Talked up but constantly poor / underperforming riders

24

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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    larkim wrote:
    Does he get hype as a potential winner, or does he get hype as someone who might win a stage (and does), but who invariably creates some excitement in a stage race day?

    Every break he’s in he gets monster hype and 9/10 times, if not more, he blows up.
    _
  • hanshotfirst
    hanshotfirst Posts: 403
    Remember that TdF a couple of years ago when they were talking up the fight between the 'Big 4' grand tour winners -Froome vs Nibali vs Quintana vs Aru and in the first week some of the press were giving it "Why is it not the Big 5 because Teejay Van Garderen is there too?"

    ... LOL.
  • ridgerider
    ridgerider Posts: 2,852
    Aru...now there is a name from the past...
    Half man, Half bike
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,692
    Aru has been ill, no?
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • ShutupJens
    ShutupJens Posts: 1,373
    No tA Doctor wrote:
    Aru has been ill, no?

    Fairly seriously I believe - had some form of surgery on his arteries this year which sounds fairly complicated and unpleasant.

    Would like to see him back on form as he was fairly entertaining
  • ShutupJens
    ShutupJens Posts: 1,373
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    larkim wrote:
    Does he get hype as a potential winner, or does he get hype as someone who might win a stage (and does), but who invariably creates some excitement in a stage race day?

    Every break he’s in he gets monster hype and 9/10 times, if not more, he blows up.

    That is the nature of riding in the break though no? 10% chance of winning, better than 0%?

    He's a rider who is expected to get a win from each grand tour that he rides, he also picks up stuff like mountains classifications in smaller stage races - you see that from his palmares which is littered with polka dots and wins in the Dauphine, Romandie, Catalunya etc
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,459
    Just where is the bar being set if 2 Grand Tours, 7 podiums in total, 6 GT stages and top ten in every major 1 week race entered for 6 years(including 5 wins) is considered poor?
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • ShutupJens
    ShutupJens Posts: 1,373
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Just where is the bar being set if 2 Grand Tours, 7 podiums in total, 6 GT stages and top ten in every major 1 week race entered for 6 years(including 5 wins) is considered poor?

    He's finished and that's all there is to it. Just like Cavendish in 2013
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,493
    SurferCyclist wrote:
    Can't believe Movistar will keep Quintana as leader next year.
    I thought it was common knowledge that he is leaving at the end of this season. No?
    Moviestar will be glad for it. He hasn't been their best rider in GTs for years, far less a serious contender.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,262
    A whole generation of French sprinters. Bohanni, Demare, Coquard
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • meursault
    meursault Posts: 1,433
    There is something wrong with Bardet this year, was reading on cycling weekly there is a serious diagnosis going on. I don't think he's finished though, could well come back.

    Adam Yates?

    Not sure that poor is correct term as others have said, but underperforming.
    Superstition sets the whole world in flames; philosophy quenches them.

    Voltaire
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,486
    RichN95 wrote:
    A whole generation of French sprinters. Bohanni, Demare, Coquard
    Is Demare that much worse than Kristoff? Don't really think he qualifies compared to the others you mentioned.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • Bikequin
    Bikequin Posts: 402
    ShutupJens wrote:
    Going to go with Calmejane - as far as I'm aware he won a stage of the tour a couple of years ago, and not done much since. The other day when he attacked into a headwind 10km to go on a sprint stage, Ned was bigging him up like he does this sort of thing all the time

    +1 For Calamity Jane.

    He's retired now but I always thought Sylvain Chavanel was seriously over-hyped - possibly due to the French being desperate for decent riders when he was at his peak.
    You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quin.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,127
    SurferCyclist wrote:
    I completely agree about Quintana and Porte, I also find it odd that the commentators on TV "big" them up yet they surely know that they have no GC hope.

    You kind of knew it wasn't going to happen for Titchie when, in his first year outside the Sky Circus he was still working as a super domestic for Froome.
    BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,788
    Nicolas Roche
    http://cyclinganddesign.blogspot.fr/
  • ridgerider
    ridgerider Posts: 2,852
    ShutupJens wrote:
    No tA Doctor wrote:
    Aru has been ill, no?

    Fairly seriously I believe - had some form of surgery on his arteries this year which sounds fairly complicated and unpleasant.

    Would like to see him back on form as he was fairly entertaining

    Surgical doping to improve blood circulation.
    Half man, Half bike
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Phinney?

    Got one great silver in a world TT and then broke his leg, so may be a bit harsh.


    The ultimately over hyped rider I know of was Tom Danielson.

    Arguably you could say the same for Pieter Weening. Was supposed to be the most talented rider Rabobank had ever tested.
    _
  • Wayne Plunger
    Wayne Plunger Posts: 444
    Cal Crutchlow.
  • hypster
    hypster Posts: 1,229
    Wayne Plunger wrote:
    Cal Crutchlow.

    LOL! He falls off more often than Thomas!
  • Alejandrosdog
    Alejandrosdog Posts: 1,975
    hypster wrote:
    Wayne Plunger wrote:
    Cal Crutchlow.

    LOL! He falls off more often than Thomas!

    Thats a lot :lol:
  • FocusZing
    FocusZing Posts: 4,373
    hypster wrote:
    Wayne Plunger wrote:
    Cal Crutchlow.

    LOL! He falls off more often than Thomas!

    I think he could do a good TT though.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,576
    RichN95 wrote:
    A whole generation of French sprinters. Bohanni, Demare, Coquard

    That's harsh on Demare, who has a monument and stages in GTs on his palmares.
  • ShutupJens
    ShutupJens Posts: 1,373
    Generally speaking I think any rider who goes up the road or is solo during the final 30km of a stage will often be talked up as either a great descender, time trialist or in a small group, everyone will possess a "very fast finish"
  • Wayne Plunger
    Wayne Plunger Posts: 444
    FocusZing wrote:
    hypster wrote:
    Wayne Plunger wrote:
    Cal Crutchlow.

    LOL! He falls off more often than Thomas!

    I think he could do a good TT though.

    TT, I see what you did there!
  • The Nodder
    The Nodder Posts: 33
    The most talked up poor riders shine at junior level then have some minor victories over the years to keep them near the spotlight. Before the Giro I would have said Caleb Ewan. Maybe any rider good enough to be supported by his team but with poor results will usually have a good season in him and only needs a bit of luck/a dominant competitor to have a bad day.

    The least meritocratic teams on the World Tour are the French ones, and so I suppose a French rider will be the answer. Not Chavanel though! He had some great moments.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,486
    A bit of a problem the Australians have is their National Championships are in the offseason of the European WT calendar. So they are in shape way before the others and do well in the Australian races (that are very well televised) raising expectations massively.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,262
    andyp wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    A whole generation of French sprinters. Bohanni, Demare, Coquard

    That's harsh on Demare, who has a monument and stages in GTs on his palmares.
    Maybe, but his MSR and one of Tour wins relied on big crashes in the sprint. He averages one WT win per season.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • DeadCalm
    DeadCalm Posts: 4,249
    RichN95 wrote:
    andyp wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    A whole generation of French sprinters. Bohanni, Demare, Coquard

    That's harsh on Demare, who has a monument and stages in GTs on his palmares.
    Maybe, but his MSR and one of Tour wins relied on big crashes in the sprint. He averages one WT win per season.
    So, he is not constantly poor. Neither is he ever particularly talked up. Apart from that, he fits the criteria perfectly.
  • DeadCalm
    DeadCalm Posts: 4,249
    Sergio Henao. Only just realised he was riding this tour. Admittedly the talk has vanished but he is a rider who never lived up to the hype.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,597
    Agreed with Henao. May have achieved more being allowed to ride for himself in hilly one day races and short stage races on another team, I guess it's hard to get success when you're being paid to hammer yourself for others as your main day job though.

    The rider I can think of who never lived up to the hype is EBH. He's got results many pros would be proud of but he was going to be the new Merckx, winning monuments and green jerseys. Some were even suggesting he could be a GT contender. Joe Dombrowski was another talked up in his early career.

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