How do you guys feel about Zabriske

Clemson Cycling
Clemson Cycling Posts: 49
edited April 2009 in Pro race
Does he have a shot at the top 5 in the Tour this year. He is off to the best start of his career this year (2nd in TofC, 3rd in the Vuelta a Castilla y León) and is one heck of a ITT. He also has a pretty good team around him. It really seems like he is in his prime.

Comments

  • donrhummy
    donrhummy Posts: 2,329
    He's not a GC rider. His team's GC guy will be Christian Vande Velde. Zabriskie will try for a TT stage win I'm sure but he's never going to compete for overall in a grand tour.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I can see him maybe getting an early leader's jersey due to an ITT in a Grand Tour but that's about it.
  • millar time
    millar time Posts: 392
    [/quote]He's not a GC rider. His team's GC guy will be Christian Vande Velde. Zabriskie will try for a TT stage win I'm sure but he's never going to compete for overall in a grand tour.

    I'd agree that he won't be Garmin's first choice GC rider, don't forget that Vandevelde was never high on anyone's list as a GC contender before last year. I'd say Dave Z is unlikely to win the Tour, but I don't believe that a high placing is beyond him if he is going well. He did well in the 2007 Dauphine Libere coming 5th two minutes ahead of Contador and only a little behind Menchov. I think the most likely scenario for him to get a high placing would be to get away in a soft break, tt well and stay in touch on the climbs. A scenario which is not that unlikely.
  • millar time
    millar time Posts: 392
    Ok, I really messed that post up. My bit is appearing in the quote box :oops:
  • ms_tree
    ms_tree Posts: 1,405
    Frankly no!
    'Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.'
    Neil Gaiman
  • ACMadone
    ACMadone Posts: 300
    DZ only won the opening time trial in 2005 TDF because he was "allowed" to. He's steadily been improving in the mountains over the last few years but that appears to be at the cost of his time trialing. I'd like to see him put in a strong perfomance in the TDF but that's going to obviously depend on what sort of form Christian VDV is in. Top 15 can't see him going much higher.
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    He doesn't have that grand tour recovery.

    The best way to tell if someone can make it in a grand tour is to see how well they do in the final week.

    However well you can climb and time trial, if you can't hack it in the final week you can never win. That's where they're won and lost.

    You can work on your climbing and time trialing (take Contador's TTing *ahem*), but you can't work on your recovery.

    Take Boardman. Excellent time trailist, and, in races no longer than a week, not a bad climber by the end of his career too. 3 weeks? Totally shat on.
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    He has neither the cranial capacity nor opposable digits to win a grand tour
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • flattythehurdler
    flattythehurdler Posts: 2,314
    He hasn't got a telly either
    Dan
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    teagar wrote:
    Take Boardman. Excellent time trailist, and, in races no longer than a week, not a bad climber by the end of his career too. 3 weeks? Totally shat on.
    That's because his haematoctrit would tale off a lot, as you'd expect in a three week race. Other riders didn't have the same concerns, thanks to EPO and blood doping.

    "Z" will be an asset to his team for the TTT and maybe he can have his day in Romandie or the Dauphiné but he's not the best climber.
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    Kléber wrote:
    teagar wrote:
    Take Boardman. Excellent time trailist, and, in races no longer than a week, not a bad climber by the end of his career too. 3 weeks? Totally shat on.
    That's because his haematoctrit would tale off a lot, as you'd expect in a three week race. Other riders didn't have the same concerns, thanks to EPO and blood doping.

    "Z" will be an asset to his team for the TTT and maybe he can have his day in Romandie or the Dauphiné but he's not the best climber.

    I never said how they were good in the third week! It's irrelevant if you don't get caught. As long as you have the power in the third week you can always work on the TTing and climbing (within reason).
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • Clemson Cycling
    Clemson Cycling Posts: 49
    I didn't think much about Christian Vande Velde and then he exploded on the scene last year at the Tour de France. I am beginning to wonder if Zabriske might do the same. That is one heck of a team that Vaughters is building.
  • gregssmirkingrevenge
    gregssmirkingrevenge Posts: 64
    I read in an article not long ago that Zabriskie thought the reason he had so many crashes and accidents in his early career was as a result of being placed under a gypsy curse by a fortune teller! I can't remember what else he said but basically now he reckons he has shaken off the bad karma or passed it on to someone else..

    His yellow jersey team time trial crash in the tour was heartbreaking!

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