Yates getting traded
 

from Ineos to .. AE, right? Ooof. Not sure how I feel about that!

Our Adam signed the contract, so he clearly feels OK about it.

Maybe he'll make a good super domestique for Ayuso. ;)

Traded? Not really a thing in professional cycling. Ineos wanted him to take a big salary reduction so he looked elsewhere

In the post-Froome era, Ineos has spent a TON of money on seeming great talent. And yeah, they've had some pretty good results with Bernal and Carapaz and Thomas, but considering their bankroll and their ambition, they have been falling short. I appreciate that they are trying to cultivate young talent, rather than only buying established stars, but clearly all this reshuffling reflects their frustrations about results.

Shorter - Yates was never going to be their ticket to glory. I totally understand why they gave him a lowball offer.

Ethan Hayter

lateral move. he can super dom, be the featured rider on a weekly stage race such as the tour de suisse and hang close enough in the first half on the gt’s that if the
main guy (tadej, ayuso, almeida, et al) goes down, yatesie can step in and likely manage a top 4-10 finish. between he and brandon, not a bad 2nd or 3rd or 4th option to have.

in a totally unrelated note, praying ayuso rides the giro. pretty please with azucar on top.

So, is it really great or really tough to be a Simon or Adam Yates - an incredible cyclist with other-worldly talent compared to 7 billion others, but overshadowed by the half-dozen or so others who are just complete genetic freaks?

maybe it's just me but it seems like in the last 4-5 years, gc and classics guys have a shorter, truly elite, competitive shelf life.
it was already so with the sprinters since the (glory) days of cav, super mario, petacchi, zabel, etc. possibly evidence of a
cleaner peloton. riders like both yates, roglic, gthomas, bernal and (to a certain extent) carapaz, seem like yday's news.
how long do the current, white jersey eligible candidates stay relevant? are they toast by the ripe old age of dirty thirty?
is ayuso put out to pasture as an old man by the social security/pension age of 25? sagan and gilbert had a decent run.
that valverde guy bettered even they. gesink, majka and a few other warhorses are still around but likely not for much longer.

ineos has pidcock, sheffield, ganna, sivakov, tgh, dvb and hayter along with picking up arensman. that's a fantastic young core.

Yes, it is. They can commiserate with Poulidor and Kaiser Jan and feel disappointed while looking back over their palmares few can rival.

Thomas is yesterday's news. I'm stunned Ineos carried him at the cost they did this year and wouldn't for Adam next year. Though G sure did have a good showing as plan C or D for La Vuelta to earn some of that paycheck. It must have been subsidized by some Cymru consortium.

Bernal would, I think, still be today's news if he hadn't taken that bus. Similar for Roglic if he could stay on his bike. I think Carapaz may be in the sweet spot for what you're talking about.

Sagan and Gilbert, plus Golden Greg who fell like a stone from contention and even moreso than them from commentator mention, are getting long in the tooth now though not quite Valverde-esque. I think Gesink and Majka are close to what the Yateses might be if they hang around.

It's a tough game all around. I was sort of impressed that Carapaz pivoted so ably at the Vuelta from being a GC contender to hunting stages. Thomas, for being yesterday's news, hung tough this year to be a GC podium contender.

not a shabby "plan b" for carapaz at all. don't know how that actually played out on the team bus and in meetings with tgh, rodriguez and sivakov still high up on the
gc during most of the vuelta and with him going to ef next season. didn't watch as much of the vuelta as i wanted (just 5 min daily stage highlights with the occasional
30-min blast) so didn't get a chance to see it play out on the road with team body language/reactions/team cars speeding up to carapaz asking him what he was up to and
didn't see anything in the press. wondering if carapaz had a certain amount of "eff it" (no new squad pun intended) rogue attitude and went for it, knowing he'd have freedom to fly being
so far down and that the team/sponsors would still be happy with a win or three.

anyway, ef gets the realistic gc contender for the grand tours that they've lacked for a few years and ineos gets younger and can develop hayter along with taking their chances
with sivakov, tgh, tpiddy and arensman in the gt's.

Bernal is the wildcard.

That must have been harsh for you to have such a meager ration of your most beloved GT.

I don't recall there being any sense of Carapaz gone rogue. I think there was a big sigh as he fell off the pace early (one less GC contender for Ineos) and, after that, as there other folks fell off, too, they were just happy to have some results.

helluva joker to have in hand. would love to see him do the giro/vuelta double (body and form willing) vs the pressure cooker that is le tour for his return.
no pressure tho. for the giro, select hayter or tgh or sivakov, et al as the protected rider and let bernal just set some mountain tempo and see how the legs/form go.

s'life. work/life priorities usually align for most viewing time for the giro on this end. tdf is hit or miss. vuelta is generally not at a good time for me but give it the old college try.

guess i was just trying to stir up drama/get other opinions as to whether there was umbrage or not since my coverage of the vuelta wasn't the best this go round.

thinking your lad yatesie might have slotted into fourth or fifth had his "viral load" been that of ayuso's (or less).

ineos took quite the squad to the vuelta. if carapaz hadn't refocused/recalibrated after the initial disappointment of un jour sans in the first week, woulda been slim pickings for them. agreed on your results analysis.

Maybe it is a thing.

https://www.velonews.com/news/road/i...rance-success/

Wow. Pick on my English, why don't you!!!!


You all know what I mean!!!

That's VERY interesting. At least the first few lines of it before the Outside Mag pay wall whacked me.

It's nice to see something in the headlines besides MVDP and knock knock gate.

Oy vey. Tough crowd.