In praise of.....

rick_chasey
rick_chasey Posts: 72,243
edited April 2016 in Pro race
A place where you can get your praise off your chest, for that rider or that performance that just gets overlooked.

It got your juices going, or you just think they deserve more praise than they get.

I've already done a Valverde one, but why not keep 'em all together in a Frenchie (RIP) style thread.

---

I'll kick off with GvA's 2015 season.

He was at the sharp end of an awful lot of big races, still making his (rather exciting) do or die efforts. Usually to folly, either too soon or too late, the guy has had a stonking season results wise, and his Tour stage win was well overdue.

He gets mocked for being this decade's micheal Boogard (always the bridesmaid), but fair play to the guy. He always gives it some, and he's enlivened a lot of races.

Comments

  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    When there were polls for rider of the year (2015), Ritchie Porte's season was completely overlooked (not that he'd win).

    His pre-Giro form was brilliant:

    2nd Tour Down Under (+stage win)
    4th Tour of Algarve (+stage win), helping Thomas win
    1st Paris-Nice (+two stage wins)
    1st Volta Catalunya
    1st Giro del Trentino (+stage win)

    And at the risk of being Sky centric - Vasil Kiryienka in time trials - World Champion, European Champion and won the longest Grand Tour TT of the year.

    And Caleb Ewen - when was the last time a rider won a GT stage in their debut season?
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • GVA Definitely, I appreciate that he is often the one forcing the action, especially when chasing, and I'd love to see him pick up a big one next season.

    Roelandts ride at Gent Wevelgem. To ride pretty much solo for almost 70km in those conditions was fantastic thus allowing debuscherre to sit in the wheels and save himself for the sprint. I remember he had just over two minutes on Paolini and the others chasing and I honestly thought we were going to see one of the great rides, considering the madness of that race beforehand.

    Roelandts after the race,

    “I mostly ride intuitively. I just like racing. Today was really a race to just race. That suits me,” Roelandts smiled. “I hoped one or two riders would bridge up. Early on I just rode my pace, not flat out. Then I learned that there were six men behind, with Jens. Then I rode flat out so the five had to work and Jens was able to stay on the wheels. The last 30 kilometres there was a tailwind. That wasn’t a disadvantage. Then again, adding the cold weather to the strong wind and then you know you’re consuming a lot of energy. Being with five benefited them.”
    “I’m a bit disappointed. If this would’ve worked out it would’ve been an extra-ordinary performance. In the last 15 kilometres, I had a bit of a fringalle [hunger-flat], despite eating and drinking all race long. It was always five against one. With the wind and the rain today it wasn’t easy. In the end, I fell short. I possibly lacked that bit of freshness because I rode the finale in [E3] Harelbeke. It’s two races in three days. I also hoped the chasers would look at each other. I really thought I could win,” Roelandts said.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm_1wwupKxA
  • When there were polls for rider of the year (2015), Ritchie Porte's season was completely overlooked (not that he'd win).

    His pre-Giro form was brilliant:

    2nd Tour Down Under (+stage win)
    4th Tour of Algarve (+stage win), helping Thomas win
    1st Paris-Nice (+two stage wins)
    1st Volta Catalunya
    1st Giro del Trentino (+stage win)

    And at the risk of being Sky centric - Vasil Kiryienka in time trials - World Champion, European Champion and won the longest Grand Tour TT of the year.

    And Caleb Ewen - when was the last time a rider won a GT stage in their debut season?

    could very well be wrong.....but i think Caleb Ewan was the first neo pro to win a GT stage
  • I've developed an irrational dislike to Caleb Ewen

    There. I've said it.
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,878
    When there were polls for rider of the year (2015), Ritchie Porte's season was completely overlooked (not that he'd win).

    His pre-Giro form was brilliant:

    2nd Tour Down Under (+stage win)
    4th Tour of Algarve (+stage win), helping Thomas win
    1st Paris-Nice (+two stage wins)
    1st Volta Catalunya
    1st Giro del Trentino (+stage win)

    And at the risk of being Sky centric - Vasil Kiryienka in time trials - World Champion, European Champion and won the longest Grand Tour TT of the year.

    And Caleb Ewen - when was the last time a rider won a GT stage in their debut season?

    could very well be wrong.....but i think Caleb Ewan was the first neo pro to win a GT stage

    Did Lance not win one?
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069

    And Caleb Ewen - when was the last time a rider won a GT stage in their debut season?

    Warren Barguill in 2013 I think.

    It's not uncommon. Wasn't Bart de Clercq at neo-pro when he won a stage in 2011 Giro?
  • I've developed an irrational dislike to Caleb Ewen

    There. I've said it.
    Now now!! What kind of person goes around picking on children? He only sprints so fast because Stephens tells him the truant officer is chasing him.
  • mcstumpy
    mcstumpy Posts: 298
    Can I single out Luca Paolini? Towed Kristoff and the peleton at a furious pace all the way up the Poggio at MSR and tee'd up the Norwegian perfectly (not Paolini's fault Degenkolb won). Then played the perfect poker player's hand with a well timed attack at GW - a clear case of the smartest, not the strongest, rider winning the race.

    We can draw a line under the rest of the season, mind.
  • Crozza
    Crozza Posts: 991
    Can I single out Luca Paolini? Towed Kristoff and the peloton at a furious pace all the way up the Poggio at MSR and tee'd up the Norwegian perfectly (not Paolini's fault Degenkolb won). Then played the perfect poker player's hand with a well timed attack at GW - a clear case of the smartest, not the strongest, rider winning the race.

    We can draw a line under the rest of the season, mind.

    not to be sniffed at, certainly
  • Can I single out Luca Paolini? Towed Kristoff and the peloton at a furious pace all the way up the Poggio at MSR and tee'd up the Norwegian perfectly (not Paolini's fault Degenkolb won). Then played the perfect poker player's hand with a well timed attack at GW - a clear case of the smartest, not the strongest, rider winning the race.

    We can draw a line under the rest of the season, mind.

    not to be sniffed at, certainly


    We've got some mileage with this one. The least of Luca's problems.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,243
    Valverde - Boonen rates him as the best cyclist of his generation.
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,439
    Valverde - Boonen rates him as the best cyclist of his generation.

    Valverde is the best cyclist in the world, not Peter Sagan.
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • Shadowrider
    Shadowrider Posts: 483
    Yeah Kiriyenka's TT season was brilliant.

    Daniel Oss deserves a mention, does so much hard work for BMC all the way throughout the season, with him BMC's classics team would be much worse off.
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,892
    Valverde - Boonen rates him as the best cyclist of his generation.

    His palmares is impressive enough, but when you consider that he's podiumed in 6 GTs, 6 world championships and 5 of the classics, his record could be even better. Hard to dispute he's been the best all-round rider of his generation.
  • The_Boy
    The_Boy Posts: 3,099
    andyp wrote:

    And Caleb Ewen - when was the last time a rider won a GT stage in their debut season?

    Warren Barguill in 2013 I think.

    2 stages, no less. And showed nerves of steel on each occasion and took the wins with aplomb.
    Team My Man 2018: David gaudu, Pierre Latour, Romain Bardet, Thibaut pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Florian Senechal, Warren Barguil, Benoit Cosnefroy