Who is next to dominate GT's?

[hfer07]

Froome when he joins Astana:D

[greenedge]

Porte, Shleck, Froome, TJVG, Dennis and Quintana are my options- though the first 3 are quite old.

Dombrowski, Aru and Boswell too, though not all of them can.

[greenedge]

You have to realize that someone who started watching cycling in July 2011 will only have seen Contador crack on Galibier, fail to drop Levi in San Luis and lose mountain after mountain to Purito at the VUelta. In that same time he has seen Froome 2nd the Vuelta and win a stage while domestiquing, and be the best climbr in a Tour de France.

So its not that surprising he thinks Froome is Contadors equal in climbing. Hell he actually deep inside likely thinks that Froome is significantly better at climbing but is afraid to say it that way because these Contador fanboys, who (god knows why) seem to think Contador is this great climber who can drop anyone, will call him an idiot.

He won that stage after Angrilu, where Sky finally decided to ride for him.

He basically can, except for maybe Andy but he dropped him stage 4 and stage 16 of the 2011 TDF. He did drop Levi, Levi won because of the ITT. He does not have as good a sprint as JROD/ he was recovering his form.
I do agree that Contador can be dropped/ others can challenge him but some of your arguments exclude the fact all cyclists can have bad days.

[Cimber]

Would love it to be Pinot. The French need it. As a less obvious choise I Thora Majka into the mix. But hopefully we Will see severo strong contenders

[Panda Claws]

Jurgen Van den Broeck will develop the Alpha Dog mentality to befit his training regime, and will crush the competition. There will be no giving away of stages and no random breakaways winning mountain stages.
Only Jurgen and his sidekick Vanendert.

[Ryo Hazuki]

Cadel Evans always demonstrated have the talent. Ryder Hesjedal never did nothing until 28 years. Their peaks have been later in their careers. But the both trajectories arent similar.

hesjedal in fact rode very well back in 2006 vuelta, but has been injured mostly and when younger he was a professional mtb rider

[Jason_Mercier]

***** Pinot, Quintana, Dombrowski, Froome
**** Van Garderen, Talansky, Kelderman
*** Ospina, Chaves, Masnada, Aru, Andy Schleck
** Dennis, Meyer, Elissonde, Nibali, Henao, Betancur
* Ulissi, Moser, Majka, Bardet, Landa..

Something like this will be the GT's hierarchies after Contador domination.

[The Hitch]

Andy Schleck worse than Talansky Van Garderen and Kelderman?

Man you really do live in fantasy land.

[El Pistolero]

Andy Schleck worse than Talansky Van Garderen and Kelderman?

Man you really do live in fantasy land.

Why not? He can improve and he was good with the U23 ranks.

And he won the U23 jersey in the Dauphiné, that's like a mini-Tour.

:o:o

[Jason_Mercier]

Andy Schleck worse than Talansky Van Garderen and Kelderman?

Man you really do live in fantasy land.

Gt's have things called TT'S.

[Angliru]

He has improved and he rode very well in the Giro but would he make the top five in next year's Tour ? He's smart enough to target the Giro instead where I think he will be the biggest danger to Wiggins unless Rodriguez can continue to improve.

I don't see why he wouldn't be able to make the top 5 at the Tour. His attributes are rounded enough that he should be able to hold his own in any of the disciplines versus his rivals. We also can't simply attribute his desire to ride the Giro in 2013 to his finding it more "winnable" for than the Tour. He could be feeling an obligation to defend his Giro title and he just may have found an appreciation for the Giro after winning it.

[ferryman]

***** Pinot, Quintana, Dombrowski, Froome
**** Van Garderen, Talansky, Kelderman
*** Ospina, Chaves, Masnada, Aru, Andy Schleck
** Dennis, Meyer, Elissonde, Nibali, Henao, Betancur
* Ulissi, Moser, Majka, Bardet, Landa..

Something like this will be the GT's hierarchies after Contador domination.

Nice list.

Not a lot of age difference between the the big three though behind Contador:

And, Contador's domination is going to mean Andy and Nibs and Froome IF he turns out to be a genuine contender, will end up in to their dotage with him and forever behind him;)

[42x16ss]

***** Pinot, Quintana, Dombrowski, Froome
**** Van Garderen, Talansky, Kelderman
*** Ospina, Chaves, Masnada, Aru, Andy Schleck
** Dennis, Meyer, Elissonde, Nibali, Henao, Betancur
* Ulissi, Moser, Majka, Bardet, Landa..

Something like this will be the GT's hierarchies after Contador domination.

Good list but not sure if Meyer should be on there. He's had a few chances now and hasn't shown that he can step up from 1 week races.

[Eric8-A]

If I recall correctly, Meyer was trying to go for a good GC spot in the Vuelta, but I think he came down with something.

[42x16ss]

Possibly. He had a few good showings on stages but that was after he was out of contention for a decent GC place. He has had similar performances in the Giro prior to that. There is a lot of hype around him as a GT rider but I can't see him being much more than a strong stage hunter with a good TT.

[movingtarget]

I don't see why he wouldn't be able to make the top 5 at the Tour. His attributes are rounded enough that he should be able to hold his own in any of the disciplines versus his rivals. We also can't simply attribute his desire to ride the Giro in 2013 to his finding it more "winnable" for than the Tour. He could be feeling an obligation to defend his Giro title and he just may have found an appreciation for the Giro after winning it.

Maybe. He definitely rode with confidence in the Giro and only really looked under pressure on one or two stages. Maybe top five but I doubt he would make the podium of the Tour. I still think he has a good chance in the Giro but Wiggins will be the one to beat.

[Jason_Mercier]

Meyer is improving his climbing skills and endurance. This year was 11th in the GC of California and we could see his improve in the mountain stage of Collada de la Gallina in la Vuelta and also the good beginning on the ascent at the Mirador de Ezaro. In both scenaries Cam was the strongest of the breakways. I know it's difficult but i hope he will achieve his desires. He's only 24 years.

[greenedge]

And up until this year he has focused on the track as well. Even this year he still rode track.

If anything he should have been sent to the TDF this year, it would have suited him more than 10 clmbs in the Vuelta and bolstered his confidence more a top 30 could have been achieved.

[theyoungest]

At any rate Meyer is not more likely to dominate GTs than the Dutch triumvirate Gesink-Mollema-Kruijswijk, neither of whom are on the list, but all of whom have GT top-10s to their name.

[airstream]

I wouldn't believe in young riders so much barring Talansky. Pinot has to prove a lot. Quintana is very vague...