Probably had the talent to win more than he did?
Cycling thread
- Thread starter Bruce Wayne
- Start date
Probably had the talent to win more than he did?
Armel
Player Valuation: £15m
Well the above are just the most important races he won, but still very impressive.
He says he didn't excel in a single discipline. In races that suited him he "could get by" and he had the necessary luck. He gave away all of his trophies because it doesn't matter any way. He has never watched some of his old victories, or himself on television. He doesn't like his own voice and how he presents himself. It's in the past anyway.
He also doesn't cycle any more. Cycling is only fun when you're very well trained, because it's a hard sport, otherwise you overexert yourself. He now practices running. He's a helicopter pilot atm.
Very much looking forward to the Giro today. My favourite Grand Tour of the year (despite a sad lack of action in the Dolomites this year).
On a domestic front, it looks like it'll be good weather for the Fred @Black Belt Jones
On a domestic front, it looks like it'll be good weather for the Fred @Black Belt Jones
Black Belt Jones
Player Valuation: £25m
Yes early forecasts are looking very good (Fred is on the 13th), mainly dry with cloud cover which should be perfect for cycling.
Just got myself a new timetrial bike which I'm quite excited about - secondhand, so always a bit of a dice roll when you paypal a grand to a stranger to post you a bike in a cardboard box, but it looks in good order. There was nothing really wrong with my existing TT bike but I was right at the top of the size range, so always felt a little bit cramped - this one is bigger so be good to have more space to trial positions.
TT bikes are a buyers market because you're tapping into all the triathlon Teds - accountants who lash 3 grand on a bike just so they can say they did a half ironman once.
Ah, I beg your pardon. I thought it was this weekend. Hopefully the nice weather holds.
In Giro news, Froome has taken a shallacking. Lost about 35 seconds to Dumoulin in the prologue. Not sure if his crash this morning took something out of him or he's just not in good form. Should make the racing interesting. Also great to see Pozzo doing it for the little guys with a top 10. He's looked really good this year in Trentino and the Ardennes classics. Usually he's nailed on for a top 10 in the Giro but might aim a bit higher this year.
The main favourites:
Dumoulin
Dennis +0:02
S.Yates +0:20
Pozzovivo +0:27
Pinot +0:33
Froome +0:37
Poels +0:40
Formolo +0:40
Chaves +0:46
G.Bennett +0:49
Aru +0:50
M.A.Lopez +0:56
Woods +1:02
Dumoulin
Dennis +0:02
S.Yates +0:20
Pozzovivo +0:27
Pinot +0:33
Froome +0:37
Poels +0:40
Formolo +0:40
Chaves +0:46
G.Bennett +0:49
Aru +0:50
M.A.Lopez +0:56
Woods +1:02
Apologies for this probably being in the wrong thread but cycling nevertheless. Just after the war, Speedway became popular and Liverpool Chads team had matches at Stanley Stadium. This generated an interest in 'cycle speedway' and I joined a team called 'Prestbury Chads'. Our cinder track was on land just by the junction of Lower Lane and the East Lancs Road. The team was run by a lad called Peter Craven whose brother, Brian, rode for Liverpool Chads. Peter Craven and all the other lads were two years older than me but I was in the team as 'reserve' and got a couple of races each match. Peter Craven went on to be world champion in the proper form of the sport but sadly was killed while racing in the early 1960's.
Armel
Player Valuation: £15m
I don't particularly care who wins, but please no Froome. Regardless of what the Giro organizer says they could (in theory - very unlikely) still take his possible Giro title if he gets a suspension - even if he had a "telephone call" with Lappartient. Most likely he'll lose the Vuelta; and then he gets a non retroactive suspension starting from the final decision. Hence his delay tactic, so he can do a large part of his suspension in the autumn/winter. I'll say this though, he would be crazy to go to the TdF, it would end very badly for him.
I'm expecting a lot from Aru and Yates. They seem to be in very good form.
Interesting about Aru? I didn't think he was riding well at all. Indeed, since his Vuelta win he's often flattered to deceive. Happy to be proven wrong, but I'd be surprised if he won another GT.
Armel
Player Valuation: £15m
I think he's faking. In his last two he was 2nd and 3th. Last year and the year before he was quite bad, although he was impressive on La Planche des belles filles. I think he could again do something similar, especially since there are not a lot of TT KM's. Plus he's an Italian, most of the time they are much better in front of their home crowd. I just hope he can do it for three weeks. Ideally Froome and Dumoulin shadow each other and he/or someone else who wants to attack takes advantage.
Will be interesting to see if Dumoulin still gets stomach problems. He switched from bananas to kiwis.
Good start from Yates, damage limitation there but should see him well in the other stages, Froome suspiciously off the pace
He had a big crash a few hours before the TT so not 'that' surprising, although the margin is bigger than you'd expect. It's interesting that pure climbers like Yates and Pozzo did reasonably well, even beating pure testers like Tony Martin. I suspect Dumoulin will want to lose the leaders jersey as soon as possible so he avoids following the path Zulle took in '98.
Would you say Tony Martin, as wonderful as he's been is on a downward curve now?
Bit gutted there's no nibali in the giro, but sounds like he was very surprised at the tour de France route, seeing it as such an opportunity he's resting up for it