Power Rankings - Part 10.

5th place: Ineos Grenadiers. In one sentence, we can describe 2023 as a season of missed opportunities. They missed the Giro chance, they missed all kinds of classics chances, and they have great elements again if we look at a grand scale, but for now they couldn't get them together into a very coherent mass. Let's start with the youngsters, because this is where the INEOS phenomenon can best be grasped. They signed a lot of very high-profile youngsters in the past years, from whom I was absolutely sure that they thought that World Tour, Grand Tour stage wins and similar results would come out. And damn… 2-3 years after the start of the experiment, we can slowly say that it wasn't the best idea. This could also be due to the changes in the leadership, there was not a completely unified structure regarding how and on what basis they prepare the team. For example, I'm pretty sure that Ethan Hayter would be near world class if he didn't have to move up from 120th almost every single day to be able to doh is otherwise great uphill sprint. I'm also sure that they told him this in vain, somehow even then he doesn't manage to do this task. Then there is the Tu-duo, Tulett and Turner, the former also left the team, the latter remains – they are in the 'little gray mouse' category because of a reason, they’re good up until a certain point, but otherwise... they’re not good enough that we bring them up at once in any race as undisputed favourites. Kim Heiduk is a very decent last leadout man/sprinter, but at the same time, it is difficult for me to decide what the team wants to get out of him, since with Viviani's near retirement, there will be no one to lead the sprint squad, and there will be no leadout man for his own sprinting. Luke Plapp was the undisputed king of January-February, who at the beginning of the season was always able to lift himself up, only to fall down - now here is an interesting question, whether the team lifted him up, or his own training method was not suitable - in any case, Plapp is also leaving, and with that we get to the part that is more important, the young key riders who can be the team's main assets.

I think if we are talking about missed opportunities, one missed opportunity is Thymen Arensman's role within the team. The Dutch guy came to the team after a very good DSM season, and even if I didn't think he would have an instant impact in his first season, I saw more in him. When he got the chance, he worked very well - but this happened very few times. Arensman's 2024 will also be about deciding whether he wants to be the number one domestique of a very good team or the number one man of a mediocre team. There is a difference between the two, and I don't know what he really wants, he can be developed to a very good Castroviejo, but I don't know if that was INEOS’s primary aim with him. Then there is the newly signed Tobias Foss. As a time trial world champion, I have the legitimacy to say that they should try him as a GC man, because one of the elements of someone winning a GT is there. The other, climbing... there are imperfections in that aspect. He does not start from a bad floor, of course he got some great bases with Jumbo, but he lacks a lot of extras. He is not old either, and Ineos is very famous these days for the fact that his talents are trained very well, so I see upside in him. Josh Tarling. Brilliant talent. I would combine it with Magnus Sheffield, this duo can concrete the classics squad for long years. Tarling will be the best time trialist in the world in three years, but at the same time he is not bad on the cobbled terrain either. Sheffield is a similar rider, with a year more experience and a degree of better climbing, Ronde, Harelbeke, these goals could be in front of him in the next 2 years. It would be very important to keep them for at least 5, but preferably 8-10 years, because the next Ineos will have its supporting pillars and components with them.

Tom Pidcock - what does INEOS want with him now? Because a massive GC Pidcock campaign started this year, which was not a bad effort, but at the same time giving up a thousand dreams for the classics, when he won Strade, for example, dominantly... it's a tough question, obviously the optimal thing would be to try to improve both and become elite in both, but I don't know to what extent it is possible to do both extra in such a peloton, does he have to subsidize something? And it’s the same issue with Carlos Rodriguez, but in the opposite direction - he has a very decent GC skill, top 5 at any time, at any Grand Tour at 22-23 years old, but can he win a Lombardia or a Liege? I do not know...

INEOS is facing an exciting season, with many unsettled questions and many unsewn threads ahead of us. One thing is for sure: you can't miss as many chances as this year.

4th place: Lotto-DSTNY. Basically, we can talk about overachievement here, but at the same time, I think that this year showed that to a certain level, this team is very good, but above that, it is lacking quality. The alpha and omega of this entire organization is Arnaud de Lie. The Belgian bull topped last year's incredible debut season and developed new dimensions in his racing. De Lie should be seen as a kind of a solar system element, perhaps the perfect archetype of the phenomenon that is slowly becoming common in the NBA, according to which there is a superstar of the team, who epithets everything, to whom others pass the ball to solve situations, who has a very high usage rate. Lotto works in a similar way, but around de Lie, they put together a particularly good team, and Arnaud can live with this in many cases. Up until now, we knew and assumed that de Lie is basically a sprinter, but here he has developed a very serious puncheur skill, not something that he can use against Remco in Liege, but he has shown himself in competitions with less climbing. That's how he dominantly won the Binche, an uphill finish in Besseges, Quebec, where his sprint was absolutely brutal on the 3-4% false flat... and here comes one of de Lie's problems - the positioning. A totally perfect example is the one-day race in Hamburg, where he produced one of the biggest 1 km climbs of all time on the Waseberg, with huge numbers, but he didn't even touch the surface of gold, as he was between the places of 40-45 when he started the hill and got up from there to the top 10, but he didn't have enough strength left to do a meaningful sprint. The other such issue, in my opinion, is what he can develop further, he is obviously aiming for a Grand Tour stage win, which would be beneficial, but at the same time, I don't think he should start aiming towards that, because the potential is currently in him to be one of the, if not the best one-day rider. And this should somehow have a motivating effect on him.

But who are the others who made this season so successful? Florian Vermeersch. After the Belgian rider's second place in Paris-Roubaix in 2021, everyone was waiting for an explosive backup season, so that he can make this form into a consistent one... and not immediately, but it finally happened. He is a multifaceted man, since we are talking about one of the best gravel riders in the world , who can also be in the top 5 in smaller stage races, and was in the top 10 of a bunch in .1 and .Pro races, but he didn't succeed in winning here - so his status in the top 40 seems much more impressive and extra, with realizing these facts. What is the aim for next year? To win. Honestly, he can't be more consistent than this, he has to learn how to hunt like a hawk for wins, be it solo or sprint. Milan Menten's first Lotto season also turned out to be excellent, he started well at the beginning of the season, won the Samyn, had several top 5 and top 10 finishes to his name. The punchy-climby section is also very united, Andreas Kron finally surprised and performed well at the highest level, a Grand Tour stage win was the crown on his 2023, Lennert van Eetvelt's first pro season was brilliant, and with the young core, of which Vandenabeele and Vanhoucke are also members, and with the strong Development team formed for 2024... this Lotto can be brutally good and I think the top 10 is guaranteed for them, in case de Lie stays healthy.

Bronze medalist this year is Soudal-Quick Step, where more things happened than in a Latin soap opera. And to be fair, it came from several things, for example Remco Evenepoel's season, which I think can definitely be called a bad luck streak. Because yes, it's a fact that he won San Sebastian, he won Liege, these are the places where the Belgian feels damn  home, but both the Giro and the Vuelta didn't work out for him this year, at the Giro from first place, with a Covid infection, he had to give up (and although I argued at INEOS that Geoghegan Hart would have won without his fall, I can make the same argument twice here, because from an advantage, in a race of the type where very few stages had real 100% pace, Evenepoel could have won with a good chance), and at the Vuelta was simply cooked and could not withstand the pressure of the triple Jumbo army, but for that reason I would very much forgive him, I don't think anyone would have been able to do that. Remco is still brilliant and the thing is I'm starting to like him more and more as a rider and as a person. He is not afraid to stand up for himself, and even tries to protect others (just remember the completely scandalous time trial in Barcelona, which had to be completed in pitch darkness without lights), it seems that he is very much in one piece. And somewhere he started to think about himself in a totally realistic way - because the moment will finally come next year when he will aim for the Tour de France, but in his own way. That's what makes him so damn likable in my eyes, he didn't immediately bash on the others, but - regardless of knowing his skills - he admitted that yes, there are better people than me, I don't have a good record in France anyway (specifically, I think he didn't win pro competition there, which is amazing, considering that I think they are in the top 3 countries with the most competitions), so a top 5 would be good. And the reality is somewhere in this, although of course there is still plenty of time until the end of next June, but it would be a good result for his first Tour at the age of 23, especially since I think he is consciously going for longevity in his career, which is also welcome, so a big round of applause for Evenepoel, and hopefully everything will be back on track next year.

What was very fine and shows the genius of Patrick Lefevere was Tim Merlier's first Soudal season. 11 wins without taking part in a single Grand Tour was his best season so far in his career. Before the season, we had the fear of what kind of correlation with Fabio Jakobsen would have with each other - they were on such separate paths due to competitions and positive/negative context that it was not worth talking about. What will be interesting to see for the future is that Merlier was a one-day racer this year, but obviously it is important for him to go to the Grand Tour, and seeing the goals, next year it could be either the Giro or the Vuelta for him, or even on both, because the Tour will clearly be the terrain of Evenepoel and the climbers. This question is also interesting because Luke Lamperti, who replaces Jakobsen, is a total stage race sprinter, his skillset is much more on the surface than his one-day skills. It will be interesting to see how the two will agree, how they can work together for a common goal.

Because they will keep this Quick Step alive. Evenepoel's mountain éineup will look quite interesting, Vervaeke, Serry and Jan Hirt remain, Ilan van Wilder also remains, who is known not to have a good relationship with Evenepoel, and who proved at the end of last season that he could hold his own as an independent element, and Mikel Landa came, with this, no matter how strange it may sound, but can bring calmness to this turbulent state, not to mention that he can still be good for a Grand Tour top 6. In addition to these and Merlier, a lot of young riders came, I expect a hell of a lot from William Junior Lecerf, after the victory of Piccolo Lombardia, he can have an instant impact next year, just like the inclusion of Gil Gelders and Warre Vangheluwe in the classics line, which is a bit hollow. This season will be difficult, a lot will depend on Remco's performance, if he is good, then they will be in the top 5 team level, if he is injured, if he will have weaker days, then it is harder to imagine - it will all be exciting.

Second place: Jumbo-Visma. A historic season, and they were still very far from the first place of the year. As you know, the fact that if you take part in a lot of competitions and simply dominate them, last year's points system valued it much more than the triple Grand Tour victory. Regardless of this, we can say 99% positive about the Jumbo season, and the remaining 1% will not be in this room today. The big question before the season was whether Jonas Vingegaard's king would be short-term, whether Roglic would hit back at him, and how the relationship between the two will actually determine the entire team dynamic. I mean, it went really well. And I think we got a very clear answer, Jonas is the best GC rider on the planet right now. I can say this now. As long as everyone else is working with many different goals during the season, this Danish man has one goal: to be the best three-week rider in the world. And he is on the right track. He improved further this year, he perfectly achieved the form he really had to bring to the Tour, but at the same time he was able to maintain it for the Vuelta, which I personally would not have thought. A lot of people think this style is boring, it's not very adventurous, one-day races are almost never done, and yet there is something quite romantic about it, as it actually beats everyone in terms of endurance and in many aspects. And what made this whole season really spicy is that his rival within the team, Primož Roglič, did the same. The strategy of the two did not differ in any way, so the Slovenian also had a really brutal season - but at the moment when the two of them got together, it seemed that the perfect season with Primoz was in vain, a level of difference, if not in terms of results, but in the eye test was visible between them. The consequence of this was that Roglic went to Bora, and Vingegaard was given the keys to everything, but the team currently has no real 1b option, which could cause problems later. After all, Sepp Kuss, the American who won the Vuelta, has a serious ceiling due to the TT, and if Cian Uijtdebroeks arrives, he will need time, especially, to reach the next shelf, when he can fight for the Grand Tour podium. Well, Jonas will have to deal with this pressure for next year, it is true that so far he hasn't given the slightest sign that he won't be able to handle this, but from this point of view, it will be good to have a look at next year.

Well, if we talk about pressure, then Wout van Aert has a growing amount of this pressure. We're slowly starting to wonder if Wout will ever win a cobbled classic. The signs are always telling me that yes, he will win, he can do it, he is peak/close to peak on such races. What doesn't help him is that Nathan van Hooydonck, one of the best gun carriers, had to retire due to heart problems, and with that he will be at a disadvantage in terms of manpower for next year, and even if there is a Dylan van Baarle, a Matteo Jorgenson, who can also be used for such a purpose, even if I hope that they will raise him a climber domestique, Per Strand Hagenes, who can be a good rider, with such a line he will not have a bad result sheet. But there is a lot of demand, more than in previous years. There will be a lot going on with finding coherence, if he can get really perfect for these 2 weeks, then I can't rule out the double, that would really silence all the critics. And then there is Olav Kooij's case, who I think is very happy to have extended his contract with the team, as the Dutch sprinter has proven enough to be included in the team at any time and in any role. Here Olav really gave the team time to figure out what they wanted with him. The fact is that Jumbo's lineup was not designed for a Kooij-type rider to be able to compete in any Grand Tours. But I don't know how fair it is not to take him to any of the GTs, since he has been able to be in top 5 sprinters for the second season in a row. I'm really curious about what the new year will bring him, there are many things in which he can still get ahead.

There are a lot of questions for the next year, both at racing level and at the sponsor level, since the next year will be called Visma-LAB, and also at the power relations level, because Richard Plugge's plans are masterful, but sometimes scandalous. I don't know how long he can keep up this dance between genius and crazy, but as long as he does it so well, Visma will be a brilliant team. What will happen after that... will be decided by the future.

The winner of the 2023 Power Rankings is the UAE-Team Emirates, with a very convincing advantage, although their season was not perfect either. First of all, however, I have to give a huge congratulations to Fernandez Matxin, because in terms of squad construction, his work was by far the best, he was able to incorporate elements that stood out from the others, with whom you can compete in terms of management, and of whom you can be proud both professionally and personally. Who else could we start with than Tadej Pogacar, who once again entertained me, who was the best in the world again, is still the best in the world, and slowly there really isn't an area left that he doesn't know. This year, he tried the Milan-San Remo, a race that is becoming more and more a lottery from a sprinter's classics - the wind almost favored him, he came second due to a small tactical error, it was not up to the team. The Harelbeke-Ronde van Vlaanderen duo came, he was also strong at Harelbeke, and in the end he had no chance in the sprint against the cyclocross legendary duo van Aert-van der Poel, but he could not be stopped at the Ronde. His attack at Kwaremont was incredible, I have never seen anything like it in my life, it was impossible to follow. That Sunday was perhaps the greatest coming of the instinctive genius so far. A week of rest, then he ticked off Amstel easily, ticked off Fleche, easily, and maybe the only negative in his season was his fall at Liege. Then came the Tour, where he kept pace with Jonas Vingegaard for 15 days, and if we take it that way, it was an improvement compared to the year 2022, where he gave up on the 11th stage. The disintegration was spectacular, that's a fact, but if we take as a basis how much more diverse his style and repertoire is than the Dane's, then he can raise his hands in the air with satisfaction. Next year, moreover, with the arrival of gravel as a genre, I think his chances will continue to increase, despite the fact that otherwise the last days could be Vingegaard's.

What is again and still problematic is the question of the GC people behind Pogacar. And no, I don't mean Marc Hirschi, he luckily brought himself back from great depths and is once again in the clouds. So the catfight between Juan Ayuso and Joao Almeida for the second place is starting to be annoying, and if you asked me, the answer is clear: this role should go to Juan Ayuso. Almeida is in an interesting shape, he has done very well many times, but he does not have the fatal blow, the dominance that should characterize a person who wants to win a Grand Tour. Ayuso has that, it's true that he's still an extremely raw talent, someone who still hasn't reached his full potential - but we've seen him dominate in time trials, we've seen him dominate in the mountains, and more than that. And if we consider that a Jolly Joker option in the person of Adam Yates is always there for the UAE, then the situation is not so bad.

But to shade the picture a little, we have to look at next year. The positive thing is that Nils Politt came. UAE was thirsty for a flat domestique similar to Politt, who can help Pogacar on two fronts, that's a fact. I don't know how much the team vacillated about Pavel Sivakov, but he also came, and a bunch of young riders arrived, del Toro, Christen, Morgado, in whom it is not yet known how much upside and how much real talent they have. But after a while this will cause a problem for management, because everyone wants to win, everyone wants to be a leader, and many will have to make sacrifices for that, which I don't know how many, how much, and how they will be able to do. The biggest problem is that as long as Tadej Pogacar is so versatile, he will reduce the Tour chances of winning for himself. You're going to have to sacrifice some goals to make it work, you're going to have to structure your program differently... And so far, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. In any case, as the French say, le champion reste champion, the champion remains the champion, and no matter what happens in 2024, the UAE has a chance to win every single race day with the most complex and best squad.