2013 Speculation (and confirmation) thread - rider schedules and parcours

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maltiv said:
He wasn't too bad in RVV this year. Was up there on all climbs, but lost a lot of energy after being hindered by the Vansummeren crash, leaving him dangling between two groups. When things got back together he was up there again with the Sagan group. In the sprint for 4th, however, he somehow managed to sprint so badly he was caught by the peloton and finished 19th. Or perhaps he simply didn't care about sprinting for a top 10 position. Either way, it was a decent performance for a 24 y.o, particularly considering how much energy he lost due to the crash.

agree, its a little too early to write off EBH as a contender for the top cobbles races.
 
Froome19 said:
Indeed but I think it was clear he was not at his best in the spring. His performance at MSR was just plain dour for starters..
Yes, he wasn't at his best, that was clear in G-W and E3 etc where he normally should've been up there (even if he doesn't have an "engine" as Ryo would say). However, his performance in MSR was more due to horrible positioning than anything else. 1 km ahead of Poggio he was amongst the top 10 of the group together with Löfkvist, but going into Poggio, the two of them somehow managed to fall all the way back to the very back of the group. Poggio is quite small, so at that point they were screwed. EBH said afterwards that he wasn't really tired, but couldn't pass riders either as the climb was too small and thus he was caught out by the split.

With a team to help him position himself, instead of a team that is waiting for Cavendish 20 minutes behind, he could've had a chance. But obviously he should've been able to position himself in such a small group by himself...
 
maltiv said:
Indeed. Actually EBH is going for both TDU and Qatar, which is quite unusual. Seems like Sky thinks he needs a lot of racing to get into shape. I guess they're basing it on the fact that EBH just got better and better throughout 2012 with a lot of racing in his legs. It might work, but it might also just lead to a way too early peak..

Peaking for M-SR wouldn't be such a bad idea though, it's the classic he has by far the greatest chance of winning imo.
Meh, he'll have to deal with Sagan, who can better handle the distance, and is probably slightly faster. He isn't going to drop Sagan on the Poggio or the descent.

You tend to blame every race he doesn't win on the team, but to me he's just a good rider who isn't great at anything. And that's a problem, in today's highly specialized peloton.
 
theyoungest said:
Meh, he'll have to deal with Sagan, who can better handle the distance, and is probably slightly faster. He isn't going to drop Sagan on the Poggio or the descent.

You tend to blame every race he doesn't win on the team, but to me he's just a good rider who isn't great at anything. And that's a problem, in today's highly specialized peloton.
I didn't say EBH was the favourite, just that it was the classic he had the greatest chance of winning. Using this "x rider can't beat y"-rider argument makes no sense, really. The same was used in worlds last year - but guess what, Sagan was no where near the front. Even if Sagan in fact is better at both sprinting and climbing, that doesn't mean he'll beat him. There are lots of other variables in cycling...daily form, punctures, positioning, tactics etc. Being better "on paper" doesn't get you anywhere!

The team could've helped him in MSR last year to a better result, but it was his own fault that he did such a poor job in positioning. And no, I'm not *** - the team was excellent in e.g. P-R and RVV, but he wasn't good enough ;)
 
Mar 31, 2010
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Froome19 said:
Based on what exactly?

When have you seen him truly be on form in the classics in recent years?
All I have seen when it comes to Classic type races is his perfomances at Plouay and the Worlds last year etc. The ardennes are certainly something he should consider this year imo.

based on every classic race in which he blew up(which are all of them!. I remember msr this year vividly, but I'm sure maltiv has a 100 excuses of why he failed there
 
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maltiv said:
I didn't say EBH was the favourite, just that it was the classic he had the greatest chance of winning. Using this "x rider can't beat y"-rider argument makes no sense, really. The same was used in worlds last year - but guess what, Sagan was no where near the front. Even if Sagan in fact is better at both sprinting and climbing, that doesn't mean he'll beat him. There are lots of other variables in cycling...daily form, punctures, positioning, tactics etc. Being better "on paper" doesn't get you anywhere!

The team could've helped him in MSR last year to a better result, but it was his own fault that he did such a poor job in positioning. And no, I'm not *** - the team was excellent in e.g. P-R and RVV, but he wasn't good enough ;)

positioning? man he simply blw up because of the distance. and he didn't have to do a lick of work before it.
 
May 28, 2012
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Ryo Hazuki said:
positioning? man he simply blw up because of the distance. and he didn't have to do a lick of work before it.

Still, he managed to get 2nd on the worlds. Despite the somewhat easy course and racing I didn't expect him to blow the Cauberg apart after GIlbert's attack, so I'm curious what he's going to do next season. Maybe he'll handle the distance in a classic for once, and fight for a real result instead of the usual top 50 between 1 and 8 mins. behind.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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theyoungest said:
Meh, he'll have to deal with Sagan, who can better handle the distance, and is probably slightly faster. He isn't going to drop Sagan on the Poggio or the descent.

You tend to blame every race he doesn't win on the team, but to me he's just a good rider who isn't great at anything. And that's a problem, in today's highly specialized peloton.


And exactly what is wheelsucker Sagan great at?
Besides wheelsucking.
The kid has yet to win a one day race.
with a slightly waning form he couldn't even win the easy Veenendals.
 
Dec 27, 2010
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velosiped said:
And exactly what is wheelsucker Sagan great at?
Besides wheelsucking.
The kid has yet to win a one day race.
with a slightly waning form he couldn't even win the easy Veenendals.

Superb attempt. I applaud you.
 
Dec 30, 2011
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Ryo Hazuki said:
based on every classic race in which he blew up(which are all of them!. I remember msr this year vividly, but I'm sure maltiv has a 100 excuses of why he failed there

I think it is clear that he was in better form for the worlds than for the sprint classics.
 
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Froome19 said:
I think it is clear that he was in better form for the worlds than for the sprint classics.

How about Hagen's performance in, erm, every other classic he has ridden in his career apart from this year's Worlds (which was not exactly the toughest edition ever, was it).
 
May 28, 2012
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maltiv said:
Meh, he was only 20 seconds behind in M-SR this year! :p

He was still behind the magnificent classics specialist Renshaw, the ever-present Koen de Kort, Giovanni Visconti, the amazing spring classics racer, or Guarnieri, who is known for his killing end speed after 300 kms. :D Or still even behind Johnny 'let's attack 60 km's from the finish' Hoogerland. Hagen has a lot to prove and he hasn't delivered for three springs in a row. I agree next year could be his breakthrough, but until now 230 kms is his limit in cobbled and tough hilly races.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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will10 said:
How about Hagen's performance in, erm, every other classic he has ridden in his career apart from this year's Worlds (which was not exactly the toughest edition ever, was it).



pfff. He has ridden P-R twice and M-SR and Ronde three times.

Lets stay with the latter: resuts are 66th; 40th and 19th.

Cancellara's results his first three years? 73th; 42th and 62th.

P.s: was this years Worlds an easier parcours than M-SR?
 
Blanco cycling shizzle:

Gesink, Kruijswijk and Kelderman to lead the Giro team
Gesink (again), Mollema and Ten Dam to go for GC in the TDF

So Gesink confirmed to go for the Giro/Tour combo. Perhaps Hesjedal finally opened his eyes last season
 
Dekker_Tifosi said:
Blanco cycling shizzle:

Gesink, Kruijswijk and Kelderman to lead the Giro team
Gesink (again), Mollema and Ten Dam to go for GC in the TDF

So Gesink confirmed to go for the Giro/Tour combo. Perhaps Hesjedal finally opened his eyes last season
still to see whether he'll be in shape at the Giro or will tackle it just as training ride.
 
Dekker_Tifosi said:
Blanco cycling shizzle:

Gesink, Kruijswijk and Kelderman to lead the Giro team
Gesink (again), Mollema and Ten Dam to go for GC in the TDF
A major improvement from the last few years...So Ten Dam, Kruijswijk and Kelderman to lead La Vuelta?
 
May 31, 2011
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Gesink also won't ride the classics. His scheme will roughly look like this: Ruta del Sol - Paris-Nice - rest - training camp - Romandie - Giro.
 
May 28, 2012
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TheArt said:
Gesink also won't ride the classics. His scheme will roughly look like this: Ruta del Sol - Paris-Nice - rest - training camp - Romandie - Giro.

Brace yourselves, that training camp is on Tenerife. ;)
 
Jun 16, 2009
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
Now just pray and hope he doesn't run into any serious injury for the first time since 2009

It's good to now that you already have an excuse prepared when Gesink fails in May.:D
 
Why not Tour of Oman for Gesink?

Also i would assume Mollema would lead at the Vuelta, unless if they do not consider him to be a GT contender.

They will be good next year: Vanmarcke and Boom for the cobbles, Mollema and Slagter for Ardennes and Bos and Renshaw for sprints and a sound plan for the GC riders.