Team Preview 2021: UAE Team Emirates

Thus we come to the new emerging power on the world cycling stage. Finally, finally, this UAE team lineup looks not just like a ramshackle of riches, but instead finally a powerful and formidable hierarchy of established talent ready to do battle across the entire cycling calendar. This team rose from the ashes of the ailing Lampre team and was injected with rich money from Middle Eastern oil tycoons. The team is a marketing tool for the country, to show off their prestige and abundance of wealth. But only one or two years ago, the abundance of wealth was surely flaunted and yet the structure was not there. One or two years ago they’d be signing four or five legitimate or even top class sprinters…but only have maybe one solid lead-out man in the entire team. Truly, in years past this team was a real embarrassment of riches, embarrassing because the results did not match the talent: the talent and wealthy lineup had not the structure to breed success. But over the course of the 2020 lockdown season, UAE seems to have straightened themselves out off the back of their biggest talent—perhaps the biggest talent in the entire sport. Off the back of his and the team’s greatest victory, they stock up arms—sorry, legs—of such power surely they shall be an even more deadly force this year. What heights of glory shall they reach this year? Let us start with their top talent, surely their new talisman, surely the face of their team for years to come.

Tadej Pogacar snatched victory in the 2020 Tour de France from the jaws of assured defeat. Many others would have been happy to ride to second overall in their Tour debut, and Pogacar would have as well. But not so many would have so pressure-free rolled the dice and gone for broke and throw so much weight on a penultimate day time trial like our Tadej did. And we all know the story, even its rumor has reached those who live under the rocks. Yes, on that penultimate day TT on the iconic La Planche del Belles Filles, Tadej Pogacar produced the greatest ride against the clock in the history of the bicycle—it was the greatest Race of Truth. The circumstances (the slaying of the mentor, the conditions of the course, the race lead up, and the implications afterwards) as well as the comparisons (to other legendary time trials performed by Anquetil, Merckx, and of course Lemond) have been discussed elsewhere. Surely, they shall be brought up many times more in the future, but we need not rehash them in such a preview as this. 22-year-old Pogacar returns once again, his objective clearly stated: Defend his Tour title. Have we already entered the Pogacar era last year, and we just don’t know it yet? Shall he alert us this year with another victory? The year before, we saw the similar young talent Colombian Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) win the Tour, but it was a bridge too far to repeat last year. Perhaps Egan’s injuries kept under wraps so well were too severe, perhaps the lockdowns shook up too many things. But let us not underestimate and surely factor in the pomp and circumstance that comes with winning the Tour de France. Life is changed, hype and glory follow you like a shadow for the rest of your life. And it is undeniable that to a certain extent it is a burden: interview after interview, appearance after appearance, party after party. We saw it took most of the 2019 season for Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) to screw his head back on and get his preparation right after he won the 2018 Tour. The hype, the pressure, the preparation, in 2020 it was too much for Egan to get right again after his 2019 performance. But what of Tadej? Shall he fair better? For him, surely this is the silver-lining of the pandemic: all the interviews, the appearances, the parties, the extra commitments probably have not been nonexistent, but surely they have been magnitudes less than usual. Tadej, the soft-spoken, has enjoyed as much relative peace and quiet as a Tour de France champion can possibly receive; surely this shall weigh in his favorite for his second tilt at Tour victory.

Perhaps more importantly this year too, he will not be seemingly alone. That was what was so stunning about his victory last year: Jumbo-Visma was the most dominate team in the race, they blew away all the competition—dealt everyone a crippling blow—except for this Tadej Pogacar who rode their coattails perfectly, and struck with such epic ferocity on the very last opportunity that it was instantly a top legend for decades and centuries to come. His team, plagued by injuries throughout the race was incredibly absent in it all: to reverse such a reality is surely a top priority for this coming year. Davide Formolo and David de la Cruz are surely proper climbing domestiques, and occasionally winners in their own right. They return for another season with UAE, surely they shall be some of Tadej’s Tour supports. Additionally, another weapon was acquired to help Pogacar in the mountains: Rafal Majka. I must say, I love such a signing. Alas! For the past few years, it has seemed Majka’s way was lost, he had lost his mojo or his game. O! Where have the days gone, Rafal, of 2014, 2015, and 2016? When you twice won the Polka Dots Climbers’ jersey, when you finished on the Vuelta podium, when you would ride to memorable swashbuckling victories in the Pyrenean passes—we still remember and love how you would wink at the camera on the way to solo breakaway victory amidst the throes of battle and agonizing toil. Yes, yes, here seems a proper time to take a step back, resurrect your top talents in this the service of another—his victories may be just as sweet as your own. And perhaps, Majka, in the process you shall find amazing form and return to winning ways yourself. O! How I would love to see it. And yet, Majka, let us face new realities, you were not the headline signing of this team this year.

Yes, it was the last transfer of the season, it was the shocking news that broke at the beginning of the new year…already by Team DSM preview was written and ruined. Yes, at the eleven-and-a-half-th hour Marc Hirschi broke his DSM contract and signed with this UAE team. He was the revelation of the Tour, and probably the entire year. On a small salary, and constrained by Sunweb/DSM shotgun team tactics favoring no protected leader, Hirschi decided it was time to jump ship. The details are shrouded in smirky mystery, but some sort of agreement was reached and who could blame such a talent for wanting their pay-day sooner rather than later, and assured leadership to boot. Yes, here at UAE, surely at all the hilly Classics Hirschi shall be UAE’s protected man and top rider—why, should Pogacar attend even some of these Classics even he might subordinately work for this total-package Marc Hirschi, at best in Pogacar will only be leader “1b” in such races. It is funny to think that last year Pog and Hirschi actually already battled head-to-head properly a handful of times at Worlds, Liege, and of course that infamous 2020 Tour Stage 9 where Pogacar got the better of the spent Hirschi. But now, overnight, they are teammates and a formidable force together. Surely it shall be fun to see these two go at it together in the Classics, and come the Tour Hirschi shall surely become Pogacar’s greatest asset in his title defense. Yes, yes, this is what I mean by abundance of riches and finally also structure and hierarchy as well to ensure proper flourishing.

Thus the climbers are covered, but UAE’s depth of talent ends not there. Stalwart and maillot jaune wearer Alexander Kristoff is back once more—that hardman of hardmen. And newly signed to partner with him for the Classics is the talented and admirable Matteo Trentin. Surely a fine partnership they should make. Of a similar mold of rider are they, thus should they be on their best days, they should prove a strong pair to attack and counterattack, to cover or be represented in every move in the Cobbled Classics; and surely they shall be up their in the sprints of the Grand Tour stages. Kristoff is now well up there in age, and Trentin is no youngster, but surely they are still reliable in their proper domains, with their right conditions. Yes, indeed, I do predict they shall represent UAE well, and bring in a healthy haul of wins for the team this season.

And thus we come to the rest of the talented team. Rui Costa and Valerio Conti and Diego Ulissi are proven talents, even if one or two are past their prime or shall never or no longer be top tier headline names. Mikkel Bjerg and Brandon McNulty have showed high promise in the Grand Tours before—Ryan Gibbons in the sprints as well—and surely all wish to capitalize and build new gains this year. Richeze, Marcato, Polanc, Bystrom, Laengen, and Dombrowski are all well proven domestiques and even stage hunters on their day. But there is one man who the question marks are still all over. One man who has so dazzled us in the past, but seems to have lost his way or least tripped over many stumbling blocks for the past few years: yes, the Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria. He came onto the cycling world like a lightning bolt a few years ago with Quickstep. His 2017 Giro was astounding with four stage wins and the maglia ciclamino. Surely, at least one or two of those victories were top-shelf-stupendous, they lifted our hearts high, dazzled our eyes, and sent us home happy. He did it again at the 2018 Tour with his two early stage victories as well. He is one of those riders who is so fun to watch, because he is prepared to win any which way. He’ll let Richeze drop him off perfectly in the last 200 meters. He’ll record over 1,000 watts for 20 seconds to hawk down a sprint victory where he was originally horribly placed and far back. He’ll get dropped off too early and win from a charge 600 meters out, and we—our stunned selves—shall try to figure out if we had just watched the longest sprint or the shortest flyer of all time. To revel in victories such as those are beloved affairs! But alas! Fernando, 2019 was a season to forget, and in 2020 when you were not infected with Coronavirus, you just didn’t have the form of the top Herculean man as at the 2017 Giro. O! Please! O! Surely, how I wish to see you return to such form in this coming year Fernando, for as I have described you are such a talent, and one of the finest showmen on your top form.

And with that, I finish my UAE preview. I am sorry, for the names I have not listed, I am sorry to the people I have short-changed. Let it be a challenge or even a chip for you shoulder to make me rue the day I gave you the shaft. But with so many big guns and big objectives for this team on the horizon, please do not be too upset with me. Yes, this UAE team is another team where some level of success is assuredly assured, and the only question is how much shall be achieved in this 2021 campaign.

Team Preview 2021: Team Bike Exchange WRITTEN

Let us turn to a team that all have a sweet spot for. Should you not have a sweet spot for such a team, then you either were not around during the heyday of the Backstage Passes or you have a heart of stone. The cast of characters this Aussie team assembles is contagiously funny and goofy. But do not be deceived by any of the rowdy backstage videos you have seen of them choreographing music videos, popping too many celebratory beers, or mingling and egging on the fans before, after, and during the races….this team not only knows how to party, they achieve results of high praise. This motley crew embarks on another season in a fresh new looking uniform. Some say it harkens back to the days of Leopard-Trek, a fair comparison. For the first time since those legendary GreenEdge days white is the predominant color. It was less than a decade ago, but surely that was this team’s days of yore. There best results came more recently, but it was those days when they were in the ascension and carving out their name and forging their path forward. They would win sensational races like Milan-Sanremo or Liege-Bastogne-Liege with Simon Gerrans, rip off great stage victories in the Giro and Tour, and make music videos to Call Me Maybe, Won’t Back Down, and Uptown Funk. They began to reach their zenith in 2016 off the back of Mat Hayman’s beloved Paris-Roubaix win, and Estaban Chaves’ phenomenal summer on podiums at both the Giro and Vuelta and the top step of il Lombardia. In 2018, Yates came close in the Giro and found redemption winning the Vuelta. Perhaps the past two seasons have not fully been up to par, but still they have achieved excellent results for the land Down Under, and it seems they are prepared to target victories across the calendar once more this year in 2021.

Still in the proudest of places must be mentioned Yates. The big shock this time around: the name is only singular this year, for one of the Yateses has moved on. Twin brother Adam decided it was a time for a change to the fertile and overcrowded verdant pastures of Ineos Grenadiers. But Simon, the Yates that won the 2018 Vuelta and came O! so close in the 2018 Giro is back once more. Can he rekindle that Giro magic he had in 2018? How we all loved that May! A long time it shall be before his exploits at that Giro are forgotten. In the “Grandy” that was to be the headliners’ duel between Chris Froome (Israel Startup Nation) and Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), Yates upstaged them both for the first three quarters of the race. From Mt Etna to the Colle delle Finestre he was the man of the match. Remember it? He gifted Chaves the Etna stage when they went one-two. He rode up the boot of Italy with the storming strength of the Allied Army in World War II—he had no equals. He won three stages, and almost hawked down Froome on the grueling Zoncalan. He superbly held his own in the fateful third week time trial against reigning TT World Champion Dumoulin. For an entire fortnight he was the name at the tip of cycling world’s tongue. But alas! he had dug too deep. A crack showed on Stage 18 on the tricky hilltop finale, and on Stage 19 the implosion proceeded. It is in all the history books already, the day Chris Froome threw down a Herculean effort if ever there was one to resurrect his GC campaign, the day it seemed Fausto Coppi or Eddy Merckx or Charly Gaul rode ahead of a shattered peloton once more. It was a difficult loss, but there will never be better competition to be vanquished by. And Yates redeemed himself at the Vuelta that year with a handy victory. And yet, for the past two seasons he has been trying to finish off this business with the Giro, but his 2019 challenge unraveled early, and in 2020 his race was robbed before it got going when he came down the Coronavirus in the early days. What does 2021 hold for the man? Rumors say he shall ride both the Giro and the Tour, but which shall he target? And does he plan to be on top form for the Olympics a week after the Tour? He is 28 and in the prime of life, surely he shall challenge for a Grand Tour once more. Already the list of challengers for the Tour grows deep, perhaps this is the year to finish business at the Giro, to finally bring home ALL the bacon!

What about the homecoming that cannot feel more right? Over the off season, Michael “Bling” Matthews has returned to his Aussie team. Too often had he to share leadership within this team, and regardless of team, on the rare chances he had full leadership in any team O! too often has he been upstaged by a more talented rider of the same mold. How often did he have to buttheads with Gerrans back in the day? How many times on a podium has Matthews had to stand atop a lower step than Peter Sagan (Bora Hansgrohe)? O! But what about that 2017 Tour where Sagan was booted? Who battled Marcel Kittel with his five stage wins all the way to Paris for the Green Jersey, and yes, who came out victorious? This Michael Matthews. Too often we have not gotten to see his best, he has won stages of all three Grand Tours, he has dazzled us at Paris-Nice, he has shown glimpses of greatness in the one-day Classics or any race with some lumps on the profile. As Team Bike Exchange seem to dial back their GC ambitions for this year, surely he shall have his opportunities to be well placed and strike out for victory on the biggest stages.

And what about the return to the top we beg for most? He is only 31, it is not unheard of, it is not impossible, O! may he wind back the clock! Estaban Chaves, the Colombian who is self-professedly half-Australian, the one whose smile should be in every dentist’s office for surely it’s worth two million bucks. He has resurrected his career before and in the past few years he has shown glimpses of that former greatness—of those heady 2016 days. The electricity that Orica team was producing at the 2016 Giro could have powered a Spanish nightclub, and victory would have been theirs had that ace, that Shark of Messina, that Vincenzo Nibali not have found his best form right there at the end. If I could pick one rider to get all their mojo back for one last memorable season, it would be this Estaban Chaves. Even through these dormant years, still he retains ownership over his keycard to the “Makes Your Day Club,” in fact throughout these years where he has only taken a couple Giro stages, his membership has been more solidified because we all ache and yearn to see his return to the top once more. Come on, Estaban, surely you have it in you! One more season, one more run at the Giro GC, one good run at the Tour, one more Vuelta where you bag another handful of stages and an Italian Classsic. You have won our hearts, may you warm them once again.

I brought up the reminiscings of the Orica-GreenEdge days at the beginning for this year’s lineup seems to invoke such times again. Simon Yates is still here for GC and I even hold my breath Chaves can put together another successful campaign, but with the return of Matthews and looking at beloved stalwarts like Sam Bewley, Michael Hepburn, Alex Edmondson, Luke Durbridge, Chris Juul-Jensen, and Cameron Meyer it really does feel like that most motley of crews really is starting to be reassembled. But there is still undeniably that recent look of the team with the proven quality of Mikel Nieve, Luka Mezgec, Jack Bauer, and Brent Bookwalter who have been good acquisitions of the past few seasons. And there is still the look of the future with talent that has not reached their peak as of yet with talents in the ranks like Dion Smith, Tsgabu Grmay, Lucas Hamilton, Rob Stannard, Nick Schultz, and more un-yet-named. Yes, this team from Down Under is something special, something to cherish and admire. Of course, of course, I wish them the best of luck this season.

Team Preview 2021: Jumbo-Visma WRITTEN

After a string of short previews, we come to what is sure to be another long one. For of course there will be much to say about the most successful cycling team in the 2020 season…despite their most heartbreaking loss. They return with a similar looking line up, and a similar looking jersey. The yellow and black, reminiscent of a swarm of wasps is back with just a few more touches of black this year…and perhaps even numbers on the jersey if I have heard rightly. They stirred a bit of controversy last year that their jerseys were too yellow for the Tour de France. I am not indifferent to such an argument, but I also could not come down on which side I agreed with; thus any additional black to the uniform is welcome in my eyes. The Tour’s leader’s jersey should pristinely stand out, and yet I do not think a half yellow jersey should be totally off limits if that is the sponsors’ colors—how many boring black jerseys can we cram into the peloton? But allow me to get back to the real task at hand, allow me to preview this team of Wasps surely to sting and swarm many rivals this year on all fronts of cycling.

Shockingly, it is not clear cut who deserves the pole position, the place of honor on this team preview for two of their riders were both arguably the best rider of the season. If Wout Van Aert had beat Matheiu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) in the sprint for the Tour of Flanders victory this would be an extremely tough decision. If Primoz Roglic had won the Tour de France this would be no contest. Thus, I give Primoz Roglic the first position; what he achieved this shortened season, especially despite what slipped through his fingers, was simply amazing. To strum up an outlandish analogy, in my eyes he is the Roman Colosseum personified. The Colosseum was a place of ferocity, a place for men hard as nails, a place where unstoppable forces met immovable objects. Additionally, look up a modern-day picture of it: there are cracks in its façade, it has not won every battle with the Great Leveler, Time; and yet, almost 2,000 years later it still stands high and proud day after day, month after month, year after year, century after century. Yes, I find this a fair comparison to our Primoz Roglic, the one I dubbed the Relentless after the Vuelta a Espana. He has suffered some severe psychological wounds in the Grand Tours, surely, cracks in his armor of illustrious form have been seen as well. And yet, despite a massive loss like the one all of us saw at the Tour, he bounces right back seemingly unphased. Rumors are flying that it was actually Roglic himself who was the first Jumbo man to bounce back, it was he who picked up the spirits of the teammates and management. He was lights out in the early season, he seemed to have the Tour wrapped up, and despite that loss he came back to take 6th at Worlds, win Liege in a bike throw, and manhandle the Vuelta taking the overall and four stage wins. Relentless, did I not tell you? This year, he shall tune himself up all season long for that ultimate victory that he O! so nearly had. Surely, all thought will be on it, but if it happens not once again: surely, Roglic the Relentless has proven it shall be but a little loss.

Meanwhile, Wout Van Aert, what a rider he was this past season, remember I proclaimed he holds the title of The Swiss Army Knife…O! How he has defended it so well! The sensational Strade, the superb Sanremo, his Tour stages, his superdomestiquing, his mighty double Silvers at Worlds, and his runner-up at Flanders: what a list of accomplishments that was. And he has recently announced he has extended his contract for three more years. This was the team he wanted to stay with, he said it’s the best team in the world; surely this really is the best place for him to succeed. The finale of his cyclocross season is around the corner, a campaign that has been going well. Shall he wrest back the mudders’ Rainbow Jersey at Cyclocross Worlds this year? Surely, if the course is for the runners, he’s proven he can beat the others, even Van Der Poel by two country miles. And then it is straight into the Classics once more where he and his archrival Van Der Poel shall be the hottest favorites for every race. A deserved rest and then building back the form for the Tour where the same plan shall be run back again of stage wins and domestique duties will be on tap. An Olympic tilt after that: surely in both the Time Trial and Road Race if I am any prospective judge of such things. And with the Road World Championships in his home Flanders this year, surely he must take his shot there too. What a campaign is before him, could we expect anything else from the reigning Swiss Army Knife?

For the umpteenth time, Jumbo-Visma have unfinished business at the Tour this year. Thus their full weight shall be thrown at it. George Bennett shall have Giro leadership all to himself while Tom Dumoulin and Steven Kruijswijk return to the Tour as coleaders 1b and 1c behind the Relentless Roglic. Steven Kruijswijk, the Human Coat-Hanger, is 33-years-of-age, perhaps this shall be his last tilt at leadership, surely if Roglic falters, he must take advantage, must take his possible last chance. And Tom Dumoulin, you know, you know you have been 2nd before, you know you are a man who should win this race in your career. Please Tom, come to the Tour on top form, be prepared to stay in contention as long as possible; it will take more than one Jumbo-Visma giant to slay UAE’s mighty Tadej Pogacar that put 1:20 into you on the La Planche Time Trial and who took the Peyresourde fastest ascent. Rumor has it, Tom, you plan to foray across the famous cobbles of Flanders—I am excited to see you have a go, but please do not jeopardize your Tour prospects. Finally of the possible GC men, what about the American who climbed like an angel in the Tour and Vuelta this season? Sepp Kuss, surely he shall run back his lieutenant role for the Tour, but I am hearing after he shall have his first Grand Tour GC appointment at the following Veulta and in the Catalunya stage race before that. O! How I yearn to revel in his climbing exploits to come!

Wout said it himself: this is the best team in the world. From top to bottom and across the entire calendar, I do believe I agree. I have not yet mentioned Dylan Groenewegen who shall continue serving a lengthy suspension for the first half of the season. I have not yet mentioned veteran and mentor Tony Martin of Time Trial fame or the darkhorse Mike Teunissen, both men have won a stages of the Tour and worn the maillot jaune—such is the insane depth of this team, surely they are a bottomless well. Robert Gesink, Antwan Tolhoek, Koen Bouwman, Jonas Vingegaard, Tobias Foss, and others not only fill out but beef up this supreme roster. On what other team is it possible have a legit shout to win every World Tour race? Yes, the success of this team is guaranteed, but how much shall they achieve? And shall they be able to attain that Holy Grail, that Tour de France that horrifyingly slipped through their fingers last year?

And now, to append this preview, we must address the shocking news that broke minutes after I finished this preview. Tom Dumoulin is officially taking a break from cycling.

Our dearest Tom,

You must do what is best for you and your career, thus the break seems necessary or else you might quit on the spot. But I daresay the timing is shocking, why not announce before the team camp? Save yourself that trip. But beyond that, let’s not get into it. Tom, during your down time I urge you to do the following things. It shall be hard, but forget everything you’ve done and accomplished in your professional career. Go back and re-watch the stages of that hallowed 2015 Vuelta: “Who is this tall time-trialist? We have heard the name, but is he anything more than that?” Tom, this is what we all said at the time, enjoy it from our shoes. The hype and excitement really begins on Stage 9 when you won one of the greatest Grand Tour stages I have ever seen. On the steep Cumbre del Sol you topped the greatest names in the sport at the time: Froome, Purito, Aru, Majka, Quintana, Valverde, and Chaves; you took all their scalps this day. The climb was so brutally steep, but attacks were flying left and right: you put in three yourself in the last mile alone. And you finished off the job ahead of the famous Chris Froome (Israel Start-up Nation) at the peak of his powers. Your rode with such class for the rest of the race and all the cycling world sung your praises. It was discovered you entered the race with 1,000 to 1 odds of winning, and yet here you were hanging in fighting the good fight, at the end holding only some 10 second lead for the penultimate stage over many brutal mountain passes. Alas! Astana had your number, like jackals they all swarmed you and gobbled you up, and it was in no one’s interest to prop you up for all wanted to move up on GC. Only two mountain passes form the finish, but you cracked. But Tom, you fought so bravely, you fought like Hector in front of the walls of Troy—surely, no warrior compliment is greater. But from there the quest was on, all were eager to see this newfound diamond in the rough redeem himself and finish off the job after his Hectorian fall. We had to wait until the 2017 Giro, but we did. Seriously, Tom, take away your memories, and put yourself in the fans’ shoes, think of how you dazzled us for that three-week odyssey. I most fondly remember watching you fly like a rocket up that Oropa climb, punishing Quintana in what should have been his terrain. Tom, you gave us all goosebumps, we saw a star rising. None of us would ask you to continue in the sport if it’s all been too much for you—we can’t fully understand, but we sympathize. But if you look for or want motivation to continue, re-watch the highs of that 2015 Vuelta and 2017 Giro for, as a dedicated fan, I have not seen or felt many higher highs than those heady days. And yet, perhaps it is an accident to say “re-watch” for perhaps you never have, you have only lived it. Perhaps the Vuelta memories are too closely associated with those lowest of lows that transpired, and perhaps the Giro highs are associated with all the balloon pomp and circumstance that has followed your life ever since. Tom, over that period you became one of everyone’s favorite riders, and now we all just wish you the best and hope you return soon, because when you succeed our hearts jump for joy…and we all know you have more of that greatness and achievement left in you.