Will Horner get a new contract for 2014

alihisgreat

Crankbrother wrote:

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

Crankbrother wrote:

Horner was right to shame Hincapie ... Hincapie took all the money he could before pissing on the opportunities for American riders in the future ... Horner never received his 'Lance bonus' all those years and has kids to support ...

Ordinary riders are winning GT's left, right and centre ... based on performance of say 3 or 4 years ago who would you have picked out of Horner, Wiggins, Froome, Hesjdal ... If one is doping so are the others as they are racing the same competition who are apparently not doping yet Horner is?

So now we are comparing a 41 year old to a 28 year old? hmm seems reasonable

Is it reasonable to believe someone watching the telly and typing on the internet over those carrying out doping controls for stage winners and clasification leaders?

I don't really see what your point is? You seem to be saying that I have no idea what I'm talking about because I haven't seen a pro cyclist p1ss in a pot in front of me?

Crankbrother

Sounds silly doesn't it? Yet they are a hell of a lot closer to the truth than you are, no?

thomthom

Good piece on Horner's Vuelta race. I'm sure it's readable. http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... 2F&act=url

alihisgreat

Crankbrother wrote:

Sounds silly doesn't it? Yet they are a hell of a lot closer to the truth than you are, no?

You're right... I've just been speculating when I say that Wiggo has the biggest schlong

rick_chasey

It's a bit of an unusual spike. What's he doing differently?

dave milne

personally I don't mind him. I find his interviews candid and quite funny.

haven't got a clue whether he's up to anything. time will tell

me-109

Who is this 'Will Horner'?

Yellow Peril

I suspect he'll get a contract from somewhere, he could be the new MAMIL pin up.

frenchfighter

ThomThom wrote:

Good piece on Horner's Vuelta race. I'm sure it's readable. http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... 2F&act=url

Tks. More or less makes all the points.

The only thing to note in his defense is that a lot of the riders he is up against rode the Tour so `should` not be at 100% fiorepower and Nibali had a long period of not doing much before having to start low at the Tour of Poland and regain his racing form.

slowbike

Yellow Peril wrote:

He could be the new MAMIL pin up.

Of course he is - he's helping the aspiring 40-something cycling market ...

What they don't tell you is that he's got one of those new electric road bikes - you can't tell the difference to a normal bike - but at the bottom of the seattube there would be an embeded motor that drives the cranks around. PMQ has allowed it for a substantial kickback ... allegedly!

<serious mode>
If he is cheating then I hope he crashes and burns ...
but eitherway - that is a hell of a performance for someone significantly over the "normal" retirement age from competitive cycling.

Pross

Crankbrother wrote:

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

Crankbrother wrote:

Horner was right to shame Hincapie ... Hincapie took all the money he could before pissing on the opportunities for American riders in the future ... Horner never received his 'Lance bonus' all those years and has kids to support ...

Ordinary riders are winning GT's left, right and centre ... based on performance of say 3 or 4 years ago who would you have picked out of Horner, Wiggins, Froome, Hesjdal ... If one is doping so are the others as they are racing the same competition who are apparently not doping yet Horner is?

So now we are comparing a 41 year old to a 28 year old? hmm seems reasonable

Is it reasonable to believe someone watching the telly and typing on the internet over those carrying out doping controls for stage winners and clasification leaders?

Well, you seemed to want everyone to take that approach during this year and last year's Tours.

bompington

Crankbrother wrote:

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

Crankbrother wrote:

Horner was right to shame Hincapie ... Hincapie took all the money he could before pissing on the opportunities for American riders in the future ... Horner never received his 'Lance bonus' all those years and has kids to support ...

Ordinary riders are winning GT's left, right and centre ... based on performance of say 3 or 4 years ago who would you have picked out of Horner, Wiggins, Froome, Hesjdal ... If one is doping so are the others as they are racing the same competition who are apparently not doping yet Horner is?

So now we are comparing a 41 year old to a 28 year old? hmm seems reasonable

Is it reasonable to believe someone watching the telly and typing on the internet over those carrying out doping controls for stage winners and clasification leaders?

At last! The news we've been longing for all these years - doping tests have finally become infallible and no doper is going to get away with it!

And as for the clichéd internet irony of someone posting their opinion on the internet about how other people's opinions aren't valid... I suspect you're just the kind of cantankerous misanthrope who hates Froome, Wiggins etc. purely because they're popular, and is supporting Horner for the inverse reasons.

trek_dan

After seeing the way Valverde, Purito and Steaky destroyed Froome last year (and we know how strong he is) after riding Le Tour in last years Vuelta is it any suprise that the guys that did the tour are say 75-80%? Nibali doesn't seem to be 100% either to be fair.

frenchfighter

LOL

@WarrenBarguil Excellent, un mec de 41 ans avec de l'expérience aurait pas fait mieux. Extraordinaire au sens littéral du terme. Chapeau WB

ad_snow

frenchfighter wrote:

LOL

@WarrenBarguil Excellent, un mec de 41 ans avec de l'expérience aurait pas fait mieux. Extraordinaire au sens littéral du terme. Chapeau WB

Could you translate please so I can share the lols?

cesco

ad_snow wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

LOL

@WarrenBarguil Excellent, un mec de 41 ans avec de l'expérience aurait pas fait mieux. Extraordinaire au sens littéral du terme. Chapeau WB

Could you translate please so I can share the lols?

Roughly: Excellent, a 41 year old with experience couldn't have done it better. Extraordinary in the literal sense of the word.

(I think?)

frenchfighter

I see it as a snide dig at Horner.

bompington

"incroyable" might have been better than "extraordinaire"

davidof

Slowbike wrote:

What they don't tell you is that he's got one of those new electric road bikes - you can't tell the difference to a normal bike - but at the bottom of the seattube there would be an embeded motor that drives the cranks around. PMQ has allowed it for a substantial kickback ... allegedly!

My neighbour, who works as a rep for an eBike developer, has a racing bike with an electric motor in the BB (it's quite a big BB like one of those elliptical ones) and the battery in the drinks bottle. I'm planning on borrowing it to ride up ADH at the weekend. It is probably just discreet enough that any cyclist I pass won't notice :-). I'm hoping to beat Pantani's time.

RichN95.

davidof wrote:

My neighbour, who works as a rep for an eBike developer, has a racing bike with an electric motor in the BB (it's quite a big BB like one of those elliptical ones) and the battery in the drinks bottle. I'm planning on borrowing it to ride up ADH at the weekend. It is probably just discreet enough that any cyclist I pass won't notice :-). I'm hoping to beat Pantani's time.

Don't be too sure, on the Gadget Show they had a race between one of those bikes and Russ Downing up Holme Moss: Downing won quite easily.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHU7qBZSsfk

davidof

RichN95 wrote:

Don't be too sure, on the Gadget Show they had a race between one of those bikes and Russ Downing up Holme Moss: Downing won quite easily.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHU7qBZSsfk

thanks for the link, I'm afraid you might be right.

Crankbrother

Rest day recovery ride post ...


Say what you want (and regardless of outcome), Horner's ride has provided entertainment and discussion ... as negative as the majority of it has been it's still better than the posts of 2 months ago ... Enjoy the entertainment ...

joelsim

He's as guilty as a puppy sitting next to a pile of sh*t.

It is impossible for any 41 year old to do what he is doing right now. And all with a big smile on his face when everyone else is grimacing.

I have to agree with the quick bullet post, it's not often I take an instant dislike to someone but I can't stand the sight of him. Even more now I've seen that beardy pic. Urgh, I feel sick

simon_e

Joelsim wrote:

It is impossible for any 41 year old to do what he is doing right now. And all with a big smile on his face when everyone else is grimacing.

I don't think it's necessarily impossible.

But I think the article Thomthom linked to sets out the case clearly enough. What seems improbable is this is a guy who should be well past his prime, coming back from injury after a less than stellar career, carrying some suspicion, pro-Armstrong and unable or unwilling to say "I am clean". And he's sticking two fingers up to a bunch of GC contenders in a mountainous GT? The axiom still holds true: if it looks too good to be true then it probably is.

And when even the *cough* perennially competitive Valv.Piti is almost lost for words in a press conference you know something's not right.

Crankbrother

Yet Froome's first few years at World Tour level have stuck him immediately at the sharp end of 4 GT's in the past 2 years against the exact same competition as Horner ... But he's Brit(ish) and gets a pass ...

Horner has raced these guys in the past for the top spot of (albeit shorter) stage races ... So we know he can be competitive against the competition ... Except Roche, which should be the indicator of the level the guys at the top of the GC are riding at ... Horner would be odds on favourite against Roche all 3 weeks long ...

I think it is more Nibs, J-Rod & Valverde have stooped to the level of Horner and Roche, who in turn have risen to the challenge and opportunity ...

Not that it actually matters ... Just TV innit ...

mididoctors

Perhaps its legit? we just don't know..... the question is how if he is rather than is he?

zammmmo

Joelsim wrote:

He's as guilty as a puppy sitting next to a pile of sh*t.

It is impossible for any 41 year old to do what he is doing right now. And all with a big smile on his face when everyone else is grimacing.

I have to agree with the quick bullet post, it's not often I take an instant dislike to someone but I can't stand the sight of him. Even more now I've seen that beardy pic. Urgh, I feel sick

I think we are seeing athletes remain competitive until much later now. IM world champs in recent years have been in their late 30s for example. Ok, so the Vuelta has a larger recovery component as its a stage race but might it be so unusual that the age range for GT leaders might be widening?

tailwindhome

I'd love to see him sign for Sky.

Crankbrother

TailWindHome wrote:

I'd love to see him sign for Sky.

Now you're talking ... Wigginswanker meltdown ...

dish_dash

Cameron Wurf had a natter with Horner in the bunch yesterday... http://cyclingtips.com.au/2013/09/cam-w ... the-bunch/

Relevant bits:
"We got chatting about how hard the 20km usually is and how tired everyone’s getting! This stuff that always makes you feel better to know your not the only one suffering in the group! We then got talking about how back in the late 1990′s he never even saw this part of the field. He said he would be riding full gas just to stay at the back of the bunch, never mind riding comfortably in the first 20 positions of the bunch like now days. He said the pace was often that extremely fast that he was riding at his limit just to make it to the feed zone in time before all the masseurs had packed up and headed to the finish. The main field would have long since past with their feed bags dispatched while Chris and many others were still on their way there. He told me their would be fights within teams about who got to pull out of the race early as there was only limited seats in the car to take them back to the hotel! Such was the era and for guys like Chris it was just a case of being battered from pillar to post on a daily basis.

The best part about his story as he does not regret or resent having to race through these times. He certainly suffered and at times all seemed hopeless but he persevered. Now north of 40 years old we are seeing where his true ability has him on the world stage of cycling. He truly has an interesting story.

He spoke about how people are questioning him on his perceived sudden rise to the top of the sport. Perhaps people should look a little more closely at what’s gone on over the past few years and the type of riders who are now at the head of the biggest races. They are the guys with pure class, talent and great work ethic; the best part both young an old. Rising phenomenons like Sagan, and now the old dogs with plenty of tricks like Horner. It really was great for me to have this little impromptu chat with Chris as we scaled the first cat 3 climb of the day."