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2022 Tour de Francis


Knoxtnhorn

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I've never been a fan of their standard kit, but I really like the Jumbo jerseys for the final leg.  I may have to snag one of those tees.

This may be the first time I watched every second of a closing ceremony for a grand tour. 

The absurdity of what Jumbo accomplished this season is staggering, with what transpired at the Vuelta just being the exclamation point.  There have certainly been tours with some intra-team battles, LeMond v Hinault perhaps being the most famous, but I can't imagine that we will every see anything like this again.  Jumbo really saved their reputation, and that of their riders, by finally embracing the concept of working for Sepp.  

I will be very curious to see what team changes occur, if any.  Contract status would suggest that we won't see any major shakeups with Jumbo, but you never know.  I believe that Sepp is genuinely content being a super domestique on the best team in cycling, and has no aspirations of going elsewhere to be a team leader.  I'm not so sure that Primož is happy sharing the spotlight with Jonas, but the media tend to blow things out of proportion, so all could truly be well.  We'll see what happens.

I'm also interested to see what happens with Remco.  I never did see anything definitive about what happened to him on Stage 13.  It sounds like it was a nutrition/recovery problem, or for the cynics, he got some bad dope.  I don't see how he can avoid riding in Le Tour any longer.  Will Soudal build a GC team around him so he has a real shot?    

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Personally,  I think we see status quo next year for Jumbo. I don't know that Roglic was over the moon at the time, but I think the drama was way overplayed. I think management honestly had a bigger hand in it than the riders anyway. Jonas blatantly wanted Sepp to win, and Roglic and Kuss are very good friends. After Saturdays stage both JV and Roglic were legitimately all smiles, they were happy for Sepp. So I think maybe in 2025 Roglic may look elsewhere if next year doesn't pan out like he wants, I don't see a change right now.

 

Remco is an interesting one. I honestly like him more after this. I thought his attitude was good, and he was very entertaining to watch.

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10 minutes ago, G650 said:

Personally,  I think we see status quo next year for Jumbo. I don't know that Roglic was over the moon at the time, but I think the drama was way overplayed. I think management honestly had a bigger hand in it than the riders anyway. Jonas blatantly wanted Sepp to win, and Roglic and Kuss are very good friends. After Saturdays stage both JV and Roglic were legitimately all smiles, they were happy for Sepp. So I think maybe in 2025 Roglic may look elsewhere if next year doesn't pan out like he wants, I don't see a change right now.

 

Remco is an interesting one. I honestly like him more after this. I thought his attitude was good, and he was very entertaining to watch.

I agree with all of this.  The other factor for Primož is age.  At 33, he is still in his prime, but the other real GC contenders are younger, with more on the way.  If his goal is to collect GC wins, he may have to move when his contract ends to maximize his chances while the window is still open.  

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32 minutes ago, G650 said:

It makes absolutely no sense for Jumbo from any angle I can see

A head scratcher for sure if it is anything more than speculation. It’s not like they will have problems finding another primary sponsor after the Jumbo deal expires. 

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16 minutes ago, G650 said:

I mean that's been the gossip for awhile so yeah.

Still seems bizarre to me Jumbo would even consider it.

There are too many riders under contract on both teams, they would have to dump 25 or so.  Ineos only has about 15 riders under contract at the moment, so they are primed for a merger and they need a superstar.

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3 hours ago, G650 said:

Yeah, that was coming. Despite the circus sideshow atmosphere surrounding mergers and sponsorship changes, it will be cool to see Roglic get to go against Ving, Pogi, Remco, and Ayuso. Also curious to see if Kuss will stick with the new iteration of TJV (Visma-Soudal, Amazon-Visma?), or if he will join Roglic if the opportunity presents itself. 

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On 9/30/2023 at 7:04 AM, G650 said:

Not a surprise.  If you had asked to bet on the first rider to leave the team, he would have been my pick.  It will mean less dominance for Jumbo, but more fun for fans of cycling.  I'm really curious to see the makeup of the Jumbo teams for next year's GTs.      

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