Team Ineos' line-up for the 2019 Giro d'Italia was always going to be a young one. Egan Bernal's late exclusion due to a collarbone injury doesn't change that, but it does leave the rest of the largely inexperienced group of riders without a clear leader and genuine contender to rally around.
The likes of Pavel Sivakov, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Ivan Sosa, and Eddie Dunbar represent a crop of rising talent that would be the envy of most WorldTour teams, but none is as precocious as the 22-year-old Bernal. While the Colombian is already considered a Grand Tour favourite after his debut at the Tour de France last year, the same cannot yet be said of the others.
Where that leaves them is somewhere between aimlessness and opportunity. Riding for Bernal would have been a valuable experience for the young team, of which Sosa and Dunbar are making their three-week debuts and Sivakov and Geoghegan Hart their second Grand Tour appearances. The change of plan leaves Ineos without a realistic shot at the title, which is a rarity for the British team, and, although they've never exerted the same control at the Giro as at the Tour, they'll have to take more of a backseat over the next three weeks.
ADVERTISEMENT
Had that mattered so much to them, they could have drafted in 2018 Giro champion Chris Froome or 2018 Tour champion Geraint Thomas. Neither are anywhere near top form, but it could have provided a figurehead and also avoided a situation whereby Ineos have three leaders for the Tour. Similarly, they could have drafted in Wout Poels, who would appear to be their next best option for GC leadership after Sergio Henao's departure, but who is set to play a key support role at the Tour.
The fact they didn't disrupt that Tour core suggests that, even in their first Grand Tour as Ineos, they are more than happy to take the pressure of the pursuit of results and hand their young guns some trust and freedom. The Tour is understood to be the number one priority of new team owner Jim Ratcliffe, and before the accident it was rumoured that Bernal would be part of the plans for July, with some whispers that he might even skip the Giro.
Ineos, then, line up with an eight-man squad with an average age of just over 25. Remove 38-year-old veteran Christian Knees from the equation and that falls to 23. Leaving aside the German's 19 Grand Tour participations, the remaining seven riders have a combined total of 17 three-week races in their collective locker.
Team Ineos' Giro d'Italia line-up
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/aimlessness-or-opportunity-analysing-team-ineos-giro-ditalia-line-up
No comments:
Post a Comment