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Cobo's invisibility

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J

JeanRobic

Apr 21, 2011
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Juan Jose Cobo, winner of last year's Vuelta, has been remarkably anonymous in this year's Tour: 29th on GC, at over an hour behind both his Vuelta podium mates Wiggins and Froome, with zero sprint points and zero mountain points. He finally got into the picture on stage 16, finishing within a minute of the yellow jersey, but that's been about it.

It's not uncommon for Giro and Vuelta winners to fare less well in their next TdF, but I can't remember the last time one was so, well, invisible. What are some other examples of this?
 
User Guide

User Guide

May 21, 2010
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Hes using the TDF to have race days in his legs for his defence of the Vuelta/domestique work.His gc standing hardly surprising.
 
UpTheRoad

UpTheRoad

Jul 27, 2009
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jordan5000 said:
I'm not too surprised by this, there is a BIG gap between the competition in the tour and Vuelta.
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Not this year.

Plus Cobo was always doing this TdF as training.
 
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SetonHallPirate

Jun 28, 2012
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Believe it or not, he's only had one top-ten finish all year so far, and that was in the Spanish Time Trial National Championship.
 
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marioni

Sep 18, 2010
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jordan5000 said:
I'm not too surprised by this, there is a BIG gap between the competition in the tour and Vuelta.
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What do you mean? He raced against Wiggo and Froome at the Vuelta.
 
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Gloin22

Apr 10, 2011
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marioni said:
What do you mean? He raced against Wiggo and Froome at the Vuelta.
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Vuelta was Wiggins first race back after breaking his collarbone ... ;)

Obviously not top shape ;)

It just looks to me Cobo is preparing for Vuelta using Tour - I think.
 
G

Gloin22

Apr 10, 2011
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hrotha said:
What about Froome then?
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Froome was in very good shape - although he improved in 2012 as shown.

Vuelta last year except Froome didn't have much great competition, that's also due to big GC guys like Nibali and JROD failing to produce.

Cobo is using the Tour to prepare for vuelta - and his year should be judged then.

Not at the Tour ;)
 
Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
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How about Menchov in the 2009 Tour as reigning Giro champ?

Cobo is a guy who requires a lot of care mentally. When his head's not in it, he's really quite poor. He was poor through much of 2011 actually, only really showing his class at Burgos before the Vuelta, and the less said about his 2010, where he struggled with depression and motivation issues, and really didn't fit in well at Abarcá, the better. Incidentally, he's there again this year, so he's doing waaaaay better than he did last time with them.

Oh yea, what about Valverde's 2010 Giro as reigning Vuelta cha... wait a second.
 
Duartista

Duartista

Apr 14, 2011
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hrotha said:
Yeah he only beat Froome and Wiggins.

Cobo did much better than expected, I'd say, considering how he had been racing all year.
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+1

After the Dauphine, I didn't expect him to finish the Tour. He's actually done some good work for his teammates, and in general been much better than he has been all year. In theory he's looking good for the Vuelta, but you never know with Cobo.
 
maxmartin

maxmartin

May 19, 2011
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JeanRobic said:
Juan Jose Cobo, winner of last year's Vuelta, has been remarkably anonymous in this year's Tour: 29th on GC, at over an hour behind both his Vuelta podium mates Wiggins and Froome, with zero sprint points and zero mountain points. He finally got into the picture on stage 16, finishing within a minute of the yellow jersey, but that's been about it.

It's not uncommon for Giro and Vuelta winners to fare less well in their next TdF, but I can't remember the last time one was so, well, invisible. What are some other examples of this?
Click to expand...

he said he was building up for vuelta, btw he was always in consistent, don't want to go to clinic direction. Even before last year vuelta, he almost retired due to depression related stuff.
 
S

Swede1

Jun 7, 2011
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He has had a better Tour than I expected considering his early season form. I'm sure he will be strong though once the Vuelta starts. I wonder how he will be compared with Contador.
 
L

la.margna

May 5, 2009
696
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JeanRobic said:
Juan Jose Cobo, winner of last year's Vuelta, has been remarkably anonymous in this year's Tour: 29th on GC, at over an hour behind both his Vuelta podium mates Wiggins and Froome, with zero sprint points and zero mountain points. He finally got into the picture on stage 16, finishing within a minute of the yellow jersey, but that's been about it.

It's not uncommon for Giro and Vuelta winners to fare less well in their next TdF, but I can't remember the last time one was so, well, invisible. What are some other examples of this?
Click to expand...

-Maybe Gianetti special medication treatment is missing
-Or more likely he will be focusing on the Vuelta
-The list of riders that rode more than one GT in a season in recent years and did finish on the podium is very short. I know a guy from Texas who did ride only one GT every year... Seems not even TeamSky has that recipe yet... remains to be seen with Froome this Vuelta
 
ericthesportsman6

ericthesportsman6

Jul 14, 2009
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As others have stated, he's using the Tour as prep for the Vuelta. I think people are overlooking him as a threat despite his performance last year.
 
Angliru

Angliru

Mar 10, 2009
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User Guide said:
Hes using the TDF to have race days in his legs for his defence of the Vuelta/domestique work.His gc standing hardly surprising.
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+1. @ the OP: Why would he exhaust himself at the Tour if it has been made plain in the media that he's focusing on the Vuelta? His 29th is better than some riders that came in with more ambitious agendas.
 
M

mscaviy2601

Oct 11, 2011
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Did Movistar actually know who their GC contender was? I think they raced poorly tactically - Kiriyenka, Costa, Cobo, Valverde looked to be a strong climbing quartet but they kept wasting them on long distance breakaways.
 
T

theyoungest

Jan 11, 2010
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3,843
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mscaviy2601 said:
Did Movistar actually know who their GC contender was? I think they raced poorly tactically - Kiriyenka, Costa, Cobo, Valverde looked to be a strong climbing quartet but they kept wasting them on long distance breakaways.
Click to expand...
I think they all were involved in the mass crash, which everyone seems to have forgotten about. It effectively eliminated 50% of Sky's possible opposition.
 
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