Will Gerant Thomas ever be TDF contender?
EPO Delivery Man
Posts: 271
Just curious what people think?
Sky are always banging on about him, but is he good?
Did he blow the Tour down Under?
I saw an Olympics interview with him and he came across as a bit of a prat, but obviously thats personality, im talking bike rider.
debate!
Sky are always banging on about him, but is he good?
Did he blow the Tour down Under?
I saw an Olympics interview with him and he came across as a bit of a prat, but obviously thats personality, im talking bike rider.
debate!
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Comments
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sez the guy who's adopted a monicker of EPO Delivery Man :?0
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Flanders/Roubaix winner, yes. Tour winner, no.0
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I doubt it; I think he'll climb well enough to be a top 10 Tour contender, but that's about it. Cobbled classics contender for sure.
He didn't blow TDU, he's just not punchy enough to consistently go with the likes of Gerrans and Slagter on hills. I doubt Wiggins would have been able to go with them either.0 -
First question is - does he want to be a TdF contender - I'm not up to date with his objectives - I know he sort of thinks that it is not an impossibility - but is it something he sets as an objective - and should he concentrate on that at the expense of other pursuits
You are right about personality though - one persons prat is another's complex character
whereas some find abruptness and quick to judge a bit prattish.0 -
OK SGS, fair enough
Maybe too early to tell whether G could be serious contender. Seems to be set on Classics for now, but open to the idea of trying to following in Wiggins footsteps in next few years. I suspect that if Sky and Wiggins can do what they've done with Wiggins, they could have a decent shot at it with G who seems to be made from the same sort of stuff.0 -
So does that mean we can expect the same from Steven Burke and Pete Kennaugh?0
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Kennaugh 1000%. Burke a bit closer to 0%.0
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Turfle wrote:Kennaugh 1000%. Burke a bit closer to 0%.
Because?0 -
Burke = not much skillz on the road. Trackie through and through. Not even a decent crit rider like Clancy
Kennaugh on the other hand...much excitement about him for the future0 -
Because Kennaugh is a natural climber. He has shown it as a 21 year old in the Giro, and by getting 3rd in Route du Sud (behind Kiriyenka and Rebellin) in a race featuring big climbs like Col d'Aspin and the Tourmalet. He's a big engine in a tiny body.
Burke is a big body who has shown little to no ability to climb.0 -
Turfle's post a tad more informative than mine 8)0
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greasedscotsman wrote:Flanders/Roubaix winner, yes. Tour winner, no.
Yup.
What makes the OP think that it's a possibility?0 -
But then how much of a climber was Wiggins? You can see where I'm coming from, right? I'm still not sure any of them Kennaugh included is a huge TdF prospect at the moment, just too early to tell.0
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Richmond Racer wrote:Turfle's post a tad more informative than mine 8)
But he didn't use the word "skillz".0 -
greasedscotsman wrote:But then how much of a climber was Wiggins? You can see where I'm coming from, right? I'm still not sure any of them Kennaugh included is a huge TdF prospect at the moment, just too early to tell.
Of course. I'm confident Kennaugh will be a legit professional climber, and I'm confident Burke won't be, but going from that to Tour de France contender is a huge step.
I think G is somewhere in between. He's shown he has the skillz to climb well enough to go in breaks on huge mountain days, to be in the last 20 or 30 on mountain stages in the Tour, and he's shown he can time trial. Putting all that together consistently is something he hasn't even come close to demonstrating though; and certainly not for 3 weeks. If he committed to it the way Wiggins has done I think he has a chance to be a fringe contender.0 -
greasedscotsman wrote:Richmond Racer wrote:Turfle's post a tad more informative than mine 8)
But he didn't use the word "skillz".
I think I get pointz for that0 -
Richmond Racer wrote:sez the guy who's adopted a monicker of EPO Delivery Man :?
Tongue-in-cheek is one thing
being a prat is another.
Sorry..im teaching you to suck eggs grandma.
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EPO Delivery Man wrote:Richmond Racer wrote:sez the guy who's adopted a monicker of EPO Delivery Man :?
Tongue-in-cheek is one thing
being a prat is another.
Sorry..im teaching you to suck eggs grandma.
Yes, child
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Anybody know Kennaugh's Schedule this year? And will he be riding for himself on any occasion?
Majorly interested to see Kennaugh race again though. The prospect is exciting me, just hope he lives up to the hype!0 -
So really Thomas would be better off using his skillz at trying to win either Flanders or Roubaix. Well, that's what I think...
(And yes, I did really just post so I could use skillz...)0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:greasedscotsman wrote:Flanders/Roubaix winner, yes. Tour winner, no.
Yup.
What makes the OP think that it's a possibility?
Its because i've seen a number of interviews with Dave Brailsford constantly putting forward how good GT is, almost like hes going to be his next baby when Wiggo and Froome have done their bit and its always struck me as to why? Maybe he knows something we dont, maybe hes just being polite and its all bull, so wanted to ask.
His track creds arent in doubt and im not saying he can/cant win a TDF, but its always struck me that hes not really a TDF contender, now or in the future, but maybe theres just something im missing. The fact Brailsford says it about him in virtually every interview just always confuses me.0 -
LeicesterLad wrote:Anybody know Kennaugh's Schedule this year? And will he be riding for himself on any occasion?
Majorly interested to see Kennaugh race again though. The prospect is exciting me, just hope he lives up to the hype!
Haven't found specifics, but he's doing Tirreno, then the Giro and Ardennes are his early season targets.
I was hoping he'd be doing the Mallorca Challenge next week, but he's not on the preliminary startlist.0 -
Turfle wrote:LeicesterLad wrote:Anybody know Kennaugh's Schedule this year? And will he be riding for himself on any occasion?
Majorly interested to see Kennaugh race again though. The prospect is exciting me, just hope he lives up to the hype!
Haven't found specifics, but he's doing Tirreno, then the Giro and Ardennes are his early season targets.
I was hoping he'd be doing the Mallorca Challenge next week, but he's not on the preliminary startlist.
Cheers Turfle!0 -
Thing with G is he seems to keep himself pretty trim and has been racing on the road on and off for a few years now. I don't see where he could make the kind of massive steps forward that Wiggins made post Beijing (when he really started to focus on the road). I do think there is room for some further development and he already looks like he could mix it up in the cobbled classics and short stage races, but the jury is still out on whether he is a potential GT winner - I would be surprised if he could make that step up but would love to see it.
Kennaugh strikes me as having a lot of scope to develop still, this should be a massive year for him.0 -
Who knows? Who would have said that Wiggins would be a Tour contender when he was Geraint's age (or Lance for that matter ). 0
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For me, Geraint is likely to get to a level (in terms of Grand Tours) similar to Nicolas Roche. That wouldn't be a bad thing, as he could certainly earn a pretty decent wage as a grand tour outsider. I guess as much as anything it depends on what direction he wants to take. The people with the best idea of what he can be will certainly be Sky. I've no doubt that they've done all the relevant tests not just with Geraint, but the whole squad, and worked out the level that they believe each is capable of achieving.0
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squired wrote:For me, Geraint is likely to get to a level (in terms of Grand Tours) similar to Nicolas Roche. That wouldn't be a bad thing, as he could certainly earn a pretty decent wage as a grand tour outsider. I guess as much as anything it depends on what direction he wants to take. The people with the best idea of what he can be will certainly be Sky. I've no doubt that they've done all the relevant tests not just with Geraint, but the whole squad, and worked out the level that they believe each is capable of achieving.
Now that's just mean...0 -
EPO Delivery Man wrote:debate!
I think you should post under your main account instead of hiding behind an alternate one.0 -
20 years ago, if you had asked that question about a certain Lance Armstrong.
The response would have been very similar to this thread even though he was world champion. :roll:Organiser, National Championship 50 mile Time Trial 19720 -
The Mad Rapper wrote:EPO Delivery Man wrote:debate!
I think you should post under your main account instead of hiding behind an alternate one.
What are you on about? :?:0
