2018

Espainiako Itzulia: Stage 6 Recap, Stage 7 Preview

August 30, 2018



Kaixo, lagunak!
Welcome, friends!

So, let me paint you a picture: we've got a stage with Omar Fraile and M.A. Lopez in the top 10 and a time gap of almost two minutes between the main GC contenders. Are you picturing it? Must be a really bumpy stage, right? Wrong! It's stage six of the Vuelta á Espagna, a grand tour which might lack the history of the Tour de France nor the tifosi of the Giro d'Italia, but there's one thing the Queen of the Indian summer has over the others: the Basques. That's why Badger Baroudeur presents to you a daily stage preview with a special focus on the Cycling Carrots, regardless of which team they ride for. Let's get to it!


Espainiako Itzulia: Stage 4 recap / Stage 5 preview

August 28, 2018



Kaixo, lagunak!
Welcome, friends!

It's stage four of the Vuelta á Espagna, a grand tour which might lack the history of the Tour de France nor the tifosi of the Giro d'Italia, but there's one thing the Queen of the Indian summer has over the others: the Basques. That's why Badger Baroudeur presents to you a daily stage preview with a special focus on the Cycling Carrots, regardless of which team they ride for. Let's get to it!


Espainiako Itzulia Stage 3 recap & stage 4 preview

August 28, 2018

Kaixo, lagunak!
Welcome, friends!

It's stage three of the Vuelta á Espagna, a grand tour which might lack the history of the Tour de France nor the tifosi of the Giro d'Italia, but there's one thing the Queen of the Indian summer has over the others: the Basques. That's why Badger Baroudeur presents to you a daily stage preview with a special focus on the Cycling Carrots, regardless of which team they ride for. Let's get to it!


2018

Espainiako Itzulia: stage 3

August 26, 2018



Kaixo, lagunak!
Welcome, friends!

It's stage three of the Vuelta á Espagna, a grand tour which might lack the history of the Tour de France nor the tifosi of the Giro d'Italia, but there's one thing the Queen of the Indian summer has over the others: the Basques. That's why Badger Baroudeur presents to you a daily stage preview with a special focus on the Cycling Carrots, regardless of which team they ride for. Let's get to it!


2018

Espainiako Itzulia: Stage 2

August 25, 2018



Kaixo, lagunak!
Welcome, friends!

It's stage two of the Vuelta á Espagna, a grand tour which might lack the history of the Tour de France nor the tifosi of the Giro d'Italia, but there's one thing the Queen of the Indian summer has over the others: the Basques. That's why Badger Baroudeur presents to you a daily stage preview with a special focus on the Cycling Carrots, regardless of which team they ride for. Let's get to it!


2018

Espainiako Itzulia: Stage 1, ITT

August 24, 2018

Kaixo, lagunak!
Welcome, friends!

It's time for the third triplet of grand tours, the final three week outing on the highest level of cycling: the Vuelta a Espagna. It might not have the history of the Tour de France nor the tifosi of the Giro d'Italia, but there's one thing the Queen of the Indian summer has over the others: the Basques. That's why Badger Baroudeur presents to you a daily stage preview with a special focus on the Cycling Carrots, regardless of which team they ride for. Let's get to it!

2018

Mathieu van der Poel's World Tour Home

August 12, 2018

© NOS

Did everyone enjoy the Europeans this week? Matteo Trentin, himself a former cyclocross rider, outsprinted the two biggest talents in cyclocross on a wet and slippery Glasgow course. In his wake, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel. Van Aert coloured part of the early season classics this year, obtaining wildcards and results with his pro-continental level team. His transformation to a road cyclist seems iminent, and the Belgian has a signed World Tour contract with Lotto-Jumbo. He was pipped on the line though by his arch-nemesis, Van der Poel. Initially letting road cycling be, the rider went on to collect the Dutch national jersey in cyclocross, mountainbike and road racing this year. Fuelled by his success on the road, Corendon-Circus is rumoured to apply for pro-continental status in order to stake a claim at wildcards in 2019. But why gamble on wild cards? If Mathieu van der Poel wants to ride the classics, what World Tour team would be a natural fit? A tongue-in-cheek top 10!

10. Movistar 

Pro: Mathieu van der Poel is pretty happy with his current bike, and Canyon seems stoked to have him as figurehead in the field and on the mountainbike. The only worldtour team currently sponsored by Canyon is Movistar, but this doesn't seem like a match made in heaven.
Con: the Spanish telephone company has no interest at all in the Dutch market, nor is the team itself particularly concerned with the classics. 

Likelyhood: 0/10

09. Team Sky 

Pro: Team Sky can built a climbing robot out of anyone, so why not out of this young talent? Reportedly the team has shown interest in Wout van Aert, so it appears they're willing to work their magic on a cyclocrosser. Remember what they've done with Egan Bernal, Michael Kwiatkowski or Edvald Boasson-Hagen. 
Con: Pinarello doesn't have much of a history in cyclocross or mountainbike. Also, remember what they've done to Edvald Boasson-Hagen?

Likelyhood: 0/10

08. Dimension Data 

Pro: Speaking of Edvald Boasson Hagen, what about Dimension Data? The South-African outfit is currently buying classics riders by the dozens, and the free-wheeling stagehunting style of the team might well suit the attack-prone Van der Poel. I'd imagine Van der Poel would also quite fancy the idea of riding for a higher purpose with the Qhubeka charity, and the teams homebase is ideal for participation in mountainbiking's most epic multiday race, the Cape Epic.
Con: We don't really know what bike the team will be riding in 2019, but the most persistent rumour is BMC. Although BMC produces decent mountainbikes, they haven't got a history in cyclocross.

Likelyhood: 1/10

07. (Lotto-)Jumbo 

Pro: Lotto-Jumbo is Mathieu's home-team, being the only Dutch World Tour formation. It seems obvious they would be interested in the current Dutch champion, and they've got the perfect combination of ambition in the classics with a lack of riders to achieve that ambition. They currently ride Bianchi Bikes, which are active -albeit on the fringes- of all disciplines of cycling.
Con: I don't think Mathieu is the type of rider that needs to be with a Dutch-speaking squad, and would quite easily find his way abroad. Lotto-Jumbo has just signed Van der Poel's arch-rival Wout van Aert, and I just don't see the two riders in the same team.

Likelyhood: 2/10

Could Sagan or Lampaert loom over Van der Poel's future?
(©  Telegraaf)

06. Quickstep or Bora Hansgrohe 

Pro: One of the most important factors in MvP's future has to be the bike, and in bikes there's just no getting around Specialized. They build about the best bikes on any terrain and any discipline, and it's not one of the most used bikes in the World Tour without reason. This season brings us to Quickstep and Bora, both teams with a healthy interest in the classics that will suit Mathieu's riding. Will he follow in Zdenek Stybar's footsteps?
Con: How would you like being the 17th best classics rider in your team? No? Okay then. At Quickstep, Mathieu would be way down the pecking order behind legends of the classic's season, which wouldn't suit the Dutch rider that much. At Bora, there will be fewer above him but Sagan's grip on the captaincy won't be any less. 

Likelyhood: 3/10

05. CCC or Sunweb 

Pro: This entry should really read "Giant". Giant have shown themselves a bike sponsor with a healthy interest in cyclocross, sponsoring Lars van der Haar, Van der Poel's main competitor at Dutch nationals, for years. On the road, the brand will be associated with either Sunweb or the new-ish CCC team. Both carry the advantage that they have experienced classic's riders to mentor the young Dutchman, but not enough to stifle his personal opportunities.
Con: None really, except for a bit of meh?

Likelyhood: 3/10


04. Mitchelton-Scott

Pro: With the dissapearance of Ewan and his whole train, the retirement of Mathew Hayman, and Luke Durbridge not being able to replicate his 2016 success, the squad seems a little light in the classic's department. A rider like Van der Poel would be a great addition for the team. Van der Poel seemed to get along quite well with the team's leader in the classics, Trentin, the Italian who outsprinted him to gold in Glasgow this weekend. Co-sponsor Scott is a big name in mountain biking, and when MvP took the Dutch national jersey last month, he took the tricot off the shoulders of a current Scott-Sram rider, Michiel van der Heijden.
Con: Although their jerseys match almost completely, there's very little organisational overlap between Mitchelton-Scott and Scott-Sram. Nino Schurter rode a couple of races for the Greenedge project in 2014 (Thanks @Jonowee!), but this is actually a disadvantage: with the king of XCO-mountainbike on the payroll, why would Scott want to sign some upstart challenger? For the road team, it's even more dire: with both the sprint core and several mountain domestiques leaving the team, management will have other priorities than the already secondary classic's squad.

Likelyhood: 3/10

Scott-Sram MTB team, including World Champion Schurter and former Dutch champion Van der Heijden
( © Tread Magazine)

03.  FDJ

Pro: Van der Poel is fluent in French, partly thanks to his French mother and grandfather, the famour Poulidor. Could Mathieu become a second Pou-Pou? Bike manufacturer LaPierre won't pose a problem, as they've been sighted in cyclocross before!
Con: Although Van der Poel has always been quick to dismiss Belgian or Dutch attempts to claim him as their own to bolster their chauvinism, the French outfit might be a bit too far out of left field even for this headstrong rider.

Likelyhood: 5/10

02. Trek Segafredo 

Pro:  Like CCC and Sunweb, Trek Segafredo is a team with experienced riders Mathieu can learn from, but without big names that will stifle his growth. Trek Bikes is one of the most all-round bike brands in the peloton, with a big finger in the pies of cyclocross and mountainbike. Trek is fond of the Dutch market, as signified by it's connection to Bauke Mollema.
Con: After an expectedly disappointing 2018, the team is determined to get a GC team for the 2019 season, and this shows in the young riders they´ve already signed.

Likelyhood: 5/10

01. Lotto-Soudal

Pro: A match made in heaven! With Greipel and the hard men of his era being replaced by Ewan and his train, the team could use some strong riders for the spring classics, and Mathieu van der Poel could be just the one. The team's bike sponsor, Ridley, is one of the biggest sponsors in cyclocross, so will be quite happy to sign one of the sport's biggest names. Besides, wouldn't it be the greatest of clapback if, after Wout van Aert signing for a Dutch team, the best Dutch cyclocrosser would sign for a Belgian squad?
Con: Well, just the one....

Likelyhood: 6/10 

Let's face it, Mathieu van der Poel has just signed an extra contract with Corendon-Circus, and he really enjoys doing his own thing in all three disciplines. His current squad gives him freedom in a way a World Tour team would never be able to. Despite his comparative success on the road versus the mountain bike, we won't see Mathieu focus fully on the road at least until after the 2020 Olympics. But if he did..... Wouldn't that be exciting?

© Cyclocross.com

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