Does anyone have a view on who is the best decender in the Peloton and can think of a memorable performance demonstrating these skills.
One of my all time favourites was Chiappuchi in the Giro 95. Pouring with rain and mist on a multi lap stage he attacked on at narrow decent on each lap overtaking riders inches from the rails with the back wheel sliding out. There must be a video online for this somewhere.
In more recent times Paolo Savoldelli seemed to be regarded as the best decender. The Giro last year riding off in the rain with Danilo Di Luca was pretty impressive. Savoldelli is now retired and Di Luca banned so who is regarded as the best now?
Two I can think of are Samuel Sanchez and Damiano Cunego.
The 07 Vuelta was pretty dull until the last week until Sanchez put some bold attacks and knife edge decents to spark some life into the race.
Damiano Cunego attacked on the last climb in Lombardy last year to get a gap but it was on the decent through tight lanes where he really made the move stick, pulling away over a minute clear before closing in for the win. The motorbikes were left for dead on the technical sections trying to stay with him.
Cunego certainly prefers a climb over a TT. An interesting fact from the Giro TT this year was that Cunego had the fastest last split on the mostly downhill section. Not much coverage was given to his performance but he easily outsplit Di Luca who was riding on the edge trying to pull back time from Menchov.
If there are any really technical decents in this year Vuelta I wouldn't be surprised to see these guys pull out a gap.
Who else can be regarded as a top decender in the current peloton?
One of my all time favourites was Chiappuchi in the Giro 95. Pouring with rain and mist on a multi lap stage he attacked on at narrow decent on each lap overtaking riders inches from the rails with the back wheel sliding out. There must be a video online for this somewhere.
In more recent times Paolo Savoldelli seemed to be regarded as the best decender. The Giro last year riding off in the rain with Danilo Di Luca was pretty impressive. Savoldelli is now retired and Di Luca banned so who is regarded as the best now?
Two I can think of are Samuel Sanchez and Damiano Cunego.
The 07 Vuelta was pretty dull until the last week until Sanchez put some bold attacks and knife edge decents to spark some life into the race.
Damiano Cunego attacked on the last climb in Lombardy last year to get a gap but it was on the decent through tight lanes where he really made the move stick, pulling away over a minute clear before closing in for the win. The motorbikes were left for dead on the technical sections trying to stay with him.
Cunego certainly prefers a climb over a TT. An interesting fact from the Giro TT this year was that Cunego had the fastest last split on the mostly downhill section. Not much coverage was given to his performance but he easily outsplit Di Luca who was riding on the edge trying to pull back time from Menchov.
If there are any really technical decents in this year Vuelta I wouldn't be surprised to see these guys pull out a gap.
Who else can be regarded as a top decender in the current peloton?
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