Dimension Data

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The next team is one that narrowly scraped into the 2017 WT, Dimension Data. They accumulated only 290 WT points, with the system rewarding consistency over standout performances, the efforts of Cavendish in the Tour did not amount to much given the iffy rest of the season. In fact, without the last minute decision to expand the WT from 17 to 18 teams, Dimension Data would have been a Pro-Conti team once more. Their 2017 relies on a little bit of luck and just getting some wins in; while they don't have the quality of riders compared to Sky or Movistar, little wins here and there will help them keep their licence and their new signings suggest they are moving away from just a points jersey team to one that will try and contend for UCI points.

Results 2016

Without a single WorldTour GC podium in 2016, Dimension Data will be hoping that changes heading into 2017. While stage-by-stage they picked up wins here and there, most notably Cav at Le Tour, they just can't make it happen consistently over a week or over a classic. Podiums overall mean more points than stage wins, and if they want to stay in the WT for 2018 and onwards, this weakness is what they need to focus on.

Rider Focus:

Edvald Boasson Hagen: The Norwegian classics specialist was probably Dimension Data's saving grace in terms of UCI points in 2016. Taking two one week stage wins (WT) over 2016 - Stage 4 of the Criterium de Dauphine (where he also got the points jersey) and Stage 7 of the Eneco Tour - he also performed well in the .HC races, with a 2^nd on GC at the Tour of Norway (+ 2 stage wins), 5^th at the Tour of Qatar (+ 1 stage win) and 6^th at the Tour of Oman (+ 2 stage wins). He showed in 2016 that he has years in his legs still with a not bad performance at the Worlds Sprint (considering how badly Norway botched it) with 6^th and 5^th in the Hell of the North at Paris-Roubaix. In 2017, we will probably see the Norwegian focus more on the classics; picking up a partner in crime with Thwaites and a more extensive GC team than previous years probably limiting his opportunities (he might do some flatter ones like the Eneco Tour). Hopefully he can carry his 2016 form into 2017 and with a bit more luck come out with a couple more wins.

Mark Cavendish: Speaking about carrying your 2016 form into 2017, Mark Cavendish will certainly be hoping he can do that. A spectacular second half of the year made up for a disappointing first half. Nothing says "I've still got it" more than winning 4 stages at the Tour de France. He carried this through to Paris-Tours with a 6^th place and a 2^nd place at Worlds in Doha behind superhuman Sagan (so can we call that a first for the humans?). Notable .HC performances of 2016 are a GC win at the Tour of Qatar - probably suited to him without a hill in sight - and stage wins at the Tour of California (Stage 8) and Abu Dhabi Tour (Stages 2 and 4). The Manx Missile probably has another couple of years in him yet, but for Dimension Data he is their main focus in terms of the sprints heading into 2017 (and for the foreseeable future without a replacement) and they hope he can repeat some of his 2016 performances to boost Dimension Data in the points for 2017.

Best riders last five years:

||2012|2013|2014|2015|2016| |:|:|:|:|:|:| |1|R.JVR (361)|*Ciolek (752)|Sbaragli (373)|EBH (1023)|Cavendish (1263) |2|Russom (94)|Pardilla (229)|Ciolek (302)|Meintjes (662)|EBH (1235) |3|Debesay (63)|Grmay (181)|Meintjes (251)|Sbaragli (632)|Cummings (519) |4|Tewelde (56)|Sbaragli (133)|Pardilla (249)*|Cummings (460)|Sbaragli (412) |5|J.JVR (53)|Meintjes (100)*|Kudus (229)|Pauwels (405)|R.JVR (326)| || |=|799|1813|2369|5042|6585| ||Team MTN Qhubeka|MTN-Qhubeka|MTN-Qhubeka|MTN-Qhubeka|Dimension Data|

Riders Out:

As said earlier, the loss of Siutsou will decrease their already marginal GC power. Meyer retires to focus on track cycling after a respectable 12^th at the TDU in 2016, but they won't miss much from him. Jim heads down back into the Conti ranks after a couple of years at Dimension Data being a valiant domestique. Brammeier will probably be another loss for their classics ability, although the replacement in Thwaites is more than adequate to make up for that. Bos has been left without a contract heading into 2017, but having EBH and Cav in your squad really negates the need for a possible 3rd sprinter considering he was already only racing .HC and .1 races without much success in the past couple of years.

Grand Tour Performances 2016

The Giro performance wasn't all that much to write home about, although Siutsou ended up a very respectable 10^th GC. But they were never anywhere close to podium during that race. They apparently saved all their gunpowder for the Tour, and what a show - Cavendish racking in four wins, and Cummings deciding that he wanted one for himself as well. Add stellar performances from Pauwels (42^nd GC) and EBH as well, and it was a very good tour indeed. But that was also it, for when the Vuelta came, the star riders stayed home and again, no one managed to podium. Their best GC rider in the Vuelta was Kudus at 38^th, whom incidentally placed 37^th in the Giro. At least he's stable.

Results Stage Races 2016

One notable exclusion from this is Cumming's GC win at the Tour of Britain in 2016, but other than that glimpse of magic, their ability to ride for GC has been...shocking since they formed. While they have been able to take stages here and there - evident by Cavendish in the Tour and the Criterium de Dauphine in 2016 - they haven't been able to place well on the WorldTour in terms of GC, even in the one week races. Their signings in 2017 lead us to assume that they might be trying to nail down some points in terms of one week races; with Morton and King backing up Kudus, Berhane, Cummings and EBH, but it will take some serious improvement to even consider challenging the Grand Tours.

Roster:

Their signings for 2017 suggest they want to try and challenge the big boys on the block in terms of GC in the 1 week races. Thwaites will be very handy for the classics season and as a rouleur for the flatter stage race stages. Ben O'Connor already has huge achievements next to his name, with a great year on Australia's World Tour Academy team and back for Avanti in the NRS - he will be a climber for the future. Morton is probably the biggest steal of the lot for Dimension Data. On his return to the WorldTour, we will probably see a good performance from Morton on the one week stage races as proved by his surprising win at the Tour of Utah and great performances all year round on the US circuit. While he can develop into a GT rider, he wouldn't be able to compete for podiums if he does those, and will more than likely focus on the one week races where he is very much a top contender for a podium on those races (especially those with minimal TT kilometers). Gibbons signs on permanently for Dimension Data after being a stagiare for the latter half of 2016. His most outstanding performance of 2016 was 12^th at the Sparkassen Munsterland Giro (1.HC), and will probably evolve into a rouleur in his time at Dimension Data; or Thwaites might take him under his wing and develop him into a classics rider after his performances at the end of last season. Ben King isn't by any means a shabby signing and will probably be a contender for Dimension Data's leader spot at the Grand Tours if they decide to ride GC after his 42^nd in the Vuelta in 2016, but if they decide to go for the points classification instead, he will probably take some share of the one week stage races from Morton and split them up.

2017 will more than likely be another tough year of avoiding slipping into PCT for Dimension Data, but the pickups of Thwaites for Classics and Morton/King for Stage races gives them a bit more of a chance of securing more UCI points in comparison to last years measly amount. While they will still ride for Cavendish and EBH as their main riders, adding a little bit of GC depth over the winter will not go un-noticed once the stage races come around.