u/jabalabeer

Geen plek meer bij Rockets voor Italiaanse allrounder: 'Meest verschrikkelijke scenario komt in me op' https://share.google/fRiP5Rb6bLxG1LDzM

Today the Rockets will race in the Flandrien 0.0 Classic. A Belgian 1.Pro race. The race starts at 12:45 and is expected to finish around 17:05.

Parcours

It's a bit of a classic parcours featuring a couple of steep (cobble) climbs. The final ~30km seem relatively easy based on the profile.

Competition

Many teams seem to think a classic type sprinter has the best chance to win today. Riders like Philipsen, De Lie, Girmay, Meeus, Bittner and Waerenskjold are all on the startlist. Quick-Step even brought Merlier.

Riders like Pithie, Vermeersch and Nys will try to avoid a (mass) sprint.

I think most teams will try to drop Merlier to improve chances for their own sprinter.

Rockets expectations

The Rockets brought their core classics team with Kubis and the Kopecky brothers. I think they'll want to avoid a sprint from a bigger group and there are a lot of faster sprinters from the competition. I'm hoping to see them join attack to try and get a result from a smaller group. In case of a sprint from a bigger group, a top 10 for Kubis could still be possible of course.

Looking forward to the race and with a great day, the 6500 UCI-points target could already be achieved today!

Today 'Het kampioenschap van Vlaanderen'.

The Rockets are bringing a strong sprint train, close to the teams they used when Dylan won his races in Belgium earlier this year. But with Merlier en Philipsen competition is very strong.

A long preview isn't neccessary in this case, as the race will most likely end up in a sprint. Curious to see how Dylan can perform after his crash!

Tomorrow another Italian one day race for the Rockets. This time 1.Pro race Coppa Sabatini. Compared to Giro della Toscana this parcours is more suited for the puncheur type riders.

Competition

Once, again, competition is very strong. In this race, I think the favourites are:

- Martinez / Mohoric (Bahrain)

- Gregoire (FDJ)

- Powless (EF)

- Pellizzari (Red Bull)

- Scaroni (Astana)

- Christen / Cosnefroy (UAE)

Rockets expectations

Compared to yesterday's race, I think the Rockets have slightly more chance to get a good result, but it will once again be very difficult as the competition is strong. The parcours could suit Venturini quite well, but I think shorter climbs would be better for him (final climbs are ~1.5km). A top 10 would be a great result in this field in my opinion. Let's see what they can do!

Tomorrow the Rockets will race in Giro della Toscana, an Italian 1.1 race. The profile suggests that it will be a race for the climbers.

Competition

For a 1.1 race the competition is very strong. In my opinion the favourites are:

- Christen (UAE)

- Martinez & Tiberi (Bahrain)

- Rubio (Movistar)

- Hindley, Pellizzari, Lipowitz & Martinez (Red Bull)

- O'Connor (Jayco)

- Rondel & Storer (Tudor)

Rockets expectations

Based on the selection, I think Red Bull will make the race hard and only the best climbers will have a chance for victory. If Poels reaches his Giro shape, he could get a top 10, but honestly I think it will be a difficult race for the Rockets. Hopefully I'm wrong!

Tomorrow the Rockets will race in the Bretagne Classic. The race will start at 11:45 and is expected to finish between 16:46 and 17:14.

Competition

It's a World Tour race, so of course the competition is very strong. The question is whether the race will end in a sprint (of a reduced peloton) or with a succesfull attack.

In case of a sprint, Philipsen and Magnier are the favourites in my opinion. In case of an attack, there's no clear favourite in my opinion.

Rockets

The Rockets are bringing a strong team, a combination of their usual 'classics' team (with Kubis & the Kopecky's) and their 'French hills' team (with Venturini and Loockx). I expect the Rockets to try and join attacks and just see who can survive in the peloton. In case of a sprint they have multiple options with Kubis, Matyas Kopecky or even Venturini.

Venturini has finished 16th and 9th in this race in the last two years. For the other Rockets, it's their first time riding this race.

I think the race can be a nice opportunity for a good result in a WT race, looking forward to seeing what the Rockets can achieve!

It's been roughly 10 months since creating this sub, it's exciting to see more and more people joining in!

I created this sub because I wanted a place to share my enthiousiasm for the Rockets with other fans. In the last couple of months I really feel that the Reddit community has turned into that place.

Thanks to everyone for contributing to this community. Let's keep this an awesome place where everyone feels welcome to share and connect!

And of course, enjoy the final months of this already awesome 2026 Rockets season

This week the Rockets are racing in TPC en Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The first two stages ended in sprints with Feldmann finishing 5th in stage 1 and Auge finishing 4th in stage 2.

In stages 3 & 4 the GC will be decided.

- Stage 3 is a 28km flat time trial

- Stage 4 features a local parcours with some small climbs

Personally, I expect the GC to be decided in the TT. On 28km significant gaps can be made. Even though stage 4 features some hills, on paper it doesn't look challenging enough to create large GC gaps.

Competition:

Looking from strong TT riders at the competition, the following riders catch my attention:

- Cavagna & Decomble (FDJ)

- Guernalec (TotalEnergies)

- Van der Tuuk (Euskaltel)

My knowlegde of this starting field is somewhat limited, so apologies if I've missed someone.

Cavagna is probably the strongest TT riders in the race, but lost 37 seconds in stage 2. Therefore he has some catching up to do.

Rockets:

The Rockets brought 2 strong TT riders: Larsen & Mouris. Based on results in the past, I would consider Larsen a favourite for this race with Cavagna. Mouris could go for a top 5 / top 10 hopefully.

The current TT shape of Larsen and Mouris is a bit hard to estimate. The both had really strong TT performances in Besseges. Larsen was decent in the Giro, but in the recent National Championships they disappointed a bit.

If in top shape, I expect Larsen to compete with Cavagna for victory. With the current 37 second GC benefit, Larsen has an advantage in GC. Excited to see the results tomorrow!

What are your expectations?

Tomorrow, besides Arctic Race of Norway and ADAC Classics, the Rockets will race on La Polynormande and typical 'Coupe the France' 1.1 race. The races starts at 12:!5 and is expected to finish between 17:05 and 17:30.

Parcours:

Looking at the profile, the race looks 'punchy', but when taking a closer look, the gradient percentages are quite low and in recent years, sprinters have been able to get some good results as well. Because the final meters are uphill, 'puncheur/sprinter' types (by that i mean riders like Lapeira and Venturini) could do well.

Competition:

Decathlon, FDJ and Lotto-Intermarche are the only World Tour teams present on the startlist. Other proteams are Cofidis, TotalEnergies, Equipo Kern Pharma and Polti. Rest of the field is filled with Conti teams including Visma development team.

Race favourites:

- Lapeira / Isidore (Decathlon)

- Gaudu (FDJ)

- Aranburu (Cofidis)

- Dujardin (TotalEnergies)

Also I think from the smaller teams Hardouin (Van Rysel Roubaix) and Kerckhaert (Beat) could do well.

Rockets expectation:

Venturini finshed 5th in this race in both 2022 and 2023. I think the race will be difficult to win for him as he probably lacks some pure speed vs riders like Lapeira and Aranburu. However, I think this is the type of race where he could get a top 5 again. As usual in these French races, I expect Venturini to be the leader for the Rockets with Loockx as a second leader.