Abu Dhabi Tour 2018, Feb 21-25

[tobydawq]

And Zakarin was here too.

It's not really Valverde's fault that they're out of shape. López definitely isn't by the way, and we all saw how good he was at last year's Vuelta. So I would definitely not call this competition weak. Unless of course any competition that isn't called Froome, Porte or Nibali is considered weak.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

I was thinking of the GC contenders that Valverde, technically, had to beat in order to win the overall (which was only Kelderman because he was in front after the ITT). Anyway, obviously there were many more great climbers in the race, all of whom Valverde didn't need to finish ahead of on today's stage.

 

[Koronin]

Good call on Zakarin. On the other hand, I specifically left out Izagirre, because I'm still not sure if he's fully recovered from his injury (same day/stage as Valverde's, but actually more serious). Lopez definitely showed up ready to try to win. Also in case anyone forget Marc Soler (Valverde's young teammate) just beat both Froome and Landa (now teammate) to get on the podium at Andalucia.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

This is unreal from Valverde. How the hell is he winning so easily after coming back from such a serious injury and being this old.

It's incredible how quickly he has got his form back. He surely must have been back into pretty hard training by September or October to have reached this level now. I wonder if it could catch up with him later in the year though; there's no better preparation for a season than riding a GT or two in the previous year. But then again, 18 years of pro riding has probably giving him enough base to compensate.

One thing I would say though, is that the fields in the two races he's won have been really weak. He's basically had to outclimb Fuglsang and Rohan Dennis to win the races. Which you'd have expected him to do comfortably any time throughout his career.

Huh?

He also had to beat Kelderman to win today. And while we're at it, let's not forget that Valverde was handily dropped by Fuglsang numerous times in Dauphine last season. You should give more credit to the opponents he's been facing in Valencia and Abu Dhabi

Yeah, but that level from Fuglsang have we exactly witnessed one time. And not to be the anti-nationalistic downer, I think chances are we won't see that level again. He was superb in that race.

Its hard beating the best opponents in good shape to early in the season, it doesn't happen often - thats a case of Froome and Contador in Andalucia, for example. So I don't hold that against Valverde at all, beating López today is in itself pretty impressive.

 

[Escarabajo]

That kind of logic has never worked for cycling. It all depends on the form of all the cyclists for that race!

Let's not minimize Valverde's victory. It was a good one regardless of anything.

 

[The Hegelian]

Re:

That kind of logic has never worked for cycling. It all depends on the form of all the cyclists for that race!

Let's not minimize Valverde's victory. It was a good one regardless of anything.

I'd almost call it great, when you consider that it looked like a 'retirement' crash in the tdf.

Also: anyone else think that Dennis is wasting his time trying to become a GT rider? If he is committed, there is only one thing for it, join Sky.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

That kind of logic has never worked for cycling. It all depends on the form of all the cyclists for that race!

Let's not minimize Valverde's victory. It was a good one regardless of anything.

I'd almost call it great, when you consider that it looked like a 'retirement' crash in the tdf.

Also: anyone else think that Dennis is wasting his time trying to become a GT rider? If he is committed, there is only one thing for it, join Sky.

Even he first thought it was career ending and reaction to that thought he couldn't handle it. Yeah it's amazing what he's done with his comeback.

As for Denis. Actually yes, I'm thinking the something similar. I do think there may be a few one week races he could be a GC guy for. Eneco or Bink Bank or whatever it's called now maybe some of the smaller continental races. He's a time trailist like Tony Martin or Cancellara.

 

[Oliver]

What went wrong with Simon Yates & Zakarin?
Ion flat tire and didn't make it back?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yates and Zakarin not in shape yet.

Ion didn't look so good in the ITT either so.

 

[pablohidalgo7]

Ion had a puncture at the bottom of the climb, so his perfomance was actually quite good.

 

[Koronin]

Ion's TTing is suffering. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a mental block he's got from the crash last summer. I'm also not totally sure he's fully recovered. Remember he got hurt on the same ITT Valverde did and was in the hospital longer and that doctors did tell him his injury could be career ending. I'm giving him some leeway and more time to recover.

 

[rote_laterne]

Re: Re:

Also: anyone else think that Dennis is wasting his time trying to become a GT rider? If he is committed, there is only one thing for it, join Sky.

:lol: Problem is: Sky signed one of the biggest GC prospects who also learnt TTing during the winter. But I don't like Dennis anyway, so I don't care about his non successful GC experiment.

 

[Breh]

Re:

What went wrong with Simon Yates & Zakarin?
Ion flat tire and didn't make it back?

Zakarin said he's taking an easy approach to the first part of the season because he wants to be competitive in both Tour and Vuelta.

 

[search]

Re:

Ion's TTing is suffering. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a mental block he's got from the crash last summer. I'm also not totally sure he's fully recovered. Remember he got hurt on the same ITT Valverde did and was in the hospital longer and that doctors did tell him his injury could be career ending. I'm giving him some leeway and more time to recover.

his time trial wasn't particularly good for sure, but tbh, it's February, and he has always been better on more twisty and/or hilly courses.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Ion's TTing is suffering. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a mental block he's got from the crash last summer. I'm also not totally sure he's fully recovered. Remember he got hurt on the same ITT Valverde did and was in the hospital longer and that doctors did tell him his injury could be career ending. I'm giving him some leeway and more time to recover.

his time trial wasn't particularly good for sure, but tbh, it's February, and he has always been better on more twisty and/or hilly courses.

Very true. This was probably a good TT for him to get back on the TT bike as well and try to get over any issues lingering from the crash.

 

[Breh]

I'll just ask it here because idk where to put it.

There are several riders going for a Tour->Vuelta-> Innsbruck schedule this year. Zakarin and Valverde just to name two.
It seems like a very tough challenge to be competitive in all three of them. Wouldn't it be better to scratch one?

 

[Jspear]

Re:

I'll just ask it here because idk where to put it.

There are several riders going for a Tour->Vuelta-> Innsbruck schedule this year. Zakarin and Valverde just to name two.
It seems like a very tough challenge to be competitive in all three of them. Wouldn't it be better to scratch one?

I bet that Valverde won't be going for a top gc spot in the Tour. I'm sure he'll manage his form very well with some good results in Tour stages, Vuelta GC, and of course entering the World's ready. I have no clue which GT Zakarin hopes to do better in. For sure you have to pick one.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

I'll just ask it here because idk where to put it.

There are several riders going for a Tour->Vuelta-> Innsbruck schedule this year. Zakarin and Valverde just to name two.
It seems like a very tough challenge to be competitive in all three of them. Wouldn't it be better to scratch one?

I bet that Valverde won't be going for a top gc spot in the Tour. I'm sure he'll manage his form very well with some good results in Tour stages, Vuelta GC, and of course entering the World's ready. I have no clue which GT Zakarin hopes to do better in. For sure you have to pick one.

It's highly unlikely Valverde will be racing for GC (although very well could still end up top 10) at the Tour. He's already said that the Worlds along with the Ardennes are his two top goals (of course he's always been qualifying it with depending on his knee). He'll be going after the Vuelta though as it's his favorite race and he's chasing history there. There is a question as to the actual reason Valverde is going to the Tour and one of the popular theories is he's going there to hold the team together when Landa and Quintana end up in their own war that many are expecting, thus keeping the rest of the team from imploding and maybe playing referee in the process. (However, I'm not entirely sure playing referee is in his job description. LOL). With Valverde, at this point in his career, he knows how to manage his form and knows what he needs to do. The bigger question is can Movistar get him to the Worlds with less than 90 race days.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

I'll just ask it here because idk where to put it.

There are several riders going for a Tour->Vuelta-> Innsbruck schedule this year. Zakarin and Valverde just to name two.
It seems like a very tough challenge to be competitive in all three of them. Wouldn't it be better to scratch one?

Valverde done that numerous times, and was competitive in all three. Don't know about Zakarin though, it could be too much for him...

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

I'll just ask it here because idk where to put it.

There are several riders going for a Tour->Vuelta-> Innsbruck schedule this year. Zakarin and Valverde just to name two.
It seems like a very tough challenge to be competitive in all three of them. Wouldn't it be better to scratch one?

Valverde done that numerous times, and was competitive in all three. Don't know about Zakarin though, it could be too much for him...

To emphasis this point. Valaverde has gotten top 5 Tour, podium Vuelta and podium Worlds.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Re:

And the Lepheimer comment was really funny.

I got a mod warning for it. Apparently someone took it as a doping comment, which just boggles my mind and shatters the (admittedly very little) faith I had in any intelligence being present around here.

Here I was thinking it was incredibly obvious that I'm talking about Majka not attacking, not doing any work, not taking a single pull and following wheels the entire way even if it's tactically dumb, just as Leipheimer was known for. Here I was thinking even a child would see that.

But nope. Doping reference, somehow. I should know by now that if I say "Good morning" someone will complain it's a doping reference.

Jesus christ some people... (and I mean whoever reported it, not the mod just doing his job)

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

And the Lepheimer comment was really funny.

I got a mod warning for it. Apparently someone took it as a doping comment, which just boggles my mind and shatters the (admittedly very little) faith I had in any intelligence being present around here.

Here I was thinking it was incredibly obvious that I'm talking about Majka not attacking, not doing any work, not taking a single pull and following wheels the entire way even if it's tactically dumb, just as Leipheimer was known for. Here I was thinking even a child would see that.

But nope. Doping reference, somehow. I should know by now that if I say "Good morning" someone will complain it's a doping reference.

Jesus christ some people... (and I mean whoever reported it, not the mod just doing his job)

I actually thought a race-result listing somewhere had - somehow - inserted Leipheimer into the results...

 

[GuyIncognito]

Sorry, no offence meant. It's just...doping? really? :lol:

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

And the Lepheimer comment was really funny.

I got a mod warning for it. Apparently someone took it as a doping comment, which just boggles my mind and shatters the (admittedly very little) faith I had in any intelligence being present around here.

Here I was thinking it was incredibly obvious that I'm talking about Majka not attacking, not doing any work, not taking a single pull and following wheels the entire way even if it's tactically dumb, just as Leipheimer was known for. Here I was thinking even a child would see that.

But nope. Doping reference, somehow. I should know by now that if I say "Good morning" someone will complain it's a doping reference.

Jesus christ some people... (and I mean whoever reported it, not the mod just doing his job)

I didn't fully get the Majka connection, but I thought it just a joke. Plus a funny one at that.

 

[PeterB]

Re: Re:

And the Lepheimer comment was really funny.

I got a mod warning for it. Apparently someone took it as a doping comment, which just boggles my mind and shatters the (admittedly very little) faith I had in any intelligence being present around here.

Here I was thinking it was incredibly obvious that I'm talking about Majka not attacking, not doing any work, not taking a single pull and following wheels the entire way even if it's tactically dumb, just as Leipheimer was known for. Here I was thinking even a child would see that.

But nope. Doping reference, somehow. I should know by now that if I say "Good morning" someone will complain it's a doping reference.

Jesus christ some people... (and I mean whoever reported it, not the mod just doing his job)

Yeah, though I got your Majka-wheelsucker "secret message" after a minute of wondering "what is he talking about?", there are probably many people on here who are too young to follow cycling in Levi's era, or who simply see Majka as an exciting attacking rider... But a mod not recognising that is surprising, hope they accepted your explanation.