La question of points is gaining more and more weight. It now visibly influences the progress of the races. Tactics, lineups... a real final rush is underway. At the end of this season, the three-year period that will determine who stays in the WorldTour and who doesn't will expire.
Most teams are safe, but there are the last 5-6 in the standings and the last two in particular who are having a really hard time. They risk losing a license that was paid for at the time and which, after the latest reform (made in 2019, effective from 2020), has transformed into a status that is obtained on merit: the ranking, precisely.
Knife between the teeth
From a sporting perspective, it would be fair, but there are two “buts” which should not be underestimated.
First, this ranking also includes non-WorldTour teams, which, by regulation, have an advantage when it comes to managing calendar constraints and the resulting lineups to field.
Two: the arrival of Covid was an earthquake that shuffled the cards and ruined many plans.
We were talking about the tactical progress. John Ellena he told us that at the Tour du Limousin he saw a Tour-style Movistar in terms of the team lined up, the resources, the staff and the competitive spirit in tackling the race. Philip Conca, of Lotto Soudal (one of the teams at risk), who is not among the top ten riders of the team and therefore does not "bring points", he already knows that he will be forced to be a gregarious almost always. He will have to work for those ten teammates who instead contribute to the team's cause. And like him, many other athletes.
Damiani: it's a hunt for points
«Unfortunately – he says Roberto Damiani sports director of the Cofidis – we must be realistic and I say that Conca is right.UCI It's created this rift that's devastating for teams and especially hurts young riders. When their level isn't top-notch, they can't compete. And if top teams are competing, they're forced to work even harder to avoid winning.
«We too found ourselves shooting to score points or to prevent the others from winning. A team marking that certainly cuts into the spectacle."
Damiani recalls the situation that arose during the Italian Cup. Basically, the race was about getting more athletes to the top, rather than just one person winning. A fifth- and seventh-place finish earned more points than a victory.
«Today there are 13-14 teams that are all in all calm, then it's a total brawl. All it takes is one bad week of racing and you find yourself in the thick of the relegation battle.
"Not only did Movistar race like this at the Limousin," Damiani commented, "but we also raced like this at the Arctic Race. Of course: you're forced to. We raced with our teeth in our teeth: we won two stages, wore a jersey, put two riders in the top five, and got 250 points, a breath of fresh air.
«We found ourselves in this situation due to a terrible 2020 due to Covid. A 2021 that was affected but fair, and a 2022 I'd say good. Now, having the triple activity, the team started again with three (or four) athletes from the top ten bringing points in each race and all the others pulling for them. Not only that, but we found ourselves participating or requesting to participate in races that once we would not even have considered."
Israel in the storm
The one who closes the WorldTour rankings and at this moment would be outside the "fab 18" is the Israel Premier TechThe team has in Claudio Cozzi one of its most experienced sporting directors. And he too echoes Roberto Damiani's words almost exactly.
«The situation – says Cozzi – is like this for almost everyone. I'm not saying we're under stress, but from June to September we found ourselves doing a lot of running. We didn't think we'd have to run these races. This is the situation, and everyone is trying to bring water to their own garden... otherwise the fruit won't grow."
And the fruits are called WorldTour. Cozzi strongly points the finger at 2020 and the advent of Covid. He's the one who messed things up the most, mixing things up so much that he ruined much of the planning. This wasn't taken into consideration.
"And even this season," says Cozzi, "Covid has made itself felt. We had to give up the Tour of Flanders because we didn't have enough riders. But do you realize? Flanders…
«Movistar also collapsed. Before, he was almost supported by Valverde's points alone, now he is at risk with usIt's a real mess. And the point allocation issue must also change. It can't be that... many teams that were at the Giro collected less than teams that were not there and that since they were not obliged to participate, they were able to choose where to run."
The reference is to the case Arkea-Samsic, Of which we spoke in June.
What Damiani says is true. Often, you race to avoid letting others score points, rather than to win. There are no restrictions on the number of races, and you can try to compete on multiple fronts. Which, in theory, is advantageous. But even doing triple (or quadruple, ed.) activities isn't easy. It's expensive from every point of view and even having all the riders you can't get there with the staff and logistics. It's an important commitment.
«For the teams, you try to send the man or two most appropriate for the given race and you put a series of domestiques in their place. You can't do anything else. And even in this case… I think all athletes should get points and more riders should be allowed to participate in races, at least stage races. Especially with Covid. This year, for example, at the Giro after less than a week we were left with five riders. How do you play as a team?
Movistar: Unzue speaks
While Damiani's Cofidis has recovered somewhat and is now in 15th place, Israel-Premier Tech is in troubled waters. The team is currently in 20th place, so it's out. And Movistar, 18th, is hanging by a thread. The philosophy of the team of Eusebio Unzue it has always been to do well in the Grand Tours, but it has been seen that it is the small one-day races that pay off: the 1.1 and the 1.Pro.
But after a poor Giro and Tour, this Vuelta becomes more than a lifeline: it's life.
"This points system," Unzue told L'Equipe, "was created with good intentions. But it doesn't work. I think we have to race to ensure the show and It doesn't seem logical to me how they're racing now. Now they're chasing UCI points to stay in the WorldTour.».
Even on the day of Aranburu's victory in Limousin, the Spanish team placed three in the top six: first, fifth and sixth, at risk of missing out on the main sprint.
The team, perhaps for the first time or at least after a very long time, will take part in the Tour of Langkawi, the important race in Malaysia, light years away from the cycling philosophy of the Spanish manager and his team.
But Movistar, like the other teams at risk, has no choice. Losing the WorldTour means losing certainty about the future, struggling to find sponsors, and the possibility that some rider contracts could expire because they've signed for a team whose status no longer exists. In short, a hot potato, to say the least.
So if we were to see, even in this Vuelta, unclear tactics and apparently senseless race patterns, perhaps the explanation could be found in the points war.
