Best ride(r)s of the 2010 Tour.

rick_chasey

As the title says. Now that the Tour is coming to a close, it's as good a time as any to reflect on the past 3 weeks.


For me: Chavanel's second win. That kind of win & effort is rarely found in the Tour, especially in week one.

takethehighroad

Cav. Clearly he's the fastest sprinter but given his season so far and the first few days, the fact that we're still talking about him as a contender for green shows how well he's done.

Andy's ride on the cobbles, taking time out when everybody expected him to lose time

Garry H

Not quite on the same level, but I was pretty impressed with Raphael Valls. Sure he'll have a few bigger teams queueing to sign him up next season.

Agree with Chavanel's secon win.

paulcuthbert

Contador and Schleck on the Tourmalet. Just awesome!

andyrr

Impressed by Van den Broek (sp ?) being up at the front consistantly.

paulcuthbert

Ryder Hejsedal, definitely!

afx237vi

In terms of expectations going into the race vs performances during the race, you can't look much further than the entire Bbox team. Had a great Tour.

But in terms of individual riders, Van den Broeck has been the most impressive.

donrhummy

I'd say Schleck has been the best rider. If not for the mechanical, I think he'd be ahead by 45 seconds or so right now.

I'd say the most talent beyond his opponents is Cav. Look at the stages he lost: one was because of crashes and one was really a lack of confidence. Once he got confidence, he was absolutely unbeatable.

Moomaloid

yep VDB for me...

xover_runner

Few of the domestiques for me - Kiryenka, Horner and Navarro spring to mind.

mididoctors

I thought schleck raised his game somewhat...

ryder, vdb and lotto in general Aeerts.. . Garmin keep stuffing unlikely riders into the top 10. 3 tours in a row now

BBOx great tour for them

horner could have finished a few places higher perhaps let of the hook earlier

best stage win is chavenal's 2nd for me too

cav getting his head together... good soap opera as was cadel's "no elbow tears in yellow"

.........................................................

disappointments

Roman...again... starting to remind me of Klodi

cofidis..just not there year I guess had a go.

sky.. could have done better with what they had is the vibe coming off them. cummings was not in good shape I suspect got ill early on? G was strong

milram... not disappointing just expected

Mettan

andyrr wrote:

Impressed by Van den Broek (sp ?) being up at the front consistantly.

Agreed, he did well.

FJS

Above expectation:
Van den Broeck, BBox, Menchov, Hesjedal

Confirmation:
Andy Schleck, Cavendish, Gesink

Below par:
Sky, Basso, Cunego, Rogers, Tony Martin, Freire, (whispers) Contador

Could just as well not have turned up:
Cofidis, Footon, Milram

mididoctors

FJS wrote:

Above expectation:
Van den Broeck, BBox, Menchov, Hesjedal

Confirmation:
Andy Schleck, Cavendish, Gesink

Below par:
Sky, Basso, Cunego, Rogers, Tony Martin, Freire, (whispers) Contador

Could just as well not have turned up:
Cofidis, Footon, Milram

yeah contador never delivered that awesome hammer blow performance

or it may have just looked like that because andy was with him... they both buried everybody twice on two different mountain stages

Cleat Eastwood

Tiralongo
Voekler
LL Sanchez

Tom Cruise.

takethehighroad

I think Footon did as well, if not better, as can be expected.

Valls especially is one to look out for, and Capecchi is still young

Doobz

no question.. Chavanel for me

ms_tree

Highs: Menchov, Hesjedahl, Chavenal., Kiryenka, Tommy , Charteau and BBox, Sandy. G Thomas. Roche. Rojas, Petacchi, Navarro and Tiralongi. Armstrong cracking . Slow slide down standings of Radioshack riders! Cobbled stage.

Lows: Sastre, LLSanchez, Cadel, Brachavich - he was so strong in Dauphine - what happened in 2 weeks to just be leading out a weak leader? Wegmann. Kreuziger. Really hoped there might have been more attacking on some of the mountain stages .

Pokerface

Andy Schleck was a revelation today. His TT had me on the edge of my seat. His climbing seems to be second to none and he has come on a lot since last year. Chaingate may have cost him the Tour this year - and that is a big surprise.

Contador was his usual efficient self. But lacked the attacking style we've seen in the past.

Cav had a slow start and many people wrote him off early, only for him to roar back with a vengance. He has a giant rocket up his butt now and is unbeatable.


Chavanel was awesome to watch. The kind of riding the Tour 'should' be about.

Squaggles

Schleck , I've never really liked him but was impressed with him this year

Chavanal , He's French but I don't care

Cavendish , some Brits don't like him because he wins and shows his emotions , good and bad . We like good sporting losers far more

RichN95.

I thought the best single ride was one that no-one has mentioned yet:

Christophe Riblon's stage win to Ax3

knedlicky

Many of my first thoughts have already been mentioned - Schleck, Chavanel, Hesjedahl, Navarro, Aerts, Casar (presume that’s who MsTree means with Sandy), Rojas, Petacchi.

Amongst riders, I’d definitely add Barredo (fighter, in more sense than one). Also worth a good mention are Plaza Molina (best placed domestique), Pineau (for opening the KOM competition), Vino (for doing his bit), and Moreau (for not retiring quietly).

As for rides, I liked the hard-earned one-man victories of Vino and Voeckler, even if they weren’t so thrilling at the finish, like that of Casar.

csp

Chris Anker Sorensen for making the mountain stages look hard. Nicolas Roche for being in the top both in the bunch sprints and the mountains. If the points jersey was given for consistency, it would go to Jose Joaquin Rojas. It was also good to see a matured, gestures free Cavendish.

NervexProf

My vote goes to Geraint Thomas.

He took around 2 minutes out of Contador in yesterday's TT and nearly 3 mnintues out of Schleck.

In addition he stands 3rd in the 'Young Riders' competition, ahead of Schleck who stands at 8th.

Finally, add in all his great work in support of Brad Wiggins and we have a good prospect for the future.

csp

NervexProf wrote:

My vote goes to Geraint Thomas.

He took around 2 minutes out of Contador in yesterday's TT and nearly 3 mnintues out of Schleck.

In addition he stands 3rd in the 'Young Riders' competition, ahead of Schleck who stands at 8th.

Finally, add in all his great work in support of Brad Wiggins and we have a good prospect for the future.

You mean Thomas and Schleck were 3rd and 8th respectively in the TT young rider classification. Schleck obviously leads the young rider GC.

calvjones

VDB for justifying my PTP faith in him and winning me some real cash

Chavanel snd Thor for showing Classics and stages can be equally thrilling

Riblon clearly

Andy for making 2011 far from a certainty irrespective of the route

Lance for showing some dignity

BBoxfor showing Cofidis and FDJ how it should be done

Geraint forbeing 1st on Taff GC

fastercyclist

The best rider cannot seriously be in dispute...Vinokourov!

What a monster. He did everything he could and more.

Chavanel gets an honoury mention.

Nobody else was mind blowing for me, I don't think the best rider can be a defensive rider like most of the top 10. The best rider should be able to chew legs off of his competition.

I would like to add Schleck but I think his tactics were shit.

rick_chasey

Surprised to see so many surprised at van den Broeck's performance.

I figured top 5 for him was expected?

Certainly was with me, given the massive emphasis on climbing this year.

Cumulonimbus

Rick Chasey wrote:

Surprised to see so many surprised at van den Broeck's performance.

I figured top 5 for him was expected?

Certainly was with me, given the massive emphasis on climbing this year.

Finished 7th in the giro 2008 behind Ricco, Sella and Pellizotti who were later banned. This made him best young rider. Last year's performance was spoilt by a fall at the start of the team time trial as the team didnt wait and he lost a lot of time. After that he concentrated on breakaways. Did well at the Dauphine. Am regretting not putting money on him when he was 18-1 to finish in the top 6 :shock:

rick_chasey

Cumulonimbus wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Surprised to see so many surprised at van den Broeck's performance.

I figured top 5 for him was expected?

Certainly was with me, given the massive emphasis on climbing this year.

Finished 7th in the giro 2008 behind Ricco, Sella and Pellizotti who were later banned. This made him best young rider. Last year's performance was spoilt by a fall at the start of the team time trial as the team didnt wait and he lost a lot of time. After that he concentrated on breakaways. Did well at the Dauphine. Am regretting not putting money on him when he was 18-1 to finish in the top 6 :shock:

Unusually for a Belgian, he can't ride the peleton for sh!t. He says he prefers the climbs because nature sorts him out near the front...
:roll:
Gesink says things similar.

rick_chasey

fastercyclist wrote:

I would like to add Schleck but I think his tactics were shoot.

Have to disagree here...