Cunego targets TdF GC

[lukinox]

Cunego targets TdF GC : He won't !
Or maybe he thinks he is but he really isn't.
End of story

 

[Hmmmmm]

Cunego's head is too big for his body. He should say he will just show up, race hard, and we will see what happens. All the pros have high aspirations for the tour. I don't see him placing high on GC unless he has the race of his life.

 

[ergmonkey]

If Cunego sees a chance for a stage win, he's going to take it--and consider his Tour a success if he nabs the stage win.

I don't care what he says about GC ambitions, Cunego will always be looking for wins when the stages suit him. Same strategy we've seen from riders like Di Luca and Garzelli when they assert that they have GC ambitions in the Giro.

Kind of like Hrotha wrote, I don't see this "GC focus" really changing much of anything for Cunego in the first ten days of Tour racing. Then, if he's going surprisingly well in the mountains, he'll keep at it. Otherwise, he'll look for a mountain breakaway somewhere.

 

[Escarabajo]

I thought everyone knew what Cunego's problem is. Start drinking that good tomatoes’ juice from 2004 and he'll be a force to reckon with.

Otherwise. NO WAY. Not a chance.

He can talk to Horner and get a good advice on how to become an excellent climber as you get older.

 

[El Pistolero]

I thought everyone knew what Cunego's problem is. Start drinking that good tomatoes’ juice from 2004 and he'll be a force to reckon with.

Otherwise. NO WAY. Not a chance.

He can talk to Horner and get a good advice on how to become an excellent climber as you get older.

You mean the Giro were Petacchi won 9 stages and Robbie 3?

 

[Escarabajo]

You mean the Giro were Petacchi won 9 stages and Robbie 3?

Later he went to the Tour and had a good performance. After that everything was completely gone. So it was not only the Giro. After 2006 he faded away in GT I think.

 

[El Pistolero]

Later he went to the Tour and had a good performance. After that everything was completely gone. So it was not only the Giro. After 2006 he faded away in GT I think.

Meh, he can and always could top 10 in most GTs I think, but that's not what people expect from you when you win Lombardia and the Giro at age 22. The reason for his Giro win is probably a combination of clinic stuff and the route of that Giro. But not just clinic stuff as that would mean you assume all the others were clean. And with all due respect, that's not a very sane thing to think

 

[Escarabajo]

Meh, he can and always could top 10 in most GTs I think, but that's not what people expect from you when you win Lombardia and the Giro at age 22. The reason for his Giro win is probably a combination of clinic stuff and the route of that Giro. But not just clinic stuff as that would mean you assume all the others were clean. And with all due respect, that's not a very sane thing to think

Fair enough.

A combination of all the things you said. But definitely needs to change his "program" to at least contend for top ten. Honestly.

 

[Parrulo]

well i am a big il principe fan and think he can top 10 if he is on the right form. problem is after wining the giro and lombardy at 22 the expectations for cunego became very high and he was never able to match them again. and even if he does top 10 people will still see it as a poor performance for him.

 

[Frosty]

Looking at his performances later in the tour last year then i dont think just squeezing into the top 10 is out of the question if on top form. He lost almost 20 minutes on the Arenberg stage and that makes it hard to analyse his form after that as he spent quite a lot of time in breaks. However, he finished 9th to Aix-3-domaines (started the climb a minute(?) before the main contenders though) and finished 11th on the Tourmalet. Considering that he had done a hard Giro last year then his form should be higher this year.

I recokon he'll have a go at some of the uphill sprints early on, otherwise try to play it quiet for the first week and a half and see what happens on the first mountain stage.

 

[hrotha]

Meh, he can and always could top 10 in most GTs I think, but that's not what people expect from you when you win Lombardia and the Giro at age 22. The reason for his Giro win is probably a combination of clinic stuff and the route of that Giro. But not just clinic stuff as that would mean you assume all the others were clean. And with all due respect, that's not a very sane thing to think

What? No, that's preposterous. There's better programs, better responders and people who take more risks.

 

[Sophistic]

What are his alternatives?With Gilbert on the start line, the prospects of winning one of the 4 short uphill finishes are not that great...

 

[Sasquatch]

Cunego can easily get top 10.

The course this year is not hard. Wiggins will probably get top 10 again on this course.

Kruijswijk backing up from the Giro can get top 10.

The course is not hard therefore it is very possible that Cunego can finish high up.

 

[TeoSheva]

Cunego can easily get top 10.

The course this year is not hard. Wiggins will probably get top 10 again on this course.

Kruijswijk backing up from the Giro can get top 10.

The course is not hard therefore it is very possible that Cunego can finish high up.

If the course is not hard, all the TT specialist will stay with Cunego on the hills and give him more than 5 minutes over the 42km TT

 

[Finbouy]

Protecting his GC position??
Phah.

That translates to mediocre, uninspired riding where covering Bertie et all means riding on the back wheel of the top20 bunch all the way around France to finish in….yup… you guessed it… in the top 20 bunch at the end..
Where’s the inspiration and passion for winning? be them, stages, TT’s, climbs etc..
I’m a fan of his but back in the day he had the spark of a right old fighter about him, now he’s turned into the rest of the top20 bunch where covering and pacing means following..
Shame, but top 20 is all he’ll get, and no stage wins.

 

[lancaster]

i reckon he'd be better off keeping it to himself if he actually thought he could.
if it was me i'd be saying things like "no legs, knee pain, chest infection, no hope at GC but hope to find some legs and maybe win a stage"


he'd then be more likely to get some leeway in a break and take some proper time.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Later he went to the Tour and had a good performance. After that everything was completely gone. So it was not only the Giro. After 2006 he faded away in GT I think.

he already faded away in giro 2005. 2004 was his only forte as top gc rider against horrible competition on horrible course

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

he already faded away in giro 2005. 2004 was his only forte as top gc rider against horrible competition on horrible course

indeed, gonchar 2nd, mcgee 7th, cioni 4th etcetera

 

[El Pistolero]

indeed, gonchar 2nd, mcgee 7th, cioni 4th etcetera

The competition wasn't weaker compared to other years that Giro, it's just that the course sucked so these man finished up high. Gonchar, one of the best time trial specialists in his time... Tells a lot about the route.

In fact, the Giro has always had weak competition during the Armstrong era. Contador was the first foreign to win the Giro in 2008 since Miguel Indurain... Since then the competition has picked up a little bit more again with Menchov winning and Contador winning again for a second time. Also Di Luca that nearly got beaten by Antoinette in 2007.

As for Lance Armsgtrong, he's an idiot. Could easily have done the double in 2004, but now he'll always be remembered as someone who just won the Tour. Could have had a much more impressive palmares.

 

[hrotha]

Honchar has been in the top 10 in all kinds of routes. He could climb. As for Indurain, well, considering he was beaten by Berzin...

 

[El Pistolero]

Honchar has been in the top 10 in all kinds of routes. He could climb. As for Indurain, well, considering he was beaten by Berzin...

Ow yeah just checked, first since 1996 then Stupid Russians

But doesn't change my point about weak competition at Giro during Armstrong era though.

And yes he could climb, but for him to come second and finish in front of Simoni(who thrived in the steep stuff), you know the route wasn't all that mountainous.

The Russians do seem to do well at the Giro though. Menchov, Tonkov, Berzin. If it's not an Italian, it's a Russian or Spaniard

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

The competition wasn't weaker compared to other years that Giro, it's just that the course sucked so these man finished up high. Gonchar, one of the best time trial specialists in his time... Tells a lot about the route.

In fact, the Giro has always had weak competition during the Armstrong era. Contador was the first foreign to win the Giro in 2008 since Miguel Indurain... Since then the competition has picked up a little bit more again with Menchov winning and Contador winning again for a second time. Also Di Luca that nearly got beaten by Antoinette in 2007.

As for Lance Armsgtrong, he's an idiot. Could easily have done the double in 2004, but now he'll always be remembered as someone who just won the Tour. Could have had a much more impressive palmares.

yeah it was weaker thasn others years, simoni was not in form ata ll and finished 3rd, he focussed on tour that year.

there was only 1 itt in the giro and gonchar finished 2nd!! that never happened before or since (1 itt)

mcgee and cioni were itt guys finishing high in gc despite only 1 itt as mentioned. the competition was really bad. cunego could only drop gonchar in the finals of mountainstages with his explosiveness, but had it contained one more itt gonchar would've wonj that giro. that says enough about both cunego;s level at that time and the giro level

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Ow yeah just checked, first since 1996 then Stupid Russians

But doesn't change my point about weak competition at Giro during Armstrong era though.

And yes he could climb, but for him to come second and finish in front of Simoni(who thrived in the steep stuff), you know the route wasn't all that mountainous.

The Russians do seem to do well at the Giro though. Menchov, Tonkov, Berzin. If it's not an Italian, it's a Russian or Spaniard

ok thanks for this post I now know you haven't even seen that giro.

 

[hrotha]

But doesn't change my point about weak competition at Giro during Armstrong era though.

You don't need to convince me, I remember when Unai Osa was 3rd.

 

[Angliru]

Is there any other circumstance where a grand tour contender/winner had suffered mono immediately after their initial success or any time afterwards? I ask because Cunego contracted mono the following year (2005) and hasn't shown the same endurance/ability to recover over the 3 weeks of a grand tour since. I'm sure the clinic will come into play on many responses but I'm curious to see what if any history of another rider's reaction performance wise to this illness. Coincidentally his fall from grand tour prominence happened around the same time as Yaroslav Popovich's. Neither of them has ever been the same since.