So, here we go, here is the topic about the riders to watch in 2021. They will be classed field by field and within every fields, there will be a distinction between riders bought in 2021 ( so currently, until 23 years old) and others.
NB : i'll not talk about the farmer teams.
Climbers
2021's generation
1. Djevat Trkman (L RSV) 83-55-74-56-46 (23)
Currently, the guy to watch among the climbers. Started at 73 so it's a +10 out of 11. He'll be clearly the future leader for GT or climber tours in the RSV line-up. A nice tt stat, very high reg (63) , good secondary skills. Only lack of sprint but if he has a very nice training, he will not need of this.
He has a good helper with Ernesto Arboleda and young classics who will be around.
2. Damian Harris (Team Seven Down) 83-59-76-51-56 (23)
A better training than RSV's boy (started at 72) , better secondary skills but why number 2? IMO he has less potential to be a GT winner or climber tours with a TT. But they are very close . He has 2 helpers who are already in to help him (27 and 28 y.old). Good reg too , but probably more stage hunter than a gk boy. But let's see.
Honourable mentions to Felipe Vizcaino (Los Galacticos) who is currently to 75-58-71-53-57 (21) even if we don't know if he'll be train as a climber or a 80-70 ; Simon Dolberg (83-60-71-48-51) from Bonebreakers is nice too but lack of helpers atm. Max Allenstein 78-56-70-60-55 for Mapei (22 y.old) is another prospect to follow.
Seniors
1. Tim Eiffel 84-64-78-62-55 (Big Donkey)
Strong helpers (Apicella as a 87hill + 1 classic + good TT skills into the team), a manager who knows to ride GTs ...
Eiffel has the top skills and the environment to do something great. He can follow almost all classic attacks, he will gain a lot of time during TT (and TTT), not lose that much on steep hills.. a big contender for GTS.
2. Luca Demarchi 87-57-74-52-54 (Los Galacticos)
Only 25 yold, already at 87, a manager who knows how to handle this kind of riders. Already won 6 times and a tour. He'll have Felipe as a mountain captain and two young classics. Will turn 27 for Giro, 29 for TDF and 31 for Vuelta. Perfect.
3. Toni Decker 88-53-76-55-52 (26) (Fau Cycling)
High skilled rider, good TT skills, good reg, good downhill stat and a strong helper with Sam Brand (83-69-60tt). Why not number 1? Because the team.around him/them is not good for hills. In 48 races, not a single line of his palmarès. Weird. Not so much considering having Brand on the same team.
Honorable mentions : Dustin Cooper (87-59-77-51-56) from Kreatief (26 y.old) / Rodrigo Castresana (87-56-67-52-44) 26 yold too from Mapei/ Jochen Metzing 88-51-78-48-44 from Hansa (26 too). / Sam Wanamaker 85-60-79-61-51 from Schartner Bombe (32) maybe too old for the 2 last gt.
80-70
2021's generation
Pierre Bucheron (lesossies) 76-63-68-54-50 (22). I guess it's the only guy from 2021 in this field (maybe Felipe from LG but not sure)
Seniors
1. Sam Brand (Fau Cycling) 83-69-78-60-53 (28)
As I said earlier, this rider has some potential in this category. Already won UAE, 2nd in PN 2021. With a better team, could have been a gk contender for GTs.
2. Nelson Ondoa 84-72-71-50-55 (lesossies) (28)
His performance at Tirreno was very good, finishing p2 after 2 wins on middle.mountain stages, won the green jersey (his second in his entire career). A very good team around with top classics. Depend on what leso will do for the 2021 season, he could be a surprise for some stage wins on GTS. Not as a gk contender because low reg and no tt, but surely a top 6-8 rider.
3. Kaede Rukawa 79-74-65-50-58 (26) (Pokemonogatari)
Surely will have the helper role for Beauvue but Kaede showed his regularity in training..at least for the flat. A good stage hunter when he'll be allowed to win on his own or a good launcher for Beauvue (61spr). Winner of the Strade Bianche 2021. Still 26 y.old, he still could improve.
Honorable mentions : Jegor Schastin 80-70-72-51-55 (29) from Freudenfeuer, currently the leader of this team / Ewen Waaktaar 79-70-72-50-59 (29), co leader from Schartner Bombe
Hübers
2021's generation
1. Gerd Anton 75-53-78-77-54 (23) from Bahrain-Merida
Stage winner at PN, 2nd place in GK, this is a good start for Anton. He has a team.around ( 2* 24 yold) + Wilhelm Klink (73-78 26 yold). The manager begins to have experience in (Grand) tours, so it could be a nice cocktail for Anton.
Honourable mentions : Taavi Tamm 71-56-77-70-58 21 y.old from Gude Laune ; Alexandre Balmer 70-56-74-70-51 21 y.old from Rasmussen
Seniors
1. Thierry Beauvue 80-58-77-71-61 27 y.old from Pokemonogatari
Already 4 tours in the bag (among us :UAE and PN) , having two (and maybe three) great helpers , a manager who has nothing to prove, he can sprint, he can take time on TT, he can do some solos in downhill and he has reg. I don't see any other guys right now to contest a tour in normal conditions.
Honourable mentions : hmm only Carlo Sweeck 76-62-75-74-56 28 y.old from Berliner Bären RC.
Leupold
2021's generation
1. Franz Schwackhöfer : 63-71-74-83-61 22 y.old from E.. euh Alive and Dead.
A typical RFM-rider
... but not from my team. Starting at 56-71-74-77-61. A very nice training, his TT is just superb , he has some flat, some sprint to even be a stage hunter, enough reg for mid-distance TT... surely the new Cohen. Let's hope at least 71 or 72 hill and it could grab a lot of tours. Still nothing at his palmares but it'll not last long. He has two helpers as Jacob Wolfowitz (67-80-76-46-55 24 y.old) and Arthur Rinderknech (68-82-75-69-47 25 y.old). Maybe one more in the future could help. 2. Casper vanKarelsberg 65-72-73-82-52 from Nopikouze (23 y.old)
A good prospect from Nopikouze. Now, let's hope another good helpers. 67-79-71 as the only helper currently. But Nopik is an old guy, able to do some surprises.
Seniors
1. Yehonatan Cohen 75-73-57-82-58 28 y.old from RS Coesitz
A over-powered leupold from Coesitz? An habit !
Surely a big prospect for the on season of 2021. 0 problems for the team around, neither for the manager who knows how to handle this kind of guys. We could even think about a very good performance in GT this year... maybe a 80-70 or a "low" climber could help and replace Anton who turns 32. Already 5 tours in the bag (Tirreno among these ones), 4 stage wins, 1 green jersey , 1 white. Will be hard for others to compete and even a guy like Beauvue could have troubles.
Time Trial
Seniors
1. Richard Muir : 52-65-77-88-58 24 y.old Falkenbier
Only a single win in his palmares, often unlucky but Muir has time to score in every single TT tours right now. He has downhill, good sprint points to take some seconds.
2. Kimbo Slice 53-75-50-88-58-35 reg from SV Furpach 26 y.old
A clone of Richard, without downhill. Same amount of wins as Richard. Nothing to add.
Honourable mentions for Paavo Hikipäa : 49-73-70-84-51 22y.old
Sprinteurs
2021's generation
1. Boudewjin Snel : 48-57-64-51-90 23 y.old from CircleCycle
He won 5 times in 23 races. 2 wins in Tirreno + the green jersey there. He has a decent train for the afternoon edition and a manager who knows how to sprint. The future seems nice for the NL guy.
2. Connor McCormick : 49-62-48-57-90 23 y.old from Nopikouze
He only scored twice in Provence, grabbing the green jersey there. His downhill is a bit low but his high skilled cobbles (66.8) could be a key point to do some differences in light cobbles races. Connor will have a team around him especially in sprints. There will be some problems : the lack of flat on his entire team
/ maybe he'll be skipped if Casper is the real leader on tours.Honourable mentions : Wim Platvoet 49-61-67-56-88 22 y.old from Trekken.
Seniors
1. Yehoshua Levy : 50-59-63-50-94 28 y.old from RS Coesitz.
11 wins, but strong skills. Coe is driving him. Good cocktail. For me this is the number 1.
Honourable mentions : Jakob Hofmann 49-60-55-48-93 from Ansach.
Classics
2021's generation
1. Ville Vikkolainen 63-80-70-49-65 from L RSV 22 y.old
This guy has all the abilities to be the next big thing among the classic riders. Ok, more dowhill could be better but he has Lopinen (62-77-79-49-45) 79.7 cobbles, he could even fight for cobble races, for a good shot in spring classics ..And the entire 2021.
2. Taison Souza 66-78-67-61-61 from LG. 23 y.old
Gala has some very good potential among his team as mentioned before. Taison is one of them. He has good overall skills, even cobbles (75.9). His big weakness will be reg, especially if he has to assume the leadership in some races. But this is his only weakness.
Seniors
1. Emidio Tavares 73-79-70-49-64 26 y.old from Team Phoenix : big cobbles skills , a team around.. pff. Too good
6 wins.2. Bernard Causse 73-76-72-55-67 27 y.old Idefix : 4 wins, winner of 2 weeks-tour MIT. A good pave skill (75.7) and strong helpers around.
3. Philipp Hofbauer 71-81-75-54-57 24 y.old TMA : young gun. Complete guy.
Honourable mentions : Alessandro Castroviejo 70-84-64-58-56 25 y.old from Sport / Mahaboob Alam 70-78-73-61-63 from Furpach (78.3 cobbles)
Cobbles
2021's generation
1. Alvars Jaunzems 59-82-53-52-57-82 cobbles from Tukhtahuaev 23 y.old
2. Thijs vantWout 50-81-78-55-52 81.3 cobbles from Gipfel 22 y.old
Honourable mentions : Servulo Gutierrez : 56-81-63-48-50 80.1 cobbles from Alk
Seniors
1. Peter Post : 50-85-53-52-71-82 cobbles (25y.old) from Motor Trachenberge
2. Clara Feydeau 57-86-51-50-53 84.2 cobbles (26 y.old) from idéfix
3. Tyler Medaglia : 60-89-79-51-47 84.5 cobbles (30 y.old) from Bearclaw
4. Sander Kuusk : 50-86-73-50-60 83.3 cobbles (31 y.old) from Falkenbier
5. Jay Blankenau : 48-85-50-50-72 82 cobbles (31 y.old) from Team FL
Seniors cobbles are special to choose.. considering that they have their highlights in march/april.
Let's give us our opinions about these riders or maybe some that i forgot. You could submit other riders if you want too, let's debate
Have a nice night !
