Martín Vidaurre joins Specialized and Jordan Sarrou and Sina Frei leave: 1 runner for the price of 2, it might seem like a loss but when it comes to Vidaurre, the stakes are high.
The Chilean boy (see his story here) is the most coveted athlete in the world cross country given his dominance among the U23s, even if at the World Cup the rainbow jerseyconquered our Simone Avondetto. In the World Cup he proved to have the times of the best Elite in his legs but be careful: the transition to the top category has its dynamics and we have often seen young talents get lost.
Mystery on Scott Sram's constant flattery to the Chilean athlete, with social post and travel together: that something is being planned? If Martin Vidaurre, as it seems, does not go to Scott, Frischknecht's team must run for cover and start thinking about a successor to Nino Schurter, even if it seems immortal.
JORDAN SARROU AND SINA FREI
Jordan Sarrou, after 2 good seasons but not up to par for a contract renewal, leaves Specialized and returns home to BMC, the team with which he had won the world championship in 2020.
The same goes for Sina Frei, with an opaque 2022 season also due to various health problems that did not allow him to shine as expected: but the big teams don't care, the results count. His destination is still unknown but he will not be left without a team: a team could be BMC, given the exit of Pauline Ferrand Prevot.
THE RETREATS OF GERHARD KERSCHBAUMER AND STEPHANE TEMPIER
As we wrote in recent days, two great MTB players will stop at the end of this season: namely Stephane Tempier (read the deepening) and Gerhard Kerschbaumer (read his post). Tempier frees up a heavy spot in Team Rockrider so let's expect a quality purchase from the French team.
PAULINE FERRAND PREVOT
The French athlete has proven to be an athlete with great class but who likes to be alone: surely racing in BMC with ex-partner Julien Absalon did not help, but Pauline has no problem managing herself both in the competitions and training.
His relationship with BMC MTB Racing has long been flawed and since the beginning of the season he has been racing with his staff as if he were a team by himself. Surely she will have received the flattery of Team Rockrider, an all-French team, but Pauline seems to be aiming for a team that makes her run as a luxury private athlete without further pressure and with freedom of choice of races and preparation (the name of the Ineos Grenadier).
HENRIQUE AVANCINI
Another name that did not shine this year is Henrique Avancini: we expected, from the Brazilian of Cannondale, a brilliant start to the season with the first stage of the World Cup in Brazil but instead he never managed to get it right.
Henrique Avancini joined the Cannondale Factory Racing team in 2015, after racing with the Caloi team, a brand belonging to the same corporate group as Cannondale. Avancini has improved year after year to become number 1 in the ranking in 2020, winning the world marathon in 2018, becoming a real symbol in South America. We'll see if the Brazilian star will opt for a team change to recover some of that motivation that seems lost.
AND THE ITALIANS?
The top Italian teams, Wilier and Santa Cruz, seem to have managed to keep their pupils close: let's think of Daniele Braidot and Simone Avondetto. But a name is turning in the environment, which could return to Italy: we are talking about Nadir Colledani, a very talented athlete who this year has achieved good placings but has missed the leap in quality, also due to various health problems. (including covid).
