El nene de 18 añitos nos ha salido rebelde 😅 Jarno Widar 🇧🇪 con pie y medio fuera del @lotto_dstny tras desavenencias en los últimos meses. Su entorno negocia con varias formaciones (Lidl-Trek, Bora, UAE y Alpecin), con Red Bull en cabeza. #LaVuelta24 hbvl.be/cnt/dmf2024083…
Top teams attempt to lure away the supertalent Jarno Widar from Lotto Dstny where he seems unhappy
CyclingSaturday, 31 August 2024 at 07:00
The 2005 class seems to be filled with extremely talented climbers and among them the youngest (but perhaps also most talented) is the little guy Jarno Widar.
The winner of Giro Next Gen entered the Tour de l'Avenir as an overwhelming favourite for victory, especially since main challenger AJ August seemed out of gas and lost a lot of time in the first mountain stage, while the other wonderkid Jørgen Nordhagen didn't even make an appearance with Norway opting not to send a team this year.
Things seemed to be in moving in the right direction despite not stage wins slipping through Widar's fingers as he sat second overall with two days left and the queen stage yet to come. However the attack of other favourites on the relatively "easy" stage passing Col du Mont-Cenis caught Widar off guard and the Belgian lost a lot of time after which completely collapsed on the very next day on the brutal Colle delle Finestre, losing 28 minutes.
After the race finished, the disappointed Widar made quite a statement at DirectVelo, accusing his team Lotto Dstny of messing up his season to the point that he collapsed at Avenir: "I've ridden too many races. I told the team two months ago that I'm riding too many races, but they didn't listen to me..."
Previously it had been taken for granted that Widar would connect his future with the Belgian formation for next years, making the step up to main team either in 2025 or 2026. But that future doesn't seem so certain anymore.
When there's a blood, there're sharks
Widar is one of the gems of the Belgian cycling and many teams would like to bet their future on the services of the 18-year-old talent who has previously matched Tadej Pogacar's record on La Redoute this spring. According to Het Belang van Limburg, there seem to be four teams ringing up Widar agent's phone.
Leading the hunt for Widar seems to be Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. The team has recently declared its intention to build a team that can win Tour de France, regardless of what it takes. And getting the talented climber, who very much resembles Tadej Pogacar, on board is definitely a step in the right direction.
Another teams in the contention seem to be Lidl-Trek, UAE Team Emirates (of course) and Alpecin-Deceuninck.
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- I think the other side has said plenty, given comments about her reputation like what Renz said above. Perhaps this is her chance to speak up against that reputation? I have no idea but her comments seem pretty human, even if each person has their own version of the story.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Give her a team built around her with no competing leaders, like Pogacar has at UAE or Vingegaard has at Visma (seeing how Roglic left), and I wonder how Vollering would do. She’s already so good, and a team dedicated to her could make her even better.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Those injuries, an ability to manage pain and push himself, probably a load of TUEs to help him get back from an awful moment, and competing that hard without the long exercise base that was the norm - no wonder he was exhausted. We’ve now had two consecutive seasons of the second place rider having an injury that interrupts training, and it shows to what level their bodies are tuned for the insane task of winning the Tour. I certainly hope both (and their teams!) are healthy next year. It would be a first, after 4 years.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Winners seem to be like this. Win or lose, it is always on to the next thing. They don’t celebrate the big win, they don’t worry about the painful loss. They move on. It’s an amazing skill. But to be able to ride (and win) while not being able to walk? That’s a level of pain management that boggles my mind. Of course they have it, given what they put their bodies through, but it’s just crazy.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Poor Demi. But she behaves the same way when riding for the national team. Bring me my tiny violin.Renz24-11-2024
- good pointsmij24-11-2024
- Yes, please tell us based on your superior expertise about why JVs training and race schedule is wrong 🧐Crashjames24-11-2024
- I'd like to hear what the other side has to say.mij24-11-2024
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