What has happened to EBH?
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Isn't it simply that he's not as good as he was made out to be. Maybe it was too much too soon and he'll come back stronger next year. Maybe he needs to decide what he is and stop trying to be a bit of everything. Cycling does seem to be about focus and specialisation now, so he perhaps needs to focus and one particular type of target.0
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He's just had a few bad breaks (literally) recently ...he'll be back v soon!'Do not compare your bike to others, for always there will be greater and lesser bikes'0
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He broke 3 ribs in a nasty crash into a tree in Scheldeprijs and is out for 6 weeks, so he will be back in full training mid-May.0
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Damaged goods and over-rated.
Sky should get rid of. He's certainly not worth 5 Russell Downings!!0 -
He looked to be in good shape right at the start of the season - 2nd overall in Oman then led out Sutton for the win at Kuurne.
He pulled out of Tirreno with another Achilles injury but showed he was getting at least some form back at Flanders when he went off the front with Boom. A shame he then wrapped himself round a tree at Scheldeprijs... all in all another spring ruined by injury!
I think with the right guidance he can be top level one-day rider, maybe also targetting GC at some of the one-week stage races with reasonable time trial mileages (would have been interesting to see what he did at Romandie this week for example). I don't think he's got the kick to beat the true sprinters on a flat finish in Grand Tours so maybe needs to move his focus away from out and out sprinting. Could be a good 500m man for Cav next season though
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I'll say it as no one else will.
He's on the wrong team. Should've got Cuddle Bob to get his cheque book out or gone to SaxoBank.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
I think Iain's suggesting he's in the wrong environment at Sky.0
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iainf72 wrote:I'll say it as no one else will.
He's on the wrong team. Should've got Cuddle Bob to get his cheque book out or gone to SaxoBank.
He's been a protected rider in the Classics he's been fit for (or at least the very least been given a free role), was Sky's no.1 sprinter at the Tour last year as well as leading the team at Eneco, the Canadian ProTour races etc. What more could he realistically have hoped for else where?0 -
dougzz wrote:
can you expand a bit on this, I don't quite follow.iainf72 wrote:I'll say it as no one else will.
He's on the wrong team. Should've got Cuddle Bob to get his cheque book out or gone to SaxoBank.
I just get the feeling Sky isn't working for him. I know he's been injured but injuries tend to be more common when riders aren't happy. I know Sky paid him a lot more than HTC did and maybe the money has something to do with it.
It looks like the Sky system works well for some guys (Flecha, for example) but not so well for others (Lofkvist)
EBH is talented but when I saw him compared to Merckx I'm afraid I spat my tea out.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
And he can't get past 200km without having problems.0
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Do they have inner chimps in Norway?0
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Rodrego Hernandez wrote:And he can't get past 200km without having problems.
Which is a problem Pip Gilbert used to have....
He's do better if he popped down to the local barbers and asked for a number 3 all over.
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
iainf72 wrote:It looks like the Sky system works well for some guys (Flecha, for example) but not so well for others (Lofkvist)
Maybe, but Flecha had a much better classics season last year than he had this year...does that mean that the environment doesn't suit him any more, or was it because he's just had a bit of a dodgy year? Gerrans had a rubbish year last year but rode a great Amstel Gold this year. What i'm not sure you can make that call based on 1.5 seasons when we all know that most cyclists have good years and bad years.
Going back to EBH, he's clearly been a dissapointment at Sky so far, but he's been injured for the classics (the races that most people think he has the best pedigree for) both years so it's not really fair to write him off yet. When he has raced at Sky he's shown some of his promise (Oman this year, the canadian races and that great stage win and top 3 TT in the Dauphine last year) so I think we need to see him get a good period of injury free racing in the see whether he's really got it or whether we were sucked in by the hype.
One thing I think Sky have got wrong is trying to get him in so many bunch sprints (like in the Tour last year), he's fast but not that fast and is much more likely to win from a break in the tour than he is from a bunch gallop against Cav and Griepel. I think Sky even have faster sprinters emerging in Swift and Sutton so hopefully they will start to use their fast men differently. Or maybe they'll just get the chequebook out and sign Cav?!"I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0 -
One thing about injuries is that people prone to them usually stay that way. Breaks and bruises from a fall are one thing, but strains and pulls tend to be something that some people get and others don't, that's my view anyway.0
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dougzz wrote:RichN95 wrote:He should have his wisdom teeth taken out.
Seriously, several injury prone footballers have benefited greatly from it (Steven Gerrard is a notable example)
Seriously serious? Steven Gerrard is not the greatest example of an injury success.-
Seriously, seriously serious. Every footballer gets injuries, particularly players of his style. But in the first few years of his career, he was an absolute wreck. A lot of people thought he'd be finished by his early to mid twenties. Yanking the teeth was credited with saving his career. You can Google all this. Van Persie's another one who had them taken out to see if it helps. It's not a cure-all solution, but it's a well documented cause of injuries all over the body.
Twitter: @RichN950 -
Wasn't Gerrard's crockosity down to him being asked to hit Hollywood passes and piledrive shots over the bar 30 times a season for Liverpool then all summer for England whislt still a teenager? The same thing that wrecked Michael Owen's still developing hamstrings.
As to EBH, "The Greatest Rider SInce Merckx". I never get tired of that. The reason I stopped buying Pro Cycling."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
disgruntledgoat wrote:As to EBH, "The Greatest Rider SInce Merckx". I never get tired of that. The reason I stopped buying Pro Cycling.
“Eddy Merckx was unique. There was one Eddy Merckx, and there will never be another Eddy Merckx. He was just the best athlete in the last century, so he is unique,” Gilbert told Feltet.dk.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Well FF, we don't agree on much, but I'm happy to concur with that. The only cyclist I'd put on his level is Coppi."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
iainf72 wrote:Rodrego Hernandez wrote:And he can't get past 200km without having problems.
Which is a problem Pip Gilbert used to have....
He's do better if he popped down to the local barbers and asked for a number 3 all over.
I’ve no idea what a “number 3” is, but I’m still laughing!Infinite diversity, infinte variations0 -
Bit harsh all this - the boy has been injured and we've not seen the best of him yet. And he's still acheived better results than Wiggins.0
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pedro118118 wrote:Bit harsh all this - the boy has been injured and we've not seen the best of him yet. And he's still acheived better results than Wiggins.
Really?0 -
I think so.
EBH results (whilst at Sky): -
20101st National Time Trial Champion
1st Stage 1 TTT Tour of Qatar
1st Stage 7 Tirreno–Adriatico
1st Stage 7 Critérium du Dauphiné
1st Dutch Food Valley Classic
2nd Overall Tour of Oman
1st Points Classification
1st Best Young Rider
1st Stage 3
1st Stage 6 ITT
2nd Vattenfal Cyclassics
2nd Chrono des Nations
3rd Overall, Eneco Tour
1st Points Classification
20112nd Overall Tour of Oman
1st Points Classification
Wiggo: -
20101st Stage 1 TTT, Tour of Qatar
1st Stage 1 ITT, Giro d'Italia
Held Maglia Rosa for Stage 1
1st British National Time Trial Championships
20113rd Overall Paris–Nice
So if we're talking about "value for money" here..................0 -
Is Ben Swift going to be the new EBH? A decent sprinter who can climb a bit and with seemingly a big future ahead at a young age? I think many are being too harsh on EBH, he's had one and a half injury hit seasons but still has quite a few wins to his name and didn't he finish 3rd in the points competition in the Tour last year having only just come back from injury? The new Merckx thing was over-the-top but he still has the potential to be an excellent rider though probably classics and short stage races rather than being a GT contender (possible points winner though).0
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From the comments I've seen from other professional cyclists, he is extremely highly rated. Considering his injury problems I think he has done well.
Wasn't he in the top 20 in last year's UCI ProTour rankings? I can't find a link to them sadly, but I've just checked and found that for the 2010 season he was 15th in the CQ Rankings, above Andy Schleck, Hushovd, Basso and others.
As with last season, I'd expect to see some strong performances from EBH in the latter half of the season, assuming he is back to 100%.0 -
I agree with Iain- I think he's on the wrong team. Nothing wrong with Sky- it benefits some, and others seem to stagnate in the marginal inner chimp bus.
Suspect he would have benefited form another year with Uncle Bob and his DSs at HTC- he may have been poorer, but he could then have commanded a higher wage when he moved.0
