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B&B Hotels Crumbles, Leaving Mark Cavendish with Few Options
The "total collapse" of B&B Hotels - KTM in the middle of December has left its existing or prospective riders with practically no runway to find alternative landing spots. Many WorldTeams have already finalised their budget for 2023 and seven WorldTeams have even reached the 30 rider limit, making it impossible for them to bring in more riders. Below, we take a look at which teams do have room to take advantage of last-minute bargains.
The Young Bull: Arnaud De Lie’s Monster Power
Arnaud De Lie had a stellar debut pro season, saving Lotto-Soudal from complete disaster with his UCI points ensuring they have all wildcard invitations for 2023. In his first year as a pro rider the young Walloon farmer won not one, not two, not three but nine one-day races. With his 2268 UCI points he was one of the best scorers in the whole peloton, mostly thanks to consistent top results in local Belgian races.
Can INEOS Win the Tour de France Again?
The Sky/INEOS project has had the largest team budget in cycling for years, however in 2022 the Grenadiers did not win a Grand Tour for the first time since 2014. In terms of the pinnacle of cycling, the Tour de France, they have not been close to victory for the last three years. Is that set to change in 2023? In this article we will analyse the team's countless GC riders and the prospects who they rely on to return the team to its glory days.
The Top 10 Climbing Performances of 2022
As the 2022 cycling season has come to a close, it is time to rank the top 10 climbing performances of the year. An admittedly hard task, considering the multitude of impressive performances from various riders throughout the year. The climbing speeds especially exploded when summer arrived after the Giro d'Italia, with eight of the ten entries in the list coming after the month of May.
Geraint Thomas was Stronger in the Tour de France 2022 compared to his 2018 Victory
In the Tour de France 2022, Geraint Thomas displayed strong climbing performances throughout the three weeks, finishing third in the general classification behind Pogačar and Vingegaard. Standing on the podium in Paris was nothing new for the Welshman, who won Le Tour in 2018 and came second in 2019. How does his 2022 Tour performance stack up against those better results on his palmares? In this article, we will compare Thomas' 2018 and 2022 Tour de France performances as well as his career best w/kg efforts.
Tour de France 2023 Route Analysis
The Tour de France 2023 route was revealed yesterday in Paris, featuring numerous sprints, plenty of tough medium mountain stages and a historical shortage of time trial kilometres. There are just enough long and steep mountains like Col de la Loze, Col du Tourmalet, Joux Plane and Grand Colombier, dotted around the three weeks but without any mountain stage rivalling the difficulty of the Col du Granon stage in 2022. The sole 22 kilometre time-trial contains 650 metres elevation gain, which makes this the ideal Tour de France parcours for General Classification contenders with a weak time trial such as Enric Mas, David Gaudu, Romain Bardet, Mikel Landa and Richard Carapaz. Unfortunately for them, being poor against the clock does not make you climb fast, with Pogačar, Roglič, Vingegaard and Evenepoel all being exceptional time trial riders but also the best climbers.
The Final Relegation Battle 2022 Analysis | Sink or Swim
The exciting 2022 season has officially ended, although we have known for a few weeks that Lotto Soudal and Israel - Premier Tech would be the two relegated teams. Therefore, in this final article we are going to focus on analysing the keys of the relegation battle, thanks to a series of graphs that will help us understand how each team has faced this challenge.
Lotto Soudal Gives Up and will be Relegated with Israel-Premier Tech | Relegation Battle
The WorldTour calendar has concluded and we can already safely say that Lotto Soudal and Israel-Premier Tech will be the two relegated teams if the UCI implements its regulations*. Unfortunately, the relegation battle did not make it to the Tour de Langkawi alive, after a disastrous management by Lotto Soudal in the last few weeks. Although they were unlucky, it seems that the Belgians gave up too soon, not fielding Caleb Ewan in the last month of competition and even announcing the dismissal of CEO John Lelangue when the team still had a chance of salvation.
Israel – Premier Tech is Virtually Relegated whilst the World Championships Save EF & BikeExchange | Relegation Battle
The last two weeks of classics and the World Championships have clarified the situation in the relegation battle. Movistar, BikeExchange and EF have practically secured their WorldTour status, so now Cofidis and Arkéa, tied on points, seem to be the only teams within Lotto's reach, although it will be a very difficult mission for the Belgians. On the other hand, Israel - Premier Tech has not found a miracle and will not be a WorldTour team in 2023 if the UCI does implement the relegation system.
Teams Lobby the UCI, Mas Liberates Movistar & Israel – Premier Tech Struggle Again | Relegation Battle
The Vuelta and the alternative calendar of the last three weeks have been decisive for the teams involved in the relegation battle. Movistar has finally seen the light in La Vuelta, while Lotto or Arkéa have made good use of the alternative calendar. On the other hand, Israel - Premier Tech's chances of salvation are minimal, with 15% of the 2022 points remaining to be distributed and a deficit of 1375 points to Cofidis.