I did consider Schmid, and I think he’s a great pick-up for the team.
He didn’t perform that well in one day races last year, though, he was much better in stage races, and that’s why I didn’t suggest he’d be the guy.
Schmid was a worker in these one day races - Anyway, he and Kung are a good double-pronged attack for the Olympics.
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Although Ewan was in good position he was underdone after recovering from illness - Would like him to use his train of O’brien and Stewart to go head to head with Bora, instead of Ewan being dropped off in the last km. Tomorrow should be areduced bunch sprint which should suit Grmay and Strong, however, Ewan and Welsford climbed well at the Nationals RR.
Interesting that Yates is riding the Alula Tour - It makes sense because Jayco have not targetted GC at this race, although I thought they may have sent a Dunbar type - yates has done plenty of travelling the last 3 months being to Taiwan, Australia and Saudi Arabia. Expect Yates to have a break after this race to the end of March. Interested to see how Groenewegen goes against Merlier in the sprints - Groenewegen rode well after the TDF but couldn;t get that victory - A win is needed.
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Plapp looked super strong on the last climb which augurs well for Willinga Hill - Plapp can produce Porte type figures for Willunga Hill, and at that time, only 2 or 3 in the peleton could have matched Porte on Willinga Hill.
Del Tori besides being super talented is a canny rider who knows how to read a race - He’ll win many races in his career.
Welsford wins stage 3.
Plapp had a big crash, but finished 9 minutes down. I suspect he’ll be a DNS tomorrow with the amount of skin (and time) he’s lost.
On my Italy France tour last year one of the guides was Laurence Pithies dad Ron … has lots of great chats about his son and what happens ina pro team so it was good to see him up there again today…
Ron rode the world champs in Scotland …he just used to cruis up and down wherever we were riding checking on us …all 60 Kgs of him
How a Scotsman ended up in NZ was one the greatest stories I’ve ever heard lol
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Disastrous day for Jayco with Plapp crashing and out of GC - I doubt he will race tomorrow and he can be saved for the UAE Tour which suits him with the ITT - I have my doubts about Yates up the Willunga climb, while Jayco wanted to use him as a second option because straight after this race he travels to saudi for the Alula Tour - Ewan has not recovered from his injury/illness - This is particulalry evident when you consider he smoked Welsford at the Aussie Criterium 2 weeks ago.
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Plapp is a DNS, which is completely expected.
Welsford makes it 3/3 from the sprints at the TDU.
A nice birthday present for himself and did it nicely considering the Bora train wasn’t as nearly a factor in this stage as in the previous two wins.
Ewan and Jayco not even in the picture on this one.
Stewart the final rider for Ewan lost contact with O’Brien the second last rider with around 2kms - Stewart can get lost in finals, although if he makes it through he is an excellent lead out rider - I suspect that the train will work much better when Walscheid joins as the 2nd last rider because he is big and can find his way through the peleton. Anyway, its not all doom and gloom as Ewan was in position for three of the four sprint opportunities.
Jayco named a stacked team for the one day Spanish race Valenciana on saturday - The team is Groenewegen, Matthews, Mezgec, Reinders, Juul-Jensen, Englehardt and Maas - They should win this race and hopefully they can back up in Sunday’s race.
Women’s team is yet again making poor calendar choices - They should be riding in the three Mallorca one day races to introduce their European cohort into the team - It’s so bad that Mavi Garcia is riding for the Spanish National team - You then add there are a number of Spanish races in February that should suit their characteristics, instead of wasting their time doing the UAE Tour.
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Willunga and Onley wins, Williams & navaez.
Willams GC leader on points ST as Onley.
Yates looked good but faded at the end.
A pretty disappointing TDU for Jayco.
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As I previously posted Willunga Hill is a power climb so its hard for Yates to get seperation on this climb - Plapp wa always the number one seed for Jayco.
Long interview with Ewan on the Cycling Podcast - Main takeaways.
- Had a poor 2022 in his eyes and so lacked confidence going into 2023.
- had the two close photo finishes for second, one of which he clearly won.
- Team lost confidence in him, especially the new management.
- He wanted to do Dauphine to build up mountain miles and the team refused which he said affected his climbing at the TDF.
- When you look at his calendar leading up to the 2023 TDF he did no stage races which had days of multiple climbs.
- is riding the Giro and the Vuelta, though there is little at the Vuelta for him.
- He strongly inferred that he did not want to ride the 2024 TDF.
- No Belgian races at all.
- Once he wanted to leave Lotto the only team that interested him was Jayco.
- One last thing. The interview was recorded late last week and there was mention by the interviewer Daniel Friebe that Ewan was ill.
Jayco needs to be flexible with his calendar and if he is struggling before the Giro, they need to get him to ride the Tour of Turkey.
Finally, Groenewegen wins Valenciana today - Tomorrows race is a bit different with a decent climb 10kms before the finish - It could be for Matthews or Englehardt.
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Williams gets the final stage win and the GC win.
Williams is a funny rider - Anonymous for most of the season but seems to peak twice a year and gains good results. Unforeseen circumstances lead to a poor result for Jayco. Two races to go in Australia - They can win the Surf Classic if Ewan is fit, while they have never found the formula for Cadel’s race.
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Matthews wins.
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In the worst kept secret, the RoadNats off to Perth, 2025 through 2027
@barry_day & @yaco55 - you two are both pretty clued into the scene… What’s your connection to cycling in Aus other than as fans?
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Fan and son rides crits, and he has higher aspirations.
I also ride 15-16,000 km a year.
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