Transfer Mechanics: Analysing teams 2021 – part 3

UAE Team Emirates’ Jan Polanc guides team leader Tadej Pogacar (in all white) towards an eventual victory on stage 15 of the 2020 Tour de France, but it was race leader Primoz Roglic’s Jumbo-Visma squad that took control for much of the stage

(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

The 2021 road season is just around the corner, albeit with a bit of uncertainty on which events will proceed as scheduled in the first months due to lingering concerns for the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

What is becoming more certain are full WorldTour rosters for the new season, and Cyclingnews continues to inspect the movement in the transfer market.

This third segment spotlights the comings and goings with seven teams - introduction of new quality for Movistar, massive turnovers with new look at Qhubeka-Assos, Romain Bardet takes a lead at Team DSM, the post-Froome era at Ineos Grenadiers includes big names, youth movement at Team Jumbo-Visma, a focus on stability at Trek-Segafredo, and veteran duo of Matteo Trentin and Rafal Majka arrive at UAE Team Emirates.

They have landed a new stage race leader in Miguel Angel Lopez. The Colombian has Grand Tour podiums to his name and looked set to add to them at this year’s Tour de France but for a disastrous final time trial. He’ll take some of the pressure off the shoulders of Enric Mas, who found himself as the sole Grand Tour hope in 2020, but it’ll be interesting to see how they divide their objectives. Curiously, Lopez has only been given a one-year deal, while Mas was given three when he signed and was hailed as the future of the team.

A rising Spanish talent who can compete in the Classics and sprint at the end of arduous races, the 25-year-old is a marquee acquisition for the Spanish squad. In a year where the roster has been consolidated with a string of extensions, the signings of Lopez and Cortina might not return Movistar to their former glories immediately, but they should ensure their miserable 2020 campaign does not come to pass again.

In: Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), Simon Clarke (EF Pro Cycling), Dimitri Claeys (Cofidis), Kilian Frankiny (Groupama-FDJ), Bert-Jan Lindeman (Jumbo-Visma), Robert Power (Sunweb), Sander Armee (Lotto Soudal), Mauro Schmid (Leopard Pro Cycling), Matteo Pelucchi (Bardiani-CSF), Lasse Norman Hansen (Alpecin-Fenix), Sergio Henao (UAE Team Emirates), Harry Tanfield (AG2R La Mondiale), Emil Vinjebo (Riwal Securitas), Connor Brown (neo-pro), Sean Bennett (EF Pro Cycling), Lukasz Wisniowski (CCC Team)

Analysis: 2021 sees a whirlwind of change for the team who were saved at the 11th hour. By that point, a number of key riders had left the building, and while there were plenty of riders on the market, top-quality choices were limited. As such, Doug Ryder’s team have ended up with a real mixed bag of a roster. There are some names who you feel can stand out, but it’s hard to decipher much of a sense of direction.

In the Classics, the team have taken a real hit, losing Edvald Boasson Hagen, who has been a key and consistent figure for the team, and Michael Valgren, who’s capable of winning big races. Crucially, they did manage to hold onto sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo, who had a great season and whose sprint victories will be key in 2021. In terms of the new faces, Simon Clarke adds quality and leadership, and could prove an important figure, while the likes of Rob Power and Kilian Frankiny have potential that’s still to be unlocked. However, you can’t escape the feeling of a team cobbled together late on, which is what it was.

Analysis: If you were to ignore the team’s overall performance in 2020, things would appear concerning. In Matthews, Oomen, and Kelderman, they’re losing three of their biggest names, continuing an exodus that has seen the likes of Tom Dumoulin, Lennard Kamna, and Warren Barguil leave in recent years. However, when you take into account the way the younger and lesser known riders came together to deliver display after display of collective strength, you stop worrying.

Although Jai Hindley has taken a major step forward, the losses of Dumoulin and now Kelderman and Oomen have ripped out the team’s stage racing core, hence the need to go after someone of Bardet’s calibre. The Frenchman has lost his way as a Grand Tour rider in the past couple of years but has offered regular glimpses of his class. He’ll find an environment a world away from the comfortable one that revolved around him at AG2R, and Team DSM will find a very different rider and leader to the likes of Dumoulin and Kelderman.

Analysis: The Froome era is over. After a decade of service, the British team must make their way without the figure who landed them seven of their 11 Grand Tour titles. With question marks remaining over the 35-year-old’s ability to return to his best, and with the likes of Bernal, Thomas, Carapaz, Geoghegan Hart, and Sivakov all in place, the sense is that they can do just fine without him. When you add in new signings Adam Yates, Laurens De Plus, Richie Porte, and Dani Martínez, they’re arguably better stocked than ever before in the Grand Tour department.

Analysis: A quiet transfer window for the Dutch team, who didn’t have a great deal of work to do. With Primož Roglič firing on all cylinders, Tom Dumoulin getting back towards his best, and with key domestiques Sepp Kuss and George Bennett already under contract, the top-line Grand Tour unit is in good health. With Wout Van Aert they’ll compete for every major Classic and in Dylan Groenewegen they have a top-level sprinter, even if he’ll miss a portion of the season through suspension.

The main change is something of a straight swap in the form of Oomen for De Plus. Both have shone as domestiques and have the ability to lead in the future, but have been held back by injuries. If Oomen can get back up and running Jumbo-Visma may have a luxury domestique and soon another Grand Tour contender. Elsewhere, the team have invested in youth, with sprinters Olav Kooij and David Dekker both highly-rated, as is climber Gijs Leemreize.

Analysis: When you’ve got someone like Tadej Pogačar, who else do you need? Well, even a one-man wonder might need support when you consider he’ll be a very different prospect in the eyes of his competitors now he’s a Tour de France champion. Rafal Majka is a former Grand Tour podium finisher who could make a real asset as a domestique, but building a team around Pogačar will take more than the Pole.

The well-funded team have the pockets to delve more deeply into the transfer market but have seemingly opted to try and bring through the host of young riders they’ve signed in the last couple of years. Brandon McNulty, who had a good Giro, is the pick of the existing crop, while the snapping up of 17-year-old Spanish talent Juan Ayuso, who’ll only ride for the team from 2022, is another building block for the future.

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Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.