USAZorro

It's now officially a party for only the Jumbo/death-eater squad. I don't dislike any of their riders individually (except maybe Jonas a little bit), but this is disturbing for road cycling as a sport.

Eric F 

I kind of dig it. Mostly because I like Kuss a lot, but also because the game is different than what we usually see.

diphthong

there's always time for primoz to go pavement surfing. perhaps he and g(thom) can do a duet on an upcoming stage. too bad miggylo is persona non grata these days or he could complete the power trio.

GrainBrain

No way it's even close to over, seems like there could be more chaos and Spanish goodness if you get teams collaborating.

In the reference to big teams I agree, but I'm more worried about state sponsored teams in the future. What will become of the JV power group once Jumbo leaves the sponsorship? I know there's something nagging at all of us, if you have that much cash surely you can fund the most legal ways of advanced nutrition and health. I've seen people start negatively mentioning barometric sleeping chambers, is that really frowned upon?

Cycling is such an expensive sport and hobby. I'd love to see more cycling in my area, gravel is where it's at. There seems to be a wonderful grassroots scene taking shape here but geeze. You're talking about at least a $1500 investment for a bike, then another $500 for clothes and gear. Ugh contrast this with - what? $120 for a modest pair of running shoes, or $30 for a pigskin/basketball/fütbol/etc.? Plus the maintenance! Ugh!!

USAZorro

On a par with hockey/skiing/golf with regard to equipment costs. Not all that much more than American football once all the protective equipment is considered. Unfortunately, the sport is obscure enough here in the states that even if Sepp wins, it'll get maybe 2% of the recognition that Armstrong had 18 years ago. A stranglehold on Le Tour only resulted in a very modest uptick, so not expecting a generation of kids looking to emulate Sepp.

The cycling sponsorship model truly sucks and is notoriously fickle. Perhaps someone will come up with the answer before we exit the stage.

MinnMan

Well, some years back we were all bemoaning the dominance of Sky/Ineos, so there's that. also, both the riders and the riding style of J-V are much more appealing.

PLUS, it looks like an American could win a GT - that's a big deal.

Go Sepp!

USAZorro

That's fair perspective, however - the drama of the event is not in the GC, and it appears that for the foreseeable, there's only a very short list of potential disruptors.

Chicago Al 

Agreed. I'm guess I'm a glass-half-full guy, but I think an interest in bike racing could be coming back to the US, largely because of the crossover between cyclocross, gravel, mountain, and road racing. A charismatic champion like Kuss getting recognition would go a long way, too.

Jumbo seems to me like a completely different sort of team than Sky. Jumbo's approach is exciting to watch, and looks like fun for the riders, too. There was an oddly poignant moment on G Thomas's podcast recently, where his cohost/buddy Luke Rowe was talking about being in the Tour de L'Occitanie, and a situation where he and Ganna were given the chance to get into a breakaway, even go for the win, which never happens. He said 'Remember when it was, like...fun?' To which G said 'Yeah, with our team, there's always a plan.' Obviously Jumbo have plans too, but theirs isn't to just ride the tempo and look at their power meters, it's to shake things up and make it happen. I also have a theory that what's going on now at the Vuelta was a secret plan: take both Vingegard and Roglic for GC, but if things went right, go for Kuss as GC, so they'd not only have a historic three GT wins in the same year, but with three different riders.

MinnMan

Also, let's not forget the immense success of Pogacar/UAE and MVDP/Alpecin in the spring races. GT aren't everything.

Jughed

I skipped out on racing during the team Sky Era... can't comment on that program.

Last time I've seen something like this - a team that not only had a GC winner, but other members that could be GC guys, that went on to be GC guys on other teams...

USPS - Who also claimed they had better training, nutrition and technology.