Geraint Thomas

NervexProf

A good interview here:

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fulls ... ame=Latest News

A very talented rider, free of a big ego.

Looking forward to see him perform well in 2011

Sheptastic

Thanks for posting that Nervex, GT is one of my favourites. Hope he does well next year too.

shockedsoshocked

Excellent prospect of a rider. The lads from round here on the GB squad rate him higher than anyone else.

inkyfingers

Will be fascinating to see what kind of rider he turns out to be in the end, clearly a good prologue & TT rider but has also shown potential for the classics and shorter stage races. Definitely one of the highlights of Skys debut season.

Yellow Peril

Couldn't agree more. If both his legs fell off on the first stage of the Tour he'd still make it to Paris.

greasedscotsman

Future Paris Roubaix winner! Didn't he win the junior version?

Garry H

greasedscotsman wrote:

Future Paris Roubaix winner! Didn't he win the junior version?

Aye he did. But a quick glance shows that it's no great predictor of future prowess in the event...

greasedscotsman

Garry H wrote:

greasedscotsman wrote:

Future Paris Roubaix winner! Didn't he win the junior version?

Aye he did. But a quick glance shows that it's no great predictor of future prowess in the event...

Fair point. Still feel it's a race he could win. It's bound to be the year I decide not to go!

pedro118118

Seems like Wiggo 2.0 to me - great engine, good all-rounder etc, but not a winner.
Track yes, road no.

NervexProf

pedro118118 wrote:

Seems like Wiggo 2.0 to me - great engine, good all-rounder etc, but not a winner.
Track yes, road no.

Harsh, summary judgement.

Geraint is but 24 - made a memorable transition to the road this year - and with modesty and realism.

Salute the lad, don't knock him, please.

see here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/others ... bbles.html

ozzzyosborn206

i think he could go a long way, also Peter Kennaugh is rated highly and won some big races with the gb academy, think he got 3rd in baby giro too?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaGEbKCZBRY

Garry H

greasedscotsman wrote:

Garry H wrote:

greasedscotsman wrote:

Future Paris Roubaix winner! Didn't he win the junior version?

Aye he did. But a quick glance shows that it's no great predictor of future prowess in the event...

Fair point. Still feel it's a race he could win. It's bound to be the year I decide not to go!

I agree. I was just a bit surprised by how many winners of the U23 event had gone on to win the real thing, only Madiot.

mididoctors

G will win road races

pedro118118

NervexProf wrote:

pedro118118 wrote:

Seems like Wiggo 2.0 to me - great engine, good all-rounder etc, but not a winner.
Track yes, road no.

Harsh, summary judgement.

Geraint is but 24 - made a memorable transition to the road this year - and with modesty and realism.

Salute the lad, don't knock him, please.

see here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/others ... bbles.html

I would agree he seems like a very nice guy - modest, grounded and doesn't take himself too seriously (unlike Wiggo 1.0). But for me, people get very carried away and I didn't see such a 'memorable transition'. What I did see was some solid domestique work.

All of that said, he's still quite young.

nick hanson

pedro118118 wrote:

NervexProf wrote:

pedro118118 wrote:

Seems like Wiggo 2.0 to me - great engine, good all-rounder etc, but not a winner.
Track yes, road no.

Harsh, summary judgement.

Geraint is but 24 - made a memorable transition to the road this year - and with modesty and realism.

Salute the lad, don't knock him, please.

see here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/others ... bbles.html

I would agree he seems like a very nice guy - modest, grounded and doesn't take himself too seriously (unlike Wiggo 1.0). But for me, people get very carried away and I didn't see such a 'memorable transition'. What I did see was some solid domestique work.

All of that said, he's still quite young.

Didnt seem to be playing the domestic card on the cobbled stage in ths years TDF
2nd place,behind the future World champ 'aint to be sniffed at

morstar

I think G has serious potential to be a big name rider.

I remember watching his video diary of the TdF a few years back thinking to myself, what a nice lad but that he was just another rider in a crowded peloton.

At the 2009 ToB he spent many hours riding at or off the front and it then seemed pretty clear that this kid has something special.

Seeing up close how effortlessly he rides at the nat champs, followed shortly by his high profile start to the TdF and I am firmly of the opinion he is going to get some big wins.

He'll definitely win both road and stage races and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him do well in a GT.

pedro118118

nick and morstar, I sincerely hope you're spot on - there's nothing I would like to see more than G stepping up and acheiving some big wins.

The performance over the cobbles in the Tour was definitely the highlight, I agree. He was smart/alert and had the strength to ride the Cancellara express to the finish. Likewise at the Nat Champs, he looked super-strong and silky-smooth, albeit against modest opposition and with the benefit of the dominant team.

NervexProf

pedro118118 wrote:

nick and morstar, I sincerely hope you're spot on - there's nothing I would like to see more than G stepping up and acheiving some big wins.

The performance over the cobbles in the Tour was definitely the highlight, I agree. He was smart/alert and had the strength to ride the Cancellara express to the finish. Likewise at the Nat Champs, he looked super-strong and silky-smooth, albeit against modest opposition and with the benefit of the dominant team.[/quote

Good post pedro - yes, he is smart and alert, above all else a realist, happy to assist in a domestique role, yet generous in acknowledging the help of his team when this is given.

His character is his greatest strength and my hope is that he continues to let all the media hype about him go over his left shoulder as he continues his develpment into a very savvy peleton rider.

meggiedude

I agree the kid is skilled and I hope he develops well over the next few years.
At the moment it may well be that he is seems to be doing well in comparison with the higher prestige riders simply because he is not seen to be a major threat to the big boys, despite that outstanding start to the TdF. That will change to some degree or other if he continues to improve.
As long as he does not believe the hype (maybe in the way that Wiggins has) then I see good things for him on the GTs. Whether he develops into a top ranking player for the GT's or just a bl**dy good domestique only time will tell.
He will only do well in the top tier if his tactics mature with his physical amilities.
All the top players have the ability to turn up the gas at the right time even when their card has been marked by their opposite numbers. That only comes with experience.
Anyway - I wish him well.

iainf72

If a someone called Juan Tomas-Pino or Paolo Thomasini went from coming 2nd last in the Tour to being a GT challenger, we'd all be rolling on the floor laughing.

I think he's a good rider - Good for tough classics and short TT's. But GT's - No.

NervexProf

iainf72 wrote:

If a someone called Juan Tomas-Pino or Paolo Thomasini went from coming 2nd last in the Tour to being a GT challenger, we'd all be rolling on the floor laughing.

I think he's a good rider - Good for tough classics and short TT's. But GT's - No.

A bit harsh Ian - Geraint is but 24 years young - are you saying he cannot, will not learn how to contend for a GT? - if so, where is your evidence?

NervexProf

iainf72 wrote:

If a someone called Juan Tomas-Pino or Paolo Thomasini went from coming 2nd last in the Tour to being a GT challenger, we'd all be rolling on the floor laughing.

I think he's a good rider - Good for tough classics and short TT's. But GT's - No.

A bit harsh Ian - Geraint is but 24 years young - are you saying he cannot, will not learn how to contend for a GT? - if so, where is your evidence?

jim one

iainf72 wrote:

If a someone called Juan Tomas-Pino or Paolo Thomasini went from coming 2nd last in the Tour to being a GT challenger, we'd all be rolling on the floor laughing.

I think he's a good rider - Good for tough classics and short TT's. But GT's - No.

Like Samuel Sanchez getting eliminated from the 2003 tour for being outside the time cut on the Alpe d'Huez stage

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/200 ... lts/stage8

rick_chasey

Tend to agree with Ian.

What was Andy Schleck doing when he was 24?

1st National Road Race Champion
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Stage 2 Tour de Luxembourg
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Young Rider classification
2nd La Flèche Wallonne
8th Monte Paschi Eroica
10th Amstel Gold Race


That's what.

stagehopper

If you can contend for GTs you tend to show that promise early. Thomas himself has admitted he's not a good enough climber. He might be able to pull a Wiggins and do a top 10 in a relatively flat tour with lots of TTing but they don't come around that often.

He'd be better off looking to see what progress he can make in the Srping flatter classics.

squired

In Britain we have a habit of giving out sportsmen/women a bit of a let off, because they are young and show potential. This isn't confined to cycling. A great example is athletics where our guys/girls are at big events "for experience", whereas people from other countries who are the same age are winning those same events.

Geraint clearly has potential, but plenty of 24 year old riders have got big results in recent years. He did do well in the Tour cobbles stage, but let us not forget that Andy Schleck was still there at the end, and he is definitely no demon over the cobbles. A lot of what happened on that stage was down to luck - i.e. not being on the wrong wheel when people crashed and not getting a flat.

I get the impression that Geraint has lost weight and will reach his potential at Team Sky, whatever that potential is. At Barloworld he was going nowhere fast.

inkyfingers

You can't really compare him to someone like Andy Schleck as Thomas concentrated on the track in his early years, and got some very respectable results (Olympic and World Team Pursuit gold).

Let's not set him up to fail by saying he could become a GT contender. You don't have to get top 10 in a GT to be a great cyclist, he could carve out a very respectable career in the classics and short stage races like Paris Nice and be a super domestique in the GTs.

pedro118118

He's a very good rider, no doubt about that, but I think we really need to put the brakes on all this talk of him being a GT contender - there are plenty of good young GC riders out there that have done much bigger and better things already than G, such as Shleck, Van den Broek, Kreuziger, Porte, Gessink, Van Garderen, Sagan etc.

afx237vi

squired wrote:

I get the impression that Geraint has lost weight and will reach his potential at Team Sky, whatever that potential is. At Barloworld he was going nowhere fast.

That's not very fair on Barloworld. They did stick by him through all his injuries and gave him free reign to go off and do his track stuff. It's only really this year that he's been fully focused on the road and injury free.