Mediocre Dimension Data continue to disappoint.

If like me you are tuned into Stage 5 of the Tour of the Basque Country, you will know that there isn’t a single  Dimension Data rider with a sniff of the top 5 in this race, that goose is cooked. So why on earth aren’t they in the breakaway on a day that it has a good chance of making it to the finish?

It’s been the story of the season for the South African Team, sure you can point to significant injuries, and some shocking bad luck. But there is simply a dearth of winners in the group.

After  a podium in the Tour Down Under with Tom Jelte Slagter, and a win in Dubai from Mark Cavendish, you are looking at a 4th place from Edvald Boassen Hagen in Dwars door Vlaanderen as their most significant result.

It’s sad to see a team that carries such a strong message, with such an admirable mission, fail to achieve significant results.

What grates the most is the way mediocrity is accepted so readily, a team that is celebrating making the final selection is a team that isn’t trying to win.

As I write this I am all too aware that Edvald Boassen Hagen could make a very strong showing in Roubaix, but that reinforces my point. If Cavendish or Boassen Hagen don’t win bike races for the team, then who does?

Louis Meintjes is a man for the GC in the Grand Tours, but a top 5 is most likely the limit of his ambition, he is rarely able to attack the big names on the toughest climbs. What’s more he has never won on the world tour, and not at any level since 2015.

Julian Vermote has been a good signing, both in support of Cavendish and as another card in the northern classic. A useful rider, but Quick Step wouldn’t have let him leave if they thought he was a champion in the making.

Bizarrely, for a team that has struggled to find results at the highest level, the Tour de France has been the source of their greatest success. Edvald Boassen Hagen rediscovered his best form to save the season for the team in 2017.

The loss of Omar Fraile and Nathan Haas were big blows, and the team feels as if it has gone backwards this season.

Maybe we should cross our fingers and let it all ride on the Tour de France once again, that Merkcx record is within touching distance after all.

 

 

The flood Yates have opened

The growth towards a GC focus has been a slow burner for Michelton-Scott. Taking a long term approach to the development of Esteban Chaves and the Yates twins now appears to be on the cusp of delivering grand tour success.

The Yates family have had a red hot start to the season, a stage win for Adam at Tirreno-Adriatco showed form that would have been in mix for the overall had bad luck not scuppered his chances.

Simon has been one of the standard performers of the year so far, a stage win and a near miss on GC in Paris-Nice was backed up by 4th and another stage win in the Volta a Catalunya.

It all bodes well for Simon who will be taking his first shot at the general classification in the Giro d’Italia this year, top 10s in the 2016 Vuelta and the Tour in 2017 show he has the chops to mix it with the biggest names. Against a stellar field, a top 5 will be the ambition with a podium place not beyond the realms of possibility.

A short prologue to start and then a reasonable 35km time trial in the final week should mean that the lack of serious TT chops don’t rule him totally out of the mix, and the chance to put down an early marker on the Etna mountaintop finish of Stage 6 will suit his aggressive style.

In July the family focus looks likely to shift towards Adam as he has another run at the Tour de France, following an outstanding 4th in 2016. Although he has a slightly better record than Simon in the general classification of grand tours, he is yet to record a stage win.

While I’m sure Adam and Simon would both take a top 5 finish over a stage win, the chance of playing two cards with Esteban Chaves in the Giro cannot be underestimated. The smiling assassin has had a slow start to the year, but knows how to peak for the grand tours and will expected to be a challenger in his own right when he hits the startline.

Long regarded as the next generation of Britiish GC talent, the evidence is starting to build that this new generation may finally be on cusp of success at the pinnacle of cycling.

World Tour Transfer Update

Ag2r La Mondiale

In:

Clement Venturini from Cofidis

Tony Gallopin from Lotto-Soudal

Out:

 

Astana

In:

Out:

Paolo Tirralongo (Retired)

Bahrain Merida

In:

Out:

 

BMC Racing

In:

Out:

Daniel Oss to Bora-Hansgrohe

Amael Moinard to Fortuneo Oscaro

Manuel Quinziato (retired)

Bora-Hansgrohe

In:

Peter Kennaugh from Team Sky

Daniel Oss from BMC Racing

Out:

 

Cannondale-Drapac

In:

Out:

 

Dimension Data

In:

Out:

 

FDJ

In:

Georg Preidler from Team Sunweb

Ramon Sinkeldam from Team Sunweb

Out:

Katusha-Alpecin

In:

Out:

Angel Vicioso (retired)

Alexander Kristoff  to UAE Emirates

 

LottoNL-Jumbo

In:

Pascal Eenkhoorn from BMC Development Team

Out:

 

Lotto-Soudal

In:

Out:

Tony Gallopin to AG2R La Mondiale

Jurgen Van den Broeck (Retired)

Movistar

In:

Eduardo Sepulveda from Fortuneo-Oscaro

Out:

Adriano Malori (Retired)

Orica-Scott

In:

Out:

 

Quick-Step Floors

In:

Out:

Tom Boonen (retired)

 

Team Sky

In:

Out:

Peter Kennaugh to Bora-Hansgrohe

 

Team Sunweb

In:

Martijn Tusveld from Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij

Out:

George Preidler to FDJ,

Ramon Sinkeldam to FDJ

Warren Barguil to Fortuneo Oscaro

 

Trek-Segafredo

In:

Out:

Haimar Zubeldia (retired)

 

UAE Team Emirates

In:

Alexander Kristoff from Katusha Alpecin

Out:

Tour & Vuelta double almost a foregone conclusion for Froome.

Yes I know, it’s far too soon to start building up to the Vuelta a Espana. But the tour of Spain is just over three weeks away, and Chris Froome has nailed his yellow colours to the mast and announced that he will be on the start line on August 19 in Nimes.

A traditionally climb heavy route awaits him, but the defining stage of the race will most likely be the 42km flat time-trial on stage 16. The theory is that Froome has been deliberately lightly raced throughout the season in an attempt to arrive comparatively fresh at the Vuelta, where he hopes to finally get that Vuelta monkey off his back following three 2nd place finishes.

The race opens with the increasingly rare sight of a team time-trial, at just 15km it shouldn’t produce huge time gaps, but coupled alongside stage 16 it provides a strong time-trialist with the chance to take time.

On paper the route seems a home run for Froome, even more so with Richie Porte still struggling with injury and Tom Dumoulin’s focus elsewhere. Orica-Scott will continue their shift to a GC focus by sending all three of their candidates to the race, with Adam Yates, Simon Yates and Esteban Chavez.

Nibali won’t be much more of a threat in a time trial than Aru or Bardet were in the tour, and he was unable to shake Tom Dumoulin in the Giro, suggesting that he could now inflict the time damage he needs on Froome in the mountains would be fanciful.

Aru has announced that he expects to be in the race, but surely the same reasons he was unable to win the tour will exacerbated in this Vuelta.

So where does that leave us? Quintana has raced two Grand Tours already, as has Pinot, and with Valverde fighting for his career with injury we are thin on the ground in terms of genuine competition for Froome.

It leaves us turning to an old campaigner in the hope that he can have one last great showdown with his old enemy, we are relying on Alberto Contador.

I can sense the eye roles as I write this, and I did watch Bertie struggle in the tour, but he was suffering from a handful of crashes and he looked  strong as he chased down the break in audacious attempt to try get back into the GC picture on stage 17. But despite the fact that he clearly wasn’t in his best form going uphill,  his time-trials at the Dauphine, where he beat Froome, and in stage 20 of the Tour de France were encouraging signs that the engine is still there when needed.

To be honest even the Contador tip is clutching at straws, and he has yet to confirm he will even be in the race. Sky had a lot of mechanicals in the tour….is that a glimmer of hope?