In the podcast In de Waaier, Zonneveld discusses Vine’s performance and what he expects from UAE Team Emirates-XRG as a whole. “Shut up,” says Zonneveld. Last season, UAE Team Emirates-XRG won no less than 97 times. Can they surpass that number by 2026?
The Tour de France selection is not the strongest possible
Sun field is bright. “It could certainly be worse than last year. Why not? It depends a bit on what they are focusing on. Are they really going to aim for that number of a hundred wins? They seem to be spreading it out even more, because if you look at the Tour de France selection, it is not the strongest selection. Yes, I fear it a bit.”
In France, Tadej Pogacar and Isaac del Toro, among others, are riding. “But João Almeida, for example, is not in the Tour de France selection, because they also want the Giro d’Italia selection to be very strong.”
‘Wasn’t about anything Vine did’
For the time being, UAE Team Emirates-XRG has two victories. The Australian time trial championship and therefore the stage in the Tour Down Under. Both by Vine. “If you saw how fast both Vine and Narváez were going on Corkscrew Road… Vine shattered the record. I think he was doing 7.8 watts per kilogram in about seven minutes. That made no sense. Narváez was whining in the wheel.”
“I must say that the Tour Down Under is not always the best predictor for the rest of the season. Strange things happen there. Welsford wins sprints there. He won thirteen times in his career, including seven times in the Tour Down Under.”
Related reading
