Timmste

I believe he’s a once in a lifetime talent, and should be appreciated whilst he’s here. Yes, he’s probably going to win, but I think his presence should make the race behind him more intriguing. What strategy will Netcompany Ineos , NL Postal, Red Bull et al use, will we see a combine between team? It would be great to see other teams taking the race to UAE, rather than letting them do what they like. Anyway, whatever happens, it’ll still be entertaining with what are usually challenging Steve’s and unpredictable weather.

I believe we should just enjoy the spectacle! The peloton will change, Tadej will get older, his abilities decline but he is a special talent. The rest of his team are excellent talents in their own right, but then, so is every other WT cyclist. Without Tadej, would the team still be so dominant? Probably not!

Reducing teams to six riders for a race of 2 or 3 weeks would put too much pressure on the domestiques. Even with the modern training methods, recovery protocols and nutrition riders would struggle. Even though they don’t race the huge 250 plus km stages of the past, there are still plenty where they ride 200 - 230km often with over 4000m of elevation. The teams that would cope with less riders are those with the biggest budgets who could afford to fill a team with the best GC riders. Small, less well off teams may struggle to compete. Why not introduce a rule where teams with a large budget, say over $25m, eg; UAE, RedBull, Net Company Ineos, Bahrain Victorious have to compete with 6 riders and the smallest teams, FDJ, Cofidis, any wild card team have a full 8 man squad? Just a thought?

There should be a salary cap, but who’s going to want to accept a pay cut? Plus, there are so many fiscal loopholes, how can you legislate or monitor any payments?