Grand Tour Contender?
When are we going to see results out of this guy?
What we anticipate seldom occurs
Thomas Lövkvist
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Who knows. His ultimate goal is to be a GC contender in the GTs but which rider that can climb decently doesn't have that ambition.
He's 26 now so he's starting to come to the age where he can't really be seen as only a young talent anymore. He needs to continue improving especially his endurance during a three week race with a couple of years for anyone to want to focus on him as a leader. At least he has shown some sort of improvement the last couple of years but I'm guessing that as soon as he stagnates he'll look more and more like a Jens Voigt type domestique.
He's 26 now so he's starting to come to the age where he can't really be seen as only a young talent anymore. He needs to continue improving especially his endurance during a three week race with a couple of years for anyone to want to focus on him as a leader. At least he has shown some sort of improvement the last couple of years but I'm guessing that as soon as he stagnates he'll look more and more like a Jens Voigt type domestique.
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ingsve wrote:Who knows. His ultimate goal is to be a GC contender in the GTs but which rider that can climb decently doesn't have that ambition.
He's 26 now so he's starting to come to the age where he can't really be seen as only a young talent anymore. He needs to continue improving especially his endurance during a three week race with a couple of years for anyone to want to focus on him as a leader. At least he has shown some sort of improvement the last couple of years but I'm guessing that as soon as he stagnates he'll look more and more like a Jens Voigt type domestique.
I agree...but I really hope not!! (the Voigt comment) I am a fan of Mr. Lovqvist. I am hoping his lack of results so far means simply that he is looking to show later in the season...
For those who are "in the know"...does Lovqvist have a killer instinct? He seems pretty laid back to me??
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Credive wrote:If you have the ambition of winning a GT. Why stay in francaise des jeux?
Well, he didn't stay. He left them when he was still 23 years old. Francaise des jeux is a good environment for very young pros to get their feet wet without too much pressure at that young age so I don't see spending his first years there as any drawback at all.
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TRDean wrote:For those who are "in the know"...does Lovqvist have a killer instinct? He seems pretty laid back to me??
No, I wouldn't say that he has a killer instinct in the way that for example EBH does. He does try to ride agressively when he's in form which can be seen in his performances in Monte Paschi Eroica and some other places for example but when he's riding for a GC the case is usually that he has to do what he can to hang on rather than being the animator of the race. He's obviously not the strongest type of climber that can accelerate at will. He's a diesel and rides very much like a diesel. It's obvious that if you don't have a huge acceleration then it doesn't make sense to attack because you won't get a gap that way unless it's steep enough so that you can ride people off your wheel rather than sprinting to a gap.
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Löfkvist is good in both hard one-day races and short stage races, when in form, but very inconsistent indeed. He dissapointed in the classics and after 2 weeks in a Grand Tour he's usually pretty much finished.
But when he has his day and the stage is hard, he'll always be up there.
But when he has his day and the stage is hard, he'll always be up there.
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Yeah, I remember back in the day there was a an ongoing war on some cycling fora who was going to get bigger. Thomas Dekker or Thomas Löfkvist.
Well, here we are now
1 is suspended and 1 is, while a good rider, certainly no Merckx
Well, here we are now
1 is suspended and 1 is, while a good rider, certainly no Merckx-
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One problem he also has is with heat. When it gets really warm on a stage his body can shut down and he often loses alot of time. That's what happened last year in the Giro where he stayed close to the top for the first half of the race but on stage 16 to Monte Petrano. He was having trouble with the heat all day long and couldn't follow even over the next to last mountain and lost 24 minutes on GC.
Because of this I would think that the Tour might not be the best GT for him. Out of the three GTs I think the Giro is generally less hot normally so that is probably his best shot. Otherwise he might have to hope for some cool summers in France or get over the problem with heat.
Because of this I would think that the Tour might not be the best GT for him. Out of the three GTs I think the Giro is generally less hot normally so that is probably his best shot. Otherwise he might have to hope for some cool summers in France or get over the problem with heat.
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