Canucks: How 'bout our Ryder eh?

[RedheadDane]

Ya think?

 

[maxmartin]

eat your own words

He's 30 and he can't possibly do much better than this year. He's a very good rider, but please don't ruin him with undue pressure nor expect him to place high in the GC consistently. That shouldn't be his focus.

 

[maxmartin]

LOL these past comments are hilarious

Podium a GT? No chance in hell. He can get himself a pretty decent palmares though. He could probably podium a few thougher classics more and some type of week long stage race. If he gets lucky he might even win something but as far as GTs are concerned I doubt he'll reach the top 10 again.

 

[Master50]

Well here we are 2 days away from 1st place in a Grand tour and it is now 2012. Seems a long time to wait for crow pie to be served but Ingve gets the first piece.

Enjoy it .

 

[RedheadDane]

It's always so easy to be wise after the event, isn't it?

 

[greenedge]

So yeah, I'd rather see him go all out in the classics then see what's possible in the Tour. Why bother sacrificing your whole season to finish 5th at the Tour? Frankly, I am absolutely sick to death of the Tour and how it increasingly dominates the sport.

Well he is not just focusing on the TDF so that should make you happy.

 

[hrotha]

eat your own words

Honestly, I don't think he's being much stronger than in the 2010 Tour. But yes, indeed I didn't expect him to podium or win a GT.

 

[El Pistolero]

Indeed, the field is incredibly weak here, but don't let that detract anything from Hesjedal's possible achievement. At least he's smart enough to not focus on the Tour every year(even if it took Vaughters to convince him of that). Looking at you Robert Hesink and VDB2.

Thank God De Gendt is getting married during the prologue of this year's Tour or we would have another obsessed Tour de France GC contender.

 

[forumlurker]

take off eh
you hoser

 

[Master50]

It's always so easy to be wise after the event, isn't it?

Yes very true but arn't we always so darn sure of our wild declarations of inadequacy?

So maybe just avoid foolish predictions and avoid the crow pie.

 

[hrotha]

Yes very true but arn't we always so darn sure of our wild declarations of inadequacy?

So maybe just avoid foolish predictions and avoid the crow pie.

Just because a prediction turns out to be wrong that doesn't make it foolish. Similarly, a prediction based on nothing but blind nationalism isn't an intelligent one just because it turns out to be correct.

 

[hiero2]

He's 30 and he can't possibly do much better than this year. He's a very good rider, but please don't ruin him with undue pressure nor expect him to place high in the GC consistently. That shouldn't be his focus.

because he is Canadian?

No, because he is 30 and he has always been in the 2nd rank of finishers in the GTs.

He is a great rider. I'm glad, for him, that his team figured him to be good for a Giro and not the Tour. I think he has a better chance to win a Giro or a Vuelta - and I base that on his historical performances. I agree with Hrotha.

 

[hiero2]

. . . I am absolutely sick to death of the Tour and how it increasingly dominates the sport.

Interesting. These past two years I have been sitting back and loving how much the OTHER races are coming into prominence! I can get classics on live streaming, the Giro, the Vuelta, the Tour of Langkawi fcs! Love it.

I think the tour has become less dominant, not more. But, maybe that is just my neighborhood!

 

[kukiniloa]

Not everything is about being Canadian, despite the Weight of a Nation thing.

According to Cyclingnews.com maybe it's a racial thing - their article title struck me as odd, as the article discusses the english-speaking reorientation of the Giro.


"Hesjedal's final battle in Giro d'Italia "fight for pink" is crucial
First Canadian win would increase Anglo-Saxon influence"

 

[Neworld]

He was obviously in the form of his life and still rode on the edge of his capabilities in most hard stages. That makes for a very hard achievement to copy. In the future if he's just a little less in form or a little weak on one stage, he'll finish in the grupetto instead and top 10 will be way out of reach.

Also since he's already 30 there is not a lot he can improve on condition wise. He'll soon start feeling the effects of age and it will be impossible to become better. This means he has very few chances where he could even try for a new top 10. That includes getting the chance from the team that still has ambitions with VdV.

All in all these factors indicate to me that it's unlikely that he'll repeat in the top 10. It's not impossible but in my mind just improbable.

Boom! That was 2 years ago, what are your thoughts now Ingsve?

He sure is feeling the (positive) effects of getting older...or maybe he has the talent and new freedom to win? Looks like good times at the 2012 GIRO, at 32.

Go Ryder.

 

[Neworld]

It's always so easy to be wise after the event, isn't it?

Its even harder to support something that hasn't happened, and then get it right...like some of us 2 years ago.

Just be happy for the lad, he IS what cycling should stand for...not the resent past. Good for Ryder!

 

[Neworld]

Just because a prediction turns out to be wrong that doesn't make it foolish. Similarly, a prediction based on nothing but blind nationalism isn't an intelligent one just because it turns out to be correct.

hrotha, you're better than that. If that were true 99.9% of the American cycling scene must have LAIMD (LA Induced Macular degeneration), no? Oh ya, no one predicted his unbelievable transformation then or now.

Most people predicted Ryder's potential based on his talent and racing history. Being Canadian is just a bonus, for us hoser's.

 

[Master50]

Unlike the past Ryder started this tour as the team leader so instead of riding for Christian or Tom or? They are riding for him. Unlike in the past he was able to save his energy and build specifically for this race. In that light his performance is completely predictable but not to most of us that are so sure that a quietly competent and very strong rider could actually take it to this level. His calm quiet nature probably has slowed his career but I am not sure another team would have looked at him as more than a super domestic. It isn't nationalism either as the Canadian nature is to predict he will crack or he will never rise to a former glory. Even in light of his obvious consistency and climbing ability what is foolish is to make stupid predictions based on no information. Of course past accomplishment is not a true predictor of this races outcome as Basso is demonstrating.
Tomorrow will reveal the form of both Ryder and Rodriguez. There has been a lot of predictions that Ryder will dominate the TT but Rodriguuez has been diligently improving his TT . As for fatigue from today? Rodriguez is tired too and I am betting he just hat to wait until he could see the line to pull off one of his uphill kicks he uses pretty effectively.
No matter the result, I am so pleased to see the journey he has been on since I first saw him race as a junior. How his age plays into this? Some pretty great riders make it well past.
I for one wish him good luck and the best ride of his life no matter who wins.

 

[meat puppet]

This is getting hilarious. Seriously, what is this, a truth commission in, for, and, of the forum?

Predicting the future, they say, is a delicate business.

 

[Master50]

I was thinking about nationalism last night and yes I get a little nationalistic. I also think that it works backward too. If Ryder was born in Norway I would guess the press would not be so unbelieving of his talent. I too suspect he would have gotten a lot more credibility earlier in his career. Being a Canadian has not necessarily served his career well but his talent is his not his countrie's

Further as he was developing it was hard to compare his talent to other riders of equal ability since ther are so few to compare him too. He started out as a mountain biker and the fact that he coule keep up to Roland was his only benchmark. In two hours he will close this conversation until July at least.

 

[greenedge]

Thank God De Gendt is getting married during the prologue of this year's Tour or we would have another obsessed Tour de France GC contender.

Don't you think though that even riding the TDF after going for GC at the Giro would be quite an accomplishment

 

[TexPat]

For his roots in mtb, I will give him a +.
For hanging with Roland Green, I will give him a -.
For being on USPS, I will give him a neutral, as I know that there were a few clean ones.
For being a denizen of the Great White North, the 51st State (just kidding), the kinder gentler, part of North America, I'll give him a +++.
And tomorrow, I'll wear my Louis Garneau reproduction Canadian Nat Team wool jersey in his honour.
(I've been pretending to be Canadian for a long time; it carries less geo-political baggage.)
Well done Ryder.