Froome and Thomas left off Ineos TdF team

[Bruce K]

News this morning from multiple sources.

Froome kind of makes sense, Thomas not so much.

BK

[fignon's barber]

I saw that. Surprised about Thomas, not so much about Froome. They should have let Froome go to Israel Start Up the day he signed with them.

[jlwdm]

Not as strong a team for Ineos. I have always liked Kwiatkowski but he is not the rider he used to be either.

Jeff

[paredown]

Not enough "marginal gains" this season...

[Mike V]

Well everyone says they have too many captains. This years they don't.

[Clancy]

Not as strong a team for Ineos. I have always liked Kwiatkowski but he is not the rider he used to be either.

Jeff

Politely disagree. They have such a strong bench that their B team can beat most every other team’s A line-up.

Lose a TDF winner? No problem, replace with the winner of the Giro.

I wouldn’t not bet against them with this new line-up. Actually I believe it narrows their focus and potentially makes them stronger.

[AngryScientist]

So i guess this means that the big rolling spectacle of the tour is a GO across France then?

Should be interesting!

[redir]

That is surprising about Thomas. I wonder what their thinking is on that one.

[Jaybee]

Politely disagree. They have such a strong bench that their B team can beat most every other team’s A line-up.

Lose a TDF winner? No problem, replace with the winner of the Giro.

I wouldn’t not bet against them with this new line-up. Actually I believe it narrows their focus and potentially makes them stronger.

Most teams, sure. But I think a Jumbo Visma rider has to be the favorite now, depending on how Roglic and Bernal are recovering from their Dauphiné crashes. Everyone has to narrow their focus with reduced team sizes - you can bring a leadout train, but then you can't have climbing domestiques. If you've got GC ambitions, leave your sprinter at home, etc.

[saab2000]

That is surprising about Thomas. I wonder what their thinking is on that one.

I think they didn’t want an intra-team rivalry. It worked OK with Froome and a Thomas. Might not work as well given the new kid on the block. Bernal is the future of the team and their ambitions. Froome and Geraint Thomas not so much.

I’m not sure Froome ever comes back to his old level and Geraint Thomas is no kid anymore either, at least in terms of winning grand tours.

[redir]

I think they didn’t want an intra-team rivalry. It worked OK with Froome and a Thomas. Might not work as well given the new kid on the block. Bernal is the future of the team and their ambitions. Froome and Geraint Thomas not so much.

I’m not sure Froome ever comes back to his old level and Geraint Thomas is no kid anymore either, at least in terms of winning grand tours.

That's a good point. They did seem pretty cordial last year though.

[Keith A]

Here's a link to an article about this on VeloNews...
https://www.velonews.com/events/tour-de-france/froome-thomas-out-of-ineos-tour-de-france-team-carapaz-drafted-in

[jlwdm]

Politely disagree. They have such a strong bench that their B team can beat most every other team’s A line-up.

Lose a TDF winner? No problem, replace with the winner of the Giro.

I wouldn’t not bet against them with this new line-up. Actually I believe it narrows their focus and potentially makes them stronger.

Don't compare Giro winners to TDF winners.

Jeff

[Hindmost]

Kind of a no-brainer based on the Dauphine. With only two weeks to go it's decision time.

[mhespenheide]

I keep wondering: what’s up with Rohan Dennis? He proved last year that he can train on his own, and was ostensibly hired to fulfill the role Tony Martin has on Jumbo-Visma. But we haven’t seen him at any races this year (have we)?

[nooneline]

Wow, it's still a strong team for sure - definitely an embarrassment of riches that they can leave off two TDF winners from their TDF squad, but yeah, Ineos looks toward the future not to the past.

Speaking of the future, Sivakov is going VERY well and I wouldn't be surprised to see him as Bernal's last-man-standing in the mountains during the Tour. The last day of the Dauphine, Sivakov was the strongest rider out there - in the break with Alaphillipe, and then chased back after crashing, and hanging with the Kuss/Pogacar/et al bridge from the group - repeatedly dropped and clawed his way back, only finally distanced by Kuss's incredible attack.

Van Baarle, Castroviejo, and Kwiatkowski are absurdly talented midmountain domestiques. Haven't really seen Kwiatko at top form yet this year but in years past he's only struggled when trying to peak for both the classics and then rest, bulid, and peak again for the Tour - that's not an issue this year. Haven't seen what Amador can do this year, and Carapaz's performances have been strong but a little uneven. All in all, it's a very strong and promising team just one that has a little bit less control over all of the variables compared to Ineos in years past. and with the spectacle of Jumbo-Visma lurking... well - I think it oughta be a good race.

[Hindmost]

I keep wondering: what’s up with Rohan Dennis? He proved last year that he can train on his own, and was ostensibly hired to fulfill the role Tony Martin has on Jumbo-Visma. But we haven’t seen him at any races this year (have we)?

You're right ihe does seem to be a little MIA. None of the races so far in this season restart would have particularly suited him. Are there any major time trials in the grand tours? Is he a Tony Martin kind of teammate?

[phishrabbi]

I’m not sure Froome ever comes back to his old level.

This.

Given age + injury I think it's a given. It's impressive that he's made it this far back.

[prototoast]

Given how they performed at the Dauphiné, I think this decision makes a lot of sense. They're clearly not in top form, and given how this year has gone, it's understandable if they haven't been able to time their training right. While I'm sure they're probably frustrated and wanted to give it a shot, I think giving each of them a little more time and a grand tour they can potentially contend in and win is actually the kindest thing to do for them.

[mhespenheide]

You're right ihe does seem to be a little MIA. None of the races so far in this season restart would have particularly suited him. Are there any major time trials in the grand tours? Is he a Tony Martin kind of teammate?


(RE: Rohan Dennis)

The Giro has three time trials, so if you’re looking for stage wins, it makes sense to send him there. But it also made sense for Ineos to hire him to drill it at the front of the peloton for long stretches of time policing the group or to chase down breakaways, and we haven’t seen any of that yet this year. Seems like he could have been doing that in any of the stage races we’ve already had.

[prototoast]

(RE: Rohan Dennis)

The Giro has three time trials, so if you’re looking for stage wins, it makes sense to send him there. But it also made sense for Ineos to hire him to drill it at the front of the peloton for long stretches of time policing the group or to chase down breakaways, and we haven’t seen any of that yet this year. Seems like he could have been doing that in any of the stage races we’ve already had.

I have no insider info, but I would speculate that the world champs TT was his top priority, and that's just 5 days after the end of the TdF, so probably hard to do both well. Even if he might have been useful on the front, given Ineos clearly has no shortage of strong riders for the TdF, sending Dennis to worlds + Giro seems to be a better allocation of their resources.

[tctyres]

Looking at the whole team: Luke Rowe and Dylan van Baarle are solid. Amador did extremely well for Movistar last season in the TdF, and he was one of the Movistar domestiques keeping pace with Bernal on Stage 19 (the mudslide stage ... Soler was the other one).
Catstroviejo looks good so far this season. Sivakov is a machine.
Kwiatkowski is off form, but he was at least leading near the end on a couple of stages in CdD. He's off, but not too far off.

Wout Poels was a huge loss for them at the end of 2020.

I think Brailsford has done a good thing to move around the roster a bit. After Froome's accident, the team went into a weird depression.


Ineos’ team for the upcoming Tour de France will feature Egan Bernal, Richard Carapaz, Pavel Sivakov, Andrey Amador, Jonathan Castroviejo, Michal Kwiatkowski, Luke Rowe and Dylan van Baarle.
https://cyclingtips.com/2020/08/froome-and-thomas-left-off-ineos-tour-de-france-team/

[Jaybee]

(RE: Rohan Dennis)

The Giro has three time trials, so if you’re looking for stage wins, it makes sense to send him there. But it also made sense for Ineos to hire him to drill it at the front of the peloton for long stretches of time policing the group or to chase down breakaways, and we haven’t seen any of that yet this year. Seems like he could have been doing that in any of the stage races we’ve already had.

I have no insider info, but I would speculate that the world champs TT was his top priority, and that's just 5 days after the end of the TdF, so probably hard to do both well. Even if he might have been useful on the front, given Ineos clearly has no shortage of strong riders for the TdF, sending Dennis to worlds + Giro seems to be a better allocation of their resources.


Unless i'm looking at the stage list wrong, the only ITT in the Tour this year is an uphill, i.e. something a whippet/GC guy is going to win, not for the flatland aero diesels like Dennis. Another reason not to use him there.