix, but truly can say nothing past that. And finally there are the two funny delightful surprises on this list: Quinten Hermans and Corne Van Kessel. Yes, yes, the two cyclocrossers we see lining up on the front row every winter weekend in the Belgian races. Surely, surely, cyclocross magic is in the air, surely all teams should get themselves a top cyclocrosser for their Classics squads. May they do well at the Classics, perhaps even take some stages or ride a Grand Tour!

Well, as I said, this would be a short preview. I know not much about this team, thus let them surprise me. Should all things be equal, I shall root for this team over others just to see the underdog succeed. Yes, I have no idea what they shall do, I have no idea how to even end this preview. Thus once more: Put a chip on your shoulders, boys. Prove me wrong for dismissing you.

Team Preview 2021: Astana – Premier Tech WRITTEN

What shall we say of this now long-staple team of the peloton? They have had a checkered past, but surely by a couple years ago they won all our hearts with that highly memorable Rap Music Video—a must watch if you have not seen it, Youtube: “Astana Rap,” and it shall be the first link. Surely ‘twas the greatest Gem to come out of an altitude-training camp hotel. A star of that video is Jakob Fgulsang, and he’s a good premiere rider to start with. In 2020, the veteran Dane won il Lombardia and finished 6th at the Giro. Despite the Monument victory, alas! it must at least be conjectured: Only 6th in the Giro when most of the big favorites abandoned the race, Jakob, is the specter old age creeping up on you at 35 years old? How many seasons do you have left in you? At this point, Jakob, you are Astana’s top GC man: Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) and Fabio Aru (Qhubeka Assos) are long gone, and now Superman Lopez has departed for Movistar as well. Your schedule seems to indicate you shall return to the Tour, shall you finally be able to string together a spectacular Grand Tour run: twice you have been winner of the Dauphine—the Tour’s ultimate preparation, you have won the climbers’ Monuments of Liege-Bastogne-Liege and il Lombardia, and you took the Silver Medal in Rio; surely you need or deserve an excellent Grand Tour result to good with it: perhaps not a victory, but surely at least a podium.

What of the man who is perhaps the heart and soul of the team? Surely you all know your world capitals and regurgitate that Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan, hence the national identity of this team. And hence my claim that surely Alexey Lutsenko umpteen-time champion of Kazakhstan is the heart and soul of this team. Last year he won that stage of the Tour up to Mont Aigoual. What shall his objectives be in this coming season? He is so versatile it is hard for me to tell what he shall target: the Cobbles or the Ardennes? Which Grand Tour stages best fit into his wheelhouse? Surely, with his talents and still in his prime at 28 years old, the world is his oyster. But alas! I dare move on from this champion and not waste time hypothetical-ing what he might ride and win, for there are too many other talented riders on this deep line up. 

Surely I do believe the revelation for this team last year on the international stage must have been the climbing talent Aleksandr Vlasov. He beat the mighty Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) at the Mont Ventoux Challenge one-day race. He won the Giro dell’Emilia on that iconic San Luca colonnaded climb. He worked hard in the Vuelta, why on the Angliru stage he finished second to only the mighty Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo). What are the limits on this 24-year-old? Tenatively, he is pencilled in for the Giro, shall he be Astana’s young leader, a protected rider throughout the race? What of their other talented all-rounds: the Izagirre brothers, Ion and Gorka? Ion has won GC at the Basque Country and Poland and stages of the Tour and Giro; but at 32 years of age, how much more does Ion have in him? The same goes for his surprisingly OLDER brother Gorka who has been the nearly-man for so many big results. And the same goes for that long time great but current Champion of Spain Luis Leon Sanchez. Shall any of them take a one last big victory before they grow too old?  

And what does the rest of the lineup have in store? I have fond memories of Fabio Felline in the Spanish races: the Basque Country and the Veulta both. He, like Lutsenko, is quite a Swiss Army Knife, where shall he ride this season? The Cobbles? The mountains? The lumpy stages that finish with a small-group sprint? What about Omar Fraile? Another climber I am fond of, a member of the exclusive clubs of people that have won a stage of all three Grand Tours. How shall he capitalize on his success this year? Merhawi Kudus is another talent as well. Perhaps the 27-year-old Eritrean climber is finally due. Due for a stupendous result. And what of the others? Manuele Boaro, Davide Martinelli, Hugo Houle, Nikita Stalnov, or Harold Tejada? Yes, with the departure of Superman Lopez and the big budget names mostly in their 30s, surely it is time for Astana to unveil some new younger top talent.

Team Preview 2021: Cofidis

Thus we come to that historic ole French team, Cofidis. Their heyday was all the way back in the way back in the early 2000s, but still the same title sponsor Cofidis has stuck around. For the past decade, their funding has not been to the extent of the mighty or average World Tour teams. Though always invited to the Tour and the Vuelta, for almost a decade they’ve had little results to show for it. And yet last year, their resolve was reinvigorated to win big again, to return to those heady days of old so already steeped with legend that fact and fiction can no longer be untwined. For 2020 they increased their payroll and rejoined the top echelon of the sport as a World Tour team, and they signed some big names.

The biggest signing last year was the Italian sprinter Elia Viviani. But alas! last year was a season to forget for the man: zero victories. He went from Quickstep’s top sprinter taking victory after victory in races big and small, and yet last year the wheels seemed to fall off for he was anonymous in many of the races. He is only 32, surely he is not too old yet, let us blame the bad season on the lockdowns. Let us say he had not the proper amount of time to gel with the team. Let us hope this season Elia shows off his talents better, may he prove the keys to his success come not just from Quickstep alone.

And what about their revelation GC rider? Guillaume Martin stepped up a level last year at the Tour de France. For the first half of the race he was in the top 3 on GC and even vying for stage honors; remember on Stage 4 when he almost won the ferocious mountain-sprint to the top of Orcieres-Merlette? Martin could not string together the phenomenal form for the full three weeks, but a month later he came back and won the King of the Mountains Competition at the Vuelta…O! how I was rooting for him to take a stage win at that race! He is nicknamed Socrates, for outside of cycling is a philosopher, surely an appealing and eye-catching hobby to have outside of the sport. But all the philosophy in the world is not needed to figure out what Martin’s top task must be this season: to win a race. A stage, a stage race, anything, Martin is a rider of high quality and he needs a result and victory celebration of high quality to go with it!

Cofidis has signed over Simon Geschke, surely he is a quality domestique or mountain breakaway specialist: perhaps he can show Socrates Martin how it is done to take a great victory. The Spanish Herrada brothers, Jesus and Jose, are back for more. These two with Geschke and Martin could be a formidable quadron in any proper mountain stage. Christophe Laporte has already gotten off the mark and taken a victory this season on the opening Besseges stage with its short, steep vertical finish. Shall he be a lead out man for Viviani or shall their calendars not cross? Surely, he’s proving to be on good form and a man for the steep little kicker finishes. And what of the rest of the lineup? Haas, Edet, Perez, Perichon, Wallays, and the others, what shall they accomplish this year? Shall they take stunning victories of their own, or help their team leaders win themselves?

Team Preview 2021: Israel Start-Up Nation WRITTEN

We come to another power building in our midst. Israel Start-Up Nation (ISN) made the biggest signing this offseason bringing over the Grand Tour rider of this generation, Christopher Froome after he spent a decade with the British Sky/Ineos squad. At thirty-five years old and coming back from a seeming 18-month rehab from a broken leg, Chris Froome seems over the hill. Surely, his is a storyline all shall watch for this coming year. Can he return to any sort of remote form like his form in 2015, 2016, 2017, or even 2018 where he won Grand Tour after Grand Tour: in fact at one time he was the reigning winner of all three Grand Tours at once. All will say he is one of the least stylish riders of all time: with his long skinny limbs, legs spinning at 110 rpm and his gangly elbows sticking out he sometimes reminds me of Gollum riding a bike. Additionally, his dominance has been too strong—his grip too tight, too iron-ous—and thus not many sing his praises in victory: even I admit his 2017 Tour and Veulta double was astonishingly slumberous, especially for such a historic feat. And yet I go against the grain, Chris Froome shall always be one of my favorite riders. It will still be decades and decades from now before I forget watching him pace Bradley Wiggins up La Planche del Belles Filles in 2012, only to have the energy to come around and be the first crescent the horizon and win the stage on that now iconic climb. I said in that moment: “This man will win the Tour next year!” And he did. He is a fierce competitor: battling Contador, Quintana (Arkea-Samsaic), and Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) round after round; scrapping and fighting for every second, remember the Tour stage he rode away in the crosswinds with Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe); he absolutely never counts himself out and only victory is satisfying, yes that day at the Giro comes to our minds; how many other cyclists who break their leg at 34 would go through this massive rehab process to maybe come back for more shots at Tour glory. Froome sits on four Tour victories, the record is five. Were he to win a 5th Tour his name would be alongside Merckx, Anquetil, Hinault, and Indurain, and surely that would be the zenith and top of the summit for Chris Froome. Surely, I do daresay I hope he can join that club, and from what I can tell though he has not had many fans in the past: most would love to see him come back from injury and win that fifth one also. Yes, he has not yet ridden a race, but Chris Froome is the already the heart of this team, and around him they are assembling a strong supporting cast.

The competition is so fierce this year, and Froome’s Tour goal must be the team’s top priority, thus at the Tour surely all shall be domestiquing for Froomey, no matter their status. But surely, surely especially to ensure results elsewhere around the calendar Dan Martin and Mike Woods will have their own leadership opportunities. Both have excellent results in the Ardennes and can ride to a Top 10 placing in a Grand Tour. I say this not just because he is one of my favorite riders, but because it is true: Mike Woods has proven himself to be the best and most consistent on the ultra-steep narrow goat-track roads. Surely, when the gradient is over 20% it will be he who pushes the pace and never more than one or two men can latch on to him if any. I daresay it’s quite a talent, quite a thing to be the best at…and yet, surely even Woodsy dreads such steep climbs, surely he is in just as much pain on those gradients even if he is riding away faster. Yes, I think he shall be a great pairing with Dan Martin, the multiple Monuments winner, and a tough man of top class. Remember the Tour where he rode to 6th place with multiple broken vertebrae, it was a ferocious effort and one deserving a full ballad of its own. These two shall make a great pair attacking and counterattacking the field down to an elite bunch in all of the hilly Classics. But when they come to the Tour—and surely they must—they shall have to lay down their own ambitions and work for their rider of riders, Chris Froome.

Another who shall surely also be at the Tour is an additional new recruit Israel Start-Up Nation have brought in, Daryl Impey. Surely, surely this veteran shall be the team’s Road Captain. In charge of team tactics amidst the chaos of the race itself. So often, so often he was in the mix and at the heart of so many great Greenedge/Mitchelton victories; quite honestly I was shocked by the news ISN wooed him away from that Down Under team that he loved so much. But perhaps the money here was too good to pass up, or the prospect of aiding Froome for a 5th Tour sounds like an appealing new challenge towards the end of his career.

The list of quality goes on, surely ISN’s pockets are deep to assemble such names. Sep Vanmarcke, the nearly-man of the Classics. Alex Dowsett with that emotional Giro stage win last year. Carl Fredrik Hagen is surely a promising talent, in 2019 in his first pro season he finished 8th Overall at the Vuelta. Matthias Brandle, Tom Van Asbroeck, Alessandro de Marchi, Paddy Bevin, Rick Zabel, and Mads Wurtz all seem still winners on their day or solid domestiques for the Tour. Yes, this is another team arming up to challenge to be the best in the sport. They have made great strides the past two off seasons in assembling the cast, but last year the results were not yet flowing in. That of course must be priority number one this year: the budget is being spent, returns must come in through results if the budget is to get even bigger next year. Chris Froome has only one appointment that really matters in July, and there are still massive question marks about how he will perform there. Thus, where else will this cast of talent win before they go all in for July. We shall see, yes, we shall have to see.