2014 Top 15 GC Racers in the World?

[JorgeZZ]

Conta is higher than JRod and Piti??

are you serious?
Today is Nov 2013

ps. Agreed with BigMac

 

[IndianCyclist]

Conta is higher than JRod and Piti??

are you serious?
Today is Nov 2013

ps. Agreed with BigMac

Won Vuelta 2012. Known GT winner. So better than both. Just wait for 2014

 

[Arredondo]

Conta is higher than JRod and Piti??

are you serious?
Today is Nov 2013

ps. Agreed with BigMac

Couldn't say it better.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Fuglsang started out his road career pretty impressively, certainly at the level that someone like Pinot has now. He's been a bit up and down since (mainly down) but if you're talking about pure talent, some of that must still be there, as he showed in this year's TDF.

Talansky is fairly limited as a climber, he can't handle short steep climbs, or stages with 4 or 5 climbs in a row. But he has good recovery, that's why he entered the top-10 of the TDF on the final day.

In terms of Fuglsang you're right, but Talansky and Pinot are just other type of riders. Talansky is the born GC rider, with good climbing abilities and a strong TT. Pinot is a superb climber, but can also win a big classic in the future due to his explosiviness and his sprint. Pinot is more a rider who has a bad day in a GT, while Talansky is more regular (in normal conditions), but isn't a winner like Pinot.

There both good.

The only reason Talansky could enter the top 10 is because he took 7 minutes in a break on stage 14.

Fuglsang didn't even top 10 a GT till this year's TDF.

Pinot on the other hand a month after becoming 22 did a top 10 in his first GT, the TDF, with a parcour that could hardly have been less suited to him. He lost more than 5 minutes to the winner on both long TT's and even had a mediocre day or two in the mountains. Despite irregular performances and a lousy TT he still did a top 10 in his first GT, which was very TT heavy, at a very young age.

So right now Pinot is a couple of years younger than both of these and has a better record in the GT's, but somehow Talansky is more of a GT rider because of his recovery and Fuglsang showed as much talent when he started.

I'm going to go with Parrulo's explanation.

 

[Arredondo]

The only reason Talansky could enter the top 10 is because he took 7 minutes in a break on stage 14.

Fuglsang didn't even top 10 a GT till this year's TDF.

Pinot on the other hand a month after becoming 22 did a top 10 in his first GT, the TDF, with a parcour that could hardly have been less suited to him. He lost more than 5 minutes to the winner on both long TT's and even had a mediocre day or two in the mountains. Despite irregular performances and a lousy TT he still did a top 10 in his first GT, which was very TT heavy, at a very young age.

So right now Pinot is a couple of years younger than both of these and has a better record in the GT's, but somehow Talansky is more of a GT rider because of his recovery and Fuglsang showed as much talent when he started.

I'm going to go with Parrulo's explanation.

Do i say he is the better GT rider? I say he is the born GC rider, but a born GC rider could only be for 8th place for example. Mancebo was a born GC rider, because he didn't have a sprint, or did well in the classics. But i don't say Mancebo was a better GT rider than a Joseba Beloki.

Pinot is more a winner, but i'm still not convinced he is a better GT rider, because his TT's are to bad and he is a guy who have his bad days.

 

[De Snelle Duif]

I know I might sound like an insane Jurgen VDB fanboy, but if he's on a top level he can easily find his place in a top 15. He certainly has the motivation to do well in a GT, something I have to see again in Andy Schleck (although I also hope for his return).

 

[movingtarget]

There, now you understand

Same for people that think Evans will be one of the top 15 GC riders of the world next year despite being yet another year past his peak while many young guns will be one year closer.

On the last week of the Giro Uran, Betancur, Caruso and Aru were already stronger than Evans. Hadn't stage 19 been cancelled and all of the mountains removed from stage 20 he would have been out of the top 5 easily.

And there's your answer. Top 5 not top 15. People have also forgotten the Schlecks and VDB. Strangely I have more faith in VDB than the Schlecks even though he is probably a top 5 rider at best. The younger ones don't always improve much in 12 months and the older ones don't always deteriorate much in 12 months. It will be interesting to see whether Pinot, TJVG, Talansky and the Colombians can improve again this year and whether Contador, Hesjedal, Schlecks, Gesink and Evans continue to slide backwards.

 

[Pricey_sky]

I agree with others that from the original list Contador should be below Valverde and Purito based on what he has achieved this year. We have no guarantee he will return to his old form when all the current facts point to him slipping further down the pecking order. Froome, Nibali and Quintana are along way clear in the top 3.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I agree with others that from the original list Contador should be below Valverde and Purito based on what he has achieved this year. We have no guarantee he will return to his old form when all the current facts point to him slipping further down the pecking order. Froome, Nibali and Quintana are along way clear in the top 3.

I would argue that Valverde should not be above Contador but what does it matter, next year Alberto will take back his crown

 

[CycloAndy]

It will be interesting to see whether Pinot, TJVG, Talansky and the Colombians can improve again this year and whether Contador, Hesjedal, Schlecks, Gesink and Evans continue to slide backwards.

I wonder whether Hesjedal will be used more as a domestique this year? I thought Garmin would want to avoid the accusations that a successful Hesjedal would get.

 

[Parrulo]

And there's your answer. Top 5 not top 15.

You are clearly too biased to see it as it is.

He would have been out of the giro Top 5 (maybe even more) but the Giro didn't have the 5 best GC riders in the world, it had one of them, but not 5. And let's not forget the giro was perfect for Evans as a race. Very bad weather which benefits a bulkier hard man like him and a very hilly first week where he is still very good compared to most GC riders. So it was pretty expectable for him to be up there after the first week.

From there onwards it was going to be all downhill for him, but they cancelled Sestrieres and then 4km's of Galibier on the second weekend (although i don't think the second weekend would have been the problem for him) and as if that wasn't enough, they also cancelled the Stelvio, Gavia, Val Martello, Passo Costalunga, Passo di San Pellegrino and the passo giau and if you that didn't benefit, let me remind you of his 2 last performances on that Giro:

Pos. Rider Team WT Pnt Time Avg
1 NIBALI Vincenzo [www.procyclingstats.com] Astana Pro Team 16 80 44:29 27.786
2 SáNCHEZ GONZáLEZ Samuel Euskaltel - Euskadi 8 50 0:58 27.195
3 CARUSO Damiano Cannondale Pro Cycling Team 4 35 1:20 26.977
4 SCARPONI Michele Lampre - Merida 2 25 1:21 26.967
5 MAJKA Rafal [www.procyclingstats.com] Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1 18 1:25 26.928
6 URAN Rigoberto Sky Procycling 15 1:26 26.918
7 BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto AG2R La Mondiale 12 1:32 26.860
8 CLEMENT Stef Blanco Pro Cycling Team 10 1:36 26.821
9 CATALDO Dario Sky Procycling 8 1:41 26.773
10 DI LUCA Danilo [www.procyclingstats.com] Vini Fantini 6 1:52 26.667
11 PETROV Evgeni Team Saxo-Tinkoff 5 1:54 26.648
12 NIEMIEC Przemyslaw Lampre - Merida 4 1:56 26.628
13 DUARTE AREVALO Fabio Andres Team Colombia 3 1:59 26.600
14 KELDERMAN Wilco Blanco Pro Cycling Team 2 ,, ,,
15 POZZOVIVO Domenico [www.procyclingstats.com] AG2R La Mondiale 1 2:11 26.486
16 PELLIZOTTI Franco Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela 2:12 26.476
17 GASTAUER Ben AG2R La Mondiale 2:14 26.457
18 MOUREY Francis Equipe Cycliste FDJ 2:15 26.448
19 HERRADA LóPEZ Jose Movistar Team 2:16 26.439
20 DANIELSON Thomas [www.procyclingstats.com] Garmin - Sharp 2:21 26.391
21 TROFIMOV Yuri Katusha Team 2:22 26.382
22 SIUTSOU Kanstantsin Sky Procycling 2:25 26.354
23 CAPECCHI Eros Movistar Team 2:26 26.345
24 SANTAMBROGIO Mauro Vini Fantini 2:33 26.279
25 EVANS Cadel [www.procyclingstats.com] BMC Racing Team 2:36 26.251

Pos. Rider Team WT Pnt Time
1 NIBALI Vincenzo [www.procyclingstats.com] Astana Pro Team 16 80 5:27:41
2 DUARTE AREVALO Fabio Andres Team Colombia 8 50 0:17
3 URAN Rigoberto Sky Procycling 4 35 0:19
4 BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto AG2R La Mondiale 2 25 0:21
5 ARU Fabio [www.procyclingstats.com] Astana Pro Team 1 18 0:44
6 PELLIZOTTI Franco Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela 15 0:48
7 POZZOVIVO Domenico AG2R La Mondiale 12 0:54
8 CARUSO Damiano Cannondale Pro Cycling Team 10 0:58
9 ATAPUMA HURTADO John Darwin Team Colombia 8 1:00
10 MAJKA Rafal [www.procyclingstats.com] Team Saxo-Tinkoff 6 1:04
11 TROFIMOV Yuri Katusha Team 5 1:11
12 NIEMIEC Przemyslaw Lampre - Merida 4 1:14
13 SCARPONI Michele Lampre - Merida 3 ,,
14 EVANS Cadel BMC Racing Team 2 1:30

Clearly the performance of a man that would finish on the podium with even more mountains and one of the top 15 GC riders in the world

And i am not even factoring in the extra rest day given between those 2 days . . .


Now you add another year and next year Evans will be yet another year older and some guys will be taking another step up and do you really think he still is one of the top 15 guys?

I will name some and you tell me who and how is Evans better than them for 2014.

Froome
Contador
Quintana
Nibali
Purito
Valverde
Porte
Kreuziger
Mollema
Uran
VDB2
Pinot
Talansky
TJVG
Costa
Fuglsang
Betancur
Majka
Roche
Pozzovivo
Henao
Intxuaski
Aru
Kwiatkowsi
Bardet
Rolland
Dan Martin
Kangert

I named 28 guys, besides the obvious name, some are improving and some are waiting to be given an opportunity to ride for themselves.

So go ahead, from that list who is better and who is worse than Evans considering he will be like 37 next year, and a guy like Aru will be 24 and will ride his first Giro for himself after already being stronger than Evans on the third week of this years Giro.

 

[movingtarget]

You are clearly too biased to see it as it is.

He would have been out of the giro Top 5 (maybe even more) but the Giro didn't have the 5 best GC riders in the world, it had one of them, but not 5. And let's not forget the giro was perfect for Evans as a race. Very bad weather which benefits a bulkier hard man like him and a very hilly first week where he is still very good compared to most GC riders. So it was pretty expectable for him to be up there after the first week.

From there onwards it was going to be all downhill for him, but they cancelled Sestrieres and then 4km's of Galibier on the second weekend (although i don't think the second weekend would have been the problem for him) and as if that wasn't enough, they also cancelled the Stelvio, Gavia, Val Martello, Passo Costalunga, Passo di San Pellegrino and the passo giau and if you that didn't benefit, let me remind you of his 2 last performances on that Giro:

Pos. Rider Team WT Pnt Time Avg
1 NIBALI Vincenzo [www.procyclingstats.com] Astana Pro Team 16 80 44:29 27.786
2 SáNCHEZ GONZáLEZ Samuel Euskaltel - Euskadi 8 50 0:58 27.195
3 CARUSO Damiano Cannondale Pro Cycling Team 4 35 1:20 26.977
4 SCARPONI Michele Lampre - Merida 2 25 1:21 26.967
5 MAJKA Rafal [www.procyclingstats.com] Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1 18 1:25 26.928
6 URAN Rigoberto Sky Procycling 15 1:26 26.918
7 BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto AG2R La Mondiale 12 1:32 26.860
8 CLEMENT Stef Blanco Pro Cycling Team 10 1:36 26.821
9 CATALDO Dario Sky Procycling 8 1:41 26.773
10 DI LUCA Danilo [www.procyclingstats.com] Vini Fantini 6 1:52 26.667
11 PETROV Evgeni Team Saxo-Tinkoff 5 1:54 26.648
12 NIEMIEC Przemyslaw Lampre - Merida 4 1:56 26.628
13 DUARTE AREVALO Fabio Andres Team Colombia 3 1:59 26.600
14 KELDERMAN Wilco Blanco Pro Cycling Team 2 ,, ,,
15 POZZOVIVO Domenico [www.procyclingstats.com] AG2R La Mondiale 1 2:11 26.486
16 PELLIZOTTI Franco Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela 2:12 26.476
17 GASTAUER Ben AG2R La Mondiale 2:14 26.457
18 MOUREY Francis Equipe Cycliste FDJ 2:15 26.448
19 HERRADA LóPEZ Jose Movistar Team 2:16 26.439
20 DANIELSON Thomas [www.procyclingstats.com] Garmin - Sharp 2:21 26.391
21 TROFIMOV Yuri Katusha Team 2:22 26.382
22 SIUTSOU Kanstantsin Sky Procycling 2:25 26.354
23 CAPECCHI Eros Movistar Team 2:26 26.345
24 SANTAMBROGIO Mauro Vini Fantini 2:33 26.279
25 EVANS Cadel [www.procyclingstats.com] BMC Racing Team 2:36 26.251

Pos. Rider Team WT Pnt Time
1 NIBALI Vincenzo [www.procyclingstats.com] Astana Pro Team 16 80 5:27:41
2 DUARTE AREVALO Fabio Andres Team Colombia 8 50 0:17
3 URAN Rigoberto Sky Procycling 4 35 0:19
4 BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto AG2R La Mondiale 2 25 0:21
5 ARU Fabio [www.procyclingstats.com] Astana Pro Team 1 18 0:44
6 PELLIZOTTI Franco Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela 15 0:48
7 POZZOVIVO Domenico AG2R La Mondiale 12 0:54
8 CARUSO Damiano Cannondale Pro Cycling Team 10 0:58
9 ATAPUMA HURTADO John Darwin Team Colombia 8 1:00
10 MAJKA Rafal [www.procyclingstats.com] Team Saxo-Tinkoff 6 1:04
11 TROFIMOV Yuri Katusha Team 5 1:11
12 NIEMIEC Przemyslaw Lampre - Merida 4 1:14
13 SCARPONI Michele Lampre - Merida 3 ,,
14 EVANS Cadel BMC Racing Team 2 1:30

Clearly the performance of a man that would finish on the podium with even more mountains and one of the top 15 GC riders in the world

And i am not even factoring in the extra rest day given between those 2 days . . .


Now you add another year and next year Evans will be yet another year older and some guys will be taking another step up and do you really think he still is one of the top 15 guys?

I will name some and you tell me who and how is Evans better than them for 2014.

Froome
Contador
Quintana
Nibali
Purito
Valverde
Porte
Kreuziger
Mollema
Uran
VDB2
Pinot
Talansky
TJVG
Costa
Fuglsang
Betancur
Majka
Roche
Pozzovivo
Henao
Intxuaski
Aru
Kwiatkowsi
Bardet
Rolland
Dan Martin
Kangert

I named 28 guys, besides the obvious name, some are improving and some are waiting to be given an opportunity to ride for themselves.

So go ahead, from that list who is better and who is worse than Evans considering he will be like 37 next year, and a guy like Aru will be 24 and will ride his first Giro for himself after already being stronger than Evans on the third week of this years Giro.

I think you are confusing potential with probable results. Many of those riders are very good but can't hold it together for three weeks. I can buy Evans missing the Giro podium in 2013 if the full race was run but now you are saying the route was more suitable for him and it was not the best field etc.......Maybe you are the biased one ? If all of those riders lined up for argument's sake in the 2014 Giro I still think Evans would make the top 15. As it is many of them will be riding the Tour and some will do both possibly.

If Horner is going to be left off the list, according to many on here all of the Sky riders should be as well re Clinic issues and I don't think that should come into at all as none of us know what is really happening with that aspect of the sport and cherry picking some riders over others is a waste of time in that regard. I have doubts about the Schlecks but they should be on the list probably. I could fall flat on my face but I think Evans will do a pretty good ride in the Giro even if the podium seems to be a stretch at this stage of his career. I will be happy to be proved wrong and we are all probably biased to some degree with our favourite riders.

 

[karlboss]

Evans will be interesting I wouldn't be surprised if he's top 5 in the Giro and Vuelta next year, nor would I be surprised if he was 15th in the Giro and mid field in the Vuelta. Wknow very early on which it's going to be, when he's good he's good all year.
What do I expect...top 10 in one top 15 in the other. Across 3 GT it's borderline top 15 GT GC racers.

 

[movingtarget]

Evans will be interesting I wouldn't be surprised if he's top 5 in the Giro and Vuelta next year, nor would I be surprised if he was 15th in the Giro and mid field in the Vuelta. Wknow very early on which it's going to be, when he's good he's good all year.
What do I expect...top 10 in one top 15 in the other. Across 3 GT it's borderline top 15 GT GC racers.

You might be right about Evans although I think he can do top 7 in the Giro. The thing about Evans is he is still hungry and very competitive and is still just as disappointed when things don't go right as he was years ago. His recovery is not what it was so maybe he has to target certain races and it was obvious that the shortened Giro in atrocious weather really took it out of him. Giro will be his main target and I just can't see him doing the Vuelta as well. Maybe Lombardy will be his other target as he is not riding the Ardennes in 2014. If things go pear shaped in the Giro he will probably look for a stage win. He could have gone to another team as a highly paid domestique as others have done but he never seemed interested in that even though he provided good support to Gilbert in the past in some of the classics.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Conta is higher than JRod and Piti??

are you serious?
Today is Nov 2013

ps. Agreed with BigMac

But this thread isn't about 2013. It's about predicting for 2014. Why do you think Porte is so high up on many lists? He certainly didn't earn this place in 2013 GTs.

 

[JorgeZZ]

sorry, its my carelessness
'tomorrow never knows'