Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026

NBC's Beyond the Podium series has been hit and miss for me. But this is a good one. If Roll's right, we could be in for one heck of a TdF.

 
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Both links are not working, US only I'm guessing. But I was also thinking that today, if Jonas is looking good and Pog is... well Pog as brilliant as ever, then all the new boys will have something to prove and find it v tough. It does mean TdF could be fascinating.

The only bad news long term I've heard is that Seixas's agent is looking around for a big deal outside of Decathlon as his contract is up next year and the rumour is UAE are planning to swoop. Disappointing if true. I'd hoped as a young French starlet he might stay with a French squad built around him. Bring back the glory days. But petrodollars are all that count today.

Maybe all the Shaheds flying around will take their mind off new deals. And anyway would Seixas want to be in same team as Pog and play second fiddle?
 
Del Toro is going to be El-Gono next year. No way he's the next Campanaerts. I still say that as of now, the biggest question mark for next season (this one barely started!!!) is the replacement sponsor for Visma.

Seixas to NSN. You heard it here first.
 
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Do NSN have deep pockets? Since the paint job over Israel Premier-tech I'm not sure how big their budget is. The other suspect is INEOS. I got my figures wrong, the actual deal with the Danish Tech co (called Netcompany - what a boring name!) is for €100m over 5 years, giving them a total €50m budget per year (Netcompany #20m,, Total Engerise €20m and Ineos €10m) So they have a war chest and eager to be back on top.

Agreed about Visma or whatever they will be called next, survival focus there is on snagging their own Netcompany-type big sponsor or they are in big trouble.

Was just watching the new season of Drive To Survive on Netflix. Can't comprehend the billions F1 teams have to play with in comparison to poor old cycling.
 
INEOS was my second choice, but they have talent and a budget buster already in Onley. NSN has no real GC contender, and a 34M Euro budget.
 
stompandgo said:
INEOS was my second choice, but they have talent and a budget buster already in Onley. NSN has no real GC contender, and a 34M Euro budget.
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True, true. That's a healthy budget. Sean Kelly said yesterday that Seixas shouldn't ride the Tour this year, too young & he hopes Decathlon has patience. 19 is so young.
 
Rás Cnoic said:
True, true. That's a healthy budget. Sean Kelly said yesterday that Seixas shouldn't ride the Tour this year, too young & he hopes Decathlon has patience. 19 is so young.
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I agree 1000%. I feel the same way about Juniors racing Elites as the dominant part of their schedule.

Sean Kelly is a treasure, isn't he?
 
stompandgo said:
I agree 1000%. I feel the same way about Juniors racing Elites as the dominant part of their schedule.

Sean Kelly is a treasure, isn't he?
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When he first started commentating he was always tongue-tied, he'd always been shy, guarded, not a great conversationalist, from a tiny farm and kept his thoughts to himself, known in Ireland as the man who "would nod on Radio". But over the years with Eurosport he's loosened up. And actually recently when the young GCN Youtube guys started on Eurosport he responded very well to their banter. He tends to speak his mind. And yes 19 is too young, give him some time.

Interesting question I'm hearing- because Seixas is pretty tall, so by age 23 will he fill out, get more bulky (I don't mean fat!)?
 
You can be tall, fill out, and still be lean. Look at Tarling. The guy is a beast. He can do everything except win a sprint.
 
Very impressed that the Paris Nice Stage 6 winner Harold Tejada managed to do so after a bike change only 15 12 km out.
 
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