Carlos Betancur discussion thread

[Irondan]

As much as I and everyone (mostly) else wants to see the insanely talented Carlos Betancur of 2013 and 2014, sadly it will never happen again.

I hope I'm wrong..

 

[Jolene]

Re: Re:

Rasmussen and Armstrong are in better shape right now to race a grand tour. Enough said ... It ain't funny anymore ... Betancur finally needs to prove a point this year.

Pictures?

Doesn't bode well. First he was scheduled at Down Under, now he is missing the team presentation.

He wasn't at the team presentation??????

 

[Moviestar]

He is scheduled to ride Dubai..

 

[Popchu]

Re:

He is scheduled to ride Dubai..

I thought I read yesterday that Unzue said he was coming to Europa in February. So I don't think he will line up at Dubai.

And he wasn't at the team presentation because of 'visa problems'.

 

[movingtarget]

The word problem and this guy seem to go together. Sooner or later the team's patience will be exhausted.

 

[Ricco']

Not surprising, but he is out of the official selection for Dubai Tour, too.

 

[Valv.Piti]

What a joke. Fire him.

 

[BigMac]

Re:

The word problem and this guy seem to go together. Sooner or later the team's patience will be exhausted.

How so much effort is still invested in him is beyond me. Any other rider, or any other person, in any other job, would have been shown the door a long time ago. Heck, they would't have been given another chance. This has gone past being pathetic to something else...

 

[Irondan]

Re: Re:

The word problem and this guy seem to go together. Sooner or later the team's patience will be exhausted.

How so much effort is still invested in him is beyond me. Any other rider, or any other person, in any other job, would have been shown the door a long time ago. Heck, they would't have been given another chance. This has gone past being pathetic to something else...

It's because he has the natural talent to be a huge champion, everyone knows it and accepts it but he couldn't care less. It's as big of a waste of natural talent as I've seen in quite some time.

He has a family to take care of, I'm not sure what he has in mind for the future but he's pissing away a very comfortable lifestyle for his family for a reason that we may never understand....

 

[Mr.White]

The man is a fool, no doubt!

 

[movingtarget]

Unless there is a sudden change in attitude this will be his last season with his current team and maybe any team. Other teams will have taken note.

 

[tristecsinamigos]

I heard something about him having toxoplasmosis during the Colombian broadcast of Tour Down Under.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

I heard something about him having toxoplasmosis during the Colombian broadcast of Tour Down Under.

I have never heard of that affliction, how long does it last?

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

I heard something about him having toxoplasmosis during the Colombian broadcast of Tour Down Under.

I have never heard of that affliction, how long does it last?

It's a parasitic disease that usually only affects people who are immunocompromised. Actual infection is very common but acute and latent infections are usually asymptomatic.

 

[markene2]

Re: Re:

I heard something about him having toxoplasmosis during the Colombian broadcast of Tour Down Under.

I have never heard of that affliction, how long does it last?

Its permanent, you usually get it from from cats, or undercooked raw meat. About 23% of the US population has it. Mostly its dangerous for kids, for adults not at all. You just get some flu like symptoms if you get anything at all.

 

[chiocciolis_calves]

Re: Re:

The word problem and this guy seem to go together. Sooner or later the team's patience will be exhausted.

How so much effort is still invested in him is beyond me. Any other rider, or any other person, in any other job, would have been shown the door a long time ago. Heck, they would't have been given another chance. This has gone past being pathetic to something else...

Jose Rujano, Ivan Quaranta, Santiago Botero, Andy Schleck...we could go on and one with names from the past who were given chance after chance to make good on their talent.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

The word problem and this guy seem to go together. Sooner or later the team's patience will be exhausted.

How so much effort is still invested in him is beyond me. Any other rider, or any other person, in any other job, would have been shown the door a long time ago. Heck, they would't have been given another chance. This has gone past being pathetic to something else...

Jose Rujano, Ivan Quaranta, Santiago Botero, Andy Schleck...we could go on and one with names from the past who were given chance after chance to make good on their talent.

I wouldn't include Schleck as he was much more successful than the other guys but the last few years of his career were certainly a mess due in part to injuries but also his attitude. I don't think Schleck recovered mentally from losing the 2011 Tour to Evans. I think he expected to win it. Rujano is the one that springs to mind that reminds me of Betancur but Rujano had some major health issues and probably was never going to repeat his earlier success.

 

[chiocciolis_calves]

Re: Re:

The word problem and this guy seem to go together. Sooner or later the team's patience will be exhausted.

How so much effort is still invested in him is beyond me. Any other rider, or any other person, in any other job, would have been shown the door a long time ago. Heck, they would't have been given another chance. This has gone past being pathetic to something else...

Jose Rujano, Ivan Quaranta, Santiago Botero, Andy Schleck...we could go on and one with names from the past who were given chance after chance to make good on their talent.

I wouldn't include Schleck as he was much more successful than the other guys but the last few years of his career were certainly a mess due in part to injuries but also his attitude. I don't think Schleck recovered mentally from losing the 2011 Tour to Evans. I think he expected to win it. Rujano is the one that springs to mind that reminds me of Betancur but Rujano had some major health issues and probably was never going to repeat his earlier success.

All the ones I mentioned had big high points and then teams kept gambling on them long after it was rational to keep gambling on them. You see it in every sport and there's nothing unusual in a team sticking with a guy who has raw numbers.

 

[Tonton]

Over 2000 replies in this thread. Some names come up: but let's be real: Betancur is no Schleck or even Botero. 2000 replies! For this guy? when Pinot is slightly above and Majka is silghlty below 800, when Bardet in the 200's? Really?

It seems to me that some here are fascinated by the story of a champion's career spinning out of control. Like slowing down to watch a car wreck...like John Daly in Golf, super-talented but self destructing...except that Daly won majors and Betancur didn't win much at all.

Leave him alone. Only he can make the choice, and be relevant. Right now, he's not.

This thread is so unreal...

 

[Sciocco]

^ I agree, year after year people post in here crying about Betancur. Just relax and if he does something, cool.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re: Re:

The word problem and this guy seem to go together. Sooner or later the team's patience will be exhausted.

How so much effort is still invested in him is beyond me. Any other rider, or any other person, in any other job, would have been shown the door a long time ago. Heck, they would't have been given another chance. This has gone past being pathetic to something else...

Jose Rujano, Ivan Quaranta, Santiago Botero, Andy Schleck...we could go on and one with names from the past who were given chance after chance to make good on their talent.

Cobo comes to mind first. He rode more races for Movistar, but with no motivation. I think Cobo and Betancur are quite alike and Unzue has no idea how to handle such a rider or he doesn't give a f... I don't know.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

The word problem and this guy seem to go together. Sooner or later the team's patience will be exhausted.

How so much effort is still invested in him is beyond me. Any other rider, or any other person, in any other job, would have been shown the door a long time ago. Heck, they would't have been given another chance. This has gone past being pathetic to something else...

Jose Rujano, Ivan Quaranta, Santiago Botero, Andy Schleck...we could go on and one with names from the past who were given chance after chance to make good on their talent.

Cobo comes to mind first. He rode more races for Movistar, but with no motivation. I think Cobo and Betancur are quite alike and Unzue has no idea how to handle such a rider or he doesn't give a f... I don't know.

Unzue and many other managers seem to struggle with creating a genuine team environment. AG2R seems to be another. I can't help but wonder if Betancur would be better suited to an environment like Orica, or Lotto-Belisol where there's more camaraderie. A team manager capable of bonding with their riders like Stephens or Riis might be able to bring the best out of Betancur.

The question is, will he get another contract? Does he even want one?

 

[markene2]

I think Matxin would have been a perfect fit for Betancur, he did wonders with Cobo, but now i think he works as a scout for Quickstep?

 

[DBotero]

Over 2000 replies in this thread. Some names come up: but let's be real: Betancur is no Schleck or even Botero. 2000 replies! For this guy? when Pinot is slightly above and Majka is silghlty below 800, when Bardet in the 200's? Really?

It seems to me that some here are fascinated by the story of a champion's career spinning out of control. Like slowing down to watch a car wreck...like John Daly in Golf, super-talented but self destructing...except that Daly won majors and Betancur didn't win much at all.

Leave him alone. Only he can make the choice, and be relevant. Right now, he's not.

This thread is so unreal...

I don't get people coming to bash the thread of a cyclist they don't care about.And you are suppose to be a mod
I think you should control a bit your words as you are not the deciding factor here on which subjects the forum members should engage.

 

[Escarabajo]

The only reason why Betancur thread has so many replies is because of the amount of jokes that he gets for his overweight problem IMHO. It is different to the other riders like Pinot and Bardet.