Teams & Riders Brothers in (crank) arms - Yates Discussion Thread

[Rollthedice]

The little man showed some signs of arrogance in the Vuelta when he was commanding others to work work work. This is though a surprise. Hope he is just joking.

 

[Climbing]

I think he's mostly joking and/or trying avoiding being banal with the usual answer.
Sounded like that to me at least.
Or maybe he's just an asshat, but who cares

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

Yeah he says different in other interviews when asked about a 'favourite'. Just mixing it up. But he should be confident.

 

[yaco]

He should be aiming for a top four position or better - The Yates boys very much drive Mitchelton Scott on and off the bike.

 

[Eli]

Re:

The mindgames have started...


Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) threw the hammer down with a vengeance in his pre-Giro d'Italia press conference, stating categorically that he is in top condition to win his second consecutive Grand Tour. If he was in his rivals' position, he said, "I would be scared, I’d be shitting myself.”

I like this. The Generic " I can win it and so can many others" answer can be boring at times.

 

[Lequack]

If it was a reference to Dumoulin that is pretty funny actually.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Sounds pretty obviously a joke, but frankly he's deserved some arrogance anyway. A South American rider dominating such a high proportion of GT climbing stages in the same year would be getting an awful lot more hype and attention.

 

[armchairclimber]

Re:

If it was a reference to Dumoulin that is pretty funny actually.

That's Pennine humour for you.

 

[Robert5091]

From what's been said, it seems like MS will not defend the Maglia Rosa, (edit -*covfefe moment*), if he wins the TT on Saturday.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

If it was a reference to Dumoulin that is pretty funny actually.

That's Pennine humour for you.

Yep, just a joke and a bit of fun, instead of all the usual nonsense you get at these press conferences.

 

[SafeBet]

As I've said a number of times, some trash talking is not bad for cycling at all.
I miss Wiggo, he was a master of this kind of stuff.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

As I've said a number of times, some trash talking is not bad for cycling at all.
I miss Wiggo, he was a master of this kind of stuff.

I don't like it, I like humble champions, and I hope he was joking cause I really liked Simon Yates as a rider. But if this was not a joke, I hope he doesn't win this Giro.

 

[dusty red roads]

Cycling Tips press quotes have him a lot more humble, so I'd say he's joshing around, though no doubt hoping to win.

 

[Lequack]

Everyone who's watched Backstage Pass from Orica/Michelton knows he is pretty cool.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

it's probably just british humor that the report took seriously

 

[Robert5091]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/matt-whites-stage-by-stage-guide-to-the-giro-ditalia/

Matt White’s stage-by-stage guide to the Giro d’Italia

stage 2 -
What I also found was that the descent of the final climb of the San Baronto is super fast, so if a group is still clear at the bottom of the descent it’s going to be quite hard for the chase to become organized. Also, if that final descent is wet then it’s going to be really dangerous. It’s rapid and it’s technical.

Guess what the forecast is for? Yep, rain. Take it easy!

 

[SafeBet]

Nibali didn't take Simon's joke too well.
It's Tour 2012 all over again: BEEF!

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Nibali didn't take Simon's joke too well.
It's Tour 2012 all over again: BEEF!

Too easy for Yates. Surprised Nibali got triggered, thought he was old and wise enough to not take the bait.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

Nibali didn't take Simon's joke too well.
It's Tour 2012 all over again: BEEF!

Too easy for Yates. Surprised Nibali got triggered, thought he was old and wise enough to not take the bait.

Nibali is as you say, old and wise enough not to care what anyone says. He is just trying to put Yates on the defensive, trying to mess with his head. He tried similar games with Dumoulin a couple of years ago. It didn’t work then and I suspect it won’t work now.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Decent start - weirdly slow on the flat bit of the TT - presumably air was a little cooler by then which won't have helped, but no rain disaster at least. Climbing about where expected - just need to hope it's Roglic that cracks and not him.

 

[Poursuivant]

Re:

Decent start - weirdly slow on the flat bit of the TT - presumably air was a little cooler by then which won't have helped, but no rain disaster at least. Climbing about where expected - just need to hope it's Roglic that cracks and not him.

Don’t know how true but apparently a bit of a tailwind for the earlier riders disappeared for the later riders, but as you say, I think that was ideal for Yates, maybe getting the jersey right now for Roglic isn’t ideal because it is hard to see where he can lose it for the first week or so. Having said that I liked how happy he was to win today and take Pink.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Decent start - weirdly slow on the flat bit of the TT - presumably air was a little cooler by then which won't have helped, but no rain disaster at least. Climbing about where expected - just need to hope it's Roglic that cracks and not him.

Maybe the start was intentional, to go all out on his favoured part of the course.

The second TT is much harder on him, as the climb is inconsistent but broadly around 6-7%, which suits powerful riders. Beyond that, the only issue until stage 13 will be a few sketchy downhills, but he's well on track to enter the mountains with a two minute deficit or there abouts.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Re: Re:

Decent start - weirdly slow on the flat bit of the TT - presumably air was a little cooler by then which won't have helped, but no rain disaster at least. Climbing about where expected - just need to hope it's Roglic that cracks and not him.

Maybe the start was intentional, to go all out on his favoured part of the course.

The second TT is much harder on him, as the climb is inconsistent but broadly around 6-7%, which suits powerful riders. Beyond that, the only issue until stage 13 will be a few sketchy downhills, but he's well on track to enter the mountains with a two minute deficit or there abouts.

Whether for the reason you mentioned, or others, I don't think today's flat section is representative of his TT form - would be very disappointed if he lost 1:40 on a 35km TT with a climb in it

Plus Friday looks a pretty good chance for him to grab bonus seconds, if not an actual time gap as well - sort of stage he ate up last year.

 

[johnymax]

He's done very well today as expected. He'll fly in the mountains. Will it be enough to beat Roglic? As our Kirby would say, let's wait and see.

 

[Bolder]

He might have wanted to be a little closer to Roglic, but ultimately 19 seconds is not going to make the difference given the huge gaps that could open in the third week. At the very least Jumbo will have to expend some energy riding at the front in the first week which should even things out.