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taffyboiy
Cat 2 Groupie
Joined: 16 Apr 2008
Posts: 44
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 Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:33 pm Post subject: Geraint Thomas's chances in the young rider classification |
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So the lad's clearly in good form, near the front at most finishes so far, even if not actually contesting the win. Even after losing 3 minutes waiting around for Wiggins, he's still only 1:50 off the lead in the White Jersey competition and only a handful of whipper-snappers ahead of him - so my questions are
Is he any good at climbing compared to Gesink and co?
Are any of the tour's top climbers only a few seconds behind him?
Cos if the answers are yes and no (in that order) then he's surely free to have a go at winning the white jersey now Wiggins is out....? |
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SteveO
Div 1 Pro
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Posts: 6161
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| Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Sadly, I'm not sure 'G' is the same class as Gesink in the mountains. |
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mho
Div 1 Pro
Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 9577
Location: going round the banking
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| Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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I'm an ardant fan but even I don't think you can be the strong man of the team for 11 days and then rip it up in the mountains too.
I would love to be proved wrong though. |
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DenHaag
E, Gold
Joined: 24 Aug 2008
Posts: 3078
Location: Northumberland
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| Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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| mho wrote: |
I'm an ardant fan but even I don't think you can be the strong man of the team for 11 days and then rip it up in the mountains too.
I would love to be proved wrong though. |
Fanny? |
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De Rosa
World Champ
Joined: 04 Dec 2002
Posts: 10485
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| Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| I don't think Gesink will get into Paris in a good position. |
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De Rosa
World Champ
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Posts: 10485
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| Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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Whatever happens it is a fabulous tour for us. I am convinced G will do something and Cav's fight for green is going to go right to the wire. It would not surprise me if green is decided in Paris. Imagine if we got white and green in Paris knowing we had lost out on a real chance of GC through Brad's accident. It is a stunning performancd so far - absolutely gob smackingly stunning.
They have all been fantastic. |
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hed
World Champ
Joined: 06 Mar 2006
Posts: 12377
Location: on my hoods.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| De Rosa wrote: |
Whatever happens it is a fabulous tour for us. I am convinced G will do something and Cav's fight for green is going to go right to the wire. It would not surprise me if green is decided in Paris. Imagine if we got white and green in Paris knowing we had lost out on a real chance of GC through Brad's accident. It is a stunning performancd so far - absolutely gob smackingly stunning.
They have all been fantastic. |
do you actually think Brad had a chance?
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special guest star
Div 1 Pro
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Posts: 6939
Location: waiting to jump/going down with pedals on fire
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| Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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| I think on the right day (tour) Gesink is at a completely diferent level - and Kreuziger too.. and to some extent Taaramae .... but so much is happening in this tour that anything could happen! |
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De Rosa
World Champ
Joined: 04 Dec 2002
Posts: 10485
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| Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:02 pm Post subject: |
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| hed wrote: |
| De Rosa wrote: |
Whatever happens it is a fabulous tour for us. I am convinced G will do something and Cav's fight for green is going to go right to the wire. It would not surprise me if green is decided in Paris. Imagine if we got white and green in Paris knowing we had lost out on a real chance of GC through Brad's accident. It is a stunning performancd so far - absolutely gob smackingly stunning.
They have all been fantastic. |
do you actually think Brad had a chance? |
I do genuinely think that Brad had a chance of making the podium. In previous years Contador looked untouchable possibly only by Schleck, with Evans there but not quite on it, as well. This year it looks different, Contador does not seem so dominant and Schleck is hard to judge at this stage. Contador has a tough Giro in his legs and must be affected by his other problems. Then there are "the other contenders" for the top ten or outside bets for the podium. Many of them have had problems. Several of them have been injured or eliminated. So I think the favourites for the podium are still Contador, Schleck and Evans in any order but I think Brad could have had every chance to get up there. I hope Evans gets it.
I like Gesink but he looks off the pace slightly and I suspect he is injured and won't get through without a bad day.
Just my views and every day the tour gets turned upside down but I think Brad looked better than he has ever ridden and could have been up there - yes. |
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hed
World Champ
Joined: 06 Mar 2006
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Location: on my hoods.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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| De Rosa wrote: |
| hed wrote: |
| De Rosa wrote: |
Whatever happens it is a fabulous tour for us. I am convinced G will do something and Cav's fight for green is going to go right to the wire. It would not surprise me if green is decided in Paris. Imagine if we got white and green in Paris knowing we had lost out on a real chance of GC through Brad's accident. It is a stunning performancd so far - absolutely gob smackingly stunning.
They have all been fantastic. |
do you actually think Brad had a chance? |
I do genuinely think that Brad had a chance of making the podium. In previous years Contador looked untouchable possibly only by Schleck, with Evans there but not quite on it, as well. This year it looks different, Contador does not seem so dominant and Schleck is hard to judge at this stage. Contador has a tough Giro in his legs and must be affected by his other problems. Then there are "the other contenders" for the top ten or outside bets for the podium. Many of them have had problems. Several of them have been injured or eliminated. So I think the favourites for the podium are still Contador, Schleck and Evans in any order but I think Brad could have had every chance to get up there. I hope Evans gets it.
I like Gesink but he looks off the pace slightly and I suspect he is injured and won't get through without a bad day.
Just my views and every day the tour gets turned upside down but I think Brad looked better than he has ever ridden and could have been up there - yes. |
my feelings about Brad are that he is perfectly capable of getting on the podium, but not with this team and its management. I've nothing against Swifty or Gee, or any of the others, but even in the first week their focus was not on of a team that had a genuine podium contender. compare them to the work that BMC have done for Cadel. they seem to struggle to get him in the right position and, i think by now he'd have been caught out once too often and been to far behind to make an impact. the funny thing is I kind of knew this situation would occur before the tour had started. Sky simply aren't good enough or experienced enough at all levels to be able to win stages, challenge for the white jersey and put a man on the podium. Obviously this is all my opinion.
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mho
Div 1 Pro
Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 9577
Location: going round the banking
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| Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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| hed wrote: |
| my feelings about Brad are that he is perfectly capable of getting on the podium, but not with this team and its management. I've nothing against Swifty or Gee, or any of the others, but even in the first week their focus was not on of a team that had a genuine podium contender. compare them to the work that BMC have done for Cadel. they seem to struggle to get him in the right position and, i think by now he'd have been caught out once too often and been to far behind to make an impact. the funny thing is I kind of knew this situation would occur before the tour had started. Sky simply aren't good enough or experienced enough at all levels to be able to win stages, challenge for the white jersey and put a man on the podium. Obviously this is all my opinion. |
On the evidence so far that part of your argument doesn't stand up. One day aside and G and Brad would have remained where they were on GC relative to the competition.
We are now getting to the pointy end of the tour and I tend to agree that Sky are too light on the quality of the climbing help - on paper. The next couple of days will see whether any Sky riders freed of the responsbility of looking after Brad can make a top class performance in the high mountains.
For me Sky were one climbing domestique too light and one sprinter too many on the balance of their team for a tour podium team. That probably meant Swifty should be at home (I'm glad he's not) but whether they had the top class climber is open to debate.
Next few day will be instructive but as we sit here today its hard to argue outside of the four DeRosa has named.
Contador is a fabulous rider to be where he is - contrast his performance so far to Gadret for instance. I half expect Contador to falter today but in my mind that will be no disgrace. |
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Steve McGinty
Div 2 Pro
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 4902
Location: Norther than the Northerners
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| Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:11 am Post subject: |
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He's a long way down at the moment, (3 mins) but I reckon Rigoberto Uran won't be far off the white jersey in Paris.
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taffyboiy
Cat 2 Groupie
Joined: 16 Apr 2008
Posts: 44
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| Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:52 am Post subject: |
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| Well fair play to Geraint - he's having a go! According to the Beeb he's the leading rider in a break that's 3 mins up already. If this carries on he'll be the 'on the road' yellow jersey wearer (or whatever they call it) before long. |
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Stuart
Moderator
Joined: 12 Dec 2002
Posts: 16263
Location: Thorne
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| Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:40 am Post subject: |
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| taffyboiy wrote: |
| Well fair play to Geraint - he's having a go! According to the Beeb he's the leading rider in a break that's 3 mins up already. If this carries on he'll be the 'on the road' yellow jersey wearer (or whatever they call it) before long. |
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