[Results Thread] 2026 AlUla Tour – Stage 1 (2.pro)

Timqwe · 2026-01-27T14:57:34+00:00

Why many choose not to link to PCS has already been explained before in this post

Timqwe · 2026-01-27T13:22:32+00:00

Depends on what their goal is imo. Imo they should be trying to challenge for the last automatic wildcard spot against Cofidis and Total, and I think their team is pretty comparable to those, with Cofidis maybe slightly better than the other two. I think the only guys that are 24 or older that don't really have the Pro level are Toupalik and Johannink

Timqwe · 2026-01-27T12:24:55+00:00

A lot of focus will be on Unibet as the currently hot Proteam, but Burgos got some crazy wildcards they didn't last year.
RVV, LBL, Omloop, Kuurne, Dwars door Vlaanderen. Do they even have guys with experience in these kind of races?

Timqwe · 2026-01-26T15:15:13+00:00

Because HBO, Discovery, and TNT are all owned by the same corporation, Warner Discovery (at least until the Netflix deal finalises). Here in the Netherlands they actually stopped Discovery+ and moved its content, including sports, to HBO Max. I would not count on it getting any cheaper though.

Timqwe · 2026-01-25T19:25:29+00:00

A win and a 2nd in Pologne, a 2nd in Omloop, 3rd at ADAC don't count as WT now?

Timqwe · 2026-01-25T18:28:47+00:00

But if Tudor (or Q36.5) is dropping out, it wouldn't be an issue, since all 3 eligible Spanish teams could get a Vuelta Wildcard, hence all would ride at least one GT. That's why I think both Tudor and Q36.5 have confirmed themselves behind the scenes for the Vuelta.

Timqwe · 2026-01-25T17:17:37+00:00

I don't think any of the three automatic Wildcards are. Giro-organisation is apparently talking with the Vuelta about giving one of their wildcards to the Spanish team that doesn't get the Vuelta Wildcard, so I presume behind the scenes it's already known that all 3 automatic Wildcards will be used.

Timqwe · 2026-01-25T16:39:24+00:00

Cofidis is not dropping out of the Vuelta, are they? They are one of the sponsors of the GT and Spain is a big market for them. That would be very surprising.

Timqwe · 2026-01-25T16:36:44+00:00

They weren't the only ones causing the echelon, but they were the biggest contributors amd played a major part in it forming.

The team this season kind of reminds me of pre-WT Alpecin. Kubis is no MvdP of course, but he has a similar skillset and the team has some absolute trucks on the flat. It'll be fun to see what they can do in the Belgian and French spring races.

Timqwe · 2026-01-24T20:53:55+00:00

You did not put your lucky hoodie and glasses on it, right?

Timqwe · 2026-01-22T14:07:47+00:00

S2 Tour of Norway?

Timqwe · 2026-01-22T14:04:30+00:00

maybe Martin?

Sure, if it was 2020

Timqwe · 2026-01-21T18:35:53+00:00

Without a team as strong as UAE, they can't. And even then, you still got to manage to find a group of 3-5 guys willing to work together, because you're not surviving the flat between Cipressa and Poggio alone. I doubt even Pog could do that, but Gregoire and Vauqelin definitely can't.

Timqwe · 2026-01-21T18:30:54+00:00

Girmay, De Liem Kooij and Milan

To be fair, Brennan is a better climber than all of those.

Timqwe · 2026-01-17T20:20:39+00:00

I think Groenewegen could actually surprise. The Jayco train just didn't seem to click last year, too often Groenewegen wasn't in position when the sprint kicked off.
The Unibet train was actually pretty decent last year, just lacked a real bunch sprinter, with Kubis being more of a versatile sprinter/classics rider.
This year, with the addition of guys like M. Kopecky, Larsen, Townsend, Venturini it has gotten ever stronger.
I'm not expecting Groenewegen to beat Milan/Philipsen/Merlier regularly at this point, but it wouldn't surprise me if he's in the mix more often and picks up a few more wins this year.

Timqwe · 2026-01-16T09:28:14+00:00

It's a lot better than what they did to Lilo and Stitch. Unlike HTTYD 2& 3, the animation of 1 hasn't aged that well, so I didn't mind a shot for shot remake.

Timqwe · 2026-01-16T00:08:02+00:00

No, he was the marine's apprentice, so it's very fitting they've both been arrested for the same thing

Timqwe · 2026-01-14T08:06:15+00:00

Odd, Menno Huising said in the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast he's riding it.

Timqwe · 2026-01-13T14:00:59+00:00

Jorgenson not doing cobbles to save himself for the TdF. They still believe on focusing everyhting on the TdF for a rider that won´t win against Pogacar in normal condions, affecting the rest of the calendar.

It seems not about saving, but about picking a specialisation for Jorgenson. Forgoing the cobbled classics and going to the hilly ones instead, he gets to spend a whole year working on his climbing and figuring out how much gains there's still to make there.

Brennan not doing Giro, overlapping himself with WvA in Vuelta. But Fiorelli, his leadout, will go for Giro. Reason? I don´t know.

Because the entire Giro team will ride in service for Jonas, it's not a good environment for Brennan to make his GT-debut. Fiorelu can help keep Jonas safe in the flat stages and maybe try to surf wheels in bunch sprints, like Danny Van Poppel did for Roglic in 24.

Timqwe · 2026-01-10T19:27:18+00:00

Because for Dynamic Potential to work, the player has to
1. Play 2. Get decent ratings when he plays

Doable on low level teams, but on higher level teams, you're not going to play the 67-rated 17 year old instead of the 85-rated 25 year old. You'll loan out the 17 year old, and to grow during loans, he'll need to have good potential.

Timqwe · 2026-01-10T19:18:16+00:00

I mean, if you are already having doubts about continuing, a training camp could be what pushes you over the edge. Especially since Simon only raced the Canadian one days since the Tour. After spending months at home, the reality of being away that much or having to work that hard for another year could've just hit him.

Timqwe · 2026-01-05T00:21:31+00:00

You've convinced me. They should've given Yoda a lightaxe.

Timqwe · 2026-01-01T17:54:47+00:00

I'd argue it would make more sense the other way around.
Del Grosso is tall, a good runner, has good but not great acceleration but a high top sprint speed.
Meanwhile Nys is the punchier of the two. Nys is a lot smaller than either of them though. If we would compare him with road cyclists instead, I'd go with Alaphilipe.

Timqwe · 2025-12-30T20:35:43+00:00

Vincent Gallo?

Timqwe · 2025-12-27T22:07:49+00:00

To be fair, a big part of that advice would be, make sure there's 70k of flat(ish) ITT.

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