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Bob Jungels Discussion Thread

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Great that he's riding the cobbled classics this year! Hopefully he will ride also Paris-Roubaix, he definetly has a shot there.
 
Re:

Red Rick said:
Can not believe his skipping LBL in favour of Giro prep.

Am I such a fool for believing a win in LBL is worth more than a top 15 spot in the Giro?
Indeed not a great decision. He should target one-day races 'cause he is one of the few who can win every monument. Another top 10 spot in a GT adds nothing to his palmares.
 
Stupid to drop Roubaix, Amstel and Liege in order to the ride Giro. Can win all these races - obviously apart from the Giro where he will have a hard time even landing a top-10 with thie field. Dumb. Hope Lefevre will push him to ride the other classics and forget about the Giro.
 
Re: Re:

Laplaz said:
Red Rick said:
Can not believe his skipping LBL in favour of Giro prep.

Am I such a fool for believing a win in LBL is worth more than a top 15 spot in the Giro?
Indeed not a great decision. He should target one-day races 'cause he is one of the few who can win every monument. Another top 10 spot in a GT adds nothing to his palmares.
I tend to think 'can win all monuments' generally refers to a few riders who might get top 10 in all of them but never win some of them.

LBL will soon show what that race is like with the new route, but Il Lombardia is currently too hard for all but the elite climbers.
 
Re:

yaco said:
I can understand Jungels decision - He's already surpassed expectations in the cobbled races, so focusing on the Giro with a parcours that suit his characteristics is fine.

Problem with the route is that Jungels is not a top 10 climber in this Giro field on any Cat 1 climb and the Giro has basically 4 of the 4 hardest mountain stages this year. I don't see any point of Jungels riding the Giro. He is a solid contender for LBL or he could be pivotal in helping Alaphilippe winning it, thus returning the favor of last year.
 
Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
Laplaz said:
Red Rick said:
Can not believe his skipping LBL in favour of Giro prep.

Am I such a fool for believing a win in LBL is worth more than a top 15 spot in the Giro?
Indeed not a great decision. He should target one-day races 'cause he is one of the few who can win every monument. Another top 10 spot in a GT adds nothing to his palmares.
I tend to think 'can win all monuments' generally refers to a few riders who might get top 10 in all of them but never win some of them.

LBL will soon show what that race is like with the new route, but Il Lombardia is currently too hard for all but the elite climbers.
It's not like he has to win LBL again to win all five monuments ;)
About lombardia, not sure if that's really out of reach. On the last three occasions it was only ever one really good climber who managed to stay away while behind them guys like Moreno or Alaphilippe took 2nd places. Imo the sample size isn't large enough yet to make conclusions.

Anyway Jungels skipping a monument where he would be massively important for the team so that he can prepare for the giro doesn't exactly get me excited. The field is so stacked this season and the route is so difficult that a top ten would be a surprise and I really don't think skipping LBL is worth it
 
Re: Re:

Gigs_98 said:
Red Rick said:
Laplaz said:
Red Rick said:
Can not believe his skipping LBL in favour of Giro prep.

Am I such a fool for believing a win in LBL is worth more than a top 15 spot in the Giro?
Indeed not a great decision. He should target one-day races 'cause he is one of the few who can win every monument. Another top 10 spot in a GT adds nothing to his palmares.
I tend to think 'can win all monuments' generally refers to a few riders who might get top 10 in all of them but never win some of them.

LBL will soon show what that race is like with the new route, but Il Lombardia is currently too hard for all but the elite climbers.
It's not like he has to win LBL again to win all five monuments ;)
About lombardia, not sure if that's really out of reach. On the last three occasions it was only ever one really good climber who managed to stay away while behind them guys like Moreno or Alaphilippe took 2nd places. Imo the sample size isn't large enough yet to make conclusions.

Anyway Jungels skipping a monument where he would be massively important for the team so that he can prepare for the giro doesn't exactly get me excited. The field is so stacked this season and the route is so difficult that a top ten would be a surprise and I really don't think skipping LBL is worth it
The top climbers stayed away, and really far ahead at that. 2015 left a tiny group after the Muro, no matter how you spin it Alaphilippe got destroyed on the Civiglio in 2017, and last year the big group had a looot of benefit from the EF train keeping the gap small while better climbers were tiring themselves.
 
Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
The top climbers stayed away, and really far ahead at that. 2015 left a tiny group after the Muro, no matter how you spin it Alaphilippe got destroyed on the Civiglio in 2017, and last year the big group had a looot of benefit from the EF train keeping the gap small while better climbers were tiring themselves.

Yeah but if Nibali hadn't found his best legs since the summer of 2014, he wouldn't have been dropped, so this is definitely not a proof of Alaphilippe not being able to win the race (in fact he will be the biggest favourite for me if he turns up in good shape again).
 
No way Ala would be the biggest favorite.
You will usually find in any given year 2 or 3 strong climbers for the win. That year was Nibali, last year was Pinot. 2 years ago we had Chaves, Urán and Rosa. Any climber or group of Climbers with Ala in the group will try very hard to drop him before the finish.
 
Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
yaco said:
I can understand Jungels decision - He's already surpassed expectations in the cobbled races, so focusing on the Giro with a parcours that suit his characteristics is fine.

Problem with the route is that Jungels is not a top 10 climber in this Giro field on any Cat 1 climb and the Giro has basically 4 of the 4 hardest mountain stages this year. I don't see any point of Jungels riding the Giro. He is a solid contender for LBL or he could be pivotal in helping Alaphilippe winning it, thus returning the favor of last year.

On paper there is better climbers, but he has other stages where is on paper better too. The last few years we have seen the "pure climbers" running out of steam more often than the TT guys in the mountains also. Over 3 weeks you need a big engine and be consistent. Not have any bad days. Look at all the last GT winners, and someone like Yates that maybe been more focused on climbing looks like a better all-round rider this year with a better TT-ability. Thats why I dont get why people (not saying you here buddy), that follow cycling always moan about why doesnt such and such attack in mountain stage. Because they are dead tired from the days in the wind and everything else that adds up before they come to the mountains in the 3rd week. Either you got it or you dont at that stage in the 3rd week.

So on paper someone is a better climber, but if someone like Jungels has better legs and more energy conserved it levels the odds quite a bit. Really tough mountain stages also make riders afraid to attack. It ends up being an attack in the last km that gains the 20-30s anyway. Unless you are dropped early of course.


With that being said... I think he should ride PR, Amstel and LBL rather than focusing on the Giro :D
 
Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
yaco said:
I can understand Jungels decision - He's already surpassed expectations in the cobbled races, so focusing on the Giro with a parcours that suit his characteristics is fine.

Problem with the route is that Jungels is not a top 10 climber in this Giro field on any Cat 1 climb and the Giro has basically 4 of the 4 hardest mountain stages this year. I don't see any point of Jungels riding the Giro. He is a solid contender for LBL or he could be pivotal in helping Alaphilippe winning it, thus returning the favor of last year.

If Jungels wants to ride for a GC at a GT in 2019, then the Giro is the right race - He'll do well in each of the three IT's and hope to limit his losses in the mountain stages - he can hardly ride the TDF with Mas as the leader.
 
TTs get far less important the further you go down the GC, Jungels can easily lose more than all his TT gains in a one climb mountain stage, not to mention he has never finished in the first GC group of any hard mountain stage. He literally gains more from 3rd week breakaways than TTs.He needs to be lucky to top 10 in this field, and I dont see the value in that compared to going all out this classics season and increasing the chamces that Enric Mas podiums the Tour.

Besides, when was the last time a rider succesfully combined a full schedule of cobbles with a Giro GC challenge?
 
Jungels is not a climber. He is not made for the high mountains like Dumo or Roglic. A shame that Quickstep prioritize a potential 9th place in the Giro over safe wins in the Ardennes.

In Amstel and Liege, Jungels-Alaphilippe would be the most letal duo ever. Jungels can go from distance while Ala force Kwiatkowski, Wellens, GVA, Valverde, Sagan and co. to do all the work and outsprint them if Jungels get caught.

He could also serve as a great leadout man for Alaphillipe in Fleche Wallone.

And I understand that Paris-Roubaix is a more risky race for the heavy weights, but in this kind of shape a potential top 10 is not out of question.

But if they insists that he is going to the Giro, why not go for stages instead? He could be the perfect stage hunter.
 
Re:

Velolover2 said:
Jungels is not a climber. He is not made for the high mountains like Dumo or Roglic. A shame that Quickstep prioritize a potential 9th place in the Giro over safe wins in the Ardennes.

In Amstel and Liege, Jungels-Alaphilippe would be the most letal duo ever. Jungels can go from distance while Ala force Kwiatkowski, Wellens, GVA, Valverde, Sagan and co. to do all the work and outsprint them if Jungels get caught.

He could also serve as a great leadout man for Alaphillipe in Fleche Wallone.

And I understand that Paris-Roubaix is a more risky race for the heavy weights, but in this kind of shape a potential top 10 is not out of question.

But if they insists that he is going to the Giro, why not go for stages instead? He could be the perfect stage hunter.

Maybe someone will sooner than later realise that there is no rule preventing them from going with Jungels when he attacks.
 
Re: Re:

tobydawq said:
Velolover2 said:
Jungels is not a climber. He is not made for the high mountains like Dumo or Roglic. A shame that Quickstep prioritize a potential 9th place in the Giro over safe wins in the Ardennes.

In Amstel and Liege, Jungels-Alaphilippe would be the most letal duo ever. Jungels can go from distance while Ala force Kwiatkowski, Wellens, GVA, Valverde, Sagan and co. to do all the work and outsprint them if Jungels get caught.

He could also serve as a great leadout man for Alaphillipe in Fleche Wallone.

And I understand that Paris-Roubaix is a more risky race for the heavy weights, but in this kind of shape a potential top 10 is not out of question.

But if they insists that he is going to the Giro, why not go for stages instead? He could be the perfect stage hunter.

Maybe someone will sooner than later realise that there is no rule preventing them from going with Jungels when he attacks.
There is also no rule telling Jungels he has to cooperate if that happens.
 

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