Best Climber (active)

[insideout leadout]

andy schleck is definatly NOT the strongest climber. he hasen't got the uphill-kick of armstrong, contador, ricco, di luca, samu sanchez to jump away and really distance his rivals or the power to climb&bite on steep climbs as simoni, basso, heras. he could win lbl or could follow an attack of another rider like contador. but i can't see him force an attack that make him flying away from his contrahents like armstrong did with ullrich, ricco did with contador in the giro, contador did with schleck and armstrong in 2009 tour or cunego did with popovych and simoni in 2004. samu sanchez f.e has that kick, so i'm going to predict that in tdf 2011 he will distance schleck in the right moment, because of that skills like di luca did in 2007.

Hmm...did you see the attacks from baby schleck at TDF this year? Did they look like a joke to you, could you see any other than Contador following him?

Yes Sanchez is faster in a sprint if that's what you are talking about but the guy seldom attacks he's more of a survivor...he's the one following others not Schleck.

 

[The Hitch]

and in my opinion basso wasn't that stronger in this years giro as he have been in that vuelta as many people are saying now (he was much stronger in both gt's than in last years giro no doubt). basso just didn't have as good challengers in this years giro - except from scarponi - as he had in that vuelta (franco/danilo out, mentsjov not there, ricco not invited, evans&vino wasn't in top form any more, sastre with no form, simoni was nothing).

Cadel Evans Won 1 stage. Came 2nd on both Zoncolan AND Kronplatz. Was probably in very good shape. Id say as good if not better than Vuelta 09. And yet he beat Basso in Vuelta 09 but lost to Ivan by minutes in Giro 10. Id say that shows Basso improved.

 

[staubsauger]

Hmm...did you see the attacks from baby schleck at TDF this year? Did they look like a joke to you, could you see any other than Contador following him?

Yes Sanchez is faster in a sprint if that's what you are talking about but the guy seldom attacks he's more of a survivor...he's the one following others not Schleck.

yeah you're right with that and i have to say that i was suprised of the power of andys attacks this tdf. maybe sanchez was a bad example. it's more this explosive attack this push to fly away and than just take it home that lance had in the past, that contador has, that ricco has,that's why i mentioned di luca and cunego as they are 2 perfect examples for guys who won a gt against maybe better climbers because of that let's call it rocket power. andys attacks are good, but not that good. and as he's not a pure mountain goat like simoni, basso or mosquera and there are guys like contador, ricco or anton (on top level) which have both skills, he simply is not the best climber of our generation at the moment. but he still could become....

 

[staubsauger]

Cadel Evans Won 1 stage. Came 2nd on both Zoncolan AND Kronplatz. Was probably in very good shape. Id say as good if not better than Vuelta 09. And yet he beat Basso in Vuelta 09 but lost to Ivan by minutes in Giro 10. Id say that shows Basso improved.

well i think you're right i underate his perfomance this year, but otherwise there are also many - not you - that overate it, because there simply was no mentsjov, franco, di luca, ricco, contador at the giro this year. but he's one of the best climbers for sure, like andy, but not the best for me. and he probably never will be as good as in 2006 again, but that's nice because he was machine not a cyclist that time. i could enjoy watching him now again.

what i wanted to accent more is that gesink isn't an that bad climber as some guys are seeing him. it's just that steep climbs like in italy or spain favour him more than the ones in france. he's a diesel like sastre.

 

[Altitude]

what i wanted to accent more is that gesink isn't an that bad climber as some guys are seeing him. it's just that steep climbs like in italy or spain favour him more than the ones in france. he's a diesel like sastre.

Sastre diesel? Sastre is the complete opposite of a diesel. He's a petrol engine like Contador, Ricco, Piepoli, ect. Guys like Menchov and Evans are the diesel's.

 

[karlboss]

Cadel Evans Won 1 stage. Came 2nd on both Zoncolan AND Kronplatz. Was probably in very good shape. Id say as good if not better than Vuelta 09. And yet he beat Basso in Vuelta 09 but lost to Ivan by minutes in Giro 10. Id say that shows Basso improved.

Funny thing about Basso. Since his comeback he posts all his training data and blood tests on the mapei site, but his last post is May this year. Leaving out the Data from winning the Giro training inbetween and riding the tour...I think that would be interesting data.

 

[Christian]

It's not just the Mur de Huy though. Antón dropped and distanced Contador, Mosquera and Soler on the Alto del Morredero in Castilla y León - hardly a bunch of weak climbers there - just a week earlier. In the Vuelta a Burgos he wasn't even his team leader, but he got on the front on Lagunas de Neila and policed Nibalia and Mosquera for Sánchez, and did one of the best domestique jobs I've seen all year. His two wins in the Vuelta were one on a very short but very steep climb, and a long but gradual drag. That shows versatility. Yes, the field of that Vuelta wasn't extremely good, but we're talking about this year alone, which is rather unfair. His 2009 was pretty mediocre since he missed most of his training time due to his 2008 Vuelta injury.

So if you want to suggest that he's only an élite climber in big races with weaker fields, or in smaller races with strong fields, then I point to stage 8 of the 2008 Vuelta, to Pla de Beret. Contador and Valverde attacked the group and Antón was the only man who could go with them. If we're talking the élite climbers of the moment, then Contador and Valverde have to merit a mention. That's a big race and a big field - riders who were unable to follow that move included Sastre, Rodríguez, Moreno, Leipheimer, Mosquera, Gesink, and Arroyo.

Just remembered a good counterexample: Anton being outclimbed by such big guns as Kirchen, Devolder, Kreuziger, Ivanov, Lövkvist and Klöden (granted, Klöden is pretty good), and slowly tumbling in with the likes of Damiano Cunego and Markus Fothen. TDS 2008 Stage to Verbier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

(By the way - where will the Fothen brothers ride next year?)