Originally Posted by
USAZorro
The story is great, and I do like MVDP. On the flip side, it seems to me that they got away with a LOT of unsavory tactics in the Tour (yes, I think Phillipsen is an ass), and I've seen some of the same over-aggressiveness manifest in la Vuelta. I'm fine with holding your spot and craftily slotting into a tight opening in a sprint, but muscling other riders into bad spots and closing competitors off into the barriers reeks of poor sportsmanship. What Alpecin did in the Tour was, imo, very much worse than what Sagan got DQ'd for when Cav tried to squeeze past him. Sagan reflexively raised his elbow to maintain his own position, whereas Alpecin appeared to knowingly and deliberately pull off into the line of competitors to cause them to hit the brakes, and Phillipsen used the excuse of following lines on the road rather than the direction of the barriers to cut others off from challenging, pulled directly in front of a rider during an intermediate sprint...AND then, whilst being unassailably ahead in points, had the audacity to whine when riders on other teams wouldn't help him pull back breakaways. I haven't seen Groves do anything wrong himself, but I've observed his leadouts knocking other teams out of position in the final 5k. Makes it really hard to like them.
The sprint game is physical and ruthless. It always has been. In my experience as a sprinter, you really don't have time to think about the ramifications and ripples of your every movement like a chess game. You just react to the situation, and the hunger to get to the line first sometimes becomes desperation. That was in Cat 3s and masters. I can't imagine the speed at which it all happens for the pros. All that said, my opinion about the team is not based on Philipsen as heavily as it seems to be for you. I'm a fan of VDP from his wide-ranging talent, as well as Gaze, Pieterse, and Alvarado from CX and MTB. Yes, Philipsen seems like a bit of a whiner. I remember feeling that way about Cavendish, too. With both, the speed and ability to find the line is/was undeniable.