Ricco to ride the Tour
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I wonder if he will accuse contador of Trying to steal "his" race even though he isn't even riding.
+1 about his bike
somehow I don't think Ricco has the mental strength just yet to win the tour I reckon give him 3 more years and he may have a chance.. I could be very wrong tho..
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bugger, i knew i should have backed him at 210-1on betfair
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At least now, after a day of watching all the contenders ride together up the cols watching & waiting for the other guy to attack, we'll have the excitement of the post race Ricco interview0
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i think he is a bit of a horrid arrogant little twit.
but maybe thats just me! lol. pity contador wont get to compete.... id like to see him defend...0 -
From http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/jun08/jun25news2
Italy's Riccardo Riccò, one day after the surprise announcement that he will race the Tour de France, has indicated that he will aim for the stages of Super Besse and Alpe d'Huez. His idol Marco Pantani claimed victory twice on Alpe d'Huez – 1995 and 1997 – something that the 24 year-old Saunier Duval-Scott rider would like to repeat.
"The arrival of l'Alpe d'Huez, where Pantani won two times, attracts me in an unimaginable way," noted Riccò to La Gazzetta dello Sport. The climb, this year stage 17, has featured 25 times in the Tour de France.
Riccò said that he does not intend on riding for the overall classification and added that stage six, to Super Besse, is one that also sparks his interest. However, with two stages wins and second place overall in the recent Giro d'Italia, one spot behind Spaniard Alberto Contador, he is content with what he has already accomplished. "I will take it all very easy, what comes comes. My season has already been set. I did not hit my target, but I went very close and I am happy."
The last and only time he raced the French Grand Tour was in 2006, when he finished 97th overall riding at the side of leader Gilberto Simoni. "It was a nightmare," he recalled. "It was my first year as a professional and my first Grand Tour. It was a huge experience and an enormous satisfaction to be able to finish it because it was really hard work. ... I had a crisis and in the finale I was able to recover."
He looks back at his break between the Giro d'Italia, which ended on June 1, and the start of the Tour de France as a good experience, even if he did not make it to vacation in Sardegna. He joked that his preparation for the Tour de France is similar to how Contador spent his days before arriving at the Giro d'Italia, "I went to Rimini and Riccione, seeing is how the beach did Contador well..."
This made me chuckle.0 -
gematkinson wrote:i think he is a bit of a horrid arrogant little twit.
but maybe thats just me! lol. pity contador wont get to compete.... id like to see him defend...
If Contador was riding and in top form like last year he'd take Ricco to the cleaners in the mountains and teach him a thing or two about climbing.0 -
feersumendjinn wrote:At least now, after a day of watching all the contenders ride together up the cols watching & waiting for the other guy to attack, we'll have the excitement of the post race Ricco interview
You do have to give Ricco credit for not really giving a f**k0 -
ACMadone wrote:He joked that his preparation for the Tour de France is similar to how Contador spent his days before arriving at the Giro d'Italia, "I went to Rimini and Riccione, seeing is how the beach did Contador well..."
Good to see!
Does anyone believe he'll take it easy, he just doesn't sound like the kind of guy who rides a grand tour specifically targeting stage victories, personally I'm not sure he has the self discipline.You live and learn. At any rate, you live0 -
He'll be forced to shut his trap. He might be a big fish in the small pond of the Giro but he'll be shown up in a race this big. Good luck to him, his riding always livens up a race but he won't be the same threat to GC.0
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Ricco seems to be everyone's favourite whipping boy around here. Fair enough, he's not a pleasant guy, but hey! Neither was Lance Armstrong. He was arrogant with self-belief as a young pro. He was the self-appointed Mortorla team leader. He also gained a huge fan base.
Ricco seems to be a magnate for the opposite.
My point is, he's cycling next, horror story, waiting to happen. Anger, arrogance, a desperation to succeed and the pressure of expectation are a receipe for a Pantani-like self-destruction.
He may have painted a bulls-eye on his chest, but it doesn't mean everyone has to fire barbs at him, at every opportunity.
At least he managed to make a funny, out of Bertie's prepartion.
Thank God the Spaniard isn't competing. Everyone seems convinced he'd walk the tour.
As it stands, no one is sure who will come out on top.
That's a key ingredient for an exciting race."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
In Armstrongs early career his attitude & mouth didn't make him popular with commentators, fans or riders, it was only when he began to back his words with results that folks changed their minds (well some folks)
While the Giro doesn't have the prestige of the Tour its still a tough race & to get a podium is not an easy thing
Peoples attitude to Ricco will change if he gets a top 5 place in July he may never be personally popular with a lot of people, LA wasn't/isn't, but if he's as good as he thinks he is he will be an Armstrong rather than a Pantani0 -
Personally, I'd prefer him to ride like Pantani, but with the mental strength of Armstrong. I have to say, he had a very strong Giro for such a young guy, especially against the number one stage racer of the current crop (everyone else's words not mine
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No doubt, he's a loud mouth, but i think 2nd in a very tough Giro with two stage wins is very good for a young guy.
Anyway, cycling would be quite dull sometimes, if not for outrageous comments by riders such as Ricco.You live and learn. At any rate, you live0 -
Kléber wrote:He'll be forced to shut his trap. He might be a big fish in the small pond of the Giro but he'll be shown up in a race this big. Good luck to him, his riding always livens up a race but he won't be the same threat to GC.
Not sure I agree with that. He gave Contador (who everyone around here thinks would walk the Tour) some trouble and won 2 stages, on what looks like a harder parcours than the Tour this year. He says he's not taking it to seriously, but I fancy him to be there or there abouts in the high mountains. And as there isn't so much TTing this year, that is one less thing to count against him.
I don't think the Giro is a small pond either, but that's a different discussion...I was only joking when I said
by rights you should be bludgeoned in your bed0 -
Be interesting to see how he measures up against Cunego.
Both were/are fans of Pantani, so I hope there's a nice competitive edge to be the one to pay homage to their idol on Alpe d'Huez.
:twisted:0 -
He might do well and might also behave especially if Piepoli makes it to the end.He went to bits in the Giro after piepoli's crash.Should be fun to watch though
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I prefer him in the Vuelta, figthing with a Contador in his level.....but it will be funny listen his nonsense in the Tour. Anyway he is a very good rider, It a shame his character, but it´s good for cycling (he give us a good show)If you like Flandes, Roubaix or Eroica, you would like GP Canal de Castilla, www.gpcanaldecastilla.com0
