Alpecin Deceuninck
The traditional classic team of the peloton.
Often giving the Belgian model. Quick-Step a run for the money,
Alpecin Deceuninck had to accomodate for the new kid in town, Inter- Marche Wanty Gobert.
Having confirmed their status as World Tour for next year, the Belgian will have the duty to be sending teams to all world tour races now.Mathieu Van Der Poel (30): 4th best performer over the superclassico with 2685 accumulated over 6 races only proves how efficient he can be when he means to.
With his preseason marred by that back injury sustained in the Moutain bike Olympic, he came sback straight with a 3rd place at Milan San Remo.
The Dutchman remains a certain choice and a performer when it comes to one day classics that matters.
At 27, he completed his first grand tour and boy did he entertained. At just 12 credits at the Giro, he was worth all his weight in gold.
He finished as the 5 best points earner with the 3 podiums finishers and the points classification winner, Demare only in front of him.
The Tour de France was however another story.
Suffering from fatigue following a Giro that he was on the show every single minute, he seemed off from the second stage and eventually abandoned due to fatigue.
Verdict 2023: He remains a favourite for the Italian Spring Classics and the Ardenennes.
With his focus strictly on the Tour, he might be a sure but not so cheap choice. But he will be worth it.
Tim Merlier (20):
The Belgian is on the move to join Quick Step Alpha Vinyl in 2023.
While he did have a very respectable superclassico performance when called upon, his grand Tour performance was nothing other than disappointing.
Priced as the most expensive sprinter at 12, he cost the same as Mads Pedersen and that is all that need to be said. Grrrrr back at you C1979!
Verdict 2023: difficult to predict as to how he will be used with Remco planned for another grand tour win and Jakobsen still present as the best sprinter in the world.Jasper Philipsen (24):
A great sprinter that often has to share the leadership duties with Mathieu Van Der Poel in the classics races and Merlier in sprint finishes.
With Merlier gone, it will be all for him in grand tours. his Cobblestones power and his not so bad for a sprinter climbing favours him.
Verdict 2023: An expensive choice that never deceives when given the chance. And he is not always given the chance with his team often playing on several fronts.
Xandro Meurisse (10)
Already 30, we are still expecting big things from him. A good performer in non-world tour fields, unless hill are involved.
His best performance came from Brabantse Pijl and Liege Bastonne Liege.
Verdict 2023: can only be considered in hilly courses when MVDP is not here.Gianni Vermeersch:
Nothing much to show except for his World Gravel Title.
Verdict 2023: We expect to see less of him in the road races and more in the gravel to show off his rainbow title.Tobias Bayer (4)
A firm favourite when it comes to assist points considering his price.
Surprinsingly he only brought assist points once in Dwars door Vlaanderen.
He did finished 3rd in the Brussels classics and 6th in a giro stageStephano Oldani (6):
The new puncheurs in the peloton. after his stage win in the Giro 2022, a closer attention was given to him.He did not completely falter but neither did he impress
Verdict 2023: At 24 years old, the Italian classics race in spring and autuwm will be his main target.Dries De Bondt: one of the few riders of the team who did not live up to his price tag.
Verdicts 2023: make or break seasonMicheal Gogl:
He only performs in on Gravels, particularly in Strade Bianche. His race in 2022 was cut short after featuring in that crash with Alaphillipe.
Verdict 2023: Eyes closed in the team for Strade Bianche. and that’s it.
Krisitan Sbaragli (14)
The Italian has been having a sort of renaissance career. more visible at the front of the race, he is not far from a notable performance.
Verdict 2023: is expected to undergo a price drop while a an interesting performance at some point ( probably in Italy) will be happen.Sjoerd Bax (6): he had an interesting season end in Luxembourg. He however did not follow up, proving that he still has some way to go to be fighting with the elites.
Verdict 2023: Will still be a cheap bargain, and a special eye need to be kept on him in category 3 races particularly with weaker opposition.Jay Vine (6): Nothing to show for in the superclassico.
The fairytale of the peloton has been included in the best possible team of the Vuelta by Jeremad even though he crashed out with his 3 days to go. He is now considered as true sensation
Verdict 2023: heavily linked to Team UAE Emirates… to be followed.
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