BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

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BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby fat and old » Wed Jun 20, 2018 5:28 pm

Given that BMC is all but kaput and that there are less places for riders on GT squads these days will Richie have the full backing of the team? Will the likes of GVA and TJ ride for him or ride for points and their future? Would you want to be Richie at the moment? Further....what future options would he have? A proven 1 week man who may be a GT contender? There seems to be a fair few of those atm.

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby MichaelB » Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:39 pm

Trek may be an option, as they don’t have a proven GC guy (although LRP is good, a win or podium at the Tour will make a huge difference)

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby djw47 » Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:08 pm

fat and old wrote:Given that BMC is all but kaput and that there are less places for riders on GT squads these days will Richie have the full backing of the team? Will the likes of GVA and TJ ride for him or ride for points and their future? Would you want to be Richie at the moment? Further....what future options would he have? A proven 1 week man who may be a GT contender? There seems to be a fair few of those atm.
He'll probably succumb to some ludicrous incident in the first week anyway knowing his track record at the Tour.

Seriously though, could he end up at one of the Aussie teams - Drapac or Scott?

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby MichaelB » Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:46 pm

Don't think Scott will be a destination, as he'd just be a super domestique, but that also depends on whether MS can get the budget to keep hold of the Yates boys and Chaves. If any of them go, then maybe.

Drapac is a potential, but JV is tight and they don't really have a team of climbers to support.

We've started to see some others murmur about possible ship jumping with Dennis talking about Bahrain-Merida, GvA naming some options (Lotto-Soudal was one), but keeping the cards close to the chest. It would have to be a !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! time to be in BMC with not a huge range of options out there, and even some of the other riders on teams getting nervous if their form isn't up to scratch.

The TdF may see some great breakaways as people fight to prove their worth.

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby find_bruce » Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:17 pm

The 3 riders are currently in different categories

GVA is a proven classics winner who can share some of the work in a grand tour. While he will work for Ritchie for as long as he is in contention, I don't think BMC will put all their eggs in the yellow jersey basket & will be looking for some early glory. As long as they survive any winds on stage 1, stage 2 is a pancake & they will be hoping to be in yellow after the team time trial. GVA has his eyes on stage 5 & a few others.

I'm a bit harsh when it comes to TJ - I think his GT aspirations are washed up & frankly it seems he does as well. His future appears to be as a domestique & for that reason I think he will also work for Ritchie, because that's where his future value lies.

As for Ritchie himself, ts a wide open race this year - reminds me of 2014- but while I'd love to see him do well in a GT & it's not the way to bet. Like Michael, I can't see Mitchelton-Scott or Drapac having the funds to cover what Ritchie gets from BMC. I'd be surprised if he signed with anyone before the Tour & if he doesn't perform his value will drop significantly.

Dennis has probably agreed to terms with another team already - he is seen as a rider on the up with GT potential & he will be keen to lock in a move before all the chairs are taken.

Be a good year to be second behind Froome, you would think you had a good chance to win stage 22.

I keep thinking of the French & their constant quest for the next GT winner - Jalabert win the Veulta in 1995 & you have to go back to the badger 10 years before for the last TdF winner. After successive podiums maybe this year is when Bardet makes the grade

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby fat and old » Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:05 am

find_bruce wrote: I'm a bit harsh when it comes to TJ - I think his GT aspirations are washed up & frankly it seems he does as well. His future appears to be as a domestique & for that reason I think he will also work for Ritchie, because that's where his future value lies.
Washed up? TJ? Synonyms. What surprised me recently was watching Armstrong speak quite openly about their friendship and the amount of training/contact they have. Is that the sign of a man (TJ) who doesn't care what people think, or a man (armstrong) who will XXX his mate over to stay relevant? I don't know.

If Richie doesn't perform well on this tour I don't think he'll be in a position to claim the $$$ BMC would be paying. At that point, depending on the outcome with MS's big three he becomes a real possibility I'm thinking.

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby MichaelB » Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:05 am

MichaelB wrote:Trek may be an option, as they don’t have a proven GC guy (although LRP is good, a win or podium at the Tour will make a huge difference)
Cyclingnews indicating that Trek is the lead runner atm for his signature :D

Nostradamus, eat your heart out !!

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby find_bruce » Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:40 am

No real surprise in Mitchelton Scott letting Caleb Ewan go to free up budget for the Yates Brothers
MichaelB wrote:
MichaelB wrote:Trek may be an option, as they don’t have a proven GC guy (although LRP is good, a win or podium at the Tour will make a huge difference)
Cyclingnews indicating that Trek is the lead runner atm for his signature :D

Nostradamus, eat your heart out !!
Seeing as how you are all knowing, I wonder how much the dollars will reflect his performance in the Tour

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby MichaelB » Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:38 pm

Unless he wins/podiums, he'd still get a good price, but the reality is that whilst he's good at week long events and will make a great captain for the youngsters like Mollema & Pantano, it'll be the last decent paycheck, and I think he'd be smart enough to know that.

The other thing though, is that you don't see him much as a media figure, so that can limit his pay a bit too. Does the Swisse commercials, but that's all I've seen.

Interestingly, in the CN article, it mentioned that Trek were also chasing Geraint, but gave up a while ago - maybe thought he was worth more or just that they didn't like him :?:

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby fat and old » Wed Jun 27, 2018 6:27 pm

I get the impression that Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee toys with the opposition come contract time in order to get the best price he can from Sky.

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby fat and old » Wed Jun 27, 2018 6:32 pm

Something else.....it will be good to see the back of Ochowicz once and for all if BMC folds. How he skates while Froomay cops shizzle is beyond me.

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby foo on patrol » Sun Jul 08, 2018 7:50 am

Well he's behind the eight ball again, with another fall on the first day! :(

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby fat and old » Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:35 am

lets see how TJVG rides....will he support his leader now?

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby find_bruce » Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:19 am

fat and old wrote:lets see how TJVG rides....will he support his leader now?
It will be easy to tell - TJVG handles pressure like a wet paper bag - if he even thinks he has a shot he will fall apart on the first or second major mountain stage

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby find_bruce » Fri Jul 13, 2018 2:01 pm

Do you write for Velo News - they think 2nd is as close as TJVG will get to yellow

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby fat and old » Fri Jul 13, 2018 7:00 pm

Well there’s only so many Phil Gaimon stories out there..

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby fat and old » Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:44 am

find_bruce wrote:
fat and old wrote:lets see how TJVG rides....will he support his leader now?
It will be easy to tell - TJVG handles pressure like a wet paper bag - if he even thinks he has a shot he will fall apart on the first or second major mountain stage
Why wait aye? :lol: :roll:

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby MichaelB » Mon Jul 16, 2018 1:03 pm

POP !!!!

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby madmacca » Fri Jul 20, 2018 12:41 am

Richie is now talking Vuelta and World Champs.

Given the amount of climbing on the World's course in Austria, presumably Richie is Australia's guy there.

But assuming the rumours of Richie moving to Trek are correct (this will likely become clearer on 1 Aug), will BMC work for Porte at the Vuelta? Does the merger with CCC make this more likely than if BMC was folding?

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby MichaelB » Fri Jul 20, 2018 8:19 am

Depends on what team they send to the Vuelta and whether BMC has a tanty or not.

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby djw47 » Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:11 pm

djw47 wrote:
fat and old wrote:Given that BMC is all but kaput and that there are less places for riders on GT squads these days will Richie have the full backing of the team? Will the likes of GVA and TJ ride for him or ride for points and their future? Would you want to be Richie at the moment? Further....what future options would he have? A proven 1 week man who may be a GT contender? There seems to be a fair few of those atm.
He'll probably succumb to some ludicrous incident in the first week anyway knowing his track record at the Tour.

Well, who'dathunkit?

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Re: BMC, Richie Porte and the TDF.....what's the end game?

Postby MichaelB » Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:27 pm

It seems that the only person staying (of any quality) in BMC/CCC is GvA per this snippet from Inner Ring

One thing to watch is the BMC team, to become CCC next year. It’s not a merger between the BMC team and the CCC team. It almost needs to be because there’s a stampede to exit. So far Rohan Dennis, Damiano Caruso, Dylan Teuns, Tejay van Garderen, Alberto Bettiol, Danilo Wyss, Stefan Küng and Loic Vliegen are moving to other teams and Simon Gerrans is retiring and more exits are rumoured, eg Richie Porte, all presumably signing elsewhere while the team’s future was uncertain. It’s quite an exodus ...

That's a fair core of quality riders - 9 incl Porte signing with other teams and Gerrans retiring.

They started the season with 24 riders, Of those remaining, there is Patty Bevin, Tom Bohli, Brent Bookwalter, de Marchi, Drucker, Frankiny, Roche (will he retire ?), Roelandts, Rosskopf, Schar, Scotson, Hooydonck, and Ventoso - will be interesting who stays and who else jumps ship ?

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