He beat Mas in Burgos.
La Vuelta 2026 ***Spoilers***
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He beat Mas in Burgos.
T4tomo
Legendary Member
I could agree with the logic in your arguments, but then we'd both be wrong.
Not sure it's that complicated. In his last GT he did better than anyone who finished this race. He's had a torrid year, but in the last stage race before this event, he did better than everyone bar Gall. He finished several minutes down on the podium. Yes he crashed, but that "only" accounted for ~ 2 minutes of that. For instance, prior to his tumble, he was already over 2 minutes down on Mas and a minute down on Roglic. Therefore, I suspect he'll be disappointed with his race.
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TakeTheHighRoad
Senior Member
I think it's par for the expectations of both Onley and the team, which goes to show how far down the pecking order Ineos have dropped.
It's not a nothing achievement, but I think that both rider and team will hope for more next season
It's not a nothing achievement, but I think that both rider and team will hope for more next season
Like you say, they're not really that team anymore, but historically there would have been a strong argument for a rider improving simply by virtue of moving from a Picnic-style team to Ineos. It's hard to say that's the case at the moment and doesn't seem to have gone that way for Onley.
misforturob
Senior Member
I think that would be a fair comment if his season was plan sailing with no problems. But it wasn't. Out of Paris Nice with illness. Out of Romandie with illness. Out of Dauphine with a big crash.
Dogtrousers
Lefty tighty. Get it righty.
I'm just watching a review of the Vuelta and I can't get this out of my head.
No Ta Doctor
Veteran
I first noticed it watching that Movistar documentary a while back. There was something about him that made my skin crawl slightly and I couldn't quite work it out. I think he triggers some sort of primitive hindbrain response like snakes do
Animo
Über Member
Could be the way he pops up in absolutely world beating form from time to time and then disappears again. Clearly a shapeshifter.
No Ta Doctor
Veteran
A little editing help with your post...
He does tend to go a lot better in Spain than elsewhere though, it's true
OP
OP
wakemalcolm
Legendary Member
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Just remembered this from the Giro
I was shocked they bought him out his contract off the back of one performance. It wreaked of desperation.
OP
OP
wakemalcolm
Legendary Member
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Which one: his 3rd in Suisse, his 4ths in TdU, 2nd in ToB or his distant 4th 12 minutes behind the leader in France?
He ended last year ranked in the top 10 but I'm worried about where his ceiling is.
The thing is, he was always likely to leave Picnic and it wouldn't have been a great look if he'd gone somewhere else either. Their signing of Vacquelin after a promising Tour has been similarly underwhelming.
