Velogames season 2022: A team by team review: Ineos-Grenadiers
2022 has been regarded by many as one of the worst since the beginning of the team as Team Sky.
Performance of a team is indeed measured with respect to the achievement in Grand Tours, particularly in the Tour de France.
This year, they have no victory to show for.
Prior to the start of the season, Sir Dave Brailsford promised that the team would race differently in a more attractive manner and they undeniably held onto it.
With an infinite array of young talent showing up, old guard Richard Carapaz and Geraint Thomas both somehow achieved a grand tour podium on their own.
Ineos Grenadiers and its rider remains a sure value in Velogames as well.
Dylan Van Baarle
A Paris- Roubaix win was all it took to place the Dutchman at the top of the team Superclassico performance.8th at E3 saxo classic, 2nd at Ronde van Vlaandereen, 22nd at Amstel Gold race and his win at Paris-Roubaix contributed to his 15th overall place in the superclassico with 1850 points. (18 credit points)
A rather useful member of the team in the stage races, he however is not much of an asset in Velogames his rather offensive Tour de France performance brought him only 427 points.
Verdict 2023: He is going to strengthen the ranks of Team Jumbo-Visma. Another option for the the Dutch team in cobbles and paves.
Daniel Felipe Martinez
Surprisingly he has the second best return of the team in the Super-classico. Most of his 1348 points were earned from his top 5 performances in La Fleche Wallone, Liege Bastogne- Liege and Coppa Sabatini.
In the stage races, the Colombian proved to be the deal until he fell sick prior to the Tour de France.
Itzulia: He was the most valuable rider of the race withh 998 points at 18 points credit with more than 250 points more than second best Remco (739)
His 3rd place finish in Paris-Nice was oddly not enough for him to integrate the best possible team.
Best possible @velogames team for #ParisNice:
Primoz Roglič
Wout Van Aert
Simon Yates
Mads Pedersen
Christophe Laporte
Mathieu Burgaudeau
Luka Mezgec
Hugo Houle
Nathan Van Hooydonck
4871 points, 100 credits— Calum Lonie 🇮🇪🇨🇵🇪🇺 (@CalumLonie) March 13, 2022
526 points for credit of 14 was way little to compete with big hitters Roglic and Van Aert high price and return.
His 8th place in Tour de Suisse was also not a great velogames perfomance. 293 points, 16th best for 20 credits.
Rated at 14 credits with big expectations, he totally faltered in the Tour de France bringing a mere 607 points. for a riders credited with 14 points.
Verdict 2023: His Tour de France 2022 performance was all down to illness. He will be much bigger asset and danger for the team in classics race as well as stage races.
Ben Turner
What a debut season it has been for him! He rode his first classics season as if he has been doing bossing them for years. Race by race he performances improved culminating to an 8th place in Dwaars van Vlaanderen and a 4th at De Brabantse Pijl. His 11th place at Paris-Roubaix was nothing to be ignored of as well. In total
His mere cost of 4 coins brought a total of 1331 points! Best bargain deal indeed in the cobbles.
His grand tour debut was at the Vuelta where he brought in the 36th best at 422.
Verdict 2023: A rider that will improve on the cobbles. His power is his best asset. Expect him to be in more top 10 in the cobblestone races as well his price tag to be 3-4 times higher!
Tom Pidcock
He would have had a higher return in the classics season, had he not had some sickness. He was looking to be gathering momentum with Top 15 finish in van Vlaaderen, Amstel and De Brabantse Pijl. These 4 races alone brought him his total 1329 points.
He then completely went anonymous in classics races.
First Tour de France. First Stage win. First best Possible team.
Best unclassed rider with 1080 points at a cost of 8 credit points only.
Best possible @velogames team for Velogame2022:
All Rounders: Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard
Climbers: David Gaudu, Louis Meintjes
Sprinters: Wout Van Aert, Christophe Laporte (Wildcard)
Unclassified: Tom Pidcock, Nathan Van Hooydonck, Benjamin Thomas
14479 points, 100 credits— Calum Lonie 🇮🇪🇨🇵🇪🇺 (@CalumLonie) July 24, 2022
Verdict 2023: Expect him to go for bigger target. A top 10 GC final is not out of possibilities. But his main aim might be to win a monument. He hasthe talent to win any 5 of them!
Jonathan Narvaez
A firm fan favourite. The Equadorian combines cobbles power with decent climbing abilities. 6th at Strade Bianche and E3 Saxo Classic he saw his spring classics chance limited due to his planned participation at the Giro.
He surprisingly finished 4th at the Bemer Classics. His 16th place at Coppa Bernocchi rallied up his total superclassico points to 1107 points.
Verdict 2023: At 25, he will definitely be given more chances and opportunities. Given Ineos- Grenadiers has no big Grand Tour win aspiration: in which Narvaez domestique role would have been essential.
Adam Yates
Having dedicated his first part of the season to stage races, he totally crushed the second part in terms of one day races. 7th and 4th in Quebec and Montreal respectively, he added a 6th place in Tre Valli Vaseline and finished his season with a 10th place in Lombardia. These leading to a grand total of 1008 points in the Super Classico.
His 20 credits price in Paris-Nice was way too much even though he finished 4th.His 384 points were way too little compared to the mighty points Roglic and Van Aert brought in.
His abandon in Itzulia and Tour de Suisse contributed to his rather low price tag at the Tour de France. Indeed his 12 coins value made him a rather good value rider with the 1107 points he brought back. 8th best and 3rd best in the climber category.
Verdict 2023: He is joining Tadej Pogacar’s armada at UAE team Emirates. While it is certain he will not have the reins at the Tour, he could be an interesting choice in one week stage races as a leader or even Grand Tour as team-mates if he has a low price tag.
Carlos Rodriguez
After a rather quiet season (Catalunya : 24th nest at 181 for 12 points) debut in Velogames, as he was racing and actually performing well in races not on the Velogames stage championship Andalucia and Valencia, he hit it off in Itzulia with 300 points and integrating the best possible team at a cost of 10 credits.
Best possible @velogames team for #Itzulia2022:
Dani Martínez
Remco Evenepoel
Aleksandr Vlasov
Pello Bilbao
Ion Izagirre
Carlos Rodriguez
Felix Gall
Orluis Aular
Fabien Doubey
4549 points, 100 credits— Calum Lonie 🇮🇪🇨🇵🇪🇺 (@CalumLonie) April 9, 2022
He then completely took flight with a 5th place in San Sebastian (310 points) and a sensational 7th place in the Vuelta. His rather high price of 12 credit was not a obstacle though for him to enter the best possible team with 1339 points
Best possible team for La Vuelta ciclista a España 2022:
A 1: Remco Evenepoel
A 2: Enric Mas
C 1: Miguel Ángel López
C 2: Carlos Rodriguez
S: Mads Pedersen
U 1: Fred Wright
U 2: Quentin Pacher
U 3: Jan Polanc
WC: Juan Ayuso
Score: 14210
Cost: 100— Jeremad (@jeremader) September 11, 2022
Carlos Rodriguez 5th place in the final monument ( Lombardia) confirmed all the potential of the Spanish.
Verdict 2023: While all eyes will be on Egan Bernal’s recovery and Geraint Thomas in the grand tour, Carlos Rodriguez might use this opportunity in the shadow and confirm his status among the very best like his fellow Spanish rider, Juan Ayuso.
Michal Kwiatkowski
His win in Amstel Gold race is the proof that the talent is still here and he can still be counted on if fits. 2022 is a year to forget for him.
Magnus Sheffield
Another gem casted into the big world by Ineos Grenadiers. A 15th place in Dwaars Van Vlaaderen preceded a formitable win at De Brabantse Pijl. Those 2 performance lead up to 784 points for a mere 4 credit in the super classico.
Verdict 2023: Expect him to make his debut in a Grand Tour. His excellent time trial abilities will make him a good asset in the team particulatly if he is at the start of the Giro.
Pavel Sivakov
His second place at San Sebastian was the sign of great season end. After a great start at the Vuelta, he DNS on stage 11.
Verdict 2023: At 25, the neo frenchman is one to watch outside the spot light.
Ethan Hayter
way too pricey in Paris -Nice 14 credits for just 150 points, he was worth all his gold in the Tour de Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine.
Best possible @velogames team for #TDR22:
Aleksandr Vlasov
Rohan Dennis
Ben O’Connor
Ethan Hayter
Juan Ayuso
Gino Mäder
Steven Kruijswijk
Simon Geschke
Quinten Hermans
4606 points, 100 credits— Calum Lonie 🇮🇪🇨🇵🇪🇺 (@CalumLonie) May 1, 2022
Ethan Hayter was the 3rd most valuable rider with 530 points at 12 credits. (Vlasov, 18: 936 ; Dennis,14: 708)
Best possible @velogames team for #Dauphiné
Primoz Roglič
Wout Van Aert
Jonas Vingegaard
Ethan Hayter
Ruben Guerreiro
Pierre Rolland
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Carlos Verona
Hugo Page
5150 points, 100 credits— Calum Lonie 🇮🇪🇨🇵🇪🇺 (@CalumLonie) June 12, 2022\
He was the 4th most valuable with 695 pointd behind Jumbo Visma’s trio of Van Aert(1016), Roglic (932), Vingegaard(799).
The biggest disapointment came in the Vuelta, that was well designed for him to win some stages.\
Verdict 2023: For a rider who does not define himself as a sprinter, it will be interesting to first see his evolution.
Richard Carapaz:
This man is a proper rider. He might be remembered for losing the Giro 2022 but in Velogames there is no certainty as big as him. Number one most valuable in the Giro and 6th in the Vuelta, there might not be safer than the Ecuadorian in Grand tour in Velogames.
Verdict 2023: Freed of all domestique duties, he will have the freedom to race how he wants at EF education. Watch out for what could be the best transfer of the season.
Filippo Ganna:
He started the season with clear ambition of Paris- Roubaix. His hope of a first yellow jersey were also sent flying.
Verdict 2023: GIRO 2023. first name to put down.
Geraint Thomas:
Not even him would have hoped he would podium the Tour de France. The sign were there but nobody actually gave it a proper thought.Picked by 22% of rider, he was not a big loss for those who did not pick him as he failed to make it to the best possible team. Being classified as all rounder with Vingegaard and Pogacar slimmed his chances.
Verdict 2023: He is expected to be at the Giro 2023. His chances largely depend on who he will be facing.
Luke Plapp, Ben Tulett:
Two young excellent climbers that have been overshadowed by the performances of their team-mates.
Verdict 2023: Expect them to shine when given the chance.
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