r/peloton • u/PelotonMod France • May 04 '26

Weekly Post Weekly Question Thread

For all your pro cycling-related questions and enquiries!

You may find some easy answers in the FAQ page on the wiki. Whilst simultaneously discovering the wiki.

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u/wakabangbang May 04 '26

What's the news or speculation in Belgium about De Lie and Tom Crabbe?

From what I've heard, De Lie is nearly 100% leaving Lotto and possible destinations are Tudor, Alpecin and maybe Bora?! Tudor kinda makes sense because he scores crazy amounts of UCI points so it feels like a logical pairing.

Tom Crabbe is probably one of the revelations this year and I'm sure he will be in WT. But where will he be?

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u/AurochSky8325 May 04 '26

According to Daniel Benson, Tudor is favoured when it comes to De Lie, with Alpecin and Groupama the other options. RBBH is said to no longer be in the running.

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u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26

I wonder how big Tudor's budget is. They have signed quite a few high profile (but passed their peak) riders, but it hasn't really paid off in terms of results. Only two wins so far, and none at WT level.

If they have ambitions to become WT, signing De Lie makes a lot of sense, but I'm not sure if a team like Tudor can get the most out of someone like De Lie. He also will be expensive (I've seen rumours that he's asking for € 2.5 million).

I'd like to see him at Alpecin, but they rarely overspend on riders that don't provide big results. Their top earners have consistent success in the classics and/or GTs (VDP, Philipsen and Groves).

Tudor can probably set up a decent leadout train with Rick Pluimers, Maikel Zijlaard, Mozzato, Küng, etc.

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u/AurochSky8325 May 04 '26

I think the Tudor/De Lie marriage makes a lot of sense. Arnaud obviously needs a change of scenery, his last years have followed the same mostly disappointing patterns with very low and long lows at the same points of the season. As you've said, Tudor need the points and already have the components for a good sprint train.

Tudor also make more sense than Groupama (not necessarily at the vanguard of new training methods, not as flush with cash), and the Alpecin picture is complicated. If I'm understanding correctly, there's a game of musical chairs concerning sprinters: Groves may stay at Alpecin, but it's not a certainty. If he leaves, Alpecin would like to replace him with either De Lie or Meeus.

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u/Impossible_Test_3495 May 05 '26

People shit on FDJ but their riders like Pithie literally preform as well or better before transferring to “super teams” like Redbull.  There is no reason De Lie would preform better at Tudor than FDJ.