What next for Geraint Thomas
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Article in L'equipe saying he could be the future leader in the GTs for SKY and he's the next Wiggins! Similar background (track) but apart from that I'm not so sure.0
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Article in L'equipe saying he could be the future leader in the GTs for SKY and he's the next Wiggins! Similar background (track) but apart from that I'm not so sure.
Vaughters agrees with very last sentence:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/33472068"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
If Thomas focused on GC then presumably he'd lose a bit of weight and have a programme focussed on that rather than the classics and then working as a domestique. There are no guarantees that he could come to a grand tour in better condition than he already does but there must be a reasonable chance that what we are seeing is not the best he could be at this kind of racing and it wouldn't take a massive improvement for him to be a serious threat to the overall.
I agree that he also has potential to be a classics man but whatever he does he should be team leader and in recent years we've seen Wiggins, Boasson Hagen and others getting preferential treatment in big one day races which even at the time seemed unjust and with hindsight seems like Sky trying to justify what they were paying them.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
I think the big problem for G is the importance of his role as #2 in the Sky team, especially as Porte is now leaving. You could see what that did for Froome as he almost certainly would have won the 2011 Vuelta and the 2012 Tour if not for being the #2 to Wiggins.
Would Brailsford want to let G expend/risk himself as team leader in say the Giro at the expense of supporting Froome 100% in the Tour? The fact that he may be forced to in order to keep him at Sky is another matter of course. Geraint Thomas has shown that he has the right sort of engine for the big stages in a grand tour but maybe not the killer punch necessary in the mountains or a time trial to really take the necessary time out of a series of rivals to seriously challenge for the whole prize.
I haven't really studied his figures but if you look at his body composition as well, it just doesn't look like a lean, mean pedalling machine like Chris Froome or Wiggins. Maybe he could lose more weight but like others has posted, he really needs to be focussed on the one thing if that is ever going to be realistic. Until then he will just be one of the great lieutenants like Jens Voigt or George Hincapie (without the drugs of course!)0 -
The weight loss angle is becoming a bit obsessional.
Just how much weight loss is enough?
He's come to this TDF at the same weight as the guy who has won all 3 GTs and he's an inch taller."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19655004#p19655004]Blazing Saddles[/url] wrote:The weight loss angle is becoming a bit obsessional.
Just how much weight loss is enough?
He's come to this TDF at the same weight as the guy who has won all 3 GTs and he's an inch taller.
Makes sense.
Can't really bump up the power anymore because that kind of doping is kinda tricky, so you look at the other component: weight.0 -
oooooft controversial[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19655004#p19655004]Blazing Saddles[/url] wrote:The weight loss angle is becoming a bit obsessional.
Just how much weight loss is enough?
He's come to this TDF at the same weight as the guy who has won all 3 GTs and he's an inch taller.
Makes sense.
Can't really bump up the power anymore because that kind of doping is kinda tricky, so you look at the other component: weight.
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Let's see how he copes with week three of this tour before worrying about how he can do as a leader in future events.0
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G said he couldn't lose anymore weight 5 years ago and was obviously lying, so I'm sure he's still hiding a kilo or two somewhere.Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0
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He's this decade's George Hincape.
I was going to write the same thing when I finished reading the two current pages but you beat me to it.
Why shouldn't G be happy going for the Spring Classics, the odd week long Tour and Super Domestique (Road Captain) for the Tour. He seems so suit the role down to the ground.
My thoughts too, I hope he's not too much like George though.
What do you mean by that?0 -
G said he couldn't lose anymore weight 5 years ago and was obviously lying, so I'm sure he's still hiding a kilo or two somewhere.
Lipo. It's not just for Hollywood
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Probably the doping...[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19655065#p19655065]The Loyal Lieutenant[/url] wrote:He's this decade's George Hincape.
I was going to write the same thing when I finished reading the two current pages but you beat me to it.
Why shouldn't G be happy going for the Spring Classics, the odd week long Tour and Super Domestique (Road Captain) for the Tour. He seems so suit the role down to the ground.
My thoughts too, I hope he's not too much like George though.
What do you mean by that?0 -
yes I hope he's not like George the classics man who also wins mountain stages of the tour and (surprisingly) is finally found to have built a career on long term doping.
Probably the doping...[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19655065#p19655065]The Loyal Lieutenant[/url] wrote:He's this decade's George Hincape.
I was going to write the same thing when I finished reading the two current pages but you beat me to it.
Why shouldn't G be happy going for the Spring Classics, the odd week long Tour and Super Domestique (Road Captain) for the Tour. He seems so suit the role down to the ground.
My thoughts too, I hope he's not too much like George though.
What do you mean by that?0 -
Fair enough. The doping is indefensible.0
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@friebos 15h15 hours ago
Revealed in tonight's @cycling_podcast: how MTN-Qhubeka tried to take Geraint Thomas on loan from Team Sky.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Brilliant uphill finish from G again today to stay with the GC group and maintain his 5th place and 1 second lead over Contador. That after leading Froomey out for several kilometres as well. I'm thinking that maybe Sky are aiming to get him on the podium in Paris.0
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The role he has has being dictated by chance, his past track history and also i think by Geraint himself. He comes across as being quite happy to take the role of 2i/c and not one to kick up a fuss and a little bit backward comparatively when shouting for your corner (to promote yourself) and obviously likes being one of the lads.
Could he be a serious GT contender, i don't think so as clearly Brailsford sees his value elsewhere IMHO, though don't dispute he has the ability & who knows may get a shot if the Vuelta seems lacking in big guns (Quintana will be there thouggh no?). In differing circumstances and indeed if on another team he might have had a better chance of stage wins at the GTs but i can't see him leaving sky anytime soon.0 -
Brilliant uphill finish from G again today to stay with the GC group and maintain his 5th place and 1 second lead over Contador. That after leading Froomey out for several kilometres as well. I'm thinking that maybe Sky are aiming to get him on the podium in Paris.
So you think he could make the podium despite working for Froome, yet an overall in a GT is unreal? Got to at least be a possibility?0 -
Brilliant uphill finish from G again today to stay with the GC group and maintain his 5th place and 1 second lead over Contador. That after leading Froomey out for several kilometres as well. I'm thinking that maybe Sky are aiming to get him on the podium in Paris.
So you think he could make the podium despite working for Froome, yet an overall in a GT is unreal? Got to at least be a possibility?
I didn't say that, I said that Sky might be thinking that a podium place for G might be a possibility on the back of supporting Froome's performances like the Wiggins/Froome 1-2 in 2012. The thing that makes me think that is the fact that in the last two stages he has expended energy at the end to stay with the GC group when it hasn't really been necessary i.e. Froome not in danger or trouble. Today's stage might be a telling one because if the likes of Van Garderan cracks on the final climb, I would imagine Quintana and maybe G might overtake him on GC. Valverde in 4th might have similar ideas of course
The reason I don't think that Geraint Thomas would not really be a GC contender is that he doesn't seem to have the acceleration in the mountains or be a top time triallist. Granted, I might be doing him down on that last point given his track pedigree. The only way you would find this out is in the heat of battle.
If he were leading a team he wouldn't get anywhere near the free rein that he enjoys as a domestique and would get a lot more attention from other GC contenders. I certainly think other riders maybe underestimate him at the moment but I'm sure Contador for instance is trying everything to get a few seconds on him to climb in the classification.
The only grand tour I could see him being team leader whilst still at Sky is probably the Giro. As I have said before (and others also) I think Brailsford counts him too valuable in supporting Froome in the other tours to let him expend himself in the Giro, especially with Porte now moving on. The other eventuality is if he effectively inherits the No 1 spot at Sky if Froome gets injured.0 -
Or Froome gets paid more money by another team. Cutting Sagan and Contador from Tinkoff by the end of 2016 would free up a lot of cash.The other eventuality is if he effectively inherits the No 1 spot at Sky if Froome gets injured.Twitter: @RichN950 -
And G's got one year left on his contract. Nothing at all stopping him from saying he'll only stay if he's guaranteed leadership in Giro or Vuelta. Someone else will happily pay him to lead at the Tour.
I don't agree with the notion he doesn't want to lead. Two years ago he asked out of Romandie so he could lead in Paris-Nice, this year he asked out of the Dauphine so he could lead at Tour de Suisse.0 -
I really can't see G doing anything in the Vuelta if they continue their recent course selection. He'd lose time on every one of the steep ramps they seem to love. The terrain in France would generally suit him best but then you get all the top GC riders.0
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I can't see any of this year's GC team leaders being in that position next year, they're not good enough. A team looking to rebuild must seriously look at G. Decision time.'Performance analysis and Froome not being clean was a media driven story. I haven’t heard one guy in the peloton say a negative thing about Froome, and I haven’t heard a single person in the peloton suggest Froome isn’t clean.' TSP0
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I really can't see G doing anything in the Vuelta if they continue their recent course selection. He'd lose time on every one of the steep ramps they seem to love. The terrain in France would generally suit him best but then you get all the top GC riders.
Yeah, that seems fair. Would SKY let him have a go at the Giro, risking a below par support of Froome at the Tour?0 -
Or Froome gets paid more money by another team. Cutting Sagan and Contador from Tinkoff by the end of 2016 would free up a lot of cash.The other eventuality is if he effectively inherits the No 1 spot at Sky if Froome gets injured.
Why cut Contador? If Sagan's on 4M EURO/year then you could just just ditch him, pick up Froome on same salary and send the obviously-past-his-best Contador to the Giro/Vuelta instead. And bingo, a chance at all three GTs in a year.
As an added bonus The Other Place would literally implode, so the world would actually be a better place.Team My Man 2018: David gaudu, Pierre Latour, Romain Bardet, Thibaut pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Florian Senechal, Warren Barguil, Benoit Cosnefroy0 -
Contador has said himself that he is likely to retire at the end of 2016
Why cut Contador? If Sagan's on 4M EURO/year then you could just just ditch him, pick up Froome on same salary and send the obviously-past-his-best Contador to the Giro/Vuelta instead. And bingo, a chance at all three GTs in a year.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/alberto-contador-confirms-retirement-date-161662Twitter: @RichN950 -
Contador has said himself that he is likely to retire at the end of 2016
Why cut Contador? If Sagan's on 4M EURO/year then you could just just ditch him, pick up Froome on same salary and send the obviously-past-his-best Contador to the Giro/Vuelta instead. And bingo, a chance at all three GTs in a year.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/alberto-contador-confirms-retirement-date-161662
Well fuck him and his scuppering of my plans for world cycling domination.
*puts wallet away*Team My Man 2018: David gaudu, Pierre Latour, Romain Bardet, Thibaut pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Florian Senechal, Warren Barguil, Benoit Cosnefroy0 -
Is it about money with Froome? Surely a well paid Froome at Sky would stay because they are cutting edge, moving to another team in that respect would be a backwards move Shirley?'Performance analysis and Froome not being clean was a media driven story. I haven’t heard one guy in the peloton say a negative thing about Froome, and I haven’t heard a single person in the peloton suggest Froome isn’t clean.' TSP0
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Is it about money with Froome? Surely a well paid Froome at Sky would stay because they are cutting edge, moving to another team in that respect would be a backwards move Shirley?
I'd agree with all of this though have to say that much of it would, imo, have applied to Porte.Team My Man 2018: David gaudu, Pierre Latour, Romain Bardet, Thibaut pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Florian Senechal, Warren Barguil, Benoit Cosnefroy0
