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Bouhanni is a loose cannon who has hit people including his own DS.
Citation needed. Cofidis were itching to sack him once Vasseur took over, that would've been the perfect excuse to do so.
I think Bouhanni was appallingly treated by Cofidis, despite accounting for at least 50% of their wins for three seasons, Vasseur came in and repeatedly humiliated him. He's a complex character, but has shown that in a supportive environment he'll get you wins, especially in French races. He's perfect for Arkea-Samsic, as he'll win races all year and might, just might, sneak a Tour stage win.
Barguil was on his way out of Sunweb anyway, and he's not alone in finding the environment within that team to be too controlling at times. We don't know the true story with Look, but it's clear Barguil was riding a non-Look frame which exacerbated the issue, but the team management must've been complicit. Again, he's a perfect rider for Arkea-Samsic as he'll get the odd win and be on tv a lot in the Tour. It'll be interesting to see how he and Quintana dovetail as that doesn't look like a good fit.
andyp-
Good analysis.
I'd think it's not a huge leap to see Quintana as a stage racer now, not GC. His GC days are behind him, but he can still win a stage. Then he and Barguil can work well together.
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We don't know the true story with Look, but it's clear Barguil was riding a non-Look frame which exacerbated the issue
French press was pretty clear about it. Supposedly he wanted his bike shops to be the exclusive distributers for Look in NW France/Brittany. The story is that when they said they wouldn't do it, he threw his toys out of the pram and started to work to get them separated from Arkea-Samsic.
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Citation needed.
Indeed:
It was reported in Spanish publication AS that Bouhanni's penalty had been for punching his directeur sportif and then the team car. Bouhanni denied it on twitter, saying that they were trying to make him out to be 'the bad boy that I am not'. Cofidis later published a statement categorically denying the incident, saying that Bouhanni's penalty was for an illegal feed.
"The Cofidis Team formally denies the information reported in the press concerning Nacer Bouhanni. There was never a fight between our leader and Jean Luc Jonrond, his sports director during the 5th stage of La Vuelta 2018," the team wrote.
"Nacer was penalized for an irregular feed at the end of the stage yesterday, ridden under a very strong heat and at a fast pace.The Cofidis team also denies all the information about the conflicts between Nacer Bouhanni and his sports management, they are totally false. Nacer has our confidence and we rely on him."
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bouhanni-and-vuelta-race-leader-molard-both-handed-time-penalties/
skinny
atz
Fox
Both talented but have publicly had issues away from the bike.
Bouhanni is a loose cannon who has hit people including his own DS.
Barguil got kicked off the Vuelta at Giant and refused to ride a Look bike at Fortuneo.
I’m not suggesting they will clash but I wouldn’t want to be the DS who has to deal with them both spitting their dummy in the run up to a grand tour.