Deutschland Tour Stage 5 spoiler

skut
skut Posts: 371
edited August 2007 in Pro race
So how come Jens is so strong in the mountains in his home tour then? Hardly a noted climber is he?

That Rettenbachferner looks like an absolute beast.

Comments

  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    Didn't we have this exact same discussion last year?
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    andyp wrote:
    Didn't we have this exact same discussion last year?

    Yep. And one year on I'm no clearer. I'd have thought Cunego and the other midgets would have massacred him on today's stage. But no, I'm wrong again.
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • Richrd2205
    Richrd2205 Posts: 1,267
    Jens can climb a bit. Two finishes this year just outside the top 20 in this year's TdF & 28th overall are hardly the results of a poor climber. As the only decent climb in this race, maybe he just pushed it a bit harder: it'll be interesting to see how he does tomorrow. I'd like to think that his motivation to win & wearing yellow was the factor that separated him from the rest.
    I presume there's an implication that he's been doping. Given CSC's testing regime & his fairly direct comments during the TdF, I'd be surprised; but considering recent history, not exactly shocked...
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    If Mazzoleni or Hincapie had the same result, we wouldn't even bother with the trial...

    However, earlier this year the "Fat Cyclist" in one his blogs wrote " Jens Voigt has legs of steel, and a mind made of silly putty. He is probably strong enough a rider to win one of the grand tours one of these years, but cannot resist attacking. That’s actually true. You can etch it in stone."

    It's all true.
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    I think comparing results from mountain stages in races like the Tour with one off mountain stages in week long stage races is always difficult.

    Clearly Jens can climb, i.e. you don't win races like the Tour of Germany or Criterium International or come second in Liege if you can't.

    Maybe the extra tests announced before the race meant that those who may have dabbled are being cautious. I mean as races go it isn't exactly the most prestigious now is it?
  • Mr Bumble
    Mr Bumble Posts: 572
    Remember in the 2005 Giro Jens and Garate where up front together on an uphill finish, when jens gifted Garate the win becuase he had not done his share of the pulling....

    And he isn't built like an American footballer like big George....
  • Richrd2205
    Richrd2205 Posts: 1,267
    LangerDan wrote:
    However, earlier this year the "Fat Cyclist" in one his blogs wrote " Jens Voigt has legs of steel, and a mind made of silly putty. He is probably strong enough a rider to win one of the grand tours one of these years, but cannot resist attacking. That’s actually true. You can etch it in stone."

    Jens explained this in Overcoming, "the blood all rushes to my legs & not to my head."
    I like him as a rider & think that there's a grain of truth in the above quote, although just a grain. The man's a decent all-round rider, so it would be surprising if he didn't have a few shorter stage race victories in his palmares. Especially his home tour...

    (&, yes, he is my PTP pick..)
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Mr Bumble wrote:
    And he isn't built like an American footballer like big George....

    They're roughly the same height and a couple of kilo's difference in weight.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    iainf72 wrote:
    Mr Bumble wrote:
    And he isn't built like an American footballer like big George....

    They're roughly the same height and a couple of kilo's difference in weight.


    But he wasn't built in America
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • pb21
    pb21 Posts: 2,171
    iainf72 wrote:
    Mr Bumble wrote:
    And he isn't built like an American footballer like big George....

    They're roughly the same height and a couple of kilo's difference in weight.

    Jens is a better cyclist though.
    Mañana
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    Maybe extra mass is a defence against altitude sickness?
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    He won but against lesser opposition. Just look at the top 10 and apart from Cunego, none are big hitters.

    But has anyone got the VAM figures? If the giant was doing 1800m/hour, it might be a different story.
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    Kléber wrote:
    He won but against lesser opposition. Just look at the top 10 and apart from Cunego, none are big hitters.

    But has anyone got the VAM figures? If the giant was doing 1800m/hour, it might be a different story.

    I'd consider Levi a big hitter. Podium at the Tour is no joke. Piepoli was there somewhere too. He's won the green jersey at the Giro for the past two years.


    Makes me think that the CSC internal tests are arse
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    Timoid. wrote:
    Makes me think that the CSC internal tests are ars*
    They're not internal though are they? They are run independently of the team by Rasmus Damsgaard, previously a vocal critic of CSC's 'methods'.

    It's an odd one though - you don't expect a bloke the size of Voigt to be doing so well on summit top finishes.
  • skut
    skut Posts: 371
    don't know what to believe, but that climb must have been one of the toughest of the entire season.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Really nice guy everyone likes from CSC does incredibly gutsy ride.

    Am I talking about Tyler Hamilton or Jens Voigt?
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    I'd consider Levi a big hitter. Podium at the Tour is no joke. Piepoli was there somewhere too. He's won the green jersey at the Giro for the past two years.


    Yep both Levi and Piepoli are big hitters though Piepoli has only one 1 Green Jersey, Garate won it in 2006 . Not convinced Piepoli is on the level though.

    cheers
    MG
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Piepoli is doing the Vuelta a Burgos. I did omit Leipheimer, he might be a big name but he's not on fire now. In the Tour de France he was dropping everyone, now he's getting beaten by Gesink and Ten Dam.

    Surely you can agree that if Voigt is putting in eyebrow raising performances, it is against a much weaker opposition, he's hardly beat the elite mountain climbers of the world?
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    He should not be able to beat Cunego up that mountain, nor put 4 minutes into the likes of Pellizotti or Luis Leon Sanchez Gil.

    Its interesting to see the lack of effort from Ricco. Why is he even in the race?
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    True, normally he wouldn't beat these guys. But we need the VAM figures to get a more meaningful impression of his climbing skills. Even better, is he riding with an SRM system?

    Cunego could be easing himself back into form, like Ricco. I'm not seeking to make excuses for him, just pointing out that he's hardly beaten the elite of mountain goats.

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