andre greipel

warrior4life

I was watching stage 1 of the TDU and noticed what a beast the guy is, compared to most cyclists he seems to be a muscular specimin..his legs arms and shoulders are huge..
Anyone know how tall he is or how much he weighs?

warrior4life

Ive just seen he's 6ft and 75kg.. His nick name is the Gorilla and he's also known as the strongest man on earth..
Damn he's fast!

daveclow

75kg is a gorilla?

that makes me an elephant.

Ben6899

I'm 5'11" and 68kg (weighed myself the other night after I realised I had no idea) so he's not much bigger build than me.

Maybe he looks huge in comparison to the rest of the peloton?

ballspondroad

75 kg ! Can that be right, considering he's such a well built chap ?

frenchfighter

He is HUGE. In fact if you look at photos of him a couple of years back, he was no where near as large...

warrior4life

Just read on another site that he weighs 80kg..

80kg and 6ft with his bodyfat levels is pretty impressive..

daveclow

frenchfighter wrote:

He is HUGE. In fact if you look at photos of him a couple of years back, he was no where near as large...

holy crap! pretty much chris hoys legs.

shockedsoshocked

His proper nickname is "the wardrobe".

Pross

Pah, wimp. I'm 6' 2" and over 90kg. OK, admittedly my body fat percentage may be slightly higher :oops:

dennisn

frenchfighter wrote:

He is HUGE. In fact if you look at photos of him a couple of years back, he was no where near as large...

A lot of bodybuilders wish they had legs like that.

Pross

How long will he be prepared to stay in Cav's shadow there though? Is he better taking advantage of the well drilled machine and picking up wins when Cav isn't about or going somewhere else and being top dog? Maybe staying put will give him top dog status if Cav goes to Sky?

dennisn

I would guess that this guy goes a long way in proving that weight training will help your cycling. Seems to be a few people on this site that think, for whatever resaon, that weight training will not help you. Hmmmmmmm, let's see now. Pro rider - check, pro race winner - check, weight trainer - check. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, what might that mean?

afx237vi

dennisn wrote:

I would guess that this guy goes a long way in proving that weight training will help your cycling. Seems to be a few people on this site that think, for whatever resaon, that weight training will not help you. Hmmmmmmm, let's see now. Pro rider - check, pro race winner - check, weight trainer - check. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, what might that mean?

Different types of rider, different goals, different physiques. Greipel is great at what he does, but he's fairly one-dimensional.

Having a physique like that is not going to help, say, Mark Cavendish, because he has ambitions in races like Milan San Remo where you need to get over hills.

dennisn

afx237vi wrote:

dennisn wrote:

I would guess that this guy goes a long way in proving that weight training will help your cycling. Seems to be a few people on this site that think, for whatever resaon, that weight training will not help you. Hmmmmmmm, let's see now. Pro rider - check, pro race winner - check, weight trainer - check. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, what might that mean?

Different types of rider, different goals, different physiques. Greipel is great at what he does, but he's fairly one-dimensional.

Having a physique like that is not going to help, say, Mark Cavendish, because he has ambitions in races like Milan San Remo where you need to get over hills.

Wow, you are a hard one to please. Here you have a rider who's one of a very select few people who can make a living racing bicycles with a PRO team, traveling the world,
winning a few races along the way, probably making pretty d*mn good money doing something he likes(I would guess), kissing pretty girls on the podium, and all you can find to say about him is he's "one dimensional". What does that make you and I? We must be LOSERS of the worst sort, to put it mildly. In any case he could probably go into bodybuilding if cycling doesn't work out. One dimensional my *ss!!!! :roll:

afx237vi

dennisn wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

Different types of rider, different goals, different physiques. Greipel is great at what he does, but he's fairly one-dimensional.

Having a physique like that is not going to help, say, Mark Cavendish, because he has ambitions in races like Milan San Remo where you need to get over hills.

Wow, you are a hard one to please. Here you have a rider who's one of a very select few people who can make a living racing bicycles with a PRO team, traveling the world,
winning a few races along the way, probably making pretty d*mn good money doing something he likes(I would guess), kissing pretty girls on the podium, and all you can find to say about him is he's "one dimensional". What does that make you and I? We must be LOSERS of the worst sort, to put it mildly. In any case he could probably go into bodybuilding if cycling doesn't work out. One dimensional my *ss!!!! :roll:

What part of "great at what he does" did you not see?

iainf72

But he is one dimensional.

He wins sprints on flat courses. Therefore he can afford to be big and bulky. But he's one dimensional.

Had you heard of Greipel before today?

Moomaloid

That was a great sprint today though eh? Seems that on both days so far his train has broken a long way from the line and he's done the rest himself... great riding.

pedro118118

He's looked very impressive in the two sprints so far.
He finished the Vuelta (and won the points jersey) last year, so his climbing can't be that bad - must be on a par with Cav's.

Not my cup of tea though, sprints bore me. He's like a field-goal kicker in American Football. One trick pony.

dennisn

iainf72 wrote:

But he is one dimensional.

He wins sprints on flat courses. Therefore he can afford to be big and bulky. But he's one dimensional.

Had you heard of Greipel before today?

By this one dimensional reasoning I guess LA is 1-D(only wins the TDF), AC is 1-D(sort of like LA - only wins Grand tours), Tom B. - 1-D(a few P-R's). Sean Kelly(only won classics)? Remind me how one dimensional these riders are when I see your names up
there on a Pro Tour start list. Or better yet when I see your names on the finish list, and, of course, you'll finish better than these "one dimensional" riders. Of course, right????
:roll: :roll: :roll:

pedro118118

dennisn - by definition, winning the general classification of a major stage race = a multi-dimensional rider - capable of being very good on the flat, in the hills and against the clock. Therefore, your reference to multiple GC wins in Grand Tours is simply ridiculous.

In terms of classics? Well, I would suggest someone like Leif Hoste is as equally one-dimensional as Greipel or Cav.

iainf72

LA wasn't one dimensonal - Won the Tour, won shorter Tours, could climb, could TT.

AC - Can TT, can climb, wins grand tours, shorter Tours, stages in races etc.

Sean Kelly : Grand Tour winner, classics winner - Could climb, could tt and win on all sorts of terrain.

Boonen : Won prologues, wins hilly cobbled classics, Paris Roubaix, grand tour sprints etc. He can perform in a variaty of situations.

Many riders are one dimensional. Greipel will pretty much only win sprints over flat courses.

pedro118118

Bottom line is, as a fan, we like to see races/riders, who are unpredictable and capable of doing something out of the ordinary.

I don't think these characteristics apply to Greipel - it's all very predictable, although that does make the excecution even harder, I suppose. Same for Cav, although I suppose such a prolific record could be described as being extraordinary.

Diff'rent strokes...

dennisn

pedro118118 wrote:

dennisn - by definition, winning the general classification of a major stage race = a multi-dimensional rider - capable of being very good on the flat, in the hills and against the clock. Therefore, your reference to multiple GC wins in Grand Tours is simply ridiculous.

In terms of classics? Well, I would suggest someone like Leif Hoste is as equally one-dimensional as Greipel or Cav.

What really gets me is that people come on here and talk down this or that rider for this or that reason, yet they themselves have never, repeat never, I say again never, ever come even close to riding in a Pro race. How zero dimensional is that. They're like movie critics. Never made a movie in their life yet claim to know all about how to do it and what people should see. Just like all the fat slob "fans" who sit on the sidelines swilling beer and complaining about how "their" team is losing and all the time claiming to know exactly how to win. Yet they, more than likely, have never set foot on a playing field.

Kléber

Dennis, we are here to discuss pro cycling in many forms. At some point this will involve comparing riders, including saying that Greipel is a bit of a one-trick pony. It's what this place is for.

No one's saying "that Greipel, I'd have him".

PinkBianchi

dennisn wrote:

pedro118118 wrote:

dennisn - by definition, winning the general classification of a major stage race = a multi-dimensional rider - capable of being very good on the flat, in the hills and against the clock. Therefore, your reference to multiple GC wins in Grand Tours is simply ridiculous.

In terms of classics? Well, I would suggest someone like Leif Hoste is as equally one-dimensional as Greipel or Cav.

What really gets me is that people come on here and talk down this or that rider for this or that reason, yet they themselves have never, repeat never, I say again never, ever come even close to riding in a Pro race. How zero dimensional is that. They're like movie critics. Never made a movie in their life yet claim to know all about how to do it and what people should see. Just like all the fat slob "fans" who sit on the sidelines swilling beer and complaining about how "their" team is losing and all the time claiming to know exactly how to win. Yet they, more than likely, have never set foot on a playing field.

+1

pedro118118

It's not a personal attack on Greipel (or anyone else for that matter). As an athlete at that level, his talent/dedication/hard work is to be admired.

Elite sport is entertainment as well as competition, which is how professionals earn such a handsome living.

Entertainment generates opinion.

dennisn

PinkBianchi wrote:

dennisn wrote:

pedro118118 wrote:

dennisn - by definition, winning the general classification of a major stage race = a multi-dimensional rider - capable of being very good on the flat, in the hills and against the clock. Therefore, your reference to multiple GC wins in Grand Tours is simply ridiculous.

In terms of classics? Well, I would suggest someone like Leif Hoste is as equally one-dimensional as Greipel or Cav.

What really gets me is that people come on here and talk down this or that rider for this or that reason, yet they themselves have never, repeat never, I say again never, ever come even close to riding in a Pro race. How zero dimensional is that. They're like movie critics. Never made a movie in their life yet claim to know all about how to do it and what people should see. Just like all the fat slob "fans" who sit on the sidelines swilling beer and complaining about how "their" team is losing and all the time claiming to know exactly how to win. Yet they, more than likely, have never set foot on a playing field.

+1

Thanks. I knew there was someone out there as crazy and or bitter as myself.

iainf72

Jesus wept

no one is saying anything against Andre, just saying he is good at one thing

ffs get a grip. Do you honestly not have an opinion on films or books? Obviously not because you've not written a book

PinkBianchi

I don't think dennisn meant it was a personal attack on Greipel, but more the (mainly) british mentality where you love riders/athletes who does good, and if they make a mistake or don't do so well they're suddenly total failures etc. They don't have support no matter how well they do, but only if they do well...

But I might be wrong...

timoid.

dennisn wrote:

By this one dimensional reasoning I guess LA is 1-D(only wins the TDF), AC is 1-D(sort of like LA - only wins Grand tours), Tom B. - 1-D(a few P-R's). Sean Kelly(only won classics)?

Dennis this is possibly the wrongest thing you've ever said on the forum. Kelly won every type of race on every type of terrain in all seasons. Other than Merckx , I cannot think of a more adaptable rider.

Although the folks here are using harsh language in "one dimensional", it is true that Greipel only wins on flat multi stage races. That said he's an absolute monster at it.