Good When They Want To Be....
So following on from the Betancur thread and numerous discussions on Wiggins what are the other good examples of riders capable of winning regularly and / or big races with apparent motivational problems that have restricted their potential? I know I'm probably venturing into dangerous territory but hopefully this can stay on friendly terms and avoid references to the 'd' word!! I suppose Schleck could fall into this category despite his excellent results at his peak as it always felt like he could have won more and perhaps spent too much time worrying about his brother. Ullrich too if he had taken better care of himself when not racing.
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Maybe what plays a part too, is achieving good results, attaining a decent lenght contract: Does the person want to continue risking doing what got them there and the obvious consequences?0
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Keeping it current, how about Adam Blythe? Very good but patchy palmarès.0
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If you want to locate riders that get big results prior to contract expiry you need not look further than the Vuelta. A few years ago, Cobo and Froome, albeit the latter has backed that performance up since. Last year a soon to be out of contract Horner. Would it be mean to give an honourable mention to Hushovd, albeit for end of contract performances outside the Vuelta?0
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Would Ullrich have counted here? If we're taking 'wanting to be' to also mean training and all that to the required extent to succeed.0
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Fabu has got to fall into that category too. Compared to TM who always delivers.0
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inseine wrote:
you know it!! Bibby too? has shown he can mix it with top riders time and again but never seems to move up, I thought the year Net app and endura combined would be his chance but his results came too late in the year.0 -
phreak wrote:Would Ullrich have counted here? If we're taking 'wanting to be' to also mean training and all that to the required extent to succeed.
I would say Ullrich was the ultimate ' good when he could be arsed' rider. When he wasnt in the mood for training etc he looked absolutely awful in races0 -
Pross wrote:Joelsim wrote:Fabu has got to fall into that category too. Compared to TM who always delivers.
Harsh!
Not really. On his day he is stunning and his talent could carry him further I think. He seems to have found his position as the ultimate Classics rider for a month and then he is simply a teammate. Worlds excepted.0 -
Kolobnev - only seems to be arsed at the Worlds.
His spiritual heir is Dmitri Konyshev.0 -
Joelsim wrote:Not really. On his day he is stunning and his talent could carry him further I think. He seems to have found his position as the ultimate Classics rider for a month and then he is simply a teammate. Worlds excepted.
Very harsh.
He holds the record for the most days in yellow for a rider who hasn't won the Tour, and has 8 stage wins.0 -
Millar D.0
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I think Ian Bibby is good in certain types of race, rolling hills a bit like the tougher stages of the ToB. I always admired him and wondered why he wasn't snapped up by the likes of Sky, but seeing him in action a couple of years ago in the Canary Wharf race he was going nowhere in spite of clearly putting in an immense effort. I think there's just no role for him in the bigger teams. As for his performance, I think it depends on the course he's racing.0
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andyp wrote:Joelsim wrote:Not really. On his day he is stunning and his talent could carry him further I think. He seems to have found his position as the ultimate Classics rider for a month and then he is simply a teammate. Worlds excepted.
Very harsh.
He holds the record for the most days in yellow for a rider who hasn't won the Tour, and has 8 stage wins.
That doesn't detract from the point that he is an extremely talented rider who could win Eneco or similar.0 -
Joelsim wrote:andyp wrote:Joelsim wrote:Not really. On his day he is stunning and his talent could carry him further I think. He seems to have found his position as the ultimate Classics rider for a month and then he is simply a teammate. Worlds excepted.
Very harsh.
He holds the record for the most days in yellow for a rider who hasn't won the Tour, and has 8 stage wins.
That doesn't detract from the point that he is an extremely talented rider who could win Eneco or similar.
There's no active rider with a better palmares than Cancellara.*
*Arguably Contador but still“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
In defence of Joelsim, the last one or two years Cancellara has seemed to build his racing calendar a bit more around his family. He is certainly touting himself publicly as a family man. He, or someone like Boonen, has the luxury to be able to pick and choose his races a bit more nowadays than most younger riders. Whether that amounts to not fulfilling potential? Not sure, but I guess you could make the argument. They certainly had to earn that right first though.
As a statement on Cancellara's career as a whole, a suggestion of unfulfilled potential is clearly ridiculous. His palmares is certainly more impressive and complete than Tony Martin's0 -
Another nice pub dicsussion topic!TailWindHome wrote:There's no active rider with a better palmares than Cancellara.*
*Arguably Contador but still
He's certainly up there, but I'd Boonen's palmares at least matches his, and both Contador and Nibali could make some claims. Difficult to compare. 0
