Originally Posted by philbob57

Who should win the Vuelta is a difficult moral question IMO. OOH, both Vingo and Roglic could be ahead of Sepp if they pushed their advantages. Also, it's really something for someone to win 2 GTs in one year, and that seems to be within JV's and PR's grasps. OTOH, would JV have won the Tour do France without Sepp's help? Would Roglic have won the Giro? I just don't know. We can't test out these what-ifs.

At the same time, it's sort of strange to see athletes reduce their performance below their max. A race sounds like it should go to the swiftest. Sometimes I think the riders should go as fast as they can every day, none of this 'team' stuff. OTOH, team results win prize money. Since the rules and the prizes incentivize team results, I'm OK with JV's apparent slowdown.

I can understand not wanting to lose. Could other winning bike racers swallowed their pride the way JV and PR have had to? OTOH, if they don't support Kuss, will any rider ever help them again unless the prospective helper can guarantee it's to their own benefit?

Interesting sport....