Van Den Broeck, pressure and attention of coming 5th

frenchfighter

There was an article in the latest Cycle Sport about VDB and it was saying how he isn't good with the public and press but his DS says they will work on it.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5300/ ... perty.aspx

jimmythecuckoo

He seems a bit grumpy.

I wonder if he will be back to prove it was no fluke next year. That would be nice for Belgium, to have a genuine constient contender the mountains.

avoidingmyphd

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

He seems a bit grumpy.

I wonder if he will be back to prove it was no fluke next year. That would be nice for Belgium, to have a genuine constient contender the mountains.

Surely, 2010 was his year to prove that 2009 was no fluke? Job done.

jimmythecuckoo

He was restricted in 2009 as Cadels dog handler/support guy? he didnt ride for himself no?

avoidingmyphd

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

He was restricted in 2009 as Cadels dog handler/support guy? he didnt ride for himself no?

Yep, exactly. He was restricted in 2009 because he started the tour as Cadel's domestique, and finished it looking like he could be a GC contender in future, even though he was never fully let off the leash.
This year he was let off the leash and fulfilled last year's promises.

EDIT: here's another way to look at it. We should restrict talk of "proving it wasn't a fluke" to riders who have yet to start a grand tour in a position where the other GC riders think of them as part of that club. To really "prove yourself" you need to deliver in a grand tour where you start the race as one of the riders who the favourites expect to see alongside them whenever an elite selection forms. For VDB, the "prove yourself" year was this year. And he did. (Wiggins was in the same boat, but fell overboard at Avoriaz).

Cumulonimbus

Maybe he proved that 2008 was no fluke when he came seventh in the Giro(three ahead of him have since tested positive, Ricco and Sella during the following tdf, if Ricco had been dqed then he would have been best young rider).

jimmythecuckoo

avoidingmyphd wrote:

EDIT: here's another way to look at it. We should restrict talk of "proving it wasn't a fluke" to riders who have yet to start a grand tour in a position where the other GC riders think of them as part of that club. To really "prove yourself" you need to deliver in a grand tour where you start the race as one of the riders who the favourites expect to see alongside them whenever an elite selection forms. For VDB, the "prove yourself" year was this year. And he did. (Wiggins was in the same boat, but fell overboard at Avoriaz).

Ok, happy to run with that

jamlala

VdB was thereabouts in nearly all stages of the TdeF, case proven already methinks.