Pure Climbers
Comments
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Whisper it quietly but there are some similarities in riding style between Froome and Gaul - the high cadence, staying in the saddle, proficiency in the TT.0
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Those heroic rides are really no different than Cancellara or Boonen winning Roubaix solo from 50km which these days elicits the response of 'boring' from many. Everything is more romantic when reduced to 400 words of overwritten (and frequently embellished) prose rather than an hour or two of live TVPross wrote:Really wish there was extensive footage of racing from that era. Times change, in many ways for the better but the sport does lose the romanticism of those heroic rides.Twitter: @RichN950 -
Yeah there's a bit of that but racing has certainly changed even since I started watching in the late 80s. That said the above makes for a great 'boys own' story but when you look at it logically should riders really need to race in conditions that are a genuine risk to their well-being? Seeing big mountain stages cancelled as they were last year in the Giro is disappointing for fans but ultimately it has to be the right choice.0
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Tour de France Grand Depart diaryIn honour of the Colombian takeover at the Giro, I want to tell the tale of Luis Alberto "Lucho" Herrera Herrera, or Luis Herrera as he is more commonly known. Now 53, the diminutive climber became the first Colombian to win a stage at a Grand Tour when he beat defending champion Laurent Fignon and cycling legends Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond up Alpe d'Huez in 1984. Not only was this victory for the first for his country, it was the first time a Tour stage had been won by an amateur, as all of Colombia's best riders were back then.
"El Jardinerito", the little gardener, would finish 27th overall that year, but come back to win the King of the Mountains competition a year later and again in 1987, the same year he would also win the Vuelta a Espana. Herrera retired retired from the sport in 1992 but would be caught up in his country's internal problems in 2000, when he was kidnapped by communist rebels. Such is cycling's popularity in Colombia, however, and Herrera's standing as a pioneer, that his kidnappers spent a day talking to him about his career before releasing him unharmed.0 -
Quintana looks so natural on the bike.
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Saw this photograph earlier and though it looked a bit odd. Unnecessary enhancement makes it look a bit fake (I'm sure it's not). Perhaps you could explain?0
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What do you reckon is odd? I am not sure that the photos on steephill are edited unlike some of the other sites. May be wrong.Contador is the Greatest0
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The spectators on the rhs almost stand out in 3d fashion as does Quintana's face. Maybe its just due to the high contrast or colour saturation.
(I'll stop talking now as I don't really know what I'm on about
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Haha yeah they do a bit. Maybe just coincidence. Increasing the contrast would make them 'stick out' more though as you say.Contador is the Greatest0
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It looks to me like the mid tones have been boosted to eradicate an underexposure on his front. look at the shadows on the road - your brain know's from them where the sun is and that the shadow on Quintana's face/front should be deeper.
Most modern dSLRs have the capacity to do this kind of "editing" in camera with some kind of HDR wizardry. I'm not a fan.0 -
Long article on Chiappuccis Sestriere victory:
http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/06/ ... ere_333453
“Okay, I could have just stayed and played the game and won many more races,” he adds. “I would have won 150 to 200 races. There are many riders who’ve won that many races, but they lack character.
“I won 80 races; maybe I could have won more, but my victories have more value. And the people remember the way I won races, not the number of races won. The way you win. That’s what’s important.”Contador is the Greatest0 -
It's actually an excerpt from Richard Moore's book Etape, which is worth a read!frenchfighter wrote:Long article on Chiappuccis Sestriere victory:
http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/06/ ... ere_333453
“Okay, I could have just stayed and played the game and won many more races,” he adds. “I would have won 150 to 200 races. There are many riders who’ve won that many races, but they lack character.
“I won 80 races; maybe I could have won more, but my victories have more value. And the people remember the way I won races, not the number of races won. The way you win. That’s what’s important.”0 -
Best specialist climber ever? Charlie Gaul. Smooth as silk, he destroyed others in the high mountaims, especialy when the weather was bad. Spinning a small gear at up to 120 rpm he would simply ride away from the rest of the top guys. He rarely got out of the saddle, thus saving energy, and often won stages by many minutes.0
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adr82 wrote:
It's actually an excerpt from Richard Moore's book Etape, which is worth a read!frenchfighter wrote:Long article on Chiappuccis Sestriere victory:
http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/06/ ... ere_333453
“Okay, I could have just stayed and played the game and won many more races,” he adds. “I would have won 150 to 200 races. There are many riders who’ve won that many races, but they lack character.
“I won 80 races; maybe I could have won more, but my victories have more value. And the people remember the way I won races, not the number of races won. The way you win. That’s what’s important.”
very much so. Nice book.0 -
Mara Abbott profile:
http://www.lerouleurlent.net/en/2014/07 ... ra-abbott/
If you have seen her climb in the Giro Rosa you know she is a superb climber.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Final revival from me of this thread I started six years ago. I loved this breed of racers then and I love them now.Want to know who the next big climbers are going to be?
Tour du Val d'Aoste. This race could give an indication. It is for espoirs and is packed with mountains. This year there were three summit finishes and 1 Mountain TT. One mountain with a 11% average and a 22% max.
Fabio Aru won it this year, as he did last year. Watch out for him in Astana next year.
Also Jungels. Yeah that same rider you saw in TourdeLux. He won the Queen Stage with a solitary break, finishing a whopping 6mins clear. He is not in the top 10 as he got smoked two other days for about 30mins each time.
Aru
This years results. 10th place is over 20mins back. They should televise this sort of race.
1. Fabio Aru (ITA, Team Palazzago) en 22h09'34"
2. Sergei Chernetckii (Equipe de Russie) à 3'25"
3. Andrea Manfredi (ITA, Hoppla-Wega-Truck) à 3'50"
4. David Formolo (ITA, Petroli Firenze) à 4'12"
5. Gianfranco Zilioli (ITA, Team Colpack) à 4'35"
6. Fausto Masnada (ITA, Team Colpack) à 5'45"
7. Pierre Paolo Penasa (ITA, Zalf-Euromobil-Desirée-Fior) à 7'34"
8. Lachlan David Morton (AUS, Chipotle-First Solar) à 10'10"
9. Francesco-Manuel Bongiorno (ITA, Hoppla-Wega-Truck) à 14'56"
10. Joshua Thomas Edmondson (GBR, Team Colpack) à 21'28"
See here for previous winners. Note among other placings that Pinot won this race and Dan Martin came 2nd.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_la_Vall%C3%A9e_d'Aoste
This is one pure climber that is here to stay. Started carving his legend already.
2x winner Giro della Valle d'Aosta
4th and 2nd overall in Baby Giro
1st Young rider in Trentino
Vuelta: 5th and 1st
Giro: 3rd and 2nd
5 GT stage wins
NB. the above GT results were achieved in two years, making them an even greater achievement
Contador is a huge fan of Aru.
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Here is an interesting piece on Alvaro Meija. There is another article by Robert Millar in the series that's also worth a read.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/alv ... clean-era/
DD.0
