Can Somebody Teach Soler How to Ride a Bike Please?

[Escarabajo]

This is getting ridiculous for this Colombian rider. This would be the fourth time that his GT ambitions would be jeopardized.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/soler-in-doubt-for-tour-de-france

I knew that the Colombians in the 80's had problems but Soler is hitting new records

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Ezequiel Mosquera laughs at Soler's bike handling and time trialling skills.

But I love him nonetheless.

 

[Michele]

From some of his ex team mates at Barloworld, I heard that they were worried to ride AROUND him even on training rides.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

His time trialling can't be that bad if he can beat the likes of Menchov and EBH in the prologue. No doubt he's somewhat brittle though - bit like Mayo

 

[Ferminal]

It's all part of the mystique of Juan Mauricio!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

It's really too bad though, when he is fit, he is always a nice rider to watch in the mountains. Just look at Castilla y Leon earlier this year.

But yeah, he's steering is so bad...

 

[aarnold517]

i wonder how much of it is because they said he only started riding when he was 17 or 18. so whereas all the other riders have developed their skills years and years ago, he is comparatively newer than them on the bike. i hope thats it so that he can develop them in the future because he was fantastic to watch a couple years ago in the tour

 

[BroDeal]

He is Columbia's answer to Tommy D. Both are doomed to perpetually disappoint their fans who know that if the riders could actually finish a race then they would do pretty well.

 

[Escarabajo]

i wonder how much of it is because they said he only started riding when he was 17 or 18. so whereas all the other riders have developed their skills years and years ago, he is comparatively newer than them on the bike. i hope thats it so that he can develop them in the future because he was fantastic to watch a couple years ago in the tour

That's what I thought too. He just picked up a bike for a race around his town and he Kicked some a$$. Once he became a part of the European peloton the problems began. Certainly there must be a solution to it. The coach in the team should help in this regard.

He can just give up on the GC hopes and maybe loose 2-3 minutes per stage during 10 stages. You can add 8-10 minutes lost on Time Trials. Maybe gain 4 minutes in a break and still have possibilities for a top 10 or 15, but at least you could win a stage and the king of the mountains competition.

 

[craig1985]

I'm amazed that nobody hasn't pulled Soler aside and just worked with Soler on his bike handling skills. Or if the have, it hasn't worked much. I started cycling properly when I turned 19 and one of the first things people did were to make to make my bike handling skills improved.

 

[BroDeal]

I'm amazed that nobody hasn't pulled Soler aside and just worked with Soler on his bike handling skills. Or if the have, it hasn't worked much. I started cycling properly when I turned 19 and one of the first things people did were to make to make my bike handling skills improved.

The team should force him to ride cyclocross in the off season.

 

[Highlander]

I sure hope not. I was thrilled about his time in the TT because it was the first time that I could ever thing of that I could actually beat a pro in a race. I know that he had a bum knee, but please don't take that away from me

 

[forty four]

its not purely the bike handling training that he lacks. in my experience you can give many riders the same training and experience and some will be good bike handlers some average and some bad nothing will change this. we all know some people are just clumsy period i know a few riders like that they literally will crash for no reason or panic for no reason as well. like vo2 max hand eye quordination is genetic for the most part.

 

[online-rider]

It's interesting. I'm glad he can still be a pro with those skills missing. Probably trained alone through the coke plantations as a kid and started bunch riding way too late I Hear David Moncoutié can't ride with his hands off the bars!!

 

[hfer07]

Probably trained alone through the coke plantations as a kid and started bunch riding way too late

you must be either Tom Boonen, Laurent Fignon or a coke addict-since only a narrowed pityful & ignorant mind like yours can only bring such a stupid comment like that

f*ck off!!!

 

[craig1985]

It's interesting. I'm glad he can still be a pro with those skills missing. Probably trained alone through the coke plantations as a kid and started bunch riding way too late I Hear David Moncoutié can't ride with his hands off the bars!!

I don't know about now, but when he first turned professional he actually had to stop on the descent when he got to the top of a mountain (read Tourmalet etc.) to put his jacket on.

 

[Joey_J]

I'm amazed that nobody hasn't pulled Soler aside and just worked with Soler on his bike handling skills. Or if the have, it hasn't worked much. I started cycling properly when I turned 19 and one of the first things people did were to make to make my bike handling skills improved.

Alex Zulle is his personal bike handling skills coach

 

[auscyclefan94]

you must be either Tom Boonen, Laurent Fignon or a coke addict-since only a narrowed pityful & ignorant mind like yours can only bring such a stupid comment like that

f*ck off!!!

I actually laughed my head off at that comment!

 

[BroDeal]

Alex Zulle is his personal bike handling skills coach

Zulle had an excuse. He was practically blind.

He could get Hamilton as his coach. I remember reading an account of racing with Hamilton before he went to Europe. During a time trial on smooth road, Hamilton roars past this guy, just fast as hell. The guy looks up the road a hundred meters or so and sees a single rock in the middle of the road. Then he watches as Hamilton proceeds to hit it and crash.

Some people don't seem to be as aware of what is going on around them as the average bear.

 

[online-rider]

you must be either Tom Boonen, Laurent Fignon or a coke addict-since only a narrowed pityful & ignorant mind like yours can only bring such a stupid comment like that

f*ck off!!!

Dude Chill out!

Whats wrong with what I said??
I'm not saying Soler's a doper or anything. I'm just saying Colombias where coke comes from and Soler too. wtf ??

I'm sorry if I touched your tender spot. I really dont understand how you could take umbrage at what i said !?

 

[Michele]

I'm amazed that nobody hasn't pulled Soler aside and just worked with Soler on his bike handling skills. Or if the have, it hasn't worked much. I started cycling properly when I turned 19 and one of the first things people did were to make to make my bike handling skills improved.

Back at Barloworld days, during last winter in that team they tried to work on it by doing also some medical check ups on his balance and some other test which I cant recall right now (I guess some eye's checking).
Anyway it seems it didn't help much.

 

[ttrider]

Back at Barloworld days, during last winter in that team they tried to work on it by doing also some medical check ups on his balance and some other test which I cant recall right now (I guess some eye's checking).
Anyway it seems it didn't help much.

That made me laugh so much

Would personally love to see soler and menchov escape with a 30 k descent to go, would be very funny as they proceed to lose a minute, get caught, dropped and finish in the gruppetto covered in mud and leaves!

 

[Deagol]

This reminds me of an interview I read with a female Olympic mountain bicyclist right before the Olympics in Beijing. I can’t recall specifics or even names, but she was amazed how strong the Chinese women mountain bikers were on the climbs but how timid they were on the down-hills and how slow they rode- looking at the other women to learn the skill of descending. The implication of this, I believe, is that they hadn’t actually spent a lot of time mountain biking and therefore the part of the sport (climbing) that relies on certain physiological parameters was their strength. This comparatively great strength (in relationship to their competitors with more years on the bike) may have been gained through other means than riding, if you take my meaning..

 

[theyoungest]

Dude Chill out!

Whats wrong with what I said??
I'm not saying Soler's a doper or anything. I'm just saying Colombias where coke comes from and Soler too. wtf ??

I'm sorry if I touched your tender spot. I really dont understand how you could take umbrage at what i said !?

Maybe he doesn't like you stereotyping an entire nation as one big coke plantation? Just a thought.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Maybe he doesn't like you stereotyping an entire nation as one big coke plantation? Just a thought.

Indeed, they also produce heroine and xtc and other neat stuff don't they?