Damiano Cunego

[Parrulo]

he is one of my old time favorite riders. and everytime he is racing a Gt i hope that he finally pulls another good race. but he has been disappointing all his fans( and he does has a lot of fans) GT after GT. either by falling or by just not being able to keep up with the GC contenders.

and now he wants to become a one day hilly classics guy and montain stage winner in GT. so much waste of potential . . . he really needs to leave lampre and move to a team with a manager that forces some ambition into his silly head.

 

[jobiwan]

If he can never keep up with the GC boys, it's best not to try to waste away going after a goal you can't reach. He's going after what will make him successful. A lot of guys have success without contending in GTs.

 

[Parrulo]

thomas vockler can't keep up with the GC guys. . . but we are talking about damiano cunego. he clearly can keep up with them he just seems to be lacking 1 little thing. i don't really know what but my guess would be moral(ambition/self-confidence/etc)

 

[Ryaguas]

He doesn't want to become an ardennes guy cuz He IS an Ardennes guy... He has won Amstel gold race and Giro di Lombardia several times, also he has had very nice results in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Fleche Wallone, we can say that he is mastering the hilly races and he is advanced in that task...

I would like him to be a great GT contender but He can't be that kind of rider... He can't maintain the form, He has several peaks in the year, that's why he is way better to be a one day - one week racer than a 3 weeks racer...

This year he has been lacking of good results:
20th Liège - Bastogne - Liège
5th Flèche Wallonne
6th Amstel Gold Race

I really hope that he can take some stages in La Vuelta and then peak for Il Giro di Lombardia and take it... thus he can make up a little bit this year...

Big Cunego Fan! The cleanest rider in the whole peloton!

 

[Parrulo]

i expressed myself badly. i know he already is an ardennes guy. hell i was watching when he was amstel gold race last season. but as an hardcore cunego fanboy, i will always want him to live up to the hype caused by his giro win back in 1865

 

[pedaling squares]

I like Cunego's new approach. Better in my opinion to play to your strengths and be a contender in some 1-7 day races than to continue to struggle to reach the top echelon in a GT. It doesn't seem to be his thing so why waste prime years flailing away? Besides, I think cycling is too biased towards the GTs, there are more exciting races on the calendar.

 

[ericthesportsman6]

thomas vockler can't keep up with the GC guys. . . but we are talking about damiano cunego. he clearly can keep up with them he just seems to be lacking 1 little thing. i don't really know what but my guess would be moral(ambition/self-confidence/etc)

He can't keep up with the GC guys, he just doesn't have that kind of consistency over three weeks. I really like his new race plan. He goes for GC's at week long stage races, stages at GT's, and ardennes classics. As a Cuengo fan, I have adjusted my expectations of him and have been plenty happy with his performance. If your a dissapointed fan, your probably still hungover on his 2004 giro win.

 

[Cerberus]

thomas vockler can't keep up with the GC guys. . . but we are talking about damiano cunego. he clearly can keep up with them he just seems to be lacking 1 little thing. i don't really know what but my guess would be moral(ambition/self-confidence/etc)

Actually it's far from clear that he can keep up with the GC guys, to the best of my knowledge he's done that exactly one time, every other time he's clearly been unable to keep up. If any one little thing could help him keep up it's not self-confidence, it's the kind of little thing you inject through a needle.

 

[Ryaguas]

Yep I think the same... Cycling is not just GTs, There are a lot of really nice races along the year... GTs have more publicity and specially Le Tour...

The problem for Il Principe this year, I think, that was a matter of preparation... He should change a little bit his program to has good legs for the Ardennes season, then have a good Giro, rest, then take La Vuelta as a preparation for the winter season and specially Il Giro di Lombardia...

I think also that Il Principe can perform well in Il Giro if he can carry the form from the Ardennes season he can make Top 5... then softpedal Le Tour and just go for some stages, the same with La Vuelta, then have a high Top finish in the winter season...

He has the talent but he needs more motivation tho...

 

[NashbarShorts]

thomas vockler can't keep up with the GC guys. . . but we are talking about damiano cunego. he clearly can keep up with them he just seems to be lacking 1 little thing. i don't really know what but my guess would be moral(ambition/self-confidence/etc)

You had me...then you lost me. I agree he is lacking "one little thing". He took a pledge last season or 2 seasons back, to ride clean. I think he even got some sort of tattoo in that regards. So yes I agree he is lacking one little thing. I like him as a one-day rider, so I hope he stays clean and the hell w/ that one little thing

 

[aahmadhu]

maybe he should develop himself to be the next vinokourov. an excellent fighter, aggressive, combative, threatening. tend to crack in a long mountain stage but dangerous in another, and no one in the peloton can predict what he's gonna do next, even his own teammates. really hard to deal with. can even steal a stage victory on a parcour designed for sprinters. excellent lieutenant for a real GC rider. a threat for a week stage races and hilly classics. main animator of major races.

 

[Angliru]

Not to rain on Cunego fan's parade but his one grand tour success was the result of his ambushing his team captain early in the race, using the "teammate up the road so the real team leader can't respond" attacks that were supported by team management and half the team, thus leaving Simoni, the defending Giro champ at the time with his hands tied. The one time that Simoni decided he was fed up with Cunego's attacks, he (Simoni) responded to a Cunego attack, bridged to him and eventually dropped him. Contrary to popular belief, Cunego was not the stronger of the two, he was simply the horse the Saeco management decided to ride because of his run of prior wins leading to the Giro and his "potential" as the new face of Italian cycling. What they got in return was a Giro win that they would've gotten anyway with Simoni, a few classic wins and 6 years of hoping for the heights of the 2004 Giro win. Not to mention the complete disrespect of a great Giro champion.

Cunego will never win another grand tour. He hasn't shown the ability to even consistently finish in the top 5 of the overall classification since his Giro win. He has, after 6 years of chasing the dream, realized that he is best as a stage chaser in grand tours and competing for the win in the hilly classics. In all honesty he can't even compete for the overall in the top week-long stage races.

 

[Vonn Brinkman]

maybe he should develop himself to be the next vinokourov. an excellent fighter, aggressive, combative, threatening. tend to crack in a long mountain stage but dangerous in another, and no one in the peloton can predict what he's gonna do next, even his own teammates. really hard to deal with. can even steal a stage victory on a parcour designed for sprinters. excellent lieutenant for a real GC rider. a threat for a week stage races and hilly classics. main animator of major races.

Well to be honest he is such a rider already....Since his surprise win in 2004 he has failed to impress in another GC. He realized he won't win another GT a few years back, and if you look at his recent results and palmares, he is certainly like Vino. Except the doping, of course.

 

[Mongol_Waaijer]

The whole point of Cunego's existence in the peloton is to show that a supertalented ex GT winner who decides to go "100% ME" cannot seriously contest GT's.

If you prefer to make points about "motivation", "tactics" etc you're way off the mark.

Why do you think "he who must not be named" hates him so much?

 

[TRDean]

The whole point of Cunego's existence in the peloton is to show that a supertalented ex GT winner who decides to go "100% ME" cannot seriously contest GT's.

If you prefer to make points about "motivation", "tactics" etc you're way off the mark.

Why do you think "he who must not be named" hates him so much?

Exactly!! !

 

[ergmonkey]

Not to rain on Cunego fan's parade but his one grand tour success was the result of his ambushing his team captain early in the race, using the "teammate up the road so the real team leader can't respond" attacks that were supported by team management and half the team, thus leaving Simoni, the defending Giro champ at the time with his hands tied. The one time that Simoni decided he was fed up with Cunego's attacks, he (Simoni) responded to a Cunego attack, bridged to him and eventually dropped him. Contrary to popular belief, Cunego was not the stronger of the two, he was simply the horse the Saeco management decided to ride because of his run of prior wins leading to the Giro and his "potential" as the new face of Italian cycling. What they got in return was a Giro win that they would've gotten anyway with Simoni, a few classic wins and 6 years of hoping for the heights of the 2004 Giro win. Not to mention the complete disrespect of a great Giro champion.

Cunego will never win another grand tour. He hasn't shown the ability to even consistently finish in the top 5 of the overall classification since his Giro win. He has, after 6 years of chasing the dream, realized that he is best as a stage chaser in grand tours and competing for the win in the hilly classics. In all honesty he can't even compete for the overall in the top week-long stage races.

I think this point is fair but overstated. Yes, Cunego did seem to ambush Simoni and by surprising the peloton who were marking Simoni, Cunego was initially given a long leash. But, I've re-watched that race while on the trainer during the winter months many, many times, and it is clear to me that Cunego really was incredibly strong. Furthermore, he continued to pummel the field even after he had the pink jersey and no one was going to just "let" him ride away. When you also look at his Trentino results and other Giro tune-up racing from that season, it's hard to argue that Cunego wasn't on amazing form. Maybe Simoni was about as good, but there definitely wasn't anybody else in the race who could hold a candle to Cunego that year. The win was well-deserved, and let's shift the hate over to Aitor Gonzales--the real GT thief.

 

[Carl0880]

I think this point is fair but overstated. Yes, Cunego did seem to ambush Simoni and by surprising the peloton who were marking Simoni, Cunego was initially given a long leash. But, I've re-watched that race while on the trainer during the winter months many, many times, and it is clear to me that Cunego really was incredibly strong. Furthermore, he continued to pummel the field even after he had the pink jersey and no one was going to just "let" him ride away. When you also look at his Trentino results and other Giro tune-up racing from that season, it's hard to argue that Cunego wasn't on amazing form. Maybe Simoni was about as good, but there definitely wasn't anybody else in the race who could hold a candle to Cunego that year. The win was well-deserved, and let's shift the hate over to Aitor Gonzales--the real GT thief.

I have made this point before, the 2004 field was one of the worse GT fields I can recall in recent years. Here is the Top 10 from the 04 Giro:
1. Cunego
2. Gonchar
3. Simoni
4. Dario CIoni
5. Popovych
6. Garzelli
7. Belli
8. McGee (Yes Bradley McGee)
9. Valjavec
10. Juan Manual Garate

Take out Simoni, this top 10 has in all of their careers combined had a grand total of 5 Grand Tour Podium Finishes (the only other podiums outside of this year was Popo 3rd in 03, Garzelli's win in 00 and his 2nd in 03), all of them at the Giro (including Simoni). The only other podium out of anyone in the Top 20 would Pavel Tonkov, who finished 14th in 04, who was 39 or 40 during this edition. Yes Cunego was very strong during the 04 Giro, all the cards fell just right for him to win this edition.

 

[Carl0880]

also, 04 was the editions they had a total of 11 stages end in Field sprints (this was the year that Petacchi won 9 stages)

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Hehe good ol Gonchar with his 55x9 gear

 

[aahmadhu]

Well to be honest he is such a rider already....Since his surprise win in 2004 he has failed to impress in another GC. He realized he won't win another GT a few years back, and if you look at his recent results and palmares, he is certainly like Vino. Except the doping, of course.

except that cunego doesnt stamp his authority in the race. his moves don't determine the outcome. sadly now everytime cunego attacks, the field just consider him as just another breakaway (in GT races). not like when vino attacks, the field'll be shattered, or at least opposing teams need to work extra load just to catch him back, while vino's GT leader sucks wheel happily.

 

[Angliru]

I think this point is fair but overstated. Yes, Cunego did seem to ambush Simoni and by surprising the peloton who were marking Simoni, Cunego was initially given a long leash. But, I've re-watched that race while on the trainer during the winter months many, many times, and it is clear to me that Cunego really was incredibly strong. Furthermore, he continued to pummel the field even after he had the pink jersey and no one was going to just "let" him ride away. When you also look at his Trentino results and other Giro tune-up racing from that season, it's hard to argue that Cunego wasn't on amazing form. Maybe Simoni was about as good, but there definitely wasn't anybody else in the race who could hold a candle to Cunego that year. The win was well-deserved, and let's shift the hate over to Aitor Gonzales--the real GT thief.

My point was that he wasn't the strongest rider in the race. As I stated he had great success in the races leading up to the Giro and this appeared to be the justification the team management had in allowing him to have the team's support at the expense of Simoni. Maybe Cunego was in the last year of his contract with Saeco and they were fearful of losing him if they didn't allow him the latitude that he ended up being given. Yes he was strong that year, but as I stated the one time that Simoni decided to go against the traditions of the sport and neutralize one of Cunego's attacks, he left him gasping for air and watching as Simoni drifted away up the road. Simoni's hands were tied, unable to rightfully fight in the defense of his Giro title.

I'm a bit biased being an admirer of Simoni and at the time I was pretty fired up that he was being treated the way he was especially as the defending champion. Obviously I'm still a bit disappointed in how he was treated AND how he was denied a 3rd Giro title.

 

[Angliru]

By the way, Aitor Gonzales is no different than any of the other grand tour winners who's performances were found to be "supplemented" so it would be unfair to single him out as the one "GT thief".

 

[roundabout]

He "stole" the Vuelta when he left Sevilla behind on the Angliru

 

[hrotha]

He "stole" the Vuelta when he left Sevilla behind on the Angliru

But Sevilla didn't really have it that year. If Aitor González had worked for him, Heras would have won the GC in the end.

Aitor did make a tactical mistake by attacking in the Angliru - I mean, what the hell was he thinking? - but at the end of the day he would have been Kelme's leader anyway.

 

[roundabout]

We're actually in agreement here, i'm just being somewhat ironic with the quotation marks.