{"id":498333,"date":"2026-02-25T10:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/498333\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T10:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:15:08","slug":"joaquim-rodriguez-sees-positive-change-in-uaes-internal-dynamics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/498333\/","title":{"rendered":"Joaquim Rodr\u00edguez sees positive change in UAE\u2019s internal dynamics"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nRegarding the Mexican rider, Joaquim Rodr\u00edguez<\/a> made clear that he sees enormous ability: \u201cFor me, Del Toro is a super rider,\u201d although he acknowledged that the context is not simple: \u201cEven if they give you a parallel calendar, so to speak, you\u2019re always going to be the second leader. At the Tour, because at the Tour it\u2019s him who goes.\u201dDel Toro\u2019s attitude compared to Ayuso<\/p>\n

Even so, he drew a distinction with other cases inside the team and praised Del Toro\u2019s attitude: \u201cWhen Del Toro has had to work, he has worked without any problems \u2013 something Ayuso hasn\u2019t done.\u201d<\/p>\n

He even opened the door to the idea that the structure could sustain two leaders: \u201cI think it\u2019s not unreasonable for UAE to have two leaders,\u201d although he admitted that, in the long run, personal ambition may shape the direction things take.<\/p>\n

Pogacar\u2019s extraordinary level<\/p>\n

Pogacar\u2019s level also came up following a training session that Purito described as extraordinary. After reviewing a ride of more than 130 kilometres, 300 normalised watts and an average of over 41 km\/h solo, Purito was blunt: \u201cIt\u2019s outrageous \u2013 and alone. Alone, completely alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He compared that approach with the methods of his own generation, when training blocks were more structured and recovery between efforts was prioritised: \u201cBefore, you would do your training blocks\u2026 even between climbs we would ease off to recover as much as possible from the work we had done. This guy doesn\u2019t stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drawing from his own experience, he recalled that he was never naturally a rider built for endurance: \u201cEven if it may seem strange, I was never a natural endurance rider. I had to work incredibly hard on my base.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concluded with a reflection that summarises the sport\u2019s evolution: \u201cWhat I see now is that people go very fast. All day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visma and VingegaardThere was also space to analyse the situation at Visma and around Jonas Vingegaard<\/a>, touching on crashes, coaching changes and sponsorship rumours. Purito offered two possible interpretations regarding the departure of Vingegaard\u2019s coach:<\/p>\n

\u201cEither Vingegaard himself didn\u2019t push too hard to keep him because maybe he didn\u2019t feel comfortable\u2026 or there\u2019s extra pressure in that team and the coach himself said he couldn\u2019t handle that pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

In any case, he warned about the unstable environment the structure is currently experiencing and offered a direct reflection: \u201cIf you lose a big one like Visma, be careful,\u201d adding that such movements \u201cwon\u2019t have a positive effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Aert\u2019s physiological data<\/p>\n

On a more physiological note, the report that Wout van Aert\u2019s resting heart rate dropped to 34 beats per minute while sleeping reminded Purito of his own numbers as a professional.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been at 38 beats per minute \u2013 not sleeping, but relaxed,\u201d he explained, although he cautioned that an isolated low reading does not define the average: \u201c34 seems very extreme. But well, one peak at 34\u2026 the average will be\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Clasica Jaen and Van Gils crashThe Clasica Jaen and Maxim Van Gils<\/a>\u2019 crash were also discussed. Purito praised the race itself: \u201cIt\u2019s a spectacular race they\u2019ve put together there. Brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding the late save before the finish, he admitted that he would not have recovered in the same situation: \u201cIf that happens to me, I\u2019d still be lying there.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the sprint incident, he urged moderation in the judgment of the rider involved: \u201cDisqualifying him, of course\u2026 but from there to some of the things we\u2019ve heard these days\u2026 we\u2019re riding bicycles. It\u2019s bad luck. Crashes are going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also emphasised how delicate sprint finishes are: \u201cThe smallest touch on the handlebars \u2013 if someone touches your handlebars, you\u2019re done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Maxim<\/p>\n

Van Gils crashed out of\u00a0Clasica Jaen 2026 in the final sprint<\/p>\n

UAE\u2019s dominant start<\/p>\n

Finally, he highlighted UAE\u2019s flying start to the season, with several different riders already taking victories: \u201cSix different riders \u2013 that\u2019s no joke,\u201d before summarising the collective potential of the squad with a line that captures the moment the team is in: \u201cThere are six guys capable of beating anyone in the peloton.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Del Toro\u2019s UAE Tour triumph and Pogacar yet to begin his campaign, the internal competition at UAE appears as intense as their dominance on the road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Regarding the Mexican rider, Joaquim Rodr\u00edguez made clear that he sees enormous ability: \u201cFor me, Del Toro…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,42476,166256,5900,42478,155108,82,129545],"class_list":{"0":"post-498333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-isaac-del-toro","12":"tag-joaquim-rodriguez","13":"tag-jonas-vingegaard","14":"tag-juan-ayuso","15":"tag-maxim-van-gils","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-uae-team-emirates-xrg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}