Astana DS Giuseppe Martinelli has been in the sport for decades and has watched it develop in interesting ways. Whilst it was regular in the past to see some of the world's best riders 'gifting' or allowing rivals to take wins in exchange for a truce or alliance in stage-races, this no longer happens in a peloton where every victory matters.
“That cycling doesn’t exist anymore. These days in cycling, the strongest rider wins, and everybody accepts that," Martinelli said in words to Cyclingnews. "There’s no longer the strategy of somebody paying you back the following day and so on.” The likes of Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador were known to use those tactics to gather allies in the peloton that could come useful in future moments of their careers. In the modern peloton doing this would not grant the same response, and Martinelli believes the top riders also are not keen on using this tactic.
So much so because teams work hard for their leaders to win, and because nowadays we're having dominant figures such as Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel who can win on multiple terrains. Except for Vingegaard, the other three also pack a sprint strong enough to beat almost any climber in the peloton - something the best climbers in the world did not usually have in the past.
“In the past, people would have been saying, ‘What’s Pogačar doing up there risking everything in the sprint?’ but nowadays it’s not like that because the world of cycling has changed,” the Italian veteran argues. “I like this cycling, and I’m an old guy who’s been through everything and a bit more.”
💗✔️🇮🇹 | Day 11 #GirodItalia . It was a chaotic sprint finish saw @sebasmolano_ pick up 5th place, while @TamauPogi stays in pink. 🤕 @gro_felix was caught up in a late crash but was able to finish the stage. A full update will follow. #UAETeamEmirates #WeAreUAE #Giro
