Galant Thomas...

Silly Old Hector

Richmond Racer wrote:

thejimmymethod wrote:

PeteMadoc wrote:

I'm not exactly sure why he continued to ride this years TDF, he was no real use to the team and risked doing some serious damage.

I'd say he was quite useful by the third week, saw him on the front quite a bit by then and was needed to after Sky lost Kiri and Eddy

Absolutely. He was putting in stints on the front into week 2, and some seriously big stints by week 3. For example the stage into gap: he was on the front from around 120km to go to the 40-50km mark. Sorry but to say he was of little real use to the team indicates the poster wasn't watching the race. He might not have been able to help much in the mountains but he did a hell of a lot on the flat stuff controlling the breaks.

Indeed, Stage 16 - significant time on the front and didn't he do similar out of Bourg for a period as well. I think he more than payed his way.....

joelsim

PeteMadoc wrote:

EPO Delivery Man wrote:

he also happens to be completely void of personality and a bit of a tjt in interviews.

Disagree! He comes across as a genuine down to earth bloke with a good sense of humour, always up for a bit of a laugh unlike the usual Sky seriousness.

I'm not exactly sure why he continued to ride this years TDF, he was no real use to the team and risked doing some serious damage.

I imagine for the reason pointed out by someone ie he hasn't exactly covered himself in glory since he took time off for the Olympics.

If I was Dave B then I wouldn't resign him on current form.

RichN95.

Joelsim wrote:

I imagine for the reason pointed out by someone ie he hasn't exactly covered himself in glory since he took time off for the Olympics.

If I was Dave B then I wouldn't resign him on current form.

He's 27th on the World Tour Rankings, Sky's fifth best scorer.

His allegedly terrible season includes:

3rd Tour Down Under (+stage win, +points jersey)
10th Tour of Qatar
4th Het Nieuwsblad
4th E3 Harelbeke
2nd Bayern Rundtfahrt
15th Dauphine

That's pretty solid

mr_poll

RichN95 wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

I imagine for the reason pointed out by someone ie he hasn't exactly covered himself in glory since he took time off for the Olympics.

If I was Dave B then I wouldn't resign him on current form.

He's 27th on the World Tour Rankings, Sky's fifth best scorer.

His allegedly terrible season includes:

3rd Tour Down Under (+stage win, +points jersey)
10th Tour of Qatar
4th Het Nieuwsblad
4th E3 Harelbeke
2nd Bayern Rundtfahrt
15th Dauphine

That's pretty solid

This ^

One good thing about Thomas is that unlike too many riders that Sky have he seems totally at ease in the team role. As long as he gets a punt at the odd one dayer he seems quite happy to do the fetching and carrying for the GC contenders. Given you have Froome, Porte, Uran, Henao and poss Wiggins depending on what you read/his mood all wanting a shot a GC he is more than a solid domestique. He also spent most of last year in olympic mode - a cpl of years purely road focussed may well see him at the sharp end of a classic.

EPO Delivery Man

Joelsim wrote:

PeteMadoc wrote:

EPO Delivery Man wrote:

he also happens to be completely void of personality and a bit of a tjt in interviews.

Disagree! He comes across as a genuine down to earth bloke with a good sense of humour, always up for a bit of a laugh unlike the usual Sky seriousness.

I'm not exactly sure why he continued to ride this years TDF, he was no real use to the team and risked doing some serious damage.

I imagine for the reason pointed out by someone ie he hasn't exactly covered himself in glory since he took time off for the Olympics.

If I was Dave B then I wouldn't resign him on current form.

Neither would I.

EPO Delivery Man

RichN95 wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

I imagine for the reason pointed out by someone ie he hasn't exactly covered himself in glory since he took time off for the Olympics.

If I was Dave B then I wouldn't resign him on current form.

He's 27th on the World Tour Rankings, Sky's fifth best scorer.

His allegedly terrible season includes:

3rd Tour Down Under (+stage win, +points jersey)
10th Tour of Qatar
4th Het Nieuwsblad
4th E3 Harelbeke
2nd Bayern Rundtfahrt
15th Dauphine

That's pretty solid

Soild. But who remembers solid? I dont sit in the pib with my cycling chums going ' oh do you remember that year 2013, where Thomas came 10th..and 4th...and 15th? Nobody does. You could say that for the majority of riders in the peloton. But the difference with Thomas is that hes continually bigged up by the media, even ITV with Phil were at it like he was 'different' to everyone else. He isnt. He hasnt performed and won what he was meant to, like Wiggins hasnt this year. Again, nobody says hey remember the 2013 Giro year for Wiggo? Its always 'remember 2012 when Wiggo won the Tour and Olympic gold?

I'll change my mind about Thomas when he wins a couple of classics and minor races but until then he's mediocre at best and Welsh at worst.

morpheus_p

EPO Delivery Man wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

I imagine for the reason pointed out by someone ie he hasn't exactly covered himself in glory since he took time off for the Olympics.

If I was Dave B then I wouldn't resign him on current form.

He's 27th on the World Tour Rankings, Sky's fifth best scorer.

His allegedly terrible season includes:

3rd Tour Down Under (+stage win, +points jersey)
10th Tour of Qatar
4th Het Nieuwsblad
4th E3 Harelbeke
2nd Bayern Rundtfahrt
15th Dauphine

That's pretty solid

Soild. But who remembers solid? I dont sit in the pib with my cycling chums going ' oh do you remember that year 2013, where Thomas came 10th..and 4th...and 15th? Nobody does. You could say that for the majority of riders in the peloton. But the difference with Thomas is that hes continually bigged up by the media, even ITV with Phil were at it like he was 'different' to everyone else. He isnt. He hasnt performed and won what he was meant to, like Wiggins hasnt this year. Again, nobody says hey remember the 2013 Giro year for Wiggo? Its always 'remember 2012 when Wiggo won the Tour and Olympic gold?

I'll change my mind about Thomas when he wins a couple of classics and minor races but until then he's mediocre at best and Welsh at worst.

So to clarify do you not like him because he is Welsh or because you think he is mediocre?

joelsim

He's always flattered to deceive. For me anyway. Big talk before all the classics and he was nowhere near in any of them.

His reputation is larger than his results, so I agree with EPO Delivery Man. Maybe he's too nice and is destined to be a domestique for the rest of his career.

Anyway, this was started by someone saying that he didn't need to race on in the Tour. His results have been average to ok, so he probably felt he needed to show Dave B something as well as not missing the biggest race of the year.

RichN95.

Joelsim wrote:

He's always flattered to deceive. For me anyway. Big talk before all the classics and he was nowhere near in any of them.

He was fourth in Het Nieuwsblad and E3 Harelbeke

carl_p

PeteMadoc wrote:

I didn't see much of the later flat stages to be honest, just the final 10K. Was it worth risking a long term injury though?

According to the medical advice there was no risk as the bone would continue to heal irrespective of whether or not Thomas continued to ride.

His ability to endure pain seems impressive, his record off the track is ordinary.

joelsim

Carl_P wrote:

PeteMadoc wrote:

I didn't see much of the later flat stages to be honest, just the final 10K. Was it worth risking a long term injury though?

According to the medical advice there was no risk as the bone would continue to heal irrespective of whether or not Thomas continued to ride.

His ability to endure pain seems impressive, his record off the track is ordinary.

^+1

EPO Delivery Man

morpheus_p wrote:

EPO Delivery Man wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

I imagine for the reason pointed out by someone ie he hasn't exactly covered himself in glory since he took time off for the Olympics.

If I was Dave B then I wouldn't resign him on current form.

He's 27th on the World Tour Rankings, Sky's fifth best scorer.

His allegedly terrible season includes:

3rd Tour Down Under (+stage win, +points jersey)
10th Tour of Qatar
4th Het Nieuwsblad
4th E3 Harelbeke
2nd Bayern Rundtfahrt
15th Dauphine

That's pretty solid

Soild. But who remembers solid? I dont sit in the pib with my cycling chums going ' oh do you remember that year 2013, where Thomas came 10th..and 4th...and 15th? Nobody does. You could say that for the majority of riders in the peloton. But the difference with Thomas is that hes continually bigged up by the media, even ITV with Phil were at it like he was 'different' to everyone else. He isnt. He hasnt performed and won what he was meant to, like Wiggins hasnt this year. Again, nobody says hey remember the 2013 Giro year for Wiggo? Its always 'remember 2012 when Wiggo won the Tour and Olympic gold?

I'll change my mind about Thomas when he wins a couple of classics and minor races but until then he's mediocre at best and Welsh at worst.

So to clarify do you not like him because he is Welsh or because you think he is mediocre?

Both.

salsiccia1

I don't remember hearing him bigging himself up. He always comes across as pretty modest to me. And if he hasn't produced the results other people have 'bigged him up' for, is that his fault?

And as for disliking him because he's Welsh, well that's just pathetic.

sbbefc

His record this year is pretty good and that's after 2012 on the track. Despite his injury he still put the effort in for the team in the 2nd and 3rd weeks of the TdF. If he wasnt good enough Brailsford would have never picked him for the team.

Id like to see more of him next year but I think people are being far too harsh, and as for his ego, it seems like its other people doing the talking for him, he always seems quite modest in interviews.

Richmond Racer

sbbefc wrote:

His record this year is pretty good and that's after 2012 on the track. Despite his injury he still put the effort in for the team in the 2nd and 3rd weeks of the TdF. If he wasnt good enough Brailsford would have never picked him for the team.

Id like to see more of him next year but I think people are being far too harsh, and as for his ego, it seems like its other people doing the talking for him, he always seems quite modest in interviews.

The guy's a top fella. Met him and there's no big ego there

Tom Butcher

I like him but I think he's in danger of failing to fulfill his talent on the road. OK it's his choice but there is more fame and fortune to be had winning big road races than Olympic medals and I think he has the talent to win them. I'm not sure e's beem well advised by Sky/BC - it may suit them to use him as a trackie/domestique but he's better an that imo. OK it could be argued he was aimimg at the classics this year and had bad luck, possibly, but he's been around long enough now to be more established than he is. Perhaps he'd benefit from a change of team with less of an embarassment of riches.

Richmond Racer

Tom Butcher wrote:

I like him but I think he's in danger of failing to fulfill his talent on the road. OK it's his choice but there is more fame and fortune to be had winning big road races than Olympic medals and I think he has the talent to win them. I'm not sure e's beem well advised by Sky/BC - it may suit them to use him as a trackie/domestique but he's better an that imo. OK it could be argued he was aimimg at the classics this year and had bad luck, possibly, but he's been around long enough now to be more established than he is. Perhaps he'd benefit from a change of team with less of an embarassment of riches.

Couple of things with G: 1) his own dual priorities for track and road, and 2) his thing for classics over GTs right now.

As for leading a team, its about learning your trade as a domestique. Not everyone springs out fully-formed as a team leader and winner of big races aged 23. Jeez, it took Wiggins till 2012 to learn how to lead a team. Add to that G's priority for London '12 - and it was his priority being a home Olympics - that comes across strongly in all his interviews. He's just turned 27, Porte and Froome are 28 and have only got their chances to lead in big races this year. G's probably a year or two back from them because of his focus on track for 2012. But then neither Porte nor Froome fancy Classics over stage racing - unlike G, right now.

I really dont think that Brailsford and Sutton locked him in a cupboard until he promised to work towards London '12. Hard though it might be to believe, G loves/loved the track as much as the road

Tom Butcher

Exactly my point - you can't ride two horses and track success has come at a price of holding the road career back. His choice but I wonder how much that choice is influenced by being so much a part of the BC programme. It suits BC to have him on the track programme.

Froome has only just become a leader but he pretty much said last year either I lead or I leave - and a few years ago he was probably behind Thomas in terms of their road careers. Go back 3 years and Thomas probably looked a better bet for classics or stage races. 27 isn't young - he's in his prime now.

Richmond Racer

But its his career - and its been his choice - to mix track and worlds. To infer that its all Brailsford etc holding him back, is a bit demeaning to G himself.

He's indicated that he's now concentrating on the road. He's 27. Wiggins was 29 when he made that call. And he went on to win an unprecedented sequence of races last year culminating in the Tour.

Tom Butcher

Richmond Racer wrote:

But its his career - and its been his choice - to mix track and worlds. To infer that its all Brailsford etc holding him back, is a bit demeaning to G himself.

He's indicated that he's now concentrating on the road. He's 27. Wiggins was 29 when he made that call. And he went on to win an unprecedented sequence of races last year culminating in the Tour.

Sure it's his career and his choices, I think he might regret his choices, don't we all look back and think we would do things differently? Maybe he really is happy to sacrifice money and road wins for the team pursuit in which case good luck to him.

I don't think it demeans him to say i think he is aiming too low - the opposite in fact.

morstar

Tom Butcher wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

But its his career - and its been his choice - to mix track and worlds. To infer that its all Brailsford etc holding him back, is a bit demeaning to G himself.

He's indicated that he's now concentrating on the road. He's 27. Wiggins was 29 when he made that call. And he went on to win an unprecedented sequence of races last year culminating in the Tour.

Sure it's his career and his choices, I think he might regret his choices, don't we all look back and think we would do things differently? Maybe he really is happy to sacrifice money and road wins for the team pursuit in which case good luck to him.

I don't think it demeans him to say i think he is aiming too low - the opposite in fact.

Judging by the continuing glow from London 2012 I don't think many athletes (especially one with gold medals) will have too many regrets about being part of it. G ain't exactly scraping by on minimum wage either.

There are certain big events in my life that I look back very fondly on. Those memories are hugely important to me. What race was G likely to have won this year on the road (had he not taken a year out) that would be bigger than the home Olympics? (A once in a lifetime event)

jerry3571

He needs some new armwarmers; the sticker's falling off.