Ben Swift Discussion Thread

[TMP402]

Re:

Whatever the parcours, there's always someone left who can outsprint him.

Looking at the front group from 2015, I don't see who could easily beat him in a sprint finish. Supposing he can climb better than Matthews (which P-N would suggest he can), he would not have lost all his zip for the sprint as Matthews did, and he would have been at least as good in a sprint as Valverde, Kwiatkowski, Gallopin, van Avermaet, Gilbert etc.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Is he explosive enough for Cauberg?

 

[HelloDolly]

Mikkel Kwaitkowski is the reigning champion of Amstel but he should work for Swift who has never shown anything in this race or let the team work for Swift ...I am sure that is why Kwait signed for SKY

If SKY wanted to develop riders like Swift & Kennaugh they would never have signed riders like Kwaitkowski, Landa, Inxtausti

 

[SlickMongoose]

Re: Re:

Whatever the parcours, there's always someone left who can outsprint him.

Looking at the front group from 2015, I don't see who could easily beat him in a sprint finish. Supposing he can climb better than Matthews (which P-N would suggest he can), he would not have lost all his zip for the sprint as Matthews did, and he would have been at least as good in a sprint as Valverde, Kwiatkowski, Gallopin, van Avermaet, Gilbert etc.

He was once outsprinted by Peter Kennaugh in the British championships.

Most of those guys would probably beat him unfortunately.

 

[Poursuivant]

He needs to get a killer instinct. Hopefully he wins a stage this week.

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

Whatever the parcours, there's always someone left who can outsprint him.

Looking at the front group from 2015, I don't see who could easily beat him in a sprint finish. Supposing he can climb better than Matthews (which P-N would suggest he can), he would not have lost all his zip for the sprint as Matthews did, and he would have been at least as good in a sprint as Valverde, Kwiatkowski, Gallopin, van Avermaet, Gilbert etc.

He was once outsprinted by Peter Kennaugh in the British championships.

Well that's true, and also the reason why one should never trust him to win.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

It's not a killer instinct he needs, it's faster legs.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re:

He needs to get a killer instinct. Hopefully he wins a stage this week.

He is not going to beat Bouhanni in a sprint at Catalunya
And he is not punchy enough on the climbs to beat the likes of Gilbert or Valverde in a race like Amstel,
IN fact there are punchier riders at SKY

Swift has one great asset ...he can survive and do well in long hard races ...
And he is not a bad climber ...better than most sprinters...

Should target the cobbles classics & semi classics in my opinion

Lookhow well THomas & Rowe adapted to these races ...and Swift could too

 

[SlickMongoose]

Re:

It's not a killer instinct he needs, it's faster legs.

Yeah.

He just can't sprint very fast. It's a bit of a problem for a sprinter.

I noticed him pulling out of Demare's slipstream in MSR, then quickly thinking better of it and getting back in.

 

[Vasilis]

Re: Re:

He needs to get a killer instinct. Hopefully he wins a stage this week.

He is not going to beat Bouhanni in a sprint at Catalunya
And he is not punchy enough on the climbs to beat the likes of Gilbert or Valverde in a race like Amstel,
IN fact there are punchier riders at SKY

Swift has one great asset ...he can survive and do well in long hard races ...
And he is not a bad climber ...better than most sprinters...

Should target the cobbles classics & semi classics in my opinion

Lookhow well THomas & Rowe adapted to these races ...and Swift could too

He tried the cobbles, didn't work, so he focuses on hilly sprints.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

It's not a killer instinct he needs, it's faster legs.

Yeah.

He just can't sprint very fast. It's a bit of a problem for a sprinter.

I noticed him pulling out of Demare's slipstream in MSR, then quickly thinking better of it and getting back in.

And Demare himself is hardly the fastest sprinter in terms of raw big bunch speed.

I don't begrudge Swift his ability to make a living as a sprinter who can't sprint very fast, but I do remain astonished that he has held down a job on one of the biggest teams in the sport for years and years and even more so that said team regularly supports his ambitions. Not half as astonished as I'd have been if he'd actually won Milan San Remo, mind you.

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

I don't begrudge Swift his ability to make a living as a sprinter who can't sprint very fast, but I do remain astonished that he has held down a job on one of the biggest teams in the sport for years and years and even more so that said team regularly supports his ambitions.

Well, he does have more monument podiums than anyone else at Sky!

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

I don't begrudge Swift his ability to make a living as a sprinter who can't sprint very fast, but I do remain astonished that he has held down a job on one of the biggest teams in the sport for years and years and even more so that said team regularly supports his ambitions.

Well, he does have more monument podiums than anyone else at Sky!

An indictment of Sky's classics racing.

To be fair, Swift is probably unlucky that the sport has shifted away from marathon one day races, with only MSR left among the historic really, really long races. The situation where he's at his best relative to everyone else is when they've got 280km plus in their legs.

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Re:

I don't begrudge Swift his ability to make a living as a sprinter who can't sprint very fast, but I do remain astonished that he has held down a job on one of the biggest teams in the sport for years and years and even more so that said team regularly supports his ambitions.

Well, he does have more monument podiums than anyone else at Sky!

An indictment of Sky's classics racing.

To be fair, Swift is probably unlucky that the sport has shifted away from marathon one day races, with only MSR left among the historic really, really long races. The situation where he's at his best relative to everyone else is when they've got 280km plus in their legs.

Swift and Sky seem like a good match, he's not and out and out sprinter and Sky don't want a dedicated sprint train so a rider who can place himself in the right spot and look after himself makes sense and Swift does that, also he's willing to work for team mates. He has the ability to win a big race but a few things have to go right for him, things like bad weather, distance, other riders not being on top of there game. When thinking about this I wonder how long Viviani stays with Sky, he's fast enough to deserve more riders working for him

 

[WheelofGear]

Swift is not suited for AGR, he is not a puncheur or uphill sprinter. He sprinter who can handle climbs. But the new finish in Amstel suits him a little better.

Why not Flanders instead? I think he is more suited for that race.

 

[WheelofGear]

Re: Re:

He needs to get a killer instinct. Hopefully he wins a stage this week.

He is not going to beat Bouhanni in a sprint at Catalunya
And he is not punchy enough on the climbs to beat the likes of Gilbert or Valverde in a race like Amstel,
IN fact there are punchier riders at SKY

Swift has one great asset ...he can survive and do well in long hard races ...
And he is not a bad climber ...better than most sprinters...

Should target the cobbles classics & semi classics in my opinion

Lookhow well THomas & Rowe adapted to these races ...and Swift could too

This!

 

[barmaher]

Jeez, Swift gets an awful hard time from people. He has a CQ ranking currently of around 600, which is that of a solid World Tour rider, Scrap that, he is in the upper quartile of World Tour riders. Given that he works for team leaders in a fair portion of his races, that is pretty impressive in my book.

He is a good sprinter, he has improved his climbing a lot and has shown the ability to ride well over extreme distances.

I would say there is not a team on the World Tour that wouldn't jump at the chance to sign him.

 

[TMP402]

Swift is like a less successful Trentin.

 

[Bushman]

Re: Re:

Whatever the parcours, there's always someone left who can outsprint him.

Looking at the front group from 2015, I don't see who could easily beat him in a sprint finish. Supposing he can climb better than Matthews (which P-N would suggest he can), he would not have lost all his zip for the sprint as Matthews did, and he would have been at least as good in a sprint as Valverde, Kwiatkowski, Gallopin, van Avermaet, Gilbert etc.

To 'climb better' than Matthews in PN is not the same as being faster up the Cauberg than Matthews. Matthews was really inpressive last year being the only one to follow Gilbert. Yes he was knackered in the sprint after his tremendous effort on the Cauberg but he would have lost anyway if he had let go of Gilbert

 

[staubsauger]

Swift looks like GVA until he found out that he ain't no medicore sprinter, but a good classics rider.

 

[MartinGT]

https://twitter.com/swiftybswift/status/1098689019985182720

Sounds nasty, was he racing?

 

[wansteadimp]

https://twitter.com/swiftybswift/status/1098689019985182720

Sounds nasty, was he racing?

Training in Tenerife

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/47323638

 

[Singer01]

https://twitter.com/swiftybswift/status/1098689019985182720

Sounds nasty, was he racing?

Training in Tenerife

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/47323638

Doctors should not refer to people as 'swifty'.

 

[Robert5091]

Training with G (a man without a spleen) apparently. Hope he makes a full recovery.

 

[Koronin]

Hope he's able to recover.