For 8 more months until $$$ signs him away.
2 Likes
French team, French kid, Decathlon has some cash. Maybe he stays. I do not think theyâll keep him on the shelf for le Tour. Not saying its the thing to do, but heâs smashing a pretty tough field right now. Seems to be the real deal and then some.
3 Likes
Decathlon is doing things right. The Wierflits article from a few months ago fails to mention it is common to pause negotiation in season (publicly) and especially while a rider is rapidly growing. He has a pretty huge offer from them with contingencies to match depending on this seasonâs outcomes.
Iâm thinking he will stay and build this project.
2 Likes
letâs be honest french people and companies will find a âwayâ aka money for the kid to stay plus he doesnât strike me like a kid that would want to live behind pogi, jonas, etc etc shadows for a few yearsâŚ
now looking at the way he took those corners yesterday I would be incline to take the money NOW instead of waiting until the last minute hahaha
2 Likes
Itâs a legit concern that a big money team will scoop him up, but also worth noting that Decathlon is not the team it once was in that regard - theyâve almost doubled the size of their budget since 2023 (the last year they were AG2R). The old team would have almost definitely lost him, but theyâve got a lot more money now.
Speaking young talents, Iâm noting Del Toro is doing the Ardennes Triple, so perhaps that explains his seeming lack of form right now down in the Basque country.
1 Like
I hope he does stayâbeing the biggest French rider on a French team would be a good home. I also wonder about when they send him to a GT. He has to gain the experience of one at some point, just a matter of minimizing the pressure on him to perform.
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Heard in some podcast that Decathlon is investing in becoming a super team and that will allow them to retain Seixas and build the team and project around him, which I think is the way to go, Seixas gets guaranteed sole leadership.
Decathlon are doing a lot of great things, not long ago they had the same budget as the likes of Movistar but overperforming by getting more than double their wins per season.
I am conflicted about Seixas going to the Tour this year, maybe it is a bad idea. Pogi was 21 when he first raced it, but on the other hand it could be argued that he has matured faster than Pogi, which is insane..so I donât know. Perhaps the right compromise is to get him to do the first week and a half or something like that.
1 Like
I was looking at the TDF route to see what the first 15 stages covered. I missed during the tour route announcement that two stages are finishing on Alpe dâhuez. So maybe Paul needs to finish the tour.
Ineos has gone from the most boring team for a decade to one of the most exciting this year. Excluding national championships, theyâve already surpassed their win count from last year.
@claydavis It appears UAE is currently experiencing what Jumbo did with injuries for a few years. I hate to see Del Toro go down now too. Ayuso apparently is carrying some injuries from a crash in training with a doggo. He dropped 10+ minutes at least. I suspect he is either losing a shitload so he can go on a breakaway for a stage win or he DNS tomorrow.
Putting GT in the car lit a fire under Ineos.
Iâm going long with my P-R pick:
MvdP, Wout, Ganna
Pogacar, Mads
2 Likes
Fwah mate
GT likes that Roubaix pick. Erviti in the car has been great
He is definitely at a much higher level than Pogi was as a 19 year old (the 2018 season). Pogi won Avenir that year, but didnât win, or even compete in any world tour races.
Look at @Engner66 with the perfect score for De Ronde
Heading into Paris-Roubaix. Iâm going with Wout to win the dive for the line.
| Rider | OHN | KBK | Strade | MSR | E3 | Gent | Dwars | RvV | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ClayDavis | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 33 |
| LuisDF | 5 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 32 |
| freddynorton | 4 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 32 |
| ttusomeone | 4 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 31 |
| Spackler | 4 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 28 |
| likesbikes | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 28 |
| echappy | 5 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 27 |
| WannaB | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 27 |
| Lagoon | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 26 |
| eb | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 26 |
| trener1 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Engner66 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 18 | |||||
| jmsenger | 6 | 9 | 15 | ||||||
| McNulty | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| buzz | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
4 Likes
PRX so hard to guess - the top 5 are flying but those cobbles bring a luck element to the race that makes it hard to predict.
btw: Del Toro with what it sounds like a big injury; I wonder if he will be ready for the tour.
PR
Wout, MvdP, Pogi
Ganna, F Vermeersch
PR Femmes
Vos (sheâs racing after the passing of her father, so this is my feel good pick) Kopecky, Zoe B
Balsamo, PFP
1 Like
So hard to not have top 3-4, but Wout for the win. And Lampertiâs great ride last week in the break puts him on.
Wout, MvdP, Pog
Ganna, Lamperti
2 Likes
But with 5 DNS, I will remain way down in the standings 
PR:
Pogi, MvdP, Ganna
Mads, Wout
1 Like
PR
WOUT / jasper / mads
ganna / pog (embracing the ruling that these are bonus pick not longshot)
McNutty looked like he was going to be hard to wrangle before his bike broke.
Nice teamwork from Cofidis today and Toby Jo put on a masterclass in how to stay in it and almost steal it.
1 Like
For PR, I have a hard time betting against Pog. Pog / MvDP / Wout for the podium. Ganna / Mads as the bonus/longshots.