Australia has 3 out of the 4 jerseys.
O’Connor has the red, Vine with the mountain and Groves with the points.
I’m sure Vine and Groves would have wanted to get those in better circumstances.
2 Likes
Last time we had 3 in jerseys at one time was the Giro 2010 had Evans in yellow, Matt Lloyd in dots and Richie Port in white.
2 Likes
Jayco signs Hellmose who was in the WT in 22/23. He’s a climber who i think is better than Porter and Pena and probably better than Berhe.
Watched the Tour of Britain where Jayco’s news signing Donaldson sprinted to an impressive third in a bunch sprint. It augurs well for the future.
1 Like
Groves third stage win, will stay in green. Ben survives again.
4 Likes
Schmid has been so unlucky not to win a stage in the Vuelta. Anyway, he can do a good ITT in stage 21. Roglic puts on a masterclass today and leads GC by nearly 2 minutes.
Jayco has two one day races on Sunday in Germany and Belgium. Ewan will lead the team in germany and should get over the punchy finale, however, he’s up against a hot sprint field. Walscheid will lead the team in belgium in a classics style course. Feel that foldager and O’brien should be in the Belgium race to gain experience. Finally, Jayco have 2 stagiares. Pavel Novak a 19 year old who has some good results in hilly races and journeyman Alistair Mckellar who spent three years on the Israel Dev team and this year on Axeon Dev team.
1 Like
so, experts here, can/will O’Connor do well enough in the time trial to finish at least on the podium/ hold on to second position?
3 Likes
Mas bested O’Connor by 13 seconds in the opening TT
Carapaz was better by 12 seconds.
It points to it being very close. It will be the rider that has most left in his legs, I feel.
He should cover Carapaz think, and it’s touch and go if he can hold on to 2nd from Mas.
3 Likes
That was an excellent ride by Dunbar to win the stage from the GC group. Now it’s a matter of finding a race or two for the remainder of the year to show off his form.
Many have under-estimated the effects of the hot weather in the first week. Riders who were on a good day could get minutes like O’Connor, Carapaz and A.Yates. The reality is that these performances were off their true ability for the rest of the GC. Even if the peleton initially rode harder in the stage O’Connor won, they would have only brought back one or two minutes, because, O’Connor was on a super day and it was extremely hot. I’d be surprised if O’Connor does not put 30+ seconds into Carapas and Mas. The ITT is a wide open event. Notionally, Kung or McNulty should be the favorites but it’s hard to call.
3 Likes
Based on the final gaps I take it Ben had an excellent time trial. An outstanding Vuelta for the Aussies.
O’CONNOR: “I’VE ACHIEVED SOMETHING UNIQUE”
Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale): “I’m just a proud man, you know. I think I’ve gone about my business well and I can’t believe to come out like this, in 2nd. There was a point in the race where I thought that if I did my absolute best every single day, then it would be difficult [but possible to win La Vuelta]. It’s been a crazy Grand Tour, it’s been really difficult to be at my best every single day. It’s probably one of the most physically taxing Grand Tours I’ve done so it’s hard to expect perfection every single day. No no, I definitely didn’t lose La Vuelta a España, I’ve achieved something unique. I had an amazing opportunity, to be in the red jersey from stage 6 to stage 19. But I was under no illusion. I’ve led a WorldTour race for one day in my past and now I’ve led La Vuelta a España for two weeks. I think these last three weeks are a defining moment in my career. I was always confident in my TT so I wasn’t worried about losing the podium today. I’ve just got the podium that I always dreamed I could achieved but I was never sure I could do it.”
5 Likes
WA publicising their Ben, while the two Australians taking out the jersey wins are from Queensland ( Gympie and Townsville).
4 Likes
1 Like
I see Vine is now called a Canberran. How does it work as to allocation of a rider’s home town, given that most of them would probably spend most of their time at a European base?
The women’s mixed ITT team should be Brown, Chapman and Gigante. The men’s team should be Vine, Matthews and either Scotson or O’Connor.
It’s been a disastrous season for Harper since he crashed at the Tour of the Alps with him being beset by injuries and crashes.
I am still frustrated by Plapp’s crash in the Olympics ITT. We know that he was 4 seconds down on Remco at the first time check check, and apparently when he crashed 1km later he was two seconds down on Remco. He was on a good ride.
1 Like
Apparently the herald Sun tour will return in 2025. This will put lots of pressure on Jayco Alula as HS Tour will conflict with the Alula Tour. So in effect you have Natioanl’s, TDU, Cadel’s race , the HS Tour and the Alula Tour happening within a month. It will be a real balancing act for the team. It appears that the National’s course will be flattish which will make it difficult for the team to win the men’s race.
Where have you heard this?
1 Like
It was discussed on the Wheelhouse Cycling Podcast. That’s a different profile to the one I viewed. I suppose the devil will be in the detail.
1 Like
I haven’t heard that it’s locked in but I did hear this morning from someone in the events space that it was being discussed. No idea to what degree.
Thinking it may be part of the new Pro Series which starts in 2025. The pro series isrolling out their program in the next two weeks. Anyway, the leading under 23 rider in the mens series will get a gig at jayco from August 2025, and the women’s winner will get a gig at jayco’s conti team in Europe for 2026.
1 Like